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, Wednesday,January 5, 2022, Memorial of Saint John Neumann, Bishop

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Readings:  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010522.cfm In the first reading, St. John writes, “Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God”.  Do you truly and fully believe that Jesus is God? Do you know someone who does not believe so? Many, I am sure. Similarly in St. John’s time, there were many early Christian communities who questioned the divinity of Jesus. They followed Jesus’ teachings but regarded Him as simply a human person with the special power to perform miracles. They did not believe He is God. The disbelief stemmed from the humanity of Jesus. He was born from a woman like any other human, he grew from infancy to adulthood in the same way as the rest of humanity. He experienced hunger, pain, emotions and temptations like anyone. But He did not sin. Jesus was indeed fully human, so how could He also be fully divine? Human logic cannot explain it. Science cannot prove it. Thus, many could not accept it. God came to sav...
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Homily: February 27, 2022, Eight Sunday in the Ordinary Time

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 In the 2,000-year history of the Church, monastic orders like the Cistercians and Trappists have existed, and the monks dedicate themselves to a life of deep contemplation and penance. Some of these monks take a vow of perpetual silence, speaking only in an emergency. When they pass each other in the monastery, their silent greeting is "memento mori" - "remember death." They remind each other daily to consider the reality of death and to always be prepared for it. Today, November 2, we commemorate All Souls' Day, remembering all the departed souls in purgatory who long to see God face-to-face. Like the consecrated monks, this commemoration invites us to pause and reflect on our own mortality. Memento mori. Remember death. We probably have said goodbye to many people in our lives: family, friends, relatives, famous people and people who have done great deeds that impacted society. Some of their names may have already faded from our memories. Perhaps we’ve even s...
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Homily:August 18, 2024, Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Wisdom)

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Homilía: 3 Julio, 2022, XIV Domingo Ordinario

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Homily April 29, Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

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 “And all day long, both at the temple and in their homes, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the Christ, Jesus”. Even after being flogged, all day long, the disciples continued teaching and preaching everywhere… Amazing, isn’t it?  These past few days, we have been reading from Acts of the Apostles. We see how the Jewish leaders and high priest tried to stop the apostles from preaching in the name of Jesus. But they failed. The Pharisee Gamaliel rightly said, “if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” How true. The church is from God. The disciples did not stop teaching and proclaiming. They even rejoiced at being flogged for what they were doing. They were on fire for Jesus. They were so eager and excited to tell everyone about Jesus. What about us? If there is a new restaurant serving delicious food or a store is having a great end-of-summer sale, we would hear many people talking about it. Some w...
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Homily: August 20, 2022, Saturday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

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“The angel led me to the gate which faces the east, and there I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east”.  These words in the first reading remind of the Orthodox and Oriental Churches. When they construct their churches, they would set their church altars to face the east, so that, when the priests celebrate Mass, they will be looking towards that direction. In India, especially in Kerala where I came from, all our church altars face the east. The concept is based on the expectation that Christ would come again, arriving from the east, and the priest is leading the community to the heavenly Jerusalem.  Interestingly, the Hindu temples also face eastwards.  And do you know, the houses in my village are built with the kitchens facing the east also. Why? It has nothing related to the coming of Christ. It has to do with the sunrise. The mothers of the households start cooking when they wake up, and the kitchens are open concept, so the rising sun will provide...
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Christmas Homily 2021,

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 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...
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Homily: December 10, 2024, Tuesday of the second week In Advent (Word of God)

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 "Though the grass withers and the flower wilts, the word of our God stands forever." On Sunday, I taught the confirmation class about the Bible and shared how it was written and compiled. The word ‘Bible’ in Ancient Greek means ‘book’. It contains 73 books, and thus is often referred to as ‘The Book of books’.  These sacred scriptures were penned by 40 different authors over a span of 1,500 years. Every single word in the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, because every author wrote, not for any other reason but what they believed was what God wanted them to write. You may have heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls or Qumran Scrolls. In 1947, near the north-eastern part of the Dead Sea, a teenage shepherd lost his sheep and went searching for it in a cave. Incidentally, he found ancient jars stuffed with scrolls in the cave.  At first, he tried to sell them at the market, and those who bought them eventually re-sold them to scholars. That led to Archaeologists getting interes...
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Homily: November 2, 2024, The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls); Pleanary Indulgnce.

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 “The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.” This beautiful passage from today’s first reading is one we often hear at funeral Masses. It comforts and consoles us deeply, assuring us of God’s merciful love and protection for those who have passed from this life. Today, as we commemorate All Souls’ Day, we remember the souls of all the faithful departed, those in purgatory awaiting the fullness of union with God. Their souls are in the hands of God, and while we need not worry for them, we can still assist them with our prayers. During the first week of November, the Church offers us the special grace of a plenary indulgence for our deceased loved ones. But what exactly is a plenary indulgence? It is a special grace that removes the temporal punishments due to sin. While the Sacrament of Reconciliation forgives sins and removes the eternal punishment of hell, temporal punishments may remain. Temporal punishments are the natural consequences arisi...
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