Homily: May 22, 2022, Sixth sunday of Easter

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 “I saw no temple in the city for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb. The city had no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb”.

This vision of St. John is so powerful!

God Himself is the temple, His glory is the light for the world. So, there is no need for the sun or the moon. Probably there is no need for food and drink also, since Jesus’ body and blood is the real food and drink. God provides. There is a popular quote: “If God is all you have, you have all you need.”

This is true not just at the end of time, but in our lives today. Do you believe?

I have a good friend, Terry, who is the sole bread winner of her family. She works as a sales-person and her income fluctuates according to the sale she makes. During the year when Covid-19 first hit, everything slowed down. Her income suffered. But household expenses did not go down. She tried to find ways to make ends meet and dug into her savings.

Then in May that year, things got worse. She would not be able to pay all the bills at the end of the month. Although she was anxious, she knew there was no one else to trust but the Lord.

Just before the month ended, a distant friend called her, out of the blue. This was what she told Terry, “I just sold my car for a good sum, and I promised God I will give the profit to charity. I prayed for God to show me which charity to give to, but your name keeps popping up. So, I am going to do just that.”

With that, she wired the money to Terry, and the amount was exactly what Terry was short of for that month, not more, not less.

“If God is all you have, you have all you need.”

It is true. Believe it. I too have experienced the providence of the Lord in times when I needed it most. If God really provides for all our needs, is there anything else worth our worrying?

In the first reading today, we see problems and disputes arising within the first century Christians. They argued first about baptism of the Gentiles, then about clean and unclean food, about circumcision and so on. They were still very much concerned with the observances of the mosaic law.

Should these matters be the focus of our faith?

If we read through the Gospels carefully, is there any time when Jesus was troubled with circumcision, clean and unclean food or welcoming non-Jews? No.

Jesus composed all the mosaic laws and prophets into one basic commandment: love. Jesus’ teachings are always about love. Love God, love neighbour, love enemy, love one another. Without love, keeping the law is mere external piety. The heart is not changed.

In today’s gospel text, Jesus also teaches, “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.”

If we love Jesus as we professed, we will keep his word, His commandments. Love is the way, the truth, the life. God is love. Jesus is love. We too, made in the image and likeness of God, are love.

Yes, if we are faithful to his commandment to love, we will always live in His presence, He will dwell in us. Then we would have no need for anything else of this world, even the most wonderful source of energy, the sun and the most beautiful light, the moon are not needed.

Do you love Jesus?

Do you trust in Him?

Love one another, let Him make his dwelling in our hearts and let us live in the glory of the Lord. Amen.


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Homily, Wednesday,January 5, 2022, Memorial of Saint John Neumann, Bishop

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Homily: February 27, 2022, Eight Sunday in the Ordinary Time

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Homilía: 3 Julio, 2022, XIV Domingo Ordinario

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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 w...
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Christmas Homily 2021,

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Homily: November 2, 2024, The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls); Pleanary Indulgnce.

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