Homily: July 28, 2023, Friday of the sixteenth week in Ordinary time (First commandment).

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In those days: God delivered all these commandments: “I, the LORD, am your God…”

In today's first reading, Moses passed on the Ten Commandments to the Israelites as he had received from God.

Most emphasis is given to the first commandment because God wants His chosen people to focus on it seriously. It is the foundation on which all the other commandments rest. Whenever Israel failed in the first commandment, they would get into serious consequences.

I am not an exorcist, but I have assisted exorcists as a translator on numerous occasions. Demonic possessions take place when people allow it through intentional offences against God. The exorcists would often ask questions to identify which commandment was violated, and commonly, it is the first commandment that was broken, such as playing Ouija board, practicing black magic or white magic, engaging in witchcraft, and so on.

Violating the first commandment is denying God as our Lord, and that is the easiest way for Satan to possess and take control of the person. Because if we deny God as our master, then we are in fact allowing the devil to take over as master, and we become enslaved.

Bob Jones said so aptly, “The devil did not tempt Adam and Eve to steal, to lie, to kill, to commit adultery; he tempted them to live independent of God.”

And he continues to execute the same temptation with various disguises. Social media, excessive entertainment, sports, games, even seemingly innocent activities but all aimed at engaging our hearts and minds intensely, so to disengage our souls from God, especially on holy Sundays, the day of the Lord. To the point where sometimes our commitment to such activities overshadows our attention and obligation to Sunday Mass and other important holy feasts.

We are constantly told that it is important to have ‘me-time’, pamper ourselves, satisfy our personal needs, fulfil our selfish desires. God can come later. These are the devil’s ways of tempting us to worship ourselves as gods. It is a temptation to violate the first commandment.

This could happen to any of us if we put anything else above God as our priority. If we don't give God what is due to Him, we will undoubtedly give that to someone or something else, and that is the spiritual danger we put ourselves in. 

Our Lord and God deserves our love with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul. Don’t ever allow yourself to be tempted to give God only leftovers - time, energy, love, or attention. He deserves to be first, He should be and must be first in our lives.

God speaks to us, “I, the LORD, am your God…You shall not have other gods besides me.” Amen.


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Homily: October 8, 2023, Twentyseventh sunday in ordinary time (wild grapes and bad tenants)

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“The kingdom of God will be taken away from you  and given to a people that will produce its fruit.” We are now in harvesting season. Many months before this, we were planting and pruning, now we see the results, the fruits, the produce. Our two readings today are also about producing and harvesting fruits. In the first reading the vineyard produced wild grapes instead of good grapes. What went wrong? If the vineyard owner had done everything right, and yet the vineyard brought forth wild grapes, then the problem must have been the soil? Yet it was a land set on the fertile hillside. There is nothing the vineyard owner could do than to let it waste and be cursed. In the Gospel, the story is not about the soil which could not produce, but the tenants who refused to give the produce back to the vineyard owner. What went wrong? The produce must have been good, and the tenants might have become greedy, and wanted to keep all the harvest to themselves and even planned to kill to take ov...
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 Let the house of Israel say, "His mercy endures forever." Let the house of Aaron say, "His mercy endures forever." Let those who fear the LORD say, "His mercy endures forever." We sang these verses in today’s responsorial psalm. God’s mercy endures forever. ‘Forever’ means from the very beginning to the very end of time, God’s mercy ‘endures’. What does it endure? Does it endure just the length of time? No, more than that. It endures the breadth of our sins, and the depth of our hard-heartedness. When Adam and Eve sinned against God, they had to bear the consequences of their sins. Even then, we read the scene of God putting together some garments for Man and Woman to cover themselves, who became conscious of their nakedness. This is a beautiful sign of God’s affectionate and compassionate love for the man and woman He created. This is God’s mercy. Thereafter throughout the whole of history, from Abraham to Moses, to Jesus till today, God continues to pur...
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"Behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves."  Thousands of years before Jesus’ time, sheep became domesticated. While there still exists very few species in the wild, most sheep will never be able to survive on their own. Their lambs are even more vulnerable. If ever they fall prey to wolves, they will not be able to fight them. They need a shepherd to protect them, to keep them alive. Then why is Jesus sending his disciples out among wolves? Why send them into danger?  If we recall Jesus has told His disciples, “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” (Matthew 10, 28) Did His disciples understand their vulnerability? Should they fear being among wolves which can only destroy their bodies, while they are there preaching to save their souls? Today's first reading shows us how much danger discipleship faces. St. Paul was often beaten, persecuted, stoned, and...
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“In the blood of calves, lambs, and goats, I find no pleasure.” Why does God find no pleasure in such blood sacrifices? What would please God? In the past, one of the parishes in my home diocese in India used to practice animal sacrifices in church. I do not know how it all started but I know how it all ended. In 1924, exactly one hundred years ago, the bishop at that time banned all animal sacrifices in our parishes. It was a huge decision and he faced strong opposition. Why? The parish church was dedicated to St. Anthony attracted many visitors from other states. People would go and offer animal sacrifices, in the hope of getting their petitions granted. The church would sell chickens outside the church, and when a devotee wanted to offer a sacrifice, they would cut the necks of the chickens, and sell it to the devotees for their sacrificial offertory. The parishioners who sold the chickens to the church made a lot of money and the church profited from the offertory as well. You can ...
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