Homily: May 16, 2022, Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter.

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 “We are of the same nature as you, human beings.”

St. Paul had to emphasize this to the people of Lystra. They had just witnessed a miracle performed by Paul. Indeed, no human person can perform such a miracle, only God can. Jesus performed many such miracles in His life, but the Jews did not recognise His divinity, they were spiritually blind. Now St. Paul performed the same, did he also have divine power?

A new bar was under construction in a small town, right across the street in front of a church. The local priest launched a campaign for his parishioners to pray against the new bar from opening.

As construction works progressed, prayers intensified. One week before the opening, lightning struck the almost completed new bar and it burned to the ground. The whole church celebrated, but the bar owner brought the church to court, charging her for causing the loss of his building and business. The church denied all responsibility, defending herself for having no such power to cause the destruction and its damages.

During the court proceedings, the judge analysed the case and commented, “It intrigues me to judge this case. 

It appears that we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer, and an entire church congregation that does not.”

What do you think? Do we really have the power to bring about miracles, like St. Paul? It is true that we are all of the same nature, human beings. It is also true that only God can perform miracles. So, how did St. Paul do it?

In the gospel Jesus says, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.”

St. Paul loved Jesus and kept His word with total dedication. Thus, the Holy Spirit dwelt in him, and worked powerful miracles through him.

Same for us. When we love God with all our heart and keep faithful to His word, God the Holy Spirit will also dwell in us, and work wonderful miracles through us, bearing beautiful fruits of love. Amen.


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Homily: July 20, 2025, Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary time.

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Homilía: Julio 17, 2022, XVI Domingo Ordinario

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Homily: July, 30, 2024, Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time (seeds of weeds).

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Homily: August 21, 2023, Monday of the twentieth week in Ordinary Time.

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Homily: June 16, 2025 Monday of the Eleventh week in Ordinary time (Grace not in vain)

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“Not to receive the grace of God in vain.” Today’s first reading began with a stern warning. Are we receiving the grace of God in vain? Do we got to confession, yet continue to live in habitual sin and disobedience to God’s will? Christian living is a life in and of grace. It is a life of grace, because from the moment of our baptism, followed through with the other sacraments, God pours out His grace to us. But the full effect of His grace requires our cooperation. If we take it for granted, are non-responsive or even ignorant, if we do not actively nurture it, God’s grace would be fruitless, and futile in our life. Imagine pouring water to a cup with a closed lid, nothing gets filled, the cup remains empty. Think of baptism. At a child’s baptism, the parents and godparents profess the faith on the child’s behalf. They promise to raise the child according to the Catholic faith. If they fail to live that promise, if they do not bring the child to Mass, do not pray with the child, neith...
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Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Most of the third-world countries, including my home country, have a long history of colonization, oppression, discrimination, injustice, and slavery. So, finally when we attain independence, presumably gaining freedom as a nation, we celebrate it. The freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives are the national heroes. In the schools in India, students will study numerous stories and poems written before the days of independence to help them understand the painful history of the country and instill in every child a deep sense of national consciousness and patriotism. Some things in history must not be repeated. Spiritually, we too can be enslaved. With the fall of our first ancestors, we all became slaves to sin. The disobedience of Adam and Eve introduced sin into the world, which has been transmitted to all mankind. We are not guilty of their sin, but we are all affected by it. We become enslaved. Onl...
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