Homily: June 13, 2023, Tuesday of the Tenth week in Ordinary Time (Original Idendity)

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 "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 through his disobedience, through sin, we have all lost our original dignity and prestigious identity. 

That disobedience of our first ancestor was equal to that of disowning his Creator, his Father, thus foregoing his son-ship.

But God wants us back, so He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, through whom we receive our baptism which lets God put His permanent seal upon us and restored our relationship with Him as sons and daughters again.

We did nothing to merit it, but God gives it to us.

There is great beauty, immense dignity, and wondrous glory in our Christian identity. In the Gospel, Jesus made it very clear, "Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father."

Our good deeds will actually shine and bring light to the world and bring glory to God our heavenly Father.

We are sealed and marked for our God. This seal will shine brighter with every humble obedience to our Father’s will. As children, the more we act in line with our Father’s wishes, the greater will be His joy, His satisfaction, His glory.

May His will be done, His Kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.


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Homily: April 10, 2026, Friday in the Octave of Easter (Are you Hungry)

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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 13, 2026, Monday of the Second Week of Easter (All for Jesus)

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 "He must increase; I must decrease." From this very simple statement, we can very clearly see the attitude of John the Baptist towards his mission - humility. John was a fearless man, he was not at all afraid of the Jewish authorities and preached courageously what he believed he was sent to do, he stood resolutely for truth and justice, not at all bothered about the cost or consequence. Nothing could stop him from speaking the truth. Yet, this aggressive preacher from the wilderness was humble, modest and meek when he acknowledges the presence of the Messiah. He recognized that his work, his purpose, his existence was done and must give way to the Lord. Tradition tells us that John the Baptist lived an ascetic life before his public ministry — a life of pure simplicity and total detachment, right down to the food he ate. Such a life demands complete abandonment of self and dedication to the mission. He lived with only one purpose – to accomplish the mission he was born for ...
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Homily: July,14, 2023 Friday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Final resting place)

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 "Not only will I go down to Egypt with you; I will also bring you back here, after Joseph has closed your eyes." With this promise of God, Jacob was greatly comforted and confident to follow God’s direction to leave the land of Canaan and move to Egypt. Why so? In Oriental cultures, it is a tradition for people to be buried on their family property, within their home ground. You can imagine there could be generations of forefathers buried in the backyard of every house, resting in peace.  Thus, people would never sell their property nor move out of it because their forefathers were buried there, and it would also be their final resting place. Many people who went overseas to work would insist on being sent back to their home countries and be buried in their home ground when they die. Jacob had that same concern. He wanted to be buried in the same cave at Machpelah where Abraham and Sarah, and Isaac and Rebecca were buried. Otherwise, he believed he would not rest in peace....
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Homily: July 21, 2023, Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Mercy Not sacrifice).

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 "If you knew what this meant, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice’, you would not have condemned these innocent men."  Jesus is quoting the words God had spoken through the prophet Hosea in the past. He knows that the Pharisees were familiar with the phrase and background but obviously they did not seem to fully understand what it meant. Now, do we know what it means? The root word of mercy is "misericordia," which means a compassionate heart. It is the heart that matters, not the externals. In the first reading, we see God instructing Moses in detail how each Israelite family should offer a lamb and the whole community would sacrifice all the offerings together, share out the roasted meat and apply the lamb’s blood on door posts for the Lord to pass over, destroying only the Egyptians, not the Israelites. The Israelites were to celebrate this festival yearly through all generations as a remembrance of God’s saving grace and liberation of the Israelites from slavery...
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 “I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” Have you ever heard this quote by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: "The nearer the dawn the darker the night." As we enter further into Holy Week, we are getting very near to Easter, and we see the events leading up are also getting darker and more intense. And today, we hear the words from the prophet Isaiah in the first reading, reminding us of our role in the salvation of the world, that He will make us a light in the darkness that is to come upon earth. He has chosen each one of us personally. He has called us by name. While the world is in darkness, we are not to be consumed by it. He has made us to be a light, to shine in this darkness, to break it. Our light does not just shine for others to see, it is a light of holiness, for others to reach to God. It is a light of grace, for others to receive God’s goodness. It is a light that reflects Christ to others, so that they can see c...
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Homily: July 18, 2023, Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Be real )

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