Homily: April 28, 2023, Friday of the Third Week of Easter. (Ananias Forgives).

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 “…laying his hands on him, he said, "Saul, my brother, the Lord has sent me…””

Ananias knew the cruelty of Saul, how he had arrested and imprisoned many men who believed in Jesus, even the women and children were not spared. And now, the persecutor of Christians, the enemy of Christ was sitting before him, blind, powerless and at his mercy.

Ananias had the perfect opportunity to hit back at Saul, terminate him and remove the danger Saul could bring to the community. But he did nothing like that. Instead, Ananias laid his hands on Saul, baptized him and called him ‘my brother’.

During this easter season, our Mass readings continue to tell fascinating conversion stories of the early Christian communities, the beginning of church. What struck me is the powerful way the Holy Spirit was working through the communities, the passionate submission of the disciples to the will of God even when it went against their logic and required them to forgive and love their worst enemies.

Ananias obeyed God and forgave Saul for all that he had done against the communities. And we have our churches today, thanks to Ananias and Saul.

Jesus on the cross forgave His enemies. Jesus in the Eucharist forgives us His believers. St. Stephen at his death forgave His murderers. Jesus taught in Matthew 5:44, “Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you.” Ananias laid his hands on Saul, loved him and blessed him. He forgave the big enemy who persecuted Christians.

Oftentimes, when I hear news from Nigeria about the Boco Haram terrorist who killed Christians so brutally, it really upsets me. I ask God why He doesn’t terminate these terrorists and remove them from earth so all will be safe. Is that the will of God?

There are people in our life who disagree with us, who cause us pain and hardship, who create trouble for us, who make life so difficult for us. God is not removing them from our life. What is God’s will in these?

I don’t know what God wants of them. But I know what God wants of us, ‘forgive them for they know not what they do’. Can we?

Let us ask for the grace to forgive, to bless, to grow to that level of holiness when we can call our enemy, our persecutor, ‘my brother’, ‘my sister’. Amen.


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March 1, 2025: First Holy Communion Homily: St. Joseph's Catholic Church Seffner, Florida

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Did you listen attentively to the Gospel reading? Yes? Let me test you… What did Jesus say? Did He say, “Whoever eats my bread and drinks my wine?”  No! He said, “Whoever eats my FLESH and drinks my BLOOD remains in me and I in him.” Yes, when you receive Holy Communion, you are receiving the real flesh and blood of Jesus. I am sure Fr. Roy, your catechists, parents and the whole parish community have prepared you well for this day, so you know what you are receiving today. But what I want to focus on now is the last part where Jesus says, ‘remains in me and I in him’. 29 years ago in 1996, I received my First Holy Communion. I was eight years old, but I still remember that day vividly. I remember the preparations, my First Reconciliation, and the excitement I felt when I lined up to receive Jesus for the very first time. I remember seeing the priest dipping the Precious Body into the Precious Blood, and then that precious moment – Jesus’ body and blood rested on my tongue. So swee...
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“Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you.” This sounds fine to me because I am not fussy with food and am happy to eat anything offered. I can’t think of any food that I will not eat. And it helps a lot in my ministry, especially in this parish since I get invited to homes of various cultures and different cuisine. So far, I do enjoy Eritrean, Burmese, Laotian, Sudanese, Mexican and of course, American food. Yes, it is easy to feed me but very difficult to slim me down. But why did Jesus give such a specific instruction to His disciples regarding eating and drinking? It may look simple for us, but it was challenging to His disciples. They were Jews and the Jewish law laid out very strict food practices and prohibitions. And now they were being sent out to Gentile villages to preach to them. They were to live in Gentile homes and eat as they eat, drink as they drink. The disciples probably had never done anything like that before. Can you imagine the cultural sho...
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Homilía: Julio 17, 2022, XVI Domingo Ordinario

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