Homily: November 14, 2022, Monday of the Thirtythird week in Ordinary time

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 “Yet, I hold this against you: you have lost the love you had first”.

My mother lived only 62 years and 28 days on this earth, but I think she had done more than 200 years’ worth of work in those years. There’s a bit of Indian exaggeration here but it is truly how I feel about her life.

On a daily basis, my mommy would start getting busy from 4.30 in the morning and did not stop to rest till late at night. She cooked all three meals in the day for a household of eleven people, including her seven children, and had to provide lunch for our farm workers. 

And Indian cooking using firewood takes a long time, especially when my mommy also had to prepare all the ingredients from scratch. She even had to grind the flour on a stone mill. 

And since we did not have a refrigerator, everything was prepared fresh. In between cooking, mommy would help papa in the farm and took care of all our livestock. We had chickens, cows and goats.

You can imagine how my mommy had to do everything super fast in order that all her tasks got done, she was always very focused, full of energy but also very impatient.

But she complained a lot about her work. My papa was the opposite in personality, he worked very hard too, but was always calm and extremely patient. He often advised mommy not to complain, to do everything with love and to find joy in her work. This is something I must learn too. 

In today’s first reading, we see that the church in Ephesus was doing very well and the Lord recognized their hard work and sacrifices. 

It was written, “I know your works, your labour, and your endurance…You have endurance and have suffered for my name.”

But He also added, “Yet, I hold this against you: you have lost the love you had first.”

It seems they had forgotten the reason for their sacrifices, the purpose for their work, the love they started with.

This applies to many of us too. We could be serving the Lord in many areas, being active in various ministries and volunteering in many organizations but the Lord does not need us to do much, only to love much.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, “It’s not about how much you do, but how much love you put into what you do that counts.”

If there is love, all work will bring joy. If there is no love, all work will be a burden, we will soon wear out and start to grumble.

Do we love what we are doing for the Lord? Do we draw love from Him daily and add that into what we do?

Let us offer our life to the Lord, with a pure and steadfast love, just as He offered His life for us.

Amen 


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Homily: February 27, 2022, Eight Sunday in the Ordinary Time

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

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