Homily, June 30, Thursday, Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

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 “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.”

Before healing the paralyzed man from his physical illness, Jesus first healed him of his spiritual burden. Jesus forgave his sins.

Physical, psychological, emotional, even social illnesses are linked to our spiritual well-being. Illnesses are a consequence of sin.

During our third Wednesdays’ healing services, the ministers of healing always direct the sick people to the sacrament of reconciliation first because they believe forgiveness of the soul is necessary before healing of the body.

But are all our sicknesses due to our own sinfulness?

Many saintly people suffer illnesses, and we can be sure those are not consequences of their own sins.

Many great saints suffered serious illnesses too. One beautiful example is St. Teresa of Lisieux.  She suffered much during her short life and she offered all her sufferings for the conversion of sinners. Her suffering was salvific, just like our Saviour.

Jesus suffered and died not for His own sins, but for the sins of humankind.

Mother Angelica said, “Suffering in itself does not make us holy. It is only when we unite it, out of love, to the suffering of Christ that is has meaning.”

All our sicknesses and sufferings are salvific if we offer them for our own and for the salvation of the world.


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Homily: March 23,2025, Third Sunday of Lent (First Scrutiny of the elect)

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 "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13-14) On the third, fourth, and fifth Sundays of Lent, we celebrate the Rites of Scrutiny with our elects - those preparing to receive the Sacraments of Initiation, to enter the Catholic Church, as part of the period of ‘Purification and Enlightenment. The purification process is God's way of helping to remove the stain and dirt from the souls of the Elect, so to see the true good and beauty of each soul. God does not scrutinize to find the wrongs but to celebrate the real identity of each child of His, revealing the value within each of us and rejoicing in the light of Christ reflecting from us. Each of these Sundays has a powerful theme: Water, Light and Life. These themes are presented through the Gospel texts of various encounters with Jesus Christ: the wom...
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 “He will come to us like the rain, like spring rain that waters the earth.” Do you like the rain? I have always enjoyed rain, not just watching it from my window, but walking or playing in the rain. Rain is refreshing, especially on hot days. When I was little, growing up in India, we always looked forward to the summer rain. It wasn’t until I came to Iowa that I experienced spring rain, which is gentle, joyful and uplifting. During summer in India, the scorching heat would dry up everything; water in the creeks and ponds would vanish, grass and plants would wither. In those days before there was tap water, people would walk long distances in the summer heat to collect water then carry it home in huge plastic pots. The intense heat, the lack of oxygen and the loss of liveliness in the environment also dulled everybody’s mood. Then after some months, the rain would come. Sometimes suddenly, sometimes in thunderstorms, but we would always know it was coming. The hornbill birds would...
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 “Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.” Every one of our Christian journey begins with a very simple thing: “Yes”. At baptism, the priest asks the parents or the candidates three questions: Do you renounce Satan? Do you reject sin? Do you reject all that leads you away from God? If the answer is Yes, Yes and Yes, then he asks three more questions to confirm our belief, the profession of our faith in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Yes, Yes and Yes. And from that moment, we belong to God totally. Our new relationship with God, our new life as a Christian begins. Do we then live happily ever after? Realistically, this is where the struggle also begins. Growing up, I have said many “Yes’s” to God. Often, I have also said “No” to Him. But more often, My Yes’s were compromised, unaccomplished, unreliable. Often, they were conditional “Yes’s”. I negotiated and bargained with God, I procrastinated and made excuses. They would so...
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 “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” At first, those words sound overwhelming. No option. No compromise. Just: Be perfect. Jesus sets the highest standard possible—not human perfection, but divine perfection. And immediately we might think: How is that possible? And how do we move toward that perfection? The Church gives us a beautiful path: the three theological virtues, faith, hope, and love. First, faith. Faith means trusting. Trusting God, Trusting in God’s promises. Jesus tells us that faith even the size of a mustard seed is enough. God does not demand enormous faith, He asks for sincere faith. Second, hope. Hope keeps us steady when life becomes difficult. When problems feel like mountains in front of us. When suffering enters our family. When prayers seem unanswered. Hope whispers to us: You have a perfect heavenly Father. He is faithful. Hold on. Christian hope does not deny pain—it carries us through it. It reminds us that God can turn everything tow...
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Homily: March 3, 2026, Tuesday of the Second Week in Lent (Talk-Walk)

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 "The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example.” It is commonly said that ‘talk is cheap’. It is very easy to say what is right, what is good, what is impressive. But it is not easy to walk the talk, to live out what we speak about. In today’s Gospel, we understood that the scribes and the Pharisees talked a lot. Their position gave them the right to teach the law of Moses. But their ways did not match up. Jesus too taught a lot. But what gave power to Jesus’ teaching was not any official title He held. It was His integrity. His words and His works matched. His walk and His talk matched. He was authentic. What about us? As parents, teachers, priests, leaders, elders – we speak and teach often. People hear us but they are also watching us. Finally, especially children, they model us. They may hear us, but effectively, they follow what they see us do. The powe...
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Homily: August 23, 2025, Saturday of the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Imperfect Generations)

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 “They called him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.”  Today’s first reading is fascinating account of how Ruth and Boaz came together and became the great grandparents of King David, the powerful king of Israel who established Jerusalem as the holy city and wrote many of the psalms we still pray today. Ruth is one of the Five women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. The other three are Rahab, Tamar and Bethsheba, and Mary, the Mother of God. Interestingly, Ruth who was a Moabite woman, a foreigner, has her life recorded in scripture as an important part of salvation history, even though her story is not one of perfection. The circumstances which led her to Boaz were not ideal, yet God turned everything into good. Ruth showed courage and a respectable character when she left her homeland and went with her mother-in-law to her people. That act of faithfulness must have pleased the God of Israel. Thousands of years later, we continue to read her story and p...
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Homily: February 27, 2026Friday of the First Week in Lent (Salvation)

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 “Since he has turned away from all the sins that he committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.” In the spiritual tradition of the Church, we often talk about the four last things: death, judgment, heaven, hell. Death is certain for each one of us. We will all die one day.  Judgment is also certain. It is part of our encounter with God. He is the ultimate Judge. Then the final destination. It is not heaven and hell, it is heaven or hell. Each of us will have the freedom to choose. Do you think everyone will choose heaven? Many do not want hell, but that does not mean they want heaven. Choosing heaven means choosing God, choosing His will. This is where we all failed. Everyone has sinned. But in today’s first reading, the prophet Ezekiel gives all of us a great big hope: our past does not have the final word. The hope is that if a person turns away from sin, if they repent and choose what is right, they shall live - repent and believe in the Gospel! Many people, myself ...
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Homily: September 28, 2022 Wednesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time (For children)

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“God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed?” How many of have visited another state in the USA? Have you visited another country out of the USA? Do you know how many countries are there in the world today?  The answer is: 195 countries! When we travel to different places, we would realize that the world is so big. If you were to visit my home country India, you may have to take three flights and travel about 30 hours to arrive. The world is so huge, isn’t it? And the whole world is far bigger and beyond this earth, the sun, the moon and the stars. Can you imagine it? I can’t. And who created all these? God. With His wisdom and mighty strength God created all these. Everything is so organized with their own characteristics and structures, it cannot happen by accident nor by chance.  Is there anything or anyone stronger than our God? No, definitely not. But I found that many children think Spiderman is stronger than God. Recen...
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Homily: November 27, 2023, Monday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time (Fear of the Lord)

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 “In any question of wisdom or prudence that the king posed to them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his kingdom.” One of my favorite books in the Old Testament is the book of Daniel. The stories of Daniel and his friends inspire me a lot. I enjoy reading how God was always with them and blessed them with great wisdom and a unique gift in interpreting visions and dreams. In today’s first reading, we see how King Nebuchadnezzar tested and then invited these three young men, Daniel and his two friends, to serve him. It was an honor and seen as a great fortune to be trusted by the King, to eat and converse with him while all other Israelites were living as slaves. But Daniel and his friends did not once forget the God of their ancestors. Even though they had privileges from the King, they did not disobey God’s laws. They feared the Lord in all their days, they loved God in all their ways. And for that, they had great wisdom and understanding. An...
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Homily: February 22, 2025 Feast of the chair of St. Peter.

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 “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”  Our Lord founded the Church and handed over its growth and development into the future, to Peter. Note that the disciple is Simon, but the pope is Peter. Thus, this appointment to build the church, an appointment so solid like a rock, will be so strong and firm that not even hell could ever overcome it. Simon Peter was not perfect; he had his human weaknesses. It is written that he had cowardly denied Jesus three times, and at one point, Jesus even rebuked him, “Get behind me, Satan” (Matthew 16:23). Christian Tradition also tells that during the time of persecution in Rome, he had tried to escape and flee from Rome. The story continued that on his way along the road outside the city, he met our Lord Jesus where he asked, “Quo vadis, Domine?” - “Where are you going Lord?” To which our Lord replied, “Romam eo iterum crucifigī” – “I a...
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