Homily: May 17, 2022, Tuesday of Fifth Week of Easter.

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 “But when the disciples gathered around him, he got up and entered the city”.

In the first reading, St. Paul had just been stoned by a crowd and dragged out of the city as dead. Try to imagine the physical condition of St. Paul. His body must be badly bruised, probably swollen and bleeding. Some of his bones might even be broken.

Yet, he managed to get up from all his wounds and near-death condition, then walked straight back into the city where he just got stoned! He must be crazy.

St. Paul firmly declared in Romans 8:35-39, “What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?... No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us.”

Indeed. Nothing could stop Paul and the disciples from preaching the gospel. They were crazy for God. They looked forward to the reward of eternal life and couldn’t care less for the sufferings and death in this temporal life. They feared nothing in this world.

If we all preach the gospel fearlessly like the disciples, the world would all be converted to Christ. 

So, what is stopping us?

Are we afraid of rejection, persecution and losing friends?


There is more freedom in this country for us to profess and propagate our faith boldly, compared to many other countries in the world but there could be more social awkwardness here when it comes to talking about religion.

Are we afraid to preach because we ourselves are not living an authentic catholic life?

In this modern world, the devil does not have to work too hard to keep us away from God because there are so many interesting distractions and addictions to keep us busy. We know we fall short in many ways.

It seems we are not as fervent, focused and faith driven as the early disciples like St. Paul.

But Jesus says to us, as He said to His disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”

We are assured of Christ’s peace, what else should we fear? We will never change the world by simply coming to church. We can only change the world by being the church. We are disciples of Christ. Our mission is to preach.

As we come closer to the feast of Pentecost, let us ask the Holy Spirit for the gifts which we need, so as to fearlessly proclaim the gospel of Christ, in words and in our own way of life. Amen.


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Homily: August 11, 2025 Monday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Greatness of God)

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“Think! The heavens, even the highest heavens, belong to the LORD, your God, as well as the earth and everything on it. Yet in his love for your fathers, the LORD was so attached to them as to choose you, their descendants, in preference to all other peoples.” The greatness of God is truly, completely beyond our full understanding, in fact, it is even beyond our partial understanding. What we know of God is probably just a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the true greatness of God. The people who lived during the time of Moses had only a minimal understanding of who God is because God had only revealed a little about Himself. Divine revelation is gradual. Even if He had revealed everything about Himself, no one would be able to grasp it all. First, God revealed Himself to Abraham and his immediate descendants. Then, through Moses, He revealed Himself to an entire community. Finally, in the fullness of time, through His Son Jesus Christ, God revealed Himself to the whole world. I...
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Homily: August 10, 2025, Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

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Homily: August 12, 2025, Tuesday of the Nineteenth week in Ordinary Time.

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 “It is the LORD who marches before you; he will be with you and will never fail you or forsake you. So do not fear or be dismayed.” What do you fear? Every one of us, deep inside or possibly very obviously, has certain fears - things or situations we hope and pray we will never have to face. Some fears fade as we grow older or as circumstances change, some fears remain with us for a long time, especially if we do not make any effort to manage it proactively or positively. When I was a little boy, I was very afraid of snakes. But after my papa taught me how to kill them, I overcame that fear quickly. When I was a student, tests and exams caused me to tremble in fear. I have never overcome that fear. I simply stopped going to school after the age of 28. So for the past nine years I haven’t had to face tests and exams anymore! When I first came to this country, I was always nervous about attending meetings. I was not familiar with the culture here and did not know what the right thin...
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(Holy Family School Mass)   “While he was praying, his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white.” Today we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus. Transfiguration means a complete change of appearance into a most beautiful, glorious, spiritual state. Jesus’ transfiguration shows us that although He has taken on human nature, He is also at the same time truly God. Do you remember who were the three disciples who went with Jesus up the mountain when He was transfigured?  That’s right. Peter, James, and John. And how do you think they felt when they saw Jesus shining with glory? Oh yes, they were afraid, because they had never seen anyone shining so brightly before, it does not happen to human people. But then later they felt great too! That’s why Peter said, “Lord, it is good for us to be here!” He even wanted to build three tents for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. In those days, people do live in tents, not for camping. So Peter thought they...
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 “Men, why are you doing this? We are of the same nature as you, human beings.”  Paul and Barnabas were in serious trouble. After fleeing persecution in Iconium, they arrived in Lystra, only to face another challenge. But this time, it was not violent persecution, it was overwhelming appreciation. The people there were almost worshipping them as gods. The people of Lystra, who had long been worshipping Zeus, Hermes, and other deities, thought that the gods had finally come down in human form when they saw the miracles performed by Paul and Barnabas. They believed only divine beings could do such wonder. Truly so, but Paul and Barnabas were ordinary men, made of the same flesh and blood. Yet there was something different about them, the miracles they performed were truly acts of God, working through human beings. Paul and Barnabas were true and faithful followers of Jesus; thus they were filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered to perform great works for God. In today’s Gospel...
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 “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” This is applicable to any kingdom, any organisation, any group, and of course, it applies to church, the kingdom of God here on earth as well. We see decline and weakening of organisations where divisions exist. Is the church, the kingdom of God here on earth divided or united? In this so-called modern society, it is not difficult to see many divisive opinions and views. Many people strongly advocate abortion, same-sex marriage, and other behaviour which the church has explicitly identified as unacceptable. Yet these people claim to be catholic. They justify their arguments based on their own ideologies and political principles, not on the church’s teachings. And there are church leaderships who keep silent regarding these issues for fear of losing popularity. Yes, God forgives but we cannot take God’s mercy for granted and live like ...
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 ‘The Lord God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?”’ This is the first question God asked man after he committed sin. God surely knew what happened. He gave Adam and Eve all freedom to do as they please, requesting only one restriction, yet they failed Him. He should be upset, He is justified to be furious, He has every right to question and reprimand them, instead he asked, “where are you?” Through this we can see that although God disapproves of sin, His bigger concern is when we hide from Him and persist in darkness. He calls us our from hiding, into His light. Human beings are the crown of God’s creation.  He yearns for us to be in His light, in His presence, always. And all through history, God does not change His position, He does not run away, He remains always available, reachable and near. We are the ones turning away and increasing the distance from God. Fulton Sheen rightly said, “Ever since the days of Adam man has been hiding from God and saying ‘God ...
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Reflection: April 18, 2025 Bridge Churches stations of the cross on good Friday.

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"Then he said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.' He replied to him, 'Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.'"  The good thief asked only to be remembered, but Jesus, always faithful to His promises, responded with the gift of eternal life. Jesus was nailed to a cross, like a criminal, with two real criminals by His side. He had once been surrounded by thousands who needed His healing, followed by many who wanted to hear Him, and accompanied by friends who loved Him. But now at the final hour of His suffering and dying, they had all left Him. This is what many of us fear, to be forgotten and left alone at our dying moment. Let us look at the situation of the two thieves crucified beside Jesus. As thieves, they probably lived in poverty, anxiety and constantly hiding. They might not have family or friends since they work in darkness. Now caught and condemned, they too are in the last hour of their lives, about to die. Yet,...
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