Homily: January 29, 2023, Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”.

During the vacations of my seminary days in Rome, I used to go to Germany to work. I remember when I started my first day at this restaurant, my employer told me what he expected from me as his staff. He told me his rules.

He told me, “First, here we follow German time, not Indian time. 9 a.m. is 9 a.m. not 9.05 or 10. Second, during working hours I may get angry or upset with you but in the evening when I shut the kitchen exhauster fan down, I will shut down my anger too.”

He continued to tell me the rest of his rules, one by one. And during the course of my work, he added on more rules. I did my best to follow all his instructions and worked according to his expectations. For every vacation in those four years of study, I would go and work with him. Thereafter we became friends, and up till now, we kept up our friendship.

Yes, every organization, institution, workplace and even family, will have their set of rules and principles to follow. So that everyone will know what is the right behaviour expected and how things work.

In the same way, Jesus also listed the principles of his kingdom to his listeners. In the gospel of Matthew, we just heard those eight beatitudes as part of Jesus’ sermon on the mount, teaching thousands of people. Those are the way of life his followers should learn and live by. 

They are not rules to make life difficult nor restrictions to take away freedom. They are rules to make discipleship joyful, that make us worthy of heaven, not in the future but here and now, to help us build the kingdom of God now in this time, here on earth.

Do you think the kingdom of God is far in the future?

Last weekend Gospel we heard Jesus speaking “repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” That means the kingdom of God was there, in their presence. It also means, the kingdom of God is here, in our presence.

‘Blessed are the poor in spirit”. To be poor in spirit is to have a humble awareness and acceptance that we are nothing without God. To appreciate deeply that God is the only one who can make us whole, full, satisfied. If we truly know this, and thus hunger and thirst for God like a poor soul, then we are truly blessed. 

Do we yearn and long for God?

If we have success, are comfortable in living, enjoy the good things in life, do we still need God?

On her third visit to the USA, Mother Teresa was asked by a journalist about the poverty of Calcutta. She replied with a thought provoking remark, that the spiritual poverty of the Western World is much greater than the physical poverty of India.

Material wealth does not imply spiritual wellness. Living without God is living in spiritual poverty. That is more pitiful than physical, material poverty.

Yes, our souls need God much like our body needs oxygen.

If we look closely at every one of these beatitudes, it is opposite of what the world promotes. Living out the beatitudes will make us very different from the rest of world. Finally, Jesus tells us the result of following this special set of rules: “Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven”.

We will receive our reward, not from the world but from God. And it will be great.

Let us be poor in spirit, humbly acknowledging we need God. As the deer thirsts for water, so our souls yearn for God. God, and only God, can quench our thirst, can fill our emptiness, can satisfy our hunger. Know this, believe this and we will be living the kingdom of God, here and now. Amen.


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Homily: March 24, 2022, Thursday of the Third Week of Lent

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F or forty days and nights, satan was waiting, to strike when Jesus was most hungry, at His weakest. First temptation: “Command this stone to become bread.” Jesus needed food indeed. Satan did not give food, but suggested Jesus to abuse His divine power to create food for Himself. He makes us think our needs and wants are most important. And suggests shortcuts to satisfy ourselves. Selfish desires turn us away from God. Second temptation: “I shall give to you all this power and glory…worship me.” Jesus’ mission is to preach the good news to all nations. Satan tries to persuade Jesus to take the easy way, to receive power and glory from him. satan is the father of lies. Nothing belongs to him. satan tries to make us believe that money will give us power and earthly possessions will give us glory. He tempts us with quick and convenient ways to achieve our ambitions. Greed and vanity block us from holy virtues. Third temptation: “If you are the son of God, throw yourself down from here…”
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For readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022722.cfm There were two brothers who lived debauched lives engaging in terrible deeds. They were notorious yet not at all ashamed. Then one brother died. The surviving brother asked the local pastor to preach at his brother’s funeral. The pastor, aware of the brothers’ background, was reluctant to do it. The brother then promised to donate a big sum of money to the church and begged the pastor to preach with a special request. “Father, in your homily, you just have to say that my brother was a saint.” The pastor thought about it and agreed. The funeral day came. The pastor began his homily, “The man laid in the casket was a rotter; he led a horrible and debauched life. He was truly rotten to the bone. But compared to his brother, he was a saint.” Saintly life or shoddy living – Would the priest at our own funeral have to be paid to tell a lie? It all depends on what kind of fruit we produce from the way we live. Usually, we cannot
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