Fr. Nivin's Homily Blog

 “The rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows…” I totally enjoy watching time-lapsed video recordings of the growing process of plants. The botanists studying these processes would set up a camera, close up in front of a pot with a seed planted. These cameras are programmed to capture every moment of change in the plant over a few weeks, or months for some. Finally, when the recording is finished, the video will playback the whole process within a few minutes. It is super amazing to be able to see the whole process of a tiny seed bursting out from the soil, sprouting into a seedling and becoming a big plant producing beautiful fruits. In real life, many of us are too busy to follow closely the daily changes of plants and animals around us. Some of us don’t even follow closely the growth and changes of our children. God’s creative work is perfectly timed and organized. He has al...

 “The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.” We are now in the season of Lent. It is like taking a spiritual retreat from normal life for forty days. So that we can step back and see the big picture of this life clearer. So that we can understand and appreciate the gift of eternal after life better. And so, learn how to walk closer with God all day, every day, all the way. This weekend, we take a step back to look at how and why humanity is separated from his Creator. All three readings of this first Sunday of Lent are about temptations and sins. Why are we tempted? When do we sin? How do we feel after sin? What can we do? I think I was in 1st grade and my brother was in 4th. One day on our way home from school, we spotted a short piece of discarded electrical wire less than 12 inches in length on the ground. Some of our friends saw it too and wanted to have it. It was something unusual and interesting for us village boys...

“For they had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest.” Isn’t this what we do all the time? In a soccer game, we play to see which team is the best. In the Olympics, we see who will bag the gold medals. Even in computer games, we play to be the winner. Who is the greatest? Who will be the first? And Jesus’ answer is “the last of all and the servant of all” is the greatest. And He showed them a child. I have been watching the popular TV series, ‘The Chosen’. This series has helped me better understand the human aspect of Jesus and the weaknesses of His apostles. They were clearly far from being great. The episodes effectively brought out the vulnerabilities of each disciple, their brokenness, unappealing characters, and easily shaken faith. I can relate so well to their imperfections. It is worth reflecting on the life and growth of each apostle up till their martyrdom. How they gradually grew to become heroes of the faith, unafraid of persecutions and willing t...

“I do believe, help my unbelief!” This short but humble prayer we heard in the Gospel has become part of my prayers. I truly believe in miracles and that sincere prayer works. I have witnessed many miracles happening here in this church on every third Wednesdays during the healing services. Many people received deliverance from their unhealthy and sinful attachments, and many received healing from illnesses.  Many people felt unexplainable sense of spiritual release, relieve and peace when they were prayed over by the team. A young man who was prayed over, shared that after the prayer, he felt so deeply loved by our Lord. How wonderful! I hardly join in the prayer team to pray over others. I think I lack the gift of healing. But in truth, I lack faith and trust in the Lord. I believe the Lord heals, but I don’t believe that He would heal through me. I recall how in the past, I have prayed for many people who were very ill to be healed, including my parents, but no miracle has ever ...

“Let us then go down and there confuse their language, so that one will not understand what another says." If that did not happen at Babel, we would all be speaking the same language, I would not need to learn Spanish and you would understand me perfectly, right? Did you wonder, what was so wrong with building a high tower in Babel which would reach up to the sky? If we look around the cities in the world, we will see many huge and tall buildings. And many are so iconic, making the city they are located at famous and well known. Like the leaning tower of Pisa in Italy, Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, Petronas Twin Tower in Malaysia, Burg Khalifa in Dubai, Taj Mahal in India, just to name a few. Possibly, the question should be, why do people need to build such mammoth buildings? In the first reading, we are told that the people in Shinar wanted to make a name for themselves. So, it was pride. Their plan would need to use up lots of time and resources to build something which would ...

 “Get behind me satan.” Jesus’ words to St. Peter, the first pope, are so powerful. Last week, a man came for reconciliation, and he gave me this beautiful chain with a cross which has the Holy face of Jesus on one side. The other side of the cross has these words: ‘ Vade Retro Satana’ in Latin, which means ‘Get behind me, satan’. These are powerful words used in exorcism. Satan is evil and cunning, he tempted Adam and Eve by cleverly rationalising for them how it seemed logical to disobey God. In the same way, Peter was suggesting to Jesus to avoid the way of suffering and death, which seemed logical but was ultimately against God’s plan. If we look around us, we see the same thing happening in our world. Satan continues to tempt us with the good life, using technology to increase pleasure, enhance comfort and convenience, to make life easy and avoid anything that could involve hardship, even for the good and betterment of the world. He tempts women to destroy life of the unborn ...

(Holy Family School Mass)  First, I have some questions for you. 1. Do you know how old was Noah when he started building the Ark? a) 30 years old b) 100 years old c) 500 years old Yes, the correct answer is c) 500 years old. 2. Who knows how old was Noah when he finished the Ark? Any guesses? Yes, he was 600 years old. 3. Now the math question, so how many years did he take to build that huge ark? Yes, 100 years! Today’s first reading says when Noah came out of Ark after the floods went down, he was 6 hundred and 1 years old. That means he, his family and the animals lived in the Ark for one year! Imagine that, no sun, no moon, no beach, no biking, no trees, no outdoors and no other human beings for one whole year. Only rain and rain. How would you feel? I experienced that for one week last year when I had the covid infection. I had to be isolated from the rest of the world. But thankfully, I had social media, my phone and the internet, so that helped me pass the time easier. Imag...

 “…He regretted that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was grieved.” This sounds bad. Did God really regret bringing man to life? There is another place in the Bible which seems to express God’s regret. It was when the first king of the Israelites, Saul, disobeyed God and did evil. In the book of Samuel, the Lord God said, “I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me…” Did God regret this too and changed His mind? No, not at all. In the same book of 1 Samuel, it is clearly written: “He who is the strength of Israel does not lie not does he repent, for he is not a man that he should change his mind.” (1 Samuel 15:29 NCB) God is omnipotent, all-knowing, almighty. He knows everything, He does not change His mind, He is constant, consistent, steadfast, everlasting. So, why do these inspired books of the Bible express that God regretted? First, especially so in the Old Testament, we need to appreciate that the authors wrote the texts with a limi...

 In Genesis 1, we saw how “God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.” Then in Genesis 2, “The Lord God called to Adam and asked him, "Where are you?"” Now in Genesis 4, “The Lord then said: “What have you done!” As we continue our journey through the book of Genesis, we see how darkness again fell on the earth through the disobedience and growing sins of man. There is violence, murder, cheating and many other evil doings of man. These are big contrasts from the first chapters where we see the love, generosity and intimacy of God the Father, a world so beautiful. But God said His creation is very good, what went wrong? He created man in the image and likeness of Himself, how then could man turn evil? Did the crown of His creation become a curse? As we read on, we might have many more questions. We see man disregarding God, doubting and disagreeing with Him, we ourselves might also wonder why God seems unfair and has favourites. We see His own people comp...

 “God blessed them, saying: Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.” We continue our first readings from the book of Genesis. The first eleven chapters of Genesis are pre-historic, what we read are not historical facts, the events cannot be explained scientifically. But there is no doubt that every detail is divinely inspired as God wants to reveal the Truth to us. Through these chapters, God wants us know that he is the Creator, the author and owner of everything. He has a plan and purpose. The Bible is God revealing His plans to us. The world thinks that resources are limited and so we should not overpopulate. Many countries even have birth control laws. But God says ‘multiply, fill the earth’. Surely, He knows what He is saying, and His instructions are not flawed. I agree with Mahatma Gandhi who once said, “The world has enough resources for everyone’s need but not enough for everyone’s greed.” Yes, it is greed which limits our resources and creates hunger, pover...

 How many of you looked at the sky last night? Did you see a full, big and bright moon? I did. It was so beautiful and mesmerising. Last November, when I was doing my silent retreat in Oklahoma, I had a lot of time to enjoy nature. One evening after dinner, I went out for a walk and looked up into the sky. I saw millions of flickering stars! I took my time to enjoy that beautiful scene. We don’t get to see many stars in towns and cities because the city lights drown out the brightness of the stars. In my childhood days, I used to enjoy looking at the stars. In the tropical climate of India, the sky was always very clear and in villages where electrical lights were weak, the stars were more visible. If you have ever seen the night sky filled with flickering stars, you will probably be awed by God’s creation, like I do. These two weeks our first readings are taken from the book of Genesis, beginning with the creation story. As I read the first reading of today, I praised and thanked ...

 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden”. One beautiful part in the baptism rite is handing a lighted candle to the newly baptised child. The priest says, “Receive the light of Christ.” Yes, we are the light of the world, and our light comes from Christ, who is the source of our light. Then the rite continues with a prayer which ends like this, “this light is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly, so that your child, enlightened by Christ, may always walk as a child of the light and, persevering in the faith, may run to meet the Lord when he comes with all the saints, in the heavenly court.” And yes, our parents and godparents are to help us keep the light burning, so that we may walk in the light and never lose our way to finally meet the Lord. As a child, I was deathly afraid of the dark. On days when there was no electricity, which happened quite often in India, I would frantically search for some light. The moment a candle or kerosene ...

 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” Amen! I remember very vividly seeing this Bible verse written across the outer wall of a Pentecostal church in the neighbouring town of my village. I was a child then and did not fully understand it. Now I am an adult. This verse is now firmly written in my heart and mind, I can’t claim to understand its full effects, but I know this is the truth about Jesus. He is the same then, now, and forever. He has not changed and never will. In contrast, we are the ones who have changed, and will continue to change, in our thoughts, views, values, beliefs and behaviour. Our emotions also change. And that affects many relationships. Think about your relationships with your parents, children, spouses, friends – have they changed in the way they treat you, love you, connect with you? Have you changed? For better or for worse? We change because we are not consistent. We change because we grow. We change because we are not yet the full ver...

 “A prophet is not without honour except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” This is so true. I experienced the same. The most challenging place for me to preach is my home parish. In that small parish of 194 families, more than 30 families are my cousins and uncles. There are also my childhood friends from the same village, who knew me very well when we were all kids. And of course, my six siblings, who are always eager to find a discussion point from my homilies to tease me. I can understand, because it is difficult for them to take anything I say seriously since all they remember of me were naughty times and childish years. Everything about me now, gets filtered through their memories of my past. Only my late papa, he was the only one from home who appreciated my homilies and encouraged me, because he had always chosen to see the deeper beauty of me, and everyone else. If we follow the lives of the Old Testament prophets, it can be heart-wrenching. M...