Homily: April 18, Monday in the Octave of Easter.

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 Last night, while preparing this homily, I was reading the Collect of this Mass and this phrase struck me, “O God who give constant increase to your church by new offspring”.

The words ‘constant increase’ and ‘new offspring’ made me think deeper. Around us, we do hear of people who leave the church or stop practicing the faith. There are still many who do not know God and do not believe in Christ. 

Yet, around the world, the Holy Spirit is working wonders. 2019 Vatican statistics recorded an increase of 16 million baptisms in that year.

And on Saturday, during Easter Vigil in our little parish community here, we witnessed 9 baptisms and 13 confirmations. Out of these 22 catechumens and candidates, 18 are from Eritrea. Some of them could not even recite the profession of faith because they have never had any formal education. They were born in the refugee camps and lived some 20 to 25 years there.

But deep within their hearts, and within the difficulties of their lives, they knew God, heard His call and they embraced this faith. A few of them got so emotional during the rehearsal. They have lived their life without an identity, now in receiving the sacraments, they become fully and officially the children of God.

In the gospel, we see the chief priests and elders bribing the soldiers to tell lies about the resurrection. But their lies could not suppress the ‘constant increase’ and the ‘new offspring’ of the believers all through these years.

Now more than 2000 years later, the church is still growing. A friend of mine shared a video from Iraq where thousands of Christians gathered for the Good Friday procession. Just few years ago, the Islamic state tried to eliminate all non-Muslims in that same area where this procession was held.

No one person, no evil nor military forces can kill the church or hinder her growth, because Jesus has already conquered death. This church is not built by man, but by God, with His own life.

May we continue to let the Holy Spirit work through us, through our ministries and communities, to bring about a constant increase of new offspring in the church.

Amen


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