Homily: January 24, 2023, Tuesday of the Third week in Ordinary Time.

-

 Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."

I have three older sisters, followed by my older brother, then me, the fifth child, after which I have two more sisters. All of us went to the same schools from kindergarten till High school. We even had the same teachers at each level.

My older sisters were the best students in school, in their academics, conduct and other areas. So when my brother and I entered school, every teacher of each level expected us to produce the same standard of study and behaviour as our sisters. But we disappointed them. We were the opposite.

Like what the teachers thought, I too sometimes wonder if we were from the same parents. 😉

Isn’t that what we all expect? That the people from the same family, with the same background, history, upbringing and lifestyle should have the same belief and behaviour, values and preferences, possibly even the same profession.

It is logical and it is ideal.

Jesus, the Son of God, is the perfect image of God, the Father. And we, baptised sons and daughters of God, are also expected to be like Him, to think what He thinks, to do what He does, to love what He loves. We are expected to do His will, just as Jesus did.

In the first reading, we heard, “Behold, I come to do your will.” In the responsorial psalm, we repeated “Here am I lord; I come to do your will.”

What is God’s will for us in our lives?

St. Francis de Sales wrote a book titled: ‘Finding God’s Will for You’. If you have difficulty discerning what is God’s will for you, ask St. Francis de Sales to intercede for you and help you find God’s will for you. Seek and you shall find.

Discover God’s will and pray for the grace to live it fully, for whoever does the will of God is Jesus’ brother and sister and mother. Amen.


Comments

Post a Comment

Read

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

-
 "When Jesus arrived at the official's house and saw the flute players and the crowd who were making a commotion..." That detail in the Gospel about ‘the crowd’ caught my attention.  There were many people in that house that day. They were not people who lived in that household, they were there because someone died. Some could be relatives, some neighbors, some were professional mourners, some were there because they were curious or idle. I grew up in India, the most populated country in the world. The cities are always crowded. Buses are full, trains are full, bus stations and markets are full of people. Everywhere you look there is a crowd. But just because there is a crowd does not mean something meaningful is happening. Sometimes people gather simply because they have nowhere else to go. It was similar in Jesus' time. People gathered at weddings, funerals, and wherever something was happening. Many people followed Jesus not because they believed in Him but because...
Read more

Homily: July 11, 2026, Saturday of the Fourteeth Week in Ordinary Time (Sinfulness)

-
"Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" When the prophet Isaiah had this profound vision of heaven and stood before the Lord, these were the first words that came from his lips. He became deeply aware of his own unworthiness in the presence of God's holiness. I once heard a beautiful definition of prayer: "When we stand before the Creator as creatures with humility, that becomes prayer." I have never forgotten those words. A few years ago, during a retreat, the retreat director said that the first thing we should do when we come before God in prayer is to acknowledge our sinfulness. That awareness reminds us of who we are and who God is. We are limited, weak, and sinful; God is holy, loving, and merciful. Our prayers become more effective when they are offered with humility. None of us is worthy of God's love, yet He continues to love us unconditionall...
Read more

Homily: April 2, 2024, Tuesday in the Octave of Easter (Mary at the Tomb).

-
 Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb, weeping. Today’s gospel begins by describing the emotional state of Mary. We can all visualize and identify with this scene. Mary Magdalene is very sad, to the point of experiencing deep emotional pain which triggers tears. This is love.  I recall when my papa died within a week of discovering his illness. It was unexpected, we were all unprepared. All my sisters wept on the day he died, and into the days after his burial. They cried again, very emotionally, when we visited his tomb thereafter and I recited the Office for the Dead. I, too, cried a lot at papa’s death. Love is a powerful emotion. It stirs our heart to feel the pain of loss, which works up our brain to trigger the release of tears, to help reduce the emotional pain. God gave us tears to help us manage our pain.  Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus, and before He entered Jerusalem, and at the garden of Gethsemane. His love for humanity stirred up deep emotional pain, s...
Read more

Homily: July 10, 2026 Friday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Promise of Healing)

-
 "I will heal their defection, says the LORD, I will love them freely; for my wrath is turned away from them. I will be like the dew for Israel: he shall blossom like the lily."  God expresses His promises to His chosen people on various occasions and many ways in Sacred Scripture. What we have just read in today's first reading from prophet Hosea is beautiful and very assuring. It is beautiful because God is expressing His love so affectionately, it is assuring because it was addressed to a people whom He should be angry with, yet He was still showering love. The Book of Hosea was written just before the Assyrian exile of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The people had turned away from God. They worshipped idols, had forgotten the covenant and lived unfaithfully to the Lord. As a result, they began to experience the painful consequences of their sins. Eventually, the Assyrians conquered them, they were exiled from their homeland, the Promised Land, and never returned. Yet...
Read more

Homily: July 13, 2026 Monday of the Fifteenth week in Ordinary Time (Word of God)

-
 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword."  Elsewhere, it is written, "I have come to set the earth on fire." So, why has Jesus come to bring the sword and not peace? A sword is meant to slice and cut. It separates one thing from another. In today's Gospel, the ‘sword’ refers to the Word of God. As the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us, "Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword" (Hebrews 4:12). The Word of God will reach into our hearts, revealing what is true and what is not. This revelation will disturb our peace as it wakes up our conscience, thereby leading us to a full conversion of the heart. In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah told that God was not impressed by the people's many sacrifices because their hearts were far from Him, their offerings were not sincere. So, Isaiah repeatedly reminded them to hear the word of the Lord and listen...
Read more

Homily: July 5, 2026 Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (I will give you rest)

-
 “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...
Read more

Homily: May 29, 2026 Friday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

-
 “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 ...
Read more

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

-
 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 ...
Read more

Homily: January 17, 2026, Saturday of the First Week in Ordinary Time (Discipleship)

-
 Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” And without hesitation, Levi got up and followed Him. There was no second thought, no delay, no negotiation. In that moment, Levi left behind his profession, his security, and all the benefits and privileges that came with it, and he became Matthew, the apostle. Not only that, Matthew brought many of his friends to Jesus.  Where there is true conversion, others are always drawn in. This is how discipleship works. When someone genuinely encounters Christ, that encounter never remains private. Every true conversion becomes contagious. Those who grow closer to Jesus naturally begin to bring others to Him. The same is true for us. Our discipleship is not a one-person journey. We live our faith within families, communities, and parishes. If we are truly walking with Christ, our lives will influence others, whether we realize it or not. And this leads us to a serious truth. Influence works both ways. In the first reading, we hear about Saul, who was ...
Read more

Christmas Homily 2021,

-
 For readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122521-night.cfm “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” A very blessed Christmas to all of you again. This is my third Christmas in USA, in Iowa. But my first with this parish. It’s a very special feeling, celebrating Christmas here and now. When Bishop Joensen first told me about my transfer to this parish as Rector, I was very hesitant to accept because I am very young as priest, very new in this land and very inexperienced in parish management. The call was too huge for me. I tried to say no, appoint someone more capable than I. But I think Bishop pretended he didn’t understand my accent. Honestly, I was really anxious and not ready for such a big change so soon. In obedience, I finally said ‘yes’, like Mary did when angel Gabriel announced to her about God’s plan. Maybe that was how Mary felt too. She was so young, inexperienced and not married. To be the mother of the Me...
Read more