Homily: March 5, 2022, Saturday after Ash Wednesday

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 There is an Indian common saying, ‘Tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are’. And a phrase we all know, ‘Birds of a feather, flock together’.

Are these sayings true?

I have a friend in India, who was known for all his tricks in business and illegal connections. He was despised by many and wanted by the police. But I became his friend, against the advice of my brother priests. He shared with me honestly everything he did, the bad and the ugly. He was open, sincere, and truthful with me. He too accepted me as I am and treated me better than my other friends.

I do not like the bad things he did, but I like him. He remains my good friend.

So were the tax collectors to Jesus. He became their friend. He sat with them, ate with them. He accepted them. He saw in them goodness which others did not see. He saw beyond their unacceptable occupation. He saw their needs. They needed God. They needed to hear the good news. They needed salvation, like any other.

They were open, truthful, and sincere with Jesus. They welcomed Him better than the Pharisees, who were in respectable positions.

God sees deep into our hearts. He sees the truth of our being. He does not judge us by our worldly occupations or positions. He loves every soul. Everyone is precious.

He has come to be our friend. Will we sit and eat with Him? Will we be open, sincere, and truthful with Him? Will we listen to Him? Amen.

Fr. Nivin Scaria


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Homily: February 12-2024, Monday of the sixth week in Ordinary time (Preserverenace)

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Did you listen attentively to the Gospel reading? Yes? Let me test you… What did Jesus say? Did He say, “Whoever eats my bread and drinks my wine?”  No! He said, “Whoever eats my FLESH and drinks my BLOOD remains in me and I in him.” Yes, when you receive Holy Communion, you are receiving the real flesh and blood of Jesus. I am sure Fr. Roy, your catechists, parents and the whole parish community have prepared you well for this day, so you know what you are receiving today. But what I want to focus on now is the last part where Jesus says, ‘remains in me and I in him’. 29 years ago in 1996, I received my First Holy Communion. I was eight years old, but I still remember that day vividly. I remember the preparations, my First Reconciliation, and the excitement I felt when I lined up to receive Jesus for the very first time. I remember seeing the priest dipping the Precious Body into the Precious Blood, and then that precious moment – Jesus’ body and blood rested on my tongue. So swee...
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Homily: August 30, 2025, Saturday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time (Work Hard)

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Homily: Thursday, February 10, 2022, Memorial of Saint Scholastica

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 Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021022.cfm Yesterday’s first reading, we heard about King Solomon’s profound wisdom and great riches. Today, we read about his foolishness in turning away from God. It makes us wonder, how could someone so wise become so foolish? Today’s gospel story is very interesting. A Syrophoenician woman, who was non-Jew, had enough faith to asked Jesus for help. And when our Lord tested her with a sarcastic reply, her response showed not just faith, but wisdom. “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.” This reminds me of the former president of India, KR Narayanan. In India, among the Hindus there is a caste system. Everyone is born into a caste and stays in it forever. Narayanan’s family was from the lowest caste, considered the ‘untouchables’. So, others despised them. When he was young, his parents had no money to pay the school fees. As penalty, the teachers would send him out of the classroom. But he was very ...
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Homily: September 9, 2025, Tuesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time (Pray)

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“Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God.” What a perfect example for us to follow! Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity, prayed. He who is God the Son, prayed to God the Father. He spent the whole night in prayer before choosing His disciples. In His divinity, Jesus already knew the Father’s will. Yet in His humanity, He is just like us. He needed to spend time with His Father, to pray and to discern to be aligned with God’s will. Jesus shows us a powerful example: we too must pray before making important decisions, to ask God what His will is for us. Sometimes, when we act without consulting Him, we may find ourselves going against His will or going a wrong long way before reaching which lead us through unnecessary suffering or other unbearable consequences. So bring your plans to Jesus, tell Him your hopes, your preferences, your wishes, and He will bless you with the wisdom to choose wise and right. But what if we prayed, heard, followed a...
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 Grief-stricken in spirit, I, Tobit, groaned and wept aloud. Then with sobs I began to pray… We continue our reflections from the book of Tobit. In the first part of today’s first reading, we see how Tobit was ‘grief-stricken in spirit’ – he was devastated and desperate! His life saw misfortunes one after another, while he continued to keep faithful to God. But there is just so much a human person can withstand, so he took it to prayer, with groans and sobs, but if you read carefully his prayer, there was no complaints or anger against God. Only total surrender and giving up his life totally to the Lord. Then we read on to Sarah’s life. What a miserable life she had, losing one husband after another, seven times, all on the wedding nights. She was cursed indeed by the demon and ridiculed by others, she was helpless and depressed. What could she do? We see in the reading, “At that time, then, she spread out her hands, and facing the window, poured out her prayer…” She could take her...
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