Homily: July 5, 2022, Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

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 “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so, ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest”.

This is a commonly used passage when the church calls for prayers for vocations, especially the vocation to the priesthood and religious life.

But priests and religious are not the only labourers in God’s salvific plan. Every baptised catholic has the same call to save souls but in different vocations: married or single, lay or religious. Truly, few labourers do not refer to priests only, but few are those who follow God’s will.

So, when we pray for vocations, we should not pray for our young people to specifically respond to the priesthood or religious life, but we should pray that they would listen clearly to God’s voice, know His plans for them and accomplish His will with courage.

When I was younger, I wanted to become a very good and wealthy farmer, a labourer in the cardamom fields. I had my dreams. But God’s plan was different.

I could have followed my own plans but deep in me, I knew I should follow God’s call. Even now, when things get tough and I feel incompetent in dealing with the challenges of my priestly duties, I would again wonder if farming would have been more suitable for me. But God’s will be done. I am still here, a priest breaking bread for His people and am happy doing so.

The loud noises of this world often drown out the soft and gentle voice of the Lord. Let us pray to the Lord of the harvest to send more labourers to His field. And may all who hear His voice, respond to His call courageously: clergy, religious or lay, married or single. Amen.


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Homily: October 18, 2026, Sunday of the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (All to God )

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 “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” Three weeks before the election, we hear these words of Jesus in today's Gospel. you may wonder whether the Church intentionally chose this Gospel because of the upcoming election. The answer is no. It is simply a coincidence. The readings we hear at Mass are proclaimed throughout the world, not just here in the United States. They are not chosen according to political events. And I am not here to speak about the election. That is not the purpose of a Sunday homily. Rather, I want to reflect on the spiritual message Jesus gives us today. “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.” Caesar was the Roman emperor. Jesus reminds us that, as citizens, we have certain responsibilities and duties toward our country and society. We have a responsibility to contribute to the common good, to respect others, and through our good deeds, to make our country and our world a better place. In another Gospel passage, we eve...
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Homily: March 10, 2022, Thursday of the First Week in Lent

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 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” When I was much younger, I wanted to become very rich, to have lots of money, a nice car, a big house etc.… It was a common village boy’s dream. I don’t think I actually prayed for it, but I surely dreamt about it often. What happened thereafter? Well, I am still dreaming about it. And I even pray for it now! Not for myself but for the parish. When I first moved to this parish, I was shocked by the financial situation, so I did wish and pray for this parish to be rich.  Money is indeed helpful in life but not the most important. Money solves a lot of problems only when it is used wisely. Being poor helps me learn to depend on God’s providence. So, my dream for the parish now is to be rich in God’s word, in community life, in prayerful spirit, in loving and caring for one another. I dream of hearing our prayers and singing rise-up strong and joyful to the heavens when we gather...
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Homily: October 17, 2026, Saturday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time (Holy Spirit speaking)

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 “For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.” These are the beautiful and comforting words of Jesus in today’s Gospel. Jesus has given us so many wonderful gifts: the Eucharist, the sacraments, the Church, and above all, the gift of the Holy Spirit. And today, Jesus assures us that the Holy Spirit will guide us, especially when we do not know what to say or what to do. There have been many moments in my own life when I have struggled to find the right words. Sometimes I have been afraid to speak. Sometimes I have wondered whether I was making the right decision. I am sure many of you have experienced the same thing. But Jesus makes us a beautiful promise: The Holy Spirit will teach us what to say. However, I believe there are two important things we must do to experience this promise in our lives. First, we must ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. Before making an important decision, before having a difficult conversation, before taking a major step in lif...
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Homily: July 27, 2023, Thursday of the sixteeth week in Ordinary time (See and Hear)

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 "You shall indeed hear but not understand; you shall indeed look but never see." Have you ever experienced this before? Well, I have. When I was in school, I heard everything the teachers taught, but understood nothing. I always looked at what the teachers wrote on the chalk board, but my mind saw nothing it could comprehend. Math, English, Chemistry were subjects that brought me out of this world, into the great outer space. You can easily imagine how frustrated my teachers were with me those days. Anyway, I didn’t like them either. In today’s Gospel, Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah to explain why He spoke in parables to the crowd. He understands why they could not understand, he sees how they could not see. Such blindness and hardness of heart are not new, from the time of Moses, it has been thus. In today's first reading, the Israelites witnessed the powerful forms of God’s presence – thunder, lightning, clouds, smoke, blasting trumpets all taking place in supernatura...
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Homily: October 25, 2025, Saturday of the Twenty-Nineth Week in Ordinary Time (Spirit -Alive)

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 “But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is alive because of righteousness.” What a hopeful and assuring message. Even though our bodies are weakened by sin and subject to death, the Spirit of God within us is alive and active. But note the one condition: if Christ is in you! The Father and the Son have given us this precious gift, the Holy Spirit, the divine helper who will dwell in our hearts if we accept Jesus Christ into our lives. If we follow the timeline of our salvation story, all of us are now living in the era of the Holy Spirit. God the Father has revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets. Then in the fullness of time, God the Son came into the world and revealed to us the Father’s love. Before returning to heaven, Jesus promised to send us the Holy Spirit to be our companion, our guide, and our strength till the end of time. And from then, the Holy Spirit has been active in the world, in the church and in o...
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Homily: Monday of the first week in Lent (Love)

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 "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD."  Yesterday, one of our youths gave an inspiring testimony at all our Sunday Masses, sharing her experience from the Youth 2000 retreat. She shared that she has been comfortable in her relationship with Jesus and that gave her the impression that her faith in the Lord was good enough. But from the retreat, she realized something profound: That if you are in a comfort zone in your love for God, then your relationship with Him is not growing. God is infinite love, the supreme good. He can never be outdone in generosity; He can never be outdone in love. That means, the more we love Him, the more we will receive His love, and the more we will be transformed. Her sharing made me reflect deeper. So, how then should my love for God be? I do believe that I can do more for God, we can never love Him enough, there is always room for better, stronger, greater, deeper love for this great big God of ours. And one of the most beaut...
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Homily: October 24. 2025, Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time (Sin)

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 “For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want.” Honestly, this is me. And this is many people too. It captures so perfectly the weakness of our human condition. Deep in our hearts, we want to do good, to be good, to please God. We want to live according to His will.  We want to stay close to Him and live holy lives. Yet, the sin that entered the world through Adam and Eve still acts up within us. Our human nature is wounded, and even when our soul longs to do good, our worldly desires and habits pull us in the opposite direction. It is interesting to note that it is St. Paul who wrote this line. Paul was one of the greatest apostles and missionaries in history, it is hard to imagine that even the great St. Paul had struggled to do good and fight evil, what more could be expected of us? This is comforting. It reminds us that we are not alone in our struggles. Even the saints, the apostles, the holiest men and women, had wrestled with sin and temptation. Spi...
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Homily: July 21, 2026, Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Forgiveness)

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 In today's Gospel, Jesus says, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”  These words invite us to ask an important question: What is the will of our heavenly Father for us? Jesus gives the answer in other passages of the Gospel. He says, “Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect,” and “Be holy, for your heavenly Father is holy.” God's will is not simply that we avoid sin, but more that we become holy. The Christian life is not merely about avoiding evil; it is really about growing in virtue and becoming more like our heavenly Father each day, in what we think, say and do. Today's readings point us to one of the most difficult yet most beautiful virtues of Christian discipleship - forgiveness. In the first reading we heard, “Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin... who does not persist in anger forever.” In the Responsorial Psalm we prayed, “You have for...
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Homily: October 25, 2026, Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time (Spiritually Crippled)

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 “And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit.” Throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus healing people who had suffered from illnesses for many years. We remember the woman who suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years, the man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years, and today, a woman who had been crippled for eighteen years. For eighteen long years, this woman was bent over, unable to stand straight. She could not even look up. We have probably seen people suffering from similar conditions, especially in their old age. But imagine living like that for eighteen years, always looking down, unable to lift your head and enjoy the beauty of the world around you. But there is something deeper in today's Gospel. St. Luke tells us that she had been crippled by a spirit. Her suffering was not simply physical; there was also a spiritual bondage. And Jesus came not only to heal her body but also to set her free. We may not be physically crippled by an evi...
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Homily: April 8, 2023 Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Thy will be done)

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 Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.” He takes away the first to establish the second. By this “will,” we have been consecrated through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all. From the second reading, we hear about the ‘will’ and ‘consecration’. In the Gospel also, we hear the great Fiat of Mary, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word”. By choosing to unite her will to God’s, the incarnation took place, the long-awaited Messiah took on human flesh. Mary was a simple young woman from Nazareth who like all other Jews, had been praying for the coming of the Messiah. When God’s plan was announced to her, she did not give up her well, instead she chose to unite her will freely and totally to the will of God. At that moment, her life is no longer separate from God’s plan, instead her life became separated and set aside from the world. She has consecrated herself totally to God. As Jesus grew and began to exercise His ...
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