Homily: May 5, 2023, Friday of the Fourth week of Easter (Recognize Jesus))

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 “The inhabitants of Jerusalem and their leaders failed to recognize him, and by condemning him they fulfilled the oracles of the prophets that are read sabbath after sabbath.”

The Jewish people and their leaders knew scripture very well. For generations, they had been waiting for the coming of the Messiah. Why was it that they could not recognize Him when He came in their midst?

Sabbath after sabbath, they had been reading the books of law and the prophets and preaching the promises of God. Yes, they were familiar, in fact, they were too familiar.

The risk of becoming too familiar with something or someone is that we tend to lose focus, we lose the sharpness and sensitivity to its existence and fail to recognize its presence, until it is gone or changed. We become too comfortable and take for granted, we forget their value, their importance, until we lose them.

The scriptures were meant to highlight the signs of the Messiah’s coming. However, the Jewish leaders had used it to protect and defend their authority. They were often on the lookout for false or blasphemous prophets, it had become a part of their religious practice. So, when Jesus came, instead of recognizing His works and teachings as fulfilling the prophecies, they accused him of blasphemy.

We too can become numb to routine and dulled by familiarity if we just go through the motions of religiosity. Do we also face the danger of not recognizing Jesus in our daily encounters?


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Homily: December 7, 2025, Second Sunday of Advent (Fruitfulness )

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 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” This is a stern and strong warning from John the Baptist. For some people, his words cause discomfort and threaten complacency. For those of us who are familiar with farming, we understand perfectly how this works. In my family farm back in Kerala, we had many fruit trees, mangoes, jackfruit, oranges, coconuts, and more. Each tree had a purpose; we planted it for its fruits or its other usefulness. If a tree was healthy and strong, but produced no fruit year after year, we would cut it down and plant another tree in its place. We didn’t keep any tree simply because it looked good. It was never good enough if it did not fulfil its purpose. It is the simple reality of farming. No fruit, no purpose, no reason to keep. The same is true with farm animals. A cow that has stopped producing milk cannot remain in the herd, it would be a waste of resources to feed and care for the cow if it did not do what...
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Homily, January 27, 2026, Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time (Ark of the covenant-Eucharist)

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 “David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David amid festivities.” The Ark of God, also known as the Ark of the Covenant, was deeply venerated and treasured by the people of Israel. It was not just a sacred object; to the people of Israel, it was the very presence of God, dwelling among His people. When the Philistines captured the Ark during their battle with Israel, they thought they had won a great victory, they thought they had Israel’s God on their side, under their control. But instead of receiving blessings, the Ark brought distress to their land. Plagues broke out. Tumors afflicted the people. Their idol, Dagon, fell and shattered before the Ark. Misfortune followed wherever the Ark was placed.  Finally, the Philistines realized that this presence of God was not meant for them, so they returned the Ark to Israel. When David brought back the Ark to Israel, the experience was completely different from the Philistines. There was ...
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Homily: December 12, 2025, Feast of the Our Lady of Guadalupe

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 “Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah.” Today we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Patroness of the Americas, the Mother who draws near to her children with tenderness and mercy. In the Gospel, we see Mary going in haste to the hill country to help Elizabeth. That was 2,000 years ago. Yet 500 years ago, Mary again traveled to a hill the hill of Tepeyac, to meet a poor, humble indigenous man, Juan Diego, and to entrust him with a mission that seemed completely impossible: “Build me a church here.” Juan Diego was a recent convert, just learning the faith. How could he possibly accomplish such a task? But this is how Mary works. She always chooses the lowly, the simple, the overlooked because she knows that when we say “yes” with humility, God does the rest. Her words to Juan Diego are among the most comforting Mary has ever spoken. Here are just a few: • “My son, I love you. I desire you to know who I am. I am the ever-Virgin Ma...
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Homily: February 1, 2025, Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (SEEK)

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“Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth… seek justice, seek humility.” Let me begin with a simple but important question: What are you seeking in your life right now? It does not matter how old you are. It does not matter what stage of life you are in. What do you seek? What do you wish to have? According to the Gospel of John, the very first question Jesus asked when He started His public ministry was exactly this: “What are you looking for?” It is a simple, yet important question. Jesus asked his first disciples, He is also asking us today. A job? A promotion, a home, a family, children, a spouse, good health? A new direction, a decision, an explanation? Our concerns are very real, very human. Yet today, through the prophet Zephaniah, God gently redirects our hearts: “Seek the LORD.” Not one thing among many — but the one thing that makes everything else fall into place. If you have God in your life, you have everything you need. If you do not, nothing else will ever fully satisf...
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Homily: January 23, 2026, Friday of the second week in Ordinary Time (Forgiveness)

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 “Saul then said to David: ‘You are in the right rather than I; you have treated me generously, while I have done you harm.’” I may not remember everything from my theology classes, but one thing from the study of Christology that fascinated me and stayed with me, was the person of David. Not just as an impressive king in the Old Testament but as a prominent faithful servant who prefigured Jesus.  The similarities are striking. David and Jesus were both born in Bethlehem. They were both from the same tribe and lineage. David was a shepherd; Jesus is the Good Shepherd. David wept in the Garden of Olives after being betrayed by his own son, Absalom. Jesus wept in the Garden of Gethsemane after being betrayed by Judas. David was a king anointed by God; Jesus is the King of kings sent by God. But more than all these parallels, what touches me most is this: both David and Jesus loved and forgave their enemies. David was impressive but far from perfect. When sin overtook him, he com...
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Homily: September 24, 2025, Wednesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time (Prayer)

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 “At the time of the evening sacrifice, I, Ezra, rose in my wretchedness, and with cloak and mantle torn I fell on my knees, stretching out my hands to the LORD, my God.” How do you pray? Today’s first reading gives us a beautiful description of how priest Ezra prayed. He considered himself ‘wretched’, totally unworthy of God and His mercy. This expressed his deep reverence for the vast greatness and graciousness of God. He fell on his knees with outstretched arms. This expressed his total surrender, obedience and submission to the ultimate good and perfect will of God. Ezra’s humble prayer disposition is beautiful. He prayed with a deep, sincere, and remorseful heart, laid bare before God, bearing the guilt of his people, yet completely appreciative and grateful for God’s forgiveness. He offered this prayer after the completion and dedication of the rebuilt Temple. The broken temple now rebuilt signified a reconciled relationship with God. Now the Israelites can worship in God’s h...
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Homily: February 3, 2026, Tuesday of the Fourth Week In Ordinary Time (Hope-Eternal life)

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 “The king was shaken, and went up to the room over the city gate to weep.” Separation by death of a loved one is painful. But for a parent to grieve the loss of a child, it is deep anguish. The pain reaches deep into the core of the being. King David wept. The tears did not flow from his eyes, but from the depth of his very soul. No matter how strong, the king broke down and was completely helpless at the death of his own beloved son. No matter how powerful, this king could not bring back the life of his son. In the Gospel today, we meet another grieving parent. Jairus, who had just lost his beloved daughter. But there is one major difference. Jairus was not helpless, he had Jesus to turn to. And Jesus has the power to bring back life. A friend once shared her experience with her neighbor who lost a family member. Wanting to comfort the family, she visited them and enquired with the children, “Do you know what happens after death?” The children replied simply, “We become dirt.” Th...
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Homily: May 20, 2024, Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church.

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“The man called his wife Eve because she became the mother of all the living.” According to the book of Genesis, we are all children of Eve, the first woman. This first woman fell easily into temptation and became disobedient to God. Looking at ourselves, aren’t we the same? We are generally easily tempted and fall into sin. We seem to contain deep rebellion in us and so we tend to be disobedient. We see the same trend of disobedience through all the biblical stories. We are just like our first mother of the earth. God, the creator of the first man and woman, has a plan of redemption. In the fullness of time, He got ready the second Eve, to prepare for the second Adam’s coming. Mary, is like Eve in every way including being born without original sin. She was subject to temptations the same, but the difference is Mary overcame all temptations and remained consistently obedient to God, even all the way along the painful road to Calvary right till at the foot of the cross.  God’s seco...
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Homily: February 22, 2025 Feast of the chair of St. Peter.

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 “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”  Our Lord founded the Church and handed over its growth and development into the future, to Peter. Note that the disciple is Simon, but the pope is Peter. Thus, this appointment to build the church, an appointment so solid like a rock, will be so strong and firm that not even hell could ever overcome it. Simon Peter was not perfect; he had his human weaknesses. It is written that he had cowardly denied Jesus three times, and at one point, Jesus even rebuked him, “Get behind me, Satan” (Matthew 16:23). Christian Tradition also tells that during the time of persecution in Rome, he had tried to escape and flee from Rome. The story continued that on his way along the road outside the city, he met our Lord Jesus where he asked, “Quo vadis, Domine?” - “Where are you going Lord?” To which our Lord replied, “Romam eo iterum crucifigī” – “I a...
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Homily: August 15, 2024, Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

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 “For he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed.” Indeed, two thousand years since then, over a billion Catholics and millions of Orthodox Christians continue to call her blessed. Blessed is she who said yes to God to be the mother of God’s Son, blessed is she who conceived and birthed the Savior into the world, blessed is she who cared for and raised the Messiah for all of us, blessed is she who watched in pain and stayed with her son as He died on the cross, blessed is she who accepted to be the mother of the church. Today, the whole Catholic church, every diocese in the world, is celebrating the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We celebrate this feast every year, and we already know it is to commemorate the belief that Mary was taken straight up to heaven, body and soul, because she lived and died sinless. What makes Mary so important to the Church? The Church honors her with many titles, because she ...
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