Homily: June 26, 2023, Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time (Father of faith)

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"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 old when God called him.

God told him to leave behind his comfortable, secure life and journey to an unknown land where he would become an unknown stranger. The journey would be long and tedious, it would take years, possibly generations. God promised to make him a great nation and to bless him.

But wasn’t Abram already enjoying many blessings in life? Why would he want to go through so much trouble, and hardships just based on the promise of an unseen God?

This is why Abram is loved as the father of faith. He was the first to choose to believe in God and obey Him when he had the comfort and wealth to choose otherwise. God blessed him and named him Abraham.

His obedience brought forth the Jewish nation, and through that, the salvation of the world. From Abraham, faith in God is passed from generation to generation.

If you have great wealth, live in luxury and are very comfortable in your current state of life, would you move out of your comfort zone, in obedient response to God’s call?

Would you exchange your current worldly blessings for God’s blessings to be receive in future generations?

Where is our faith?

Let us now close our eyes. "Lord, I know You want to bless me, beyond what I have now. I know you want to mould me beyond who I am now. You have created me for greatness, not for comfort. But I am afraid of losing it all. I am afraid of insecurity, of not being sure of my future. Grant me the grace to trust you beyond myself, the faith to follow you beyond what I can see or hold. And for my obedience and faithfulness, bless me, O Lord, graciously. Amen."


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Homily: March 23,2025, Third Sunday of Lent (First Scrutiny of the elect)

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 “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” At first, those words sound overwhelming. No option. No compromise. Just: Be perfect. Jesus sets the highest standard possible—not human perfection, but divine perfection. And immediately we might think: How is that possible? And how do we move toward that perfection? The Church gives us a beautiful path: the three theological virtues, faith, hope, and love. First, faith. Faith means trusting. Trusting God, Trusting in God’s promises. Jesus tells us that faith even the size of a mustard seed is enough. God does not demand enormous faith, He asks for sincere faith. Second, hope. Hope keeps us steady when life becomes difficult. When problems feel like mountains in front of us. When suffering enters our family. When prayers seem unanswered. Hope whispers to us: You have a perfect heavenly Father. He is faithful. Hold on. Christian hope does not deny pain—it carries us through it. It reminds us that God can turn everything tow...
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“God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed?” How many of have visited another state in the USA? Have you visited another country out of the USA? Do you know how many countries are there in the world today?  The answer is: 195 countries! When we travel to different places, we would realize that the world is so big. If you were to visit my home country India, you may have to take three flights and travel about 30 hours to arrive. The world is so huge, isn’t it? And the whole world is far bigger and beyond this earth, the sun, the moon and the stars. Can you imagine it? I can’t. And who created all these? God. With His wisdom and mighty strength God created all these. Everything is so organized with their own characteristics and structures, it cannot happen by accident nor by chance.  Is there anything or anyone stronger than our God? No, definitely not. But I found that many children think Spiderman is stronger than God. Recen...
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 “Quickly, bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it.” When I read this Gospel, sometimes I ask myself honestly: If I were that father, how would I respond? Of course, I would be happy that my son returned home. But I don’t think I would be this happy. First I might want to hear his apology. I might remind him of the mistakes he made. And since there is another son at home who is angry, I would probably try to be careful not to appear too generous. But this father does something completely different. He does not wait for explanations. He does not ask questions. He does not punish. He runs toward his son, embraces him, and restores him with dignity. To understand how radical this is, we have to remember the culture of that time. In Jewish tradition, children received their inheritance only after the father’s death. For this younger son to demand his share early was like saying: “Father, I wish y...
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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 23, 2025, Saturday of the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Imperfect Generations)

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