Homily: March 10, 2023, Friday of the second week in Lent

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 “Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels laden with gum, balm and resin to be taken down to Egypt.”

This incident in today’s first reading struck me. 

I don’t sing well but there is one old African-American hymn which I like very much and enjoy singing whenever I think of it. This is how it begins:

There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole. There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.

The words and melody of this song are beautiful and moving, it is often sung in funeral masses.

The balm in Gilead refers to a spiritual medicine to heal the Israelites from their sins, pointing to the Messiah. So how does God save and heal the Israelites?

In this first reading, we see how the brothers of Joseph, planning to kill him, decided to sell him to the Ishmaelites when they saw them coming. Who are the Ishmaelites?

They are the descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, born from Hagar the servant girl. Sarah chased Hagar and her son out with nothing, they almost starved to death but God protected them and they became a great nation, through Ishmael.

Now after three generations, the Ishmaelites unknowingly rescued Abraham’s great grandson, Joseph. And it is through Joseph’s line that Jesus came to be born.

God saved Ishmael, and his descendants saved the descendants of Jacob. In this sense, the Ishmaelites saved the Israelites.

From this incident, we learn two things: first, God’s healing and protection is always available for us. Secondly, very often His saving grace may be very different from what we had expected.

Brother killing brother. We see that in humanity from the beginning of time when Cain killed Abel. The people thereafter continued to repeat the same sins, as we now see the murder plot of Joseph’s brothers.

Yet, God can turn the wrong doings of man into fulfilment of His plan, He can send graces through the wounds of souls, to heal and make whole again.

God heals and protects, God saves, in His way, in His time. Our wickedness can never destroy God’s plan. Our sinfulness can never dry up God’s mercy.

May we continue to have faith in his love and compassion, and may we always trust in his wonderful plan for our lives.

May God bless us and keep us always in his care. Amen.


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Funeral Homily: William J. Baum, June 8, 2023

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 The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. The soul of Bill is in the hand of God, no torment shall touch him. We are here to bid our final farewell to Bill, our beloved brother, grandpa, dad, husband, friend. I feel privileged to have known Bill these last two years and honored to preside over this Mass for his sending off. Many of you would have known him much longer and much better than I. I wish I had more time with him. I was awed when I read his obituary, his life story is inspirational. I know from my encounter with him that he was a dedicated husband, a loving and caring father, the greatest fan to every one of his grandchildren, and an incredible friend to countless people here and around the world. His going would surely leave a void in our lives. It is only natural that we grieve this loss. Bill was a man of remarkable character. His love for life, his sense of humor, and his thoughtfulness for others were the hallmarks of his personality
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Homily:" May 7, 2024. Tuesday of the Sixth week of Easter (praise and worship in Prison)

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 "About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God…” I cannot even imagine this scene. How could they still pray and sing in such a situation? Whenever I have a slight headache, ear infection, or a little upset stomach, I would already be very disturbed. I would not even want to talk to anyone during those moments. If I had something worse, I might not even be able to pray. If you look carefully at my left eyebrow, you will notice a scar. During my seminary days in Rome, there was once when I was late for class, and I ran so fast into the classroom that I crashed into the glass door without realizing it was closed. I shattered the glass and a piece of it cut deep across my eyebrow. Thankfully it missed my eye. I was so in pain, shock and bleeding that I could not talk to anyone for a while, and I definitely was not in the mood to sing or pray. But look at Paul and Silas. They had just been attacked by a crowd, were then stripped, and beaten with rods. Aft
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Homily: March 13, 2022, Sunday of the second Week of Lent

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 The Lord God took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars if you can. Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”  “I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as a possession.” God made these two promises to Abram. For the people in ancient times, and for many even in modern times, having children as heir and owning land as property are two most important possessions in life. Abram had been leading a nomadic life for many years and his wife Sarai, already in her old age, was still childless at that time. So, Abram doubted and questioned, “how am I to know…?” Have you been praying for something important, bearing heavy burdens while waiting, trying to keep hopeful but still you received nothing? Would you also doubt and question God? In response to Abram’s doubt, God assured him by cutting a covenant with him, known as a covenant of the pieces. In ancient times, when people entered a treaty, a contractual agreement, they wo
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Homily: January 30, 2023, Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

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“Then they began to beg him to leave their district.” Why?? Jesus just did an amazing miracle, he cast out a multitude of demons in possession of a man and sent them all into nearby pigs. Jesus released the man from his horrible bondage so that he can live a free and fulfilling life. Isn’t that a wonderful thing Jesus did? Wouldn’t they feel secure and safe with Jesus around, so no one will be afraid of demons again? Why would they want to beg Jesus to leave them? Once I was biking with a friend towards Minburn. As we got near, we can already smell a pork refinery. My friend asked me, “Father, do you know what smell is this?” I said, “Yes, it is the smell of pork.” He replied, “Yes, this is the smell of money.” If you reared pigs, you would know what that smell is like. It is a very bad smell. To people from Middle Eastern cultures, including Jews, pigs are considered contaminated and unclean.  But to the rest of the world, it is a popular meat to eat. People may not like real pigs, bu
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Homily: November 27, 2023, Monday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time (Fear of the Lord)

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 “In any question of wisdom or prudence that the king posed to them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his kingdom.” One of my favorite books in the Old Testament is the book of Daniel. The stories of Daniel and his friends inspire me a lot. I enjoy reading how God was always with them and blessed them with great wisdom and a unique gift in interpreting visions and dreams. In today’s first reading, we see how King Nebuchadnezzar tested and then invited these three young men, Daniel and his two friends, to serve him. It was an honor and seen as a great fortune to be trusted by the King, to eat and converse with him while all other Israelites were living as slaves. But Daniel and his friends did not once forget the God of their ancestors. Even though they had privileges from the King, they did not disobey God’s laws. They feared the Lord in all their days, they loved God in all their ways. And for that, they had great wisdom and understanding. And fo
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Homily: February 17, 2023, Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time.

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“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
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Homily: November 20, 2023, Monday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time (Hope).

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"But many in Israel were determined and resolved in their hearts not to eat anything unclean; they preferred to die rather than be defiled with unclean food or profane the holy covenant, and they did die.” At the beginning of the first reading, the situation of the Israelites was disappointing. There were many ‘breakers of the law’ who ‘seduced’ their fellow Jews to discard their covenant with God. Many chose to disobey and disown God, and accepted the gods and deities of the Gentiles, believing that would protect their lives. They were quick to give up their faith in the generous God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses because of some difficulties and discomfort in life. That led to the persecution of the Jews during the time of the Maccabees. But when we come to the end of the reading, the determination of some of the Jews ‘not to eat anything unclean’ shows that there were many who kept the covenant with God and were faithful even in the face of death. There is hope. Looking at
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Homily: January 16, 2023 Monday of the second week in Ordinary time

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 “In the days when he was in the Flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.” Even Jesus, the beloved Son of God, prayed hard and fervently while He lived among us in this world. I know of a parishioner who is from one of our refugee communities. I have seen him many, many times kneeling in church, praying deeply and reverently and at length. He always has with him little prayer books that he uses. His deep reverence and focus really inspire me and make me curious too. Finally, I had to ask him about his praying. Each time he prays, he will say the rosary, meditate on the stations of the cross, pray novenas to saints. And his prayer list includes me, all his siblings, his cousins and friends. Wow! Blessed is every person in his prayer list, because he is a reliable prayer warrior interceding for them always. I am blessed. In every one of our communities, I know of at lea
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Homily: October 12, 2022, Wednesday of the twenty-eighth week in the ordinary time.

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 “If you are guided by the spirit, you are not under the law”.  From my kindergarten years to grade 4, I used to walk two miles to school and the same distance back home. I would always get really hungry on the way home. My friends and I would pick and eat whatever that was edible along the road. One of our neighbours grew a special cherry plant in his garden. We used to pick the juicy cherries to eat as we walked past. One day, he put up a handwritten sign on the tree which read, “Don’t pick the cherries”. One naughty kid continued to pick the cherries and even tore up that sign. Thereafter, the owner began to guard his cherry fiercely.  If we behaved right and showed respect for his property, there would not need the sign board nor the guarding, right? Similarly, if everyone in society knew how to behave and treat one another, we would not need to have laws. Those who are guided by the spirit of right behaviour will not need laws, because they are above the law.  Is it any wonder why
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Homily: February 19,2024, Monday of the first week in Lent (Be Holy)

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Two phrases that struck me today are from the first reading. The first one is, “Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy,” and the second one is: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” For a long time, I have always thought that holiness was something that I could never attain. I just felt it was too far and impossible for me to reach. When I was little, all the saints I knew about were born in countries a great distance from India, like St. Anthony of Padua, St. Dominic Savio, St. Padre Pio, and so on. I believed that people from other countries were holy, and Indians can never be. It is only recently that there are saints from India being canonized. I am sure there must have been many unknown, unnamed and uncanonized saints who lived and died in India throughout its history, but their cases were never brought to the Holy See for the canonization process. Similarly for many countries in Asia and around the world. After my ordination, as I encountered more people
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