Homily: May 29, 2022, The Ascension of the Lord

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 As Jesus was about to ascend to heaven in the presence of his disciples, he told them, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Could the disciples be good witnesses? Who can be a good witness?

Some of you may already know, my official name is Nipin but my original name is Nivin. Typo error is easy to correct, but written error on official documents become permanent. That was the situation with my name.

I also have two birth dates: one is the actual date of when I was born, which was stated in the birth document. The other date was chosen and used to enrol me into school earlier, instead of a year later. It is a common practice in India. This date was stated in school documents and all other official documents. It became my official date of birth.

Now in USA, part of my immigration process requires my birth information, so the discrepancy in the dates needs to be rectified. Who can prove my actual date of birth?

My parents are deceased, so my siblings had to give their affidavits, witnessing to my birth. And I was reminded that only my older siblings’ affidavits are effective, since they have witnessed my entry into the family.

What makes a good witness?

Beyond just being someone who saw what actually happened, a good witness, especially in the court of law, must be credible, whose claims must be trustworthy.

In the courts, a witness had to be sworn in or affirmed. Those who are sworn in, takes an oath, declaring in these words, ‘I swear by Almighty God that I will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.’

Can a witness lie or misrepresent the truth? He can try but it is perjury, a criminal offence, and attorneys would usually try to test the consistencies in the statements of the witness because lies show up in inconsistencies. The truth is always consistent.

And here we see Jesus sending His first disciples to be His witnesses, to tell the world the whole truth. Are they good credible witnesses? Are they consistent?

The Acts of the Apostles in the Bible tell us clearly how the apostles lived and preached, not just with words, but with miraculous works and with total dedication. They lived to preach.

Not everyone believed what the apostles preached and professed. Many people criticized them, insulted them, expelled them from synagogues, sent them into exile and even tortured them. The disciples endured all those persecutions for some 20 to 40 years. And none of them changed their stand. Their teachings about Christ were fervent and consistent. Their witnessing was steadfast even in the face of death.

And tradition tells us how they died. Peter and Andrew were crucified. Other apostles were either stoned, beheaded, burnt, boiled or killed in some other ways. The extraordinary thing is, they had no fear of torture or death, they all praised God for the privilege to die for their faith. They were martyrs.

Can a fabricated story withstand such tortures? Can a lie survive in the face of torment and death?

The Greek word for ‘witnessing’ is Martiria which translates to mean ‘giving your life for what you saw’. The word ‘martyr’ is derived from this word. So, to give your life for the truth is martyrdom.

Nothing could stop the disciples, their words proclaimed their faith, their deaths testified to the truth. They lived and died martyrs, good witnesses for Christ.

What about us?

We are not called to be martyrs in dying but to be witnesses in living. How can we be good witnesses for Christ in the way we live?

We cannot witness to what we do not believe in. If we truly believe in Jesus, we would be willing to suffer some inconveniences and discomfort for the sake of our faith. The way we love our neighbors, our enemies, love those who are different from us, those who challenge our pride and test our patience. We do not have to agree or condone, but we can choose to love despite the disagreements and differences, we can choose to forgive despite the persecutions and hurts.

In the Gospel, Jesus affirmed, “You are my witnesses of these things.”

Yes, when we love as Jesus did, we give witness to God’s grace. When we forgive as Jesus did, we give witness to God’s mercy.

Are we ready to be good witnesses for Christ?


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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 13, 2022, Sunday of the second Week of Lent

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 The Lord God took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars if you can. Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”  “I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as a possession.” God made these two promises to Abram. For the people in ancient times, and for many even in modern times, having children as heir and owning land as property are two most important possessions in life. Abram had been leading a nomadic life for many years and his wife Sarai, already in her old age, was still childless at that time. So, Abram doubted and questioned, “how am I to know…?” Have you been praying for something important, bearing heavy burdens while waiting, trying to keep hopeful but still you received nothing? Would you also doubt and question God? In response to Abram’s doubt, God assured him by cutting a covenant with him, known as a covenant of the pieces. In ancient times, when people entered a treaty, a contractual agreement, they wo
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Homily: May 4, 2024 Saturday of the fifth week of easter (Align to the Holy Spirit).

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Homily: January 24, 2023, Tuesday of the Third week in Ordinary Time.

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Homily: September 28, 2022 Wednesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time (For children)

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Homily: July 12, 2022, Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time.

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Homily: September 26, 2022, Monday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time.

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We heard in the Gospel today: "Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me." We all have been to grocery stores. You see shelves and shelves of everything you need, rows and rows of vegetables and meat, packed, weighed and priced in advance, so you can just pick up what you want.  Back in my childhood, there were no grocery stores in the local village. So to buy vegetables, we go to the vegetable market on Sundays. For meat, we go to the butcher. Every Saturday, they would slaughter a buffalo and sell the meat. Once, my mummy sent my brother and I to buy some meat from her regular butcher. We didn’t know how to choose the best meat but we thought, the butcher would help since he knew my parents very well. Instead, he cheated on us, and packed bad quality meat for us to bring home. Mummy was very upset. The butcher knew we went to buy on behalf of our mummy, his regular customer, but he did not respect that. When he
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Homily: June 30, 2023, Friday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time.

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Homily: July 11, 2023, Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Namesake)

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Homily: April 18, Monday in the Octave of Easter.

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