Homily: March 4, 2022: Friday after Ash Wednesday

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“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much but your disciples do not fast?”

The disciples of John did not understand the real purpose of fasting. They were blindly following the law.

We also fast. Do we know why?

Fasting was practised even before Christianity. The Hindu and Buddhist teachers fasted. Not by law but for spiritual meditation. Depriving body cleared their mind and purified their spirit. They received enlightenment. They received wisdom.

Our daily living is cluttered with too much social noise, mental distractions, physical sensualities, and spiritual sin. We cannot see clearly the presence of Christ - the bridegroom.

When we fast, we deprive, we detach, we free ourselves. We become more aware of the real need within us. We become more conscious of the real needs around us. We see truth, we understand eternity, we encounter divinity. We become enlightened. We become peace.

My papa fasted regularly throughout his life. He was calm, compassionate and patient, even when in pain, difficulties, or sufferings. He was at peace even at his death.

God says, “this rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless”.

We fast so that we become less ourselves, more like God. We see what He sees, feel what He feels, do what He does. We become love.

Fr. Nivin Scaria


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Homily: August 10, 2026, Monday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Cheerful giver)

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 “God Loves a Cheerful Giver” St. Paul tells us today: “Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” When I was just a small boy, I would enjoy being out of the house and on our farm to play with my friends. However, very often and almost always right in the middle of an exciting game with them, I would suddenly hear my mother calling out to me. She would shout for me from the house, “Nivin, come here! Cut some firewood”, “Dehusk two coconuts”, “Go feed the chickens” or “Go take care of the cows”. There would always be something she wanted me to do, there would always be a chore that needed to be done. And it had to always happen at the best part of the game. I didn’t have much choice, I would do what she asked but I always with a grumpy face, unwillingly, unhappily and with lots of complaining in my heart. I was never a cheerful giver. Thankfully I have grown and changed over the years. Yet unfortunately, the change is not com...
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Homily: August 8, 2026, Saturday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Small Faith)

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 “The rash man has no integrity; but the just man, because of his faith, shall live.” That is a beautiful statement from the prophet Habakkuk: the just man, because of his faith, shall live. In other words, to truly live, we need faith. And the good news is that we do not need an extraordinary amount of faith to begin. Jesus tells us that if we have faith even the size of a mustard seed, amazing things can happen. A mustard seed is very small, but when it is planted, it grows. Faith is the same way. God does not ask us to begin with perfect faith. He asks us to trust Him with the little faith we have and allow Him to make it grow. Jesus wanted His disciples to grow in faith, faith in Him, faith in the gifts God had given them, and faith in His promises. At the beginning, the disciples were often afraid and uncertain. They doubted. They misunderstood Jesus. Sometimes they even failed Him. But Jesus never gave up on them. He continued to strengthen their faith. Eventually, He could t...
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Homily: August 11, 2026, Tuesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Sweet as Honey)

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 “Feed your belly and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you.” Ezekiel tells us, “I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.” Sweet as honey! Is that really how we experience the Word of God? For many of us, the Word of God can actually be very challenging. It corrects us, directs our conduct, and forms us in Christian discipline. Beginning with the Ten Commandments, we hear many “You shall nots.” Do not do this. Do not do that. Forgive your enemies. Love those who hurt you. Be faithful. Be honest. Carry your cross. Deny yourself. Sometimes God's Word may feel less like honey and more like medicine—something good for us, but not always pleasant to take. So was Ezekiel simply using beautiful symbolic language when he said that God's Word was sweet as honey? Our responsorial psalm today tells us the same thing: “In the way of your decrees I rejoice.” “How sweet to my taste is your promise!” And again, “The law of your mouth is to me more precious than thousan...
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Homily: June 6, 2023, Tuesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time (Love& Honor).

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 An evil report he shall not fear; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. His heart is steadfast; he shall not fear till he looks down upon his foes. This is our responsorial psalm today, in response to the first reading we heard about Tobit and his wife, arguing over a goat which he thought was stolen. Tobit was a righteous man, faithful to God all the days of his life. The Israelites were living in exile under oppression and Tobit became blind and dependent on his wife's work. His kinsmen grieved at his condition, but Tobit did not lose his faith in God. He also did not lose his integrity and moral values. He did not forget his obligation to be steadfast in God’s laws. At every wedding, we witness bridal couples making their vows to each other and promising to be faithful to each other ‘in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love and honor each other all the days of their life’. What a beautiful way to seal love for the other! What a courageous way to assure co...
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Homily: August 7, 2026, Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Forgiveness/Punishement)

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 "Till everyone who sees you runs from you, saying, 'Nineveh is destroyed; who can pity her? Where can one find any to console her?'" These are striking words from the Book of the Prophet Nahum we read today. Most of us are familiar with the story of Nineveh as told in the Book of Jonah. When Jonah finally went to preach at Nineveh, the people repented sincerely. From the king down to the common people, they fasted, prayed, and turned away from their sins. Seeing their repentance, God, who is rich in mercy, withheld the punishment He had announced. Fast forward a hundred years later, that’s when the Book of Nahum was written. The same Nineveh by then had forgotten the mercy it had received a few generations earlier. It had over the century, became the capital of the Assyrian Empire, a nation known for its cruelty. The Assyrians attacked and conquered many nations, including the Israelites, and treated them with brutality. History tells us of their violence, especially...
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Homily: July 31, 2026, Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time (Rejection)

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 “Where did this man get all this?” And they took offense at him. The people who listened to Jesus were astonished at His wisdom, they knew that such words had to come from God but instead of praising God for it, they took offense at Jesus for preaching it. Their narrow mindedness refused to accept that a carpenter’s son could deliver God’s speech. They rejected His wisdom, and they rejected Him. In reality, they had rejected God. Their pridefulness and severe lack of faith prevented them from acknowledging what God was doing in their midst. God came amongst them, to be with them, but they did not want God to come to them that way. They had their own idea of how God should be presented to them and had their own expectations of how the Messiah should speak and act. The same happened to Jeremiah. He preached and warned the people about the consequences of the their sins, but instead of paying attention and recognizing their faults, they questioned and condemned him, “You must be put ...
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Homily: August 10, 2022, Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr

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 “The Father will honor whoever serves me”. I have shared before, that I was the favorite grandchild of my paternal grandfather. He had 10 children and 50 grandchildren. Among all, he loved me the most because he believed I have a perfect green thumb. He was a man who valued planting and farming. Whenever he got a seed or seedling, he would ask me to plant it for him. He believed that whatever I sowed, would reap abundant fruits. And grandpa would bless me specially, even on his last days, he gave only me his final blessings. I never thought much about the simple farming life but had dreamed about being a rich and successful farmer. Although that dream did not come true, I have never stopped planting and gardening. Both the first reading and gospel passage today are about planting: seeds, sowing, reaping, harvesting and producing fruit. During the time of Jesus, one of the major occupations of people were farming. Many of us here are from farming families too. To till the land is a...
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Homily: August 2, 2026, Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (God Satisfies)

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 "When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself." Most of us know what it is like to lose someone we love. Death leaves a deep void in our hearts. Even if we are surrounded by family and friends, we can still feel lonely. Yet it is such times when we need time to be alone, to remember, to grieve, to make sense, and to move on. That is exactly what we see in today's Gospel. In his divinity, Jesus knew that John the Baptist's martyrdom was part of the Father's plan. But in his humanity, Jesus, like any of us, experienced loss and sorrow. Although biblically there is no mention that Jesus and John grew up together, there was already an intimate encounter when both were in the wombs of their mothers. During the visitation of the blessed virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, baby John in-womb ‘leapt for joy’ when Elizabeth heard the sound of Mary’s coming, carrying baby Jesus in her womb. To me, this shows there ...
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Homily: November 16, 2024 Saturday of the Thirty Second week in Ordinary time (Find Faith)

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 But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”  Just a few days ago on Monday, we saw the disciples pleading with Jesus, and ourselves too praying for the same, “Lord, increase our faith.” So, has your faith increased since then? Because today our Lord is checking in with us, when He comes again, will He find faith on earth, will He find faith in us? I am sure we are able to answer ‘yes’! I see many of you coming regularly for daily Mass, serving passionately in the ministries, and doing your best to live a holy life. Very often, I would look back and am so thankful that I have faith in God. I think you would understand and agree too, because we know we would not have come this far in life if we didn’t know God, if we didn’t know prayer. But of course, there is still much to do in terms of spreading the good news. Just within Des Moines, I guess there are still thousands of people who live without faith. I really wonder how they will manage life, especially in i...
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Homily: May 9, 2026, Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter (Visions)

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 “During the night Paul had a vision. A Macedonian stood before him and implored him with these words, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’” One of the mysterious ways God speaks to people in the Bible is through dreams and visions. I am always fascinated by that. In the early chapters of Genesis, we already see visions and dreams. Abraham looked at the stars, and God promised him descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. Jacob saw a ladder between heaven and earth. Joseph had many dreams. Moses, the prophets, St. Joseph in the New Testament, all received guidance from God through dreams and visions. The prophet Joel describes the messianic age with these words: “Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.” And throughout the history of the Church, many saints received mystical visions, saints like Gemma Galgani, Padre Pio, Teresa of Ávila, and Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich. Personally, I do not think I have ev...
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