Homily April 29, Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

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 “And all day long, both at the temple and in their homes,

they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the Christ, Jesus”.

Even after being flogged, all day long, the disciples continued teaching and preaching everywhere… Amazing, isn’t it? 

These past few days, we have been reading from Acts of the Apostles. We see how the Jewish leaders and high priest tried to stop the apostles from preaching in the name of Jesus. But they failed.

The Pharisee Gamaliel rightly said, “if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” How true.

The church is from God. The disciples did not stop teaching and proclaiming. They even rejoiced at being flogged for what they were doing. They were on fire for Jesus. They were so eager and excited to tell everyone about Jesus.

What about us? If there is a new restaurant serving delicious food or a store is having a great end-of-summer sale, we would hear many people talking about it. Some would even gather friends to check it out together. Yes, we get excited over such happenings. Do we also get excited over Jesus? His fantastic offer of heavenly treasures and priceless gifts which money can’t buy?

I have a dear old friend, who has a health condition which affects him physically, socially and mentally. But spiritually, he is perfect. He is always excited about Jesus. Just the day before yesterday, he called me and was excitedly telling me how he is bringing Jesus to others.

First, whomever he meets at the grocery stores and streets, he starts the conversation with, “What church are you going to?” He explained that this question is to help them think about church and God in their life. 

Second, whenever he sees an ambulance with emergency lights on, he will do the sign of cross so that whoever is lying in the ambulance, will be comforted knowing there is someone praying for them.

Beautiful, isn’t it?

May we all be spirit-filled like the first disciples, teaching and preaching Christ all day long. We can do it in simple ways, like my dear old friend who proclaims his faith in the risen Lord to everyone he encounters, in his own special way. Amen.


Comments

  1. TL4 May 2022 at 05:57

    oh yes, so beautiful! A friend's young son, about 8 years old then, used to ask her who is in the ambulance every time he sees one pass by with the siren on. After some time, he decided he will pray for that someone in any ambulance that passes by. These are such beautiful innocent people. Your dear old friend too. God bless their generous hearts.

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