Homily: March 7,2023, Tuesday of the second week in Lent

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 “They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation 'Rabbi.'”

Have you ever encountered such people? If you have, you might agree that they do not impress us with their showiness.

Once on an international flight, I had the opportunity to sit next to a man dressed in traditional religious attire. It was outright obvious that he was a religious man. I was watching him curiously and He drew much the attention from everyone in the flight. 

I do see that some religious leaders in the modern world place great emphasis on outward appearances and rituals, but I wonder if they place the same emphasis on the true essence of faith and spirituality.

Today’s readings invite us to embrace simplicity and authenticity in our lives. As followers of Jesus, we are called to imitate him in his sacrificial love for all humanity. Also, to imitate Him in His humble living. To save us from sin and death, He allowed Himself to die naked on the cross.

He told His disciples, "Foxes have dens, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head." Jesus was so focused on accomplishing His mission on earth that He did not bother about His material well-being nor His social status. Unlike the Pharisees, whose ‘works are performed to be seen’, Jesus is obviously not concerned with how He looks to others but demands that His followers to be authentic, to be real.

Lent is a time for us to return to the Lord and become more like Jesus. As we journey through this season of repentance and reflection, let us ask ourselves: What is the one thing that I have to give up to become more like the Lord?

Reflect on yourself seriously as part of your Lenten discipline.

Let us embrace simplicity, humility and authenticity. Let us focus on what truly matters - our relationship with God. Let us give up worldly desires but seek the kingdom of heaven above all else. Let us remember that Jesus gave everything for us, let us too be willing to give up everything for Him.

May this Lent bring us closer to our Lord, that we may enter into His passion and crucifixion, then look forward to partaking in His resurrection. Amen.


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

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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: July 23, 2023, Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Weeds- wheat)

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 “While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.” “Let them grow together until harvest…” I picked these two verses from today’s Gospel reading. If you have read the parish newsletter, you may have seen my article about the weeds in my planter. The latest update is, they have now grown even taller, are thriving and look very healthy. I actually enjoy observing their growth. They don’t need water nor fertilizer yet with zero care, they grow. But the deer, bunnies and the ground squirrel in my neighborhood are not eating them. These animals used to just gobble up the flowers and vegetables I planted previous spring. They can tell that my plants were good while these weeds are bad. The weeds grow naturally. I didn’t plant them. Where did they come from? How did it happen? Jesus says in His parable, ‘while everyone was asleep’. Yes, while I was doing nothing, my enemy did something. Negligence, laziness, procrastination, I was asleep. I d
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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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