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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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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Homily: April 26, 2026, First Holy Communion Mass

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Today is a beautiful day. Because something beautiful is going to happen soon. Do you know what is so special about today? As a priest, this is one of the days I look forward to every year. It is also one of the days Jesus Himself looks forward to every year, at every parish in the world. Jesus has been waiting for you to receive Him in Holy Communion. And it is a great joy, a great honor for me to give you Jesus for the first time in your life. Jesus is very happy. I am very happy. Your teachers are happy. Your parents are happy. Our St. Ambrose parish family is also very happy. Are you happy too? And you know what makes me happier than this? To give you Jesus again and again, week after week, from today onwards. After today, you should be able to receive Jesus at every Mass. Today is a very special day for you. A day you will remember all your life. Today is also a special day for Jesus, a day He does not forget at all. He remembers everybody’s First Holy Communion. From the moment y...
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Homily: May 4, 2026 Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter (Love-Commandments)

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 “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” Jesus is saying that if we love Him, then His Father and Him will come and make their home in us. And we know that if the Father and the Son come, the Holy Spirit will come too! When God comes, He does not just pay us a visit. He does not stay at a distance. He desires to live with us. He in us, and we in Him. Fully united. If God truly dwells in us, what more do we need? His presence is enough. His love is enough. His power is enough. If God is with us, we have nothing to be afraid of. But Jesus also gives us a condition: “Whoever loves me will keep my word.” We are called to love Him in action, by obeying His commandments, doing His will, keeping His teachings. Now, this is where many people struggle. For some people, God’s commandments feel like a burden, they think His will dampens their desires and His teachings restrict their freedom. But for those who h...
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Homily: May 3, 2026 Fifth Sunday of Easter (Dwelling place)

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 “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places… I am going to prepare a place for you.” Think about that. Heaven will not be a vast space where we roam or float about. We will have a home, a place to rest, to take root, to be safe and comfortable. And Jesus is preparing it for us. This is not a general promise, but something personal. Christ has you specifically in mind. He will prepare it in a way that is just right for us. So, are we also preparing ourselves for this future dwelling place? Jesus is the Truth, His promise is real. Heaven is real. We too have made a promise to God at our baptism, renewed at every Easter. Is our promise real? God has set aside a home for us, His children. We need to claim this gift, but not just with lip service. We need to claim it with our action, by how we live. Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life." Follow Jesus and we will get there. Trust Jesus and we will get there safe. Live like Jesus now and we will get there happily,...
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Homily: September 15, 2025, Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows (Entrustment)

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 “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” This arrangement, spoken from the Cross, may look like a simple and practical arrangement for the care of His surviving mother, but truly, it carries a deeper and profound truth. It is one of the ‘seven last words of Jesus’. Quite naturally and obviously, He entrusted the care of His beloved Mother to someone reliable and obedient. He gave her to John. And at the same time, He also entrusted the continued nurturing of John, His beloved disciple, to His Mother. Jesus had no earthly possessions which will wither and end to leave behind. What He left, as a lasting forever legacy to His disciples and as a gift of eternity to all believers to come, was the institution of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper. Now from the Cross, He is giving to the whole of humanity something personal: His own Mother,  whom He took His human flesh and blood from when she carried Him in her womb. Why John the beloved ap...
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Homily: May 1, 2026: Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker

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 “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter’s son?” In today’s Gospel, Jesus is identified by His work. He was known as the ‘carpenter’s son’. St. Joseph was a carpenter. Most likely, he was well known in Nazareth. His work defined him in the eyes of the people. And Jesus, in His hidden life, shared that identity. We do not know much about Jesus’ life in the years of His infancy till His public ministry. But we can imagine it could be very simple and humble. Jesus would have spent those years close to Joseph, watching him work, learning from him, assisting him and finally, possibly taking over the trade when Joseph passed on. In His humanity, Jesus learned how to work, to be an industrious member of society, following the example of His earthly father, Joseph. In the beginning, the first Adam was placed in a garden of the world to labor and care for it. Now, the new Adam, Jesus, was also placed in the carpentry of the world to labor and build for ...
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Homily: June 21, 2025, Saturday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time (Sufficient Grace)

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 “Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you.’” This sentence in today’s first reading is one of the most well-known and quoted lines in the New Testament. There are many interpretations about what could be the “thorn in the flesh” which St. Paul referred to and asked for the Lord to remove for him. No one knows for sure, and no one needs to know exactly. What we do know is that it was something Paul believed the “angel of Satan” was sent to torment him. It was so bad for him that he wished and prayed for the Lord to take away from him. But Jesus did no, and told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you.” Jesus is telling us the same: “My grace is sufficient for you.” Are you struggling terribly? Do you feel greatly tormented? Are you facing huge troubles? Do you feel like there is no way out? If you are crying out to the Lord like St. Paul, know that you are not alone. God’s silence is not absence. He is with y...
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Homily: April 28, 2026, Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter (Simple Faith )

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 “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” There is a famous English comedian, Rowan Atkinson, who is well known for his act as Mr. Bean. He once shared that sometimes people went up to him to comment that he looked like Mr. Bean. To which he would respond, “I am Mr. Bean.” But they would insist, “No, no, you just look like him!” It sounds funny but this is exactly what is happening in today’s Gospel. The people asked Jesus, “Tell us plainly, are you the Christ?” They had seen His works and heard His profound teaching. There had never been anyone like Him. No one had performed the miracles He performed. No one had fulfilled the prophecies from old, only He did. Everything pointed to Him as the long-awaited Messiah. Those who knew the Scriptures should have recognized Him easily. Then why were they still asking? Simple answer. They were in denial. They knew, but they refused to acknowledge it. They probably thought they were too intelli...
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Homily: May 2-2026 Memorial of St.Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church.

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 “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.” Jesus is one with the Father. Jesus is not just a teacher or a prophet. He is the eternal Son of God— fully divine and fully human. He took on our human nature to save us, to redeem us, to bring us back to the Father. Today, the Church celebrates Athanasius of Alexandria, one of the great defenders of this truth. He lived in the 4th century and served as the bishop of Alexandria. At that time, a serious error began to spread in the Church. A priest named Arius taught that Jesus was not truly God— that He was only a creature, that He was created, and not equal to the Father. This teaching was very popular. Many people followed it.  St. Athanasius stood firm. Even as a young deacon, he defended the true faith. In the year 325, the Church gathered at the Council of Nicaea. There, the bishops proclaimed clearly: I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only...
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Homily: May 1, 2024: May crowning Mass at Holy Family School

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 "A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” Did you remember hearing this from today’s first reading? This verse really struck me. The ‘woman clothed with the sun’ mentioned, do you know who this woman is? Yes, it is referring to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. St. John the Apostle had this vision and he described the mother of the Jesus as ‘clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her heard a crown of twelve stars’. Who would usually wear a crown? Yes, a king or a queen.  It is a symbol of their authority over everyone in the country, a sign of the power vested in them to rule the people and for them to obey their rule. So, Mother Mary is a queen, who wears a crown of twelve stars. Why twelve? Do you know what in the Bible are twelve in number? Yes, there were twelve tribes of Israel and Jesus had twelve apostles. The twelve tribes of Israel descended from the twelve chi...
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