Homily: July 3, 2022, Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

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 “Behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals”.

Jesus is sending his disciples out to proclaim the good news of salvation to all. Yet, his instruction sounds like he is sending them out to die, into a dangerous mission. Instead of advising them to bring all the necessities and resources to be self-sufficient and independent, He is telling them to be helpless and vulnerable.

Can they manage it?

Jesus is the lamb of God. His mission is to give His life for His sheep. He is totally dependent on God alone. He needs nothing else from this world to accomplish His mission. And now He is teaching His disciples to do the same. He is telling us to do the same.

Can we manage it?

Seems difficult, isn’t it?

I have a very good friend Dr. Samuel Thomas. He is a Pentecostal minister. He is the president of Hopegivers International, giving hope of a better future to orphaned, abandoned and underprivileged children. 

In India, founded by his father, and now under his leadership, they have established seventy-thousand churches. Despite having received multiple death threats and murder risks, and even imprisonments, there is no stopping him.

Once I asked him: Sam, what is the secret of your success? Without a second thought, he replied that his first priority, second priority and third priority are to proclaim the good news, proclaim the good news and proclaim the good news. The result is his growing ministry. He wants to be a martyr for the gospel. Although I do not always agree with his interpretation of scripture, I admire his spirit.

What about us? Can we proclaim the gospel fearlessly, with an unstoppable spirit? Can we go out to the world carrying nothing but just the word of God?

In reality, you don’t need to leave your home to preach the gospel. St. Teresa of Lisieux is the patron saint of missions. She lived only 24 years and has never even stepped out of her convent. Yet, she is a saint and doctor of the church, through her simple steadfast faith, through her simple authentic life.

To become a missionary of the gospel, you don’t need to go out to the world. 

Preach and live the gospel in your family, be a good role model to your children, be a good witness to your neighbors. Your vocation is building your family into church, your mission field is your home, your neighborhood, your workplace, your school.

Do you feel inadequate, incompetent, unqualified?

Jesus sent out fishermen and tax collectors, not professional preachers. Jesus says, “Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals”.

Truly, we don’t need anything extra to preach the gospel. We don’t need a degree in Theology or Sacred Scripture. We just need Jesus – His spirit, His grace, His love. This comes from our baptism, the sacraments, and a personal relationship with Jesus.

If everyone of us read the word of God daily, receive the sacraments regularly, and connects with Jesus prayerfully, there will be great changes in our parish, in this country, in the world. There will be great changes in our life.

First, proclaim the gospel to yourself. Then you will know how to proclaim it to others.


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Homily: July 6, 2026, Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Crowd)

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Homily: July 22, 2025, Feast of Mary Magdalene (Loved Most)

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 Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’  St. Mary Magdalene is known in the Church as the “Apostle to the Apostles”, a privileged and beautiful title. Even Peter, the head of the apostles, or John, the beloved disciple, were not entrusted with the first announcement of the Resurrection. Instead, Jesus gave that mission to Mary Magdalene. She was the first to proclaim the central truth of our faith: Christ is risen! He has overcome death, and because of that, we live with hope and our faith is strengthened. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. Death has no power over us too, because the One who conquered it, has the power to resurrect us as well. For over 2,000 years, since Mary Magdalene’s first announcement, Christians have continued to proclaim the Good News of Jesus’s resurrection. It is our call, our mission, to echo Mary Magdalene’s joyful ...
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Homily: July 5, 2026 Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (I will give you rest)

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 “Thus says the LORD: Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!”  A Beautiful and comforting words of prophet Zechariah. A long weekend is of course a time of joy for us especially as we celebrate 250th year of independence.  But truly, are you rejoicing in life? Are you rejoicing as a believer? Only a person who is truly free can be full of joy and be at peace. Life in this country is full of freedom; we enjoy privileges and opportunities that many people in some other parts of the world are still yearning and fighting for. Yet I have a friend, whenever I ask, “How’s life?”, would often reply, "It sucks,.  Is life really that burdensome? Yes, we all struggle with some variations of family problems, work issues, disappointments, sickness, and other daily battles, and our own battle with sin and evil. But we have the freedom to work, to speak, to go anywhere, to believe in any religion, to choose what we want. Is there nothing worth rejoi...
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 “But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly.” Has this ever happened to you before? When everything went wrong. There are days when I made good plans, I did my best, but my plans were overturned, my efforts came out wrong, then problems and troubles arose one after another. Those days were really frustrating, I even question Him why He didn’t come to help me and where He was when I was suffering. In those moments, my prayers became complaints. Now looking back, those may have been the very moments when God was allowing me to unite my small suffering with Jesus on the cross. I should be rejoicing, instead of complaining, for having the privilege to share in the sufferings of Christ. But that is not easy. Naturally, no one welcomes suffering. Yet no one can avoid suffering. And as Christians, every little pain, hardship, difficulty or failure, can be the pebble forming our path to holiness ...
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Homily: The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas, Thursday, December 30, 2021

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 For readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/123021.cfm “She never left the temple, but worshipped night and day with fasting and prayer”. Look at Anna, the prophetess’ life of worship and dedication, isn’t it beautiful and inspiring? Have you ever met someone who prays day and night like her? I have. On Monday I shared about my grandma who died 25 years ago. I was only eight years old then so I do not have much memory of her life, but one very vivid and lasting impression I have of her, is that she was a prayerful person. I almost always see her praying the rosary, day and night, whenever she was not doing any chores. It was a green rosary which one bishop gave her some years before. And you know what? Grandma was completely blind. She had never seen me and my younger siblings before. Yet, she taught us how to pray and would lead the family morning prayers. She helped with the household chores, with chopping vegetables. She would even make brooms for us using coconut...
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