Fr. Nivin's Homily Blog

 “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said…” This was how our first reading began today. God promised Abram when he was already 99 years old, that he would have a son with his 89 year-old wife, Sarah. I kept thinking to myself, “why did God wait till Abram was 99?” God could have appeared to him much earlier and given him a son when he was in his 20’s or 30’s. Why so late? Similarly with Moses. Why did God wait till Moses was 80 years old to call him into the mission of delivering the Israelites out of slavery? Moses could have done a much better job if he was younger in his 30s or even 40s. Another one is St. Paul. He was persecuting the Christians for so long before his conversion. If he had had that powerful encounter with Jesus earlier, many Christians would not have suffered so much, and Paul would have been less of a sinner. Why did God take so long to act? Honestly, I do not know the answer. I don’t think anybody knows. None of my seminary prof...

"Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land that I will show you…I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you.” Some many years ago, I attended a parish renewal program. One takeaway from that program which impacted me was just a simple phrase: "money follows mission". It speaks volumes about having faith in God’s providence. When I read today's first reading, I was inspired to coin this phrase: "Blessings follow struggles". This says a lot about trusting in God’s plan above our plans. In the coming two weeks, we will be reading from the book of Genesis. Today, we read from chapter 12, which narrates the call of Abram. This chapter marks the beginning of salvation history. Abram was a very wealthy man. He was leading a very comfortable, luxurious life with servants in wait and plentiful livestock. Which meant he had more than enough for himself and his household to live very long. Abram was already 75 years...

 "Even the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." As part of my studies and ministry, I have travelled and lived in different countries. Being shy and an introvert, it takes time for me to connect with people and build relationships in a new environment. Yet, surprisingly, many times when I moved in to a new place or country, there would somehow be an old friend or acquaintance there to help me settle in and their presence provided much relief and consolation. Like when I first joined the seminary after high school, I found a good friend who also joined the same seminary. When I went to Rome for my studies, another friend was there a year ahead of me. Four years ago, when I came to Des Moines, an older distant cousin had already been here many years. Without all these friends, I would have taken a long time to adapt before I could start making new friendships. We all need to connect with someone. A recent Harvard study sho...

 "For I am jealous of you with the jealousy of God." Is God jealous? In Exodus 20:5, God says, "You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God." Isn’t jealousy a negative emotion? Why is God jealous? What is this jealousy? The Oxford dictionary first defines that being jealous is “feeling or showing an envious resentment of someone or their achievements, possessions, or perceived advantages”. So, jealousy is envy, that would be a sin. But wait, the Oxford dictionary also defines the same emotion as being “fiercely protective of one's rights or possessions”. So, here it seems jealousy is also synonymous with protectiveness and defensive. Well, God is all mighty, there is no one for Him to be envious of. But truly, we are God’s creation, we belong to Him, and rightly, He should be protective and defensive in wanting to keep us for Himself because He knows that is where we are safe and happy. There are so many passages in...

"As unrecognized and yet acknowledged; as dying and behold we live; as chastised and yet not put to death; as sorrowful yet always rejoicing; as poor yet enriching many; as having nothing and yet possessing all things." In today’s first reading, we see St. Paul’s wisdom as he writes to the faith community in Corinth. He is teaching them to see positivity in every hardship, every problem, every suffering. To him, every situation, seemingly good or bad, is a blessing, if we have eyes of faith to see it. A good example is our St. Ambrose parish. In the diocese, we are one of the poorest parishes, despite being the Cathedral. Seventy percent of our parishioners are refugees, living every day in survival mode, working hard to build a basic home, to educate their children, simply to live in peace. They left their war-torn country to find a new home, starting from zero. They brought nothing with them, only faith and hope. Materially, they have next to nothing, so they are not able t...

 "At the sight of the crowds, Jesus' heart was moved with pity because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd." I especially admire Pope Benedict XVI. I can relate to his personality in many ways. He was an introvert and shy, so am I. And he liked bier, so do I. He was one of the greatest theologians of our time. Through the encyclicals, which are papal letters to all the bishops of the church, Popes share their wisdom and insights on world issues and the faith to guide the church forward. When Pope Benedict was installed, many theologians and the world waited eagerly for his first encyclical, wondering which global issue of the time he would address. Instead, his first encyclical dwelt on a very basic yet profound topic, "Deus Caritas est", that means "God is love". It was what the church needed, to go back to who God really is and focus on the very basis and essence of our existence. No world issue can be resolved without kno...

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light." Even in the days when I was still a small child, I have carried many things on my head, literally - pots of water, food, wood, and anything that can be balanced on the head. That is the way Indians carry loads, so that our hands are free, and in a way, it is easier as we also have to walk long distances without any transport. My parents used to take my siblings and me out to gather firewood. When we had gathered enough, my parents would take the heaviest loads while they gave each of us a smaller portion according to our strength. We would balance the stack of firewood on our heads and walk home. We carried hay for our cows and fetched pots of water from a nearby well during the hot summers. We also carried packs of rice and other groceries from the market back home. Papa always made sure to distribute the loads based o...

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Most of the third-world countries, including my home country, have a long history of colonization, oppression, discrimination, injustice, and slavery. So, finally when we attain independence, presumably gaining freedom as a nation, we celebrate it. The freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives are the national heroes. In the schools in India, students will study numerous stories and poems written before the days of independence to help them understand the painful history of the country and instill in every child a deep sense of national consciousness and patriotism. Some things in history must not be repeated. Spiritually, we too can be enslaved. With the fall of our first ancestors, we all became slaves to sin. The disobedience of Adam and Eve introduced sin into the world, which has been transmitted to all mankind. We are not guilty of their sin, but we are all affected by it. We become enslaved. Onl...

 Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law. What is the smallest letter of the law? In my home diocese in India, the church belongs to the Syro-Malabar tradition and our liturgy is celebrated differently from the Roman rite we celebrate here. The liturgical language used is East Syriac. Syriac is very similar to Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus and His disciples. Both languages share the same alphabet, and within it, the smallest letter is the Yod (^), which resembles a small upside-down "V". One of our seminarian friends was nicknamed "Yod" because of his small physical stature.  Despite its size, this letter holds great significance in the language. Yod is used to form all the other letters, and since the Jewish tradition holds that God uses all the letters as the building blocks of creation, Yod points to God's omnipresence. And creation is natural law. So when Je...

 "He has also placed His seal upon us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a first installment." What is a seal? I did a google check and found out that the seal is used to execute a legal document or guarantee the document's authenticity. A seal is unique to a sealer, often bearing the owner's portrait or coat of arms used in much the same way as we use signatures today. Wow. That struck me. God has placed His seal upon us. It is like He has His signature on us, claiming us to be His own and guaranteeing our authenticity, that we are really His children, not fake, not imitation. Because we are truly His children, He gave us what is most precious, powerful and important – His spirit. And that is just the first installment, can you imagine how it will be like when He gives us the full measure of all His gifts? In Luke’s genealogy, it ended with “the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.” Adam, our first ancestor, was made for divinity. But th...

 "After he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them…” You must have heard this Gospel passage proclaimed many times over the years. Can you identify with any of the situations Jesus highlighted in this list of beatitudes? Do you feel encouraged by the fact that your ‘poor or persecuted’ situation is actually a heavenly blessing? How many of you have watched the TV series ‘The Chosen’? In Season 3, Episode 1, it shows Jesus delivering the Sermon on the Mount. I have known this biblical event very well yet when I watched how it could have happened as shown on the series, I understood it so much more. I must applaud the directors for presenting the event in a very moving and intensely personal way. In the show, as Jesus was teaching about each of the beatitudes, he would look at his apostles one at a time with an affectionate connection, letting His words penetrate deep into their consciousness and they in turn seemed to come to a powerful realization of their ...

 "For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him." Instituted by Jesus Himself and taught by the Church, the consecrated host is the real body of Christ, the consecrated wine is the real blood of Christ, and His flesh and blood are true food that nourishes us for eternal life. Can you believe this? This is one of the most difficult teachings of Jesus to accept, it is impossible to agree to eating another human person’s flesh and drinking his blood to sustain our life for eternity. Even harder for us to believe that the wafer host used at Mass becomes the real body, because our eyes cannot see any difference in the elements after consecration. Today, we celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi, a liturgical solemnity to emphasize and celebrate the real presence of the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the elements of the Eucharist. Precisely because it is hard to believe and accept. G...

 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 persona...

 Grief-stricken in spirit, I, Tobit, groaned and wept aloud. Then with sobs I began to pray… We continue our reflections from the book of Tobit. In the first part of today’s first reading, we see how Tobit was ‘grief-stricken in spirit’ – he was devastated and desperate! His life saw misfortunes one after another, while he continued to keep faithful to God. But there is just so much a human person can withstand, so he took it to prayer, with groans and sobs, but if you read carefully his prayer, there was no complaints or anger against God. Only total surrender and giving up his life totally to the Lord. Then we read on to Sarah’s life. What a miserable life she had, losing one husband after another, seven times, all on the wedding nights. She was cursed indeed by the demon and ridiculed by others, she was helpless and depressed. What could she do? We see in the reading, “At that time, then, she spread out her hands, and facing the window, poured out her prayer…” She could take her...

 An evil report he shall not fear; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. His heart is steadfast; he shall not fear till he looks down upon his foes. This is our responsorial psalm today, in response to the first reading we heard about Tobit and his wife, arguing over a goat which he thought was stolen. Tobit was a righteous man, faithful to God all the days of his life. The Israelites were living in exile under oppression and Tobit became blind and dependent on his wife's work. His kinsmen grieved at his condition, but Tobit did not lose his faith in God. He also did not lose his integrity and moral values. He did not forget his obligation to be steadfast in God’s laws. At every wedding, we witness bridal couples making their vows to each other and promising to be faithful to each other ‘in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love and honor each other all the days of their life’. What a beautiful way to seal love for the other! What a courageous way to assure co...

 "And I wept. Then at sunset, I went out, dug a grave, and buried him." I love reading the book of Tobit and the book of Jonah from the Old Testament, especially Tobit, which provides deep moral insights. Tobit was a righteous man, ever ready to get into acts of mercy. In today’s first reading, Tobit’s meal of ‘many different dishes’ was served. But before he ate, he asked his son to go out to find a poor man to share his meal, a fellow Israelite whom he may not even know personally, he regarded everyone as family. And when he heard about the Israelite whose dead body was left on the streets, he ‘sprang to (his) feet’ to bring the body back so as to bury him after sunset. His immediate reaction showed how important that work of mercy was to him, an act which took courage and sacrifice. Tobit and his family were in exile, and to bury a fellow countryman who was killed by the Assyrians will put his life in danger. Yet to leave a body unburied was an act of disrespect to the one...

 "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." When I was a child, I wished to be tall, strong and muscular; I dreamed of winning every fight and imagined myself being feared by others. But the truth is I was always thin and small in stature compared to my peers and was bullied by others. To compensate for my lack, I decided that my God is powerful and mighty and will defeat all my enemies.  Growing up in a predominantly Hindu country, I was fascinated by the stories of Hindu deities who were victorious in every battle, they were superheroes. In school, my Hindu friends and I would argue whose god would win in a wrestling competition: Jesus or Krishna and Shiva the Hindu gods. But Jesus does not even possess any weapon, has never been in fights and would never kill, how could He win? I secretly wished that Jesus and His angels were powerful, invincible  warriors.   So, what is our God? Our God ...

"When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves…” A fig tree with leaves usually indicates the presence of ripe fruits since the fruits appear before the leaves. Therefore, a tree full of leaves should have many ripe fruits, but not this tree which Jesus approached in today’s Gospel by St. Mark. It had many leaves but no fruit at all. What was wrong with this fig tree? Did Jesus’ curse cause the tree to wither the next day, or was it a prophecy? This incident is highly symbolic. The fig tree is mentioned about thirty times in the Old Testament, and about twenty-seven times in the New Testament. In the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve used fig leaves to cover up their nudity, an attempt to hide their sin of disobedience and rebellion. And now in this Gospel, St. Mark mentions the fig tree event right before the cleansing of the temple event. What is the parallel? The temple in Jerusalem was a remarkably beautiful building. Though it was a grand structure fit for the highest worship t...

"He plumbs the depths and penetrates the heart; understanding their innermost being. The Most High possesses all knowledge.” For most of us, uncertainties cause anxieties and the unknown future triggers fear. That is why many people crave for knowledge, but no one can ever have all knowledge, except God. Thus, it is very assuring that our God who knows everything about the world, about us, our good and our bad, and still loves us. This is our greatest comfort and security. Between ourselves, we too can bring comfort and assurance to one another. Whenever I meet my spiritual director and share with him my struggles and difficulties, he would console and assure me by sharing his own similar life experiences and how he has lived through it. His own past has become the encouragement and inspiration for my present situation. In the same way, I have journeyed with and comforted many who have lost loved ones because I too have lost my beloved parents.  Through my own pain and grief, I am...