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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Homily: April 23, 2024, Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter (Exciting news).

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Those who had been scattered by the persecution that arose because of Stephen went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. Antioch is approximately 300 miles from Jerusalem. So it seems that the good news of Christ had spread out far and wide very fast since the death of Stephen. Look at these early converted believers, how excited they are to receive and share the good news. When was the last time you were super excited about something and had to share it with everyone you know? A few days ago, a young friend of mine got enlisted into the US military, he called eagerly to tell me, "Father, I am a soldier." And in a few hours, he came to my office and told me again the same news. He was so excited, it was the best news he had been waiting for, and he went around telling all his friends about it within that morning. Little children are not good at containing their excitement. Often when my young nephews and nieces got new toys, they would immediately FaceTime with me to show
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Homily: March 10, 2022, Thursday of the First Week in Lent

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 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” When I was much younger, I wanted to become very rich, to have lots of money, a nice car, a big house etc.… It was a common village boy’s dream. I don’t think I actually prayed for it, but I surely dreamt about it often. What happened thereafter? Well, I am still dreaming about it. And I even pray for it now! Not for myself but for the parish. When I first moved to this parish, I was shocked by the financial situation, so I did wish and pray for this parish to be rich.  Money is indeed helpful in life but not the most important. Money solves a lot of problems only when it is used wisely. Being poor helps me learn to depend on God’s providence. So, my dream for the parish now is to be rich in God’s word, in community life, in prayerful spirit, in loving and caring for one another. I dream of hearing our prayers and singing rise-up strong and joyful to the heavens when we gather to prais
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Homily: April 6, 2024, Saturday in the octave of Easter (First five saturday devotion.)

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Thank you all for continuing to come for Saturday morning Mass. When I was little, my family used to attend Saturday morning Mass together and will always end with the Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. To me, that is a beautiful devotion for the whole family. I have wanted to start Saturday morning Mass when I first came to SAC but didn’t know if it will catch on with the parishioners. Last year, I attended an evening talk about Our Lady of Fatima at St. Augustine Parish and came to know about the First Five Saturday devotion, and I was again motivated. Finally, today being the first Saturday of the month, we can begin. Let me share a bit more about this devotion. Sr. Lucia was one of the three shepherd children visionaries to whom our Blessed Mother appeared for six months in 1917 in Fatima. Later when Lucia grew up and joined the convent in Spain, our Blessed Mother appeared to her again on December 10, 1925, with this message, “Behold, my daughter, my Heart encircled with thorns
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Homily: September 25, 2022, Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

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From the gospel, “He raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side”. The poor man who went to heaven in this parable had a name: Lazarus. The rich man who went to hell had no name. Our name is our identity. Our relationship to God is our identity. And we are all children of God, He calls each of us by name, both on earth and in heaven. In another gospel passage Jesus told his disciples, “Rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). The rich man may have enjoyed a life of comfort and luxury on earth, but he did not have a relationship with God. Thus in Jesus’ story, he had no name. Now, how did Lazarus get to heaven? Was it because of his poverty. No. How did the rich man end up in hell? Was it because of his wealth? Of course, not. What we have or have not, is not the deciding factor of our destiny after this life.  Our eternity depends on how we use what we have been given. We do not know if the rich man committed any mortal sins in his life, but w
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Homily: August 20, 2022, Saturday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

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“The angel led me to the gate which faces the east, and there I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east”.  These words in the first reading remind of the Orthodox and Oriental Churches. When they construct their churches, they would set their church altars to face the east, so that, when the priests celebrate Mass, they will be looking towards that direction. In India, especially in Kerala where I came from, all our church altars face the east. The concept is based on the expectation that Christ would come again, arriving from the east, and the priest is leading the community to the heavenly Jerusalem.  Interestingly, the Hindu temples also face eastwards.  And do you know, the houses in my village are built with the kitchens facing the east also. Why? It has nothing related to the coming of Christ. It has to do with the sunrise. The mothers of the households start cooking when they wake up, and the kitchens are open concept, so the rising sun will provide the much need
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Homily: March 24, 2022, Thursday of the Third Week of Lent

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 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me, scatters.” Jesus’ message is so clear. We cannot follow Jesus partially. If we are not following him whole heartedly, we are not his followers. Today is the 20th day of Lent, not counting Sundays. We are halfway through. Do you remember what you decided you will do specially for these 40 days of Lent? Are you keeping up to it? While we are trying hard to grow stronger spiritually, the devils are working harder to keep us down. I wonder who is in the lead at this halfway mark? In my childhood years, only rich children in my village could afford to own bikes. When I was in the 5th grade, my older brother and I decided to collect wild nutmeg flowers from the nearby forest to sell, so that we can afford to buy a bike.  We would wake up very early in the morning and run to the forest to search and collect as many as possible. Many children from other villages were doing the same so whoever got there first would get
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Homily Third Sunday in Ordinary time: 1/23/22

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 “…Because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor”. Jesus declared His mission in the Gospel text today by reading from the scroll of Isaiah. Glad tidings are good news, news that will gladden the hearts of the recipients and cause them to rejoice. And prophet Ezra encouraged the Israelites who returned from exile in the first reading, “Do not be sad, and do not weep…for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!” So, what news is good news? What will truly gladden the heart and cause rejoicing? Today my homily will be short, is that good news? My family have always been average, we have always had what we needed, through God’s providence in our hard work. We just did not have comfort or extras, so we seldom go on vacations or travels. But we had simple fun and joy in daily life. My mommy died in 2012 and my papa died in 2018, both due to cancer. Papa had always been a very prayerful, humble and mild-mannered person. I saw him fast and pray consistently throughout his l
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Homily: June 19, 2023, Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time (parish Treasure)

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"As unrecognized and yet acknowledged; as dying and behold we live; as chastised and yet not put to death; as sorrowful yet always rejoicing; as poor yet enriching many; as having nothing and yet possessing all things." In today’s first reading, we see St. Paul’s wisdom as he writes to the faith community in Corinth. He is teaching them to see positivity in every hardship, every problem, every suffering. To him, every situation, seemingly good or bad, is a blessing, if we have eyes of faith to see it. A good example is our St. Ambrose parish. In the diocese, we are one of the poorest parishes, despite being the Cathedral. Seventy percent of our parishioners are refugees, living every day in survival mode, working hard to build a basic home, to educate their children, simply to live in peace. They left their war-torn country to find a new home, starting from zero. They brought nothing with them, only faith and hope. Materially, they have next to nothing, so they are not able t
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Homily: February 27, 2022, Eight Sunday in the Ordinary Time

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For readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022722.cfm There were two brothers who lived debauched lives engaging in terrible deeds. They were notorious yet not at all ashamed. Then one brother died. The surviving brother asked the local pastor to preach at his brother’s funeral. The pastor, aware of the brothers’ background, was reluctant to do it. The brother then promised to donate a big sum of money to the church and begged the pastor to preach with a special request. “Father, in your homily, you just have to say that my brother was a saint.” The pastor thought about it and agreed. The funeral day came. The pastor began his homily, “The man laid in the casket was a rotter; he led a horrible and debauched life. He was truly rotten to the bone. But compared to his brother, he was a saint.” Saintly life or shoddy living – Would the priest at our own funeral have to be paid to tell a lie? It all depends on what kind of fruit we produce from the way we live. Usually, we cannot
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Homily, March 22, 2022, Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent.

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 “Do not let us be put to shame, but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy.” This is the prayer by prophet Azaria, pleading to God on behalf of the people. How do you discipline your children when they do something wrong? In India, caning is the norm. My parents did the same. Whenever we did something wrong, my mommy would grab the cane to give us a good beating. Of course, we knew what was coming and would run away fast. Mommy would then chase us around the house, trying to get us. Where could we go? The best trick was to run to grandpa. If we reached him before mommy got us, we will be safe! He would always protect us and plead on our behalf, “don’t cane them, just forgive this time”. How many times have we been saved by grandpa? I don’t know, maybe more than seventy-seven times. Peter asks in the Gospel, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him?” He is referring to offences between two persons. If seventy-seven times is how often we should forgive o
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