Homily, June 1, 2022, Memorial of Saint Justin, Martyr

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 “And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated”. This is Jesus’ prayer for His disciples, and His prayer for us who believe in Him.

What does it mean to be consecrated?

It means to be set aside for holiness, to be anointed for God’s purpose, to be devoted totally to God.

Jesus consecrated Himself for the disciples and for us. And by that, we too may be consecrated to God, to be set aside for God’s purpose of salvation, mercy and love.

In the book of Genesis chapter 28, Jacob anointed a stone with oil, dedicated that place to God and named it Bethel. Thus, Bethel became part of salvation history. Samuel anointed David and the little shepherd boy became the king of Israel. Jesus consecrated His disciples, anointed them with the Holy Spirit and these simple fishermen became powerful fishers of men.

Consecration empowers and transforms. It gives new purpose, new identity, new mission to the consecrated.

Once, I attended a Cistercian ordination rite. The newly ordained monk turned to four directions: north, south, west and east, to say goodbye to the world. The symbolism is deep and meaningful. He no longer belonged to the world, and the world no longer belonged to him. His being ordained set him aside totally for God’s purpose. From then on, he will live for God only.

We too, were anointed with the sacred chrism oil on the day of our baptism. We became adopted sons and daughters of God, set us aside from the world to live for God. We no longer belong to the world. We belong to Jesus, for His mission, for our salvation and the salvation of all.

Are we conscious of this beautiful truth? Do we think about this purpose of our being? Do we let the world influence us into materialistic, anxious, selfish people or do we allow the Holy Spirit to transform us into completed image and likeness of God?

St. Paul also prayed for the Ephesian Church, “And now I commend you to God and to that gracious word of his that can build up and give you the inheritance among all who are consecrated”.

May we too receive the same inheritance prepared for the consecrated people of God. Amen.

Fr. Nivin Scaria 


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Homily: April 14, 2026 Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter (Simple Faith)

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Did you listen attentively to the Gospel reading? Yes? Let me test you… What did Jesus say? Did He say, “Whoever eats my bread and drinks my wine?”  No! He said, “Whoever eats my FLESH and drinks my BLOOD remains in me and I in him.” Yes, when you receive Holy Communion, you are receiving the real flesh and blood of Jesus. I am sure Fr. Roy, your catechists, parents and the whole parish community have prepared you well for this day, so you know what you are receiving today. But what I want to focus on now is the last part where Jesus says, ‘remains in me and I in him’. 29 years ago in 1996, I received my First Holy Communion. I was eight years old, but I still remember that day vividly. I remember the preparations, my First Reconciliation, and the excitement I felt when I lined up to receive Jesus for the very first time. I remember seeing the priest dipping the Precious Body into the Precious Blood, and then that precious moment – Jesus’ body and blood rested on my tongue. So swee...
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“Prepare to meet your God, O Israel.” This is the last verse from today’s first reading, and it reminds me of my school days. When I was in school, from Pre-K right up to high school, there were umpteen times when I was told, “Prepare to meet your principal.” And that meant trouble. Every principal that had led my school, has had the privilege of punishing me for being naughty or not doing my homework, and occasionally my parents too were called in to meet them. That was so embarrassing for them, and totally shameful for me. Yet it did not stop me from getting into trouble as I progressed through school. And so, whenever I go to Holy Family School here, and if I see students in the principal's office, it reminds me of my own experience in the past. I imagine that they too probably got into some trouble for not finishing their homework or misbehaving in class. And if I see a kid from SAC in the principal's office, I would just pretend that I did not look inside and did not see t...
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Holy Family School Mass Homily:   “During the night, the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison.” Did you hear that line in today’s first reading? The Sadducees put the apostles in jail. But during the night, an angel of the Lord came, opened the prison doors, and set them free. That is amazing, right? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have an angel like that? But here is the good news: You already do! Each one of you has a guardian angel. God has given every one of us an angel to protect us, guide us, and help us reach heaven. Some saints were very close to their guardian angels. St. Isidore, a farmer in Spain, loved God very much. There are stories that angels helped him with his work when he was busy praying. St. Padre Pio often spoke with his guardian angel and even asked his angel to help others. St. Gemma Galgani also experienced her guardian angel, who guided her and even corrected her when she did something wrong! Even in the life of Jesus, when He was praying in t...
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 "If you knew what this meant, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice’, you would not have condemned these innocent men."  Jesus is quoting the words God had spoken through the prophet Hosea in the past. He knows that the Pharisees were familiar with the phrase and background but obviously they did not seem to fully understand what it meant. Now, do we know what it means? The root word of mercy is "misericordia," which means a compassionate heart. It is the heart that matters, not the externals. In the first reading, we see God instructing Moses in detail how each Israelite family should offer a lamb and the whole community would sacrifice all the offerings together, share out the roasted meat and apply the lamb’s blood on door posts for the Lord to pass over, destroying only the Egyptians, not the Israelites. The Israelites were to celebrate this festival yearly through all generations as a remembrance of God’s saving grace and liberation of the Israelites from slavery...
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