Homily: August 17, 2023, Thursday of the nineteenth week in Ordinary time (Pastors-Forgive)

-

 Today, I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know I am with you, as I was with Moses."

One of the beautiful papal exhortations by John Paul II is "Pastores Dabo Vobis”. In English it means "I will give you pastors or shepherds".

This encyclical was based on Jeremiah 3:15, wherein God promised His prophet, "And I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will guide you with knowledge and understanding." Did God keep His promise?

When Moses died, He raised Joshua. After Joshua, for 400 years, the people were guided by Judges. After judges, another set of 42 kings ruled, although they were all at some point unfaithful, except Josiah, who was only 8 years old when he ruled Israel. Even during the time of exile, God raised prophets like Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and so on.

Then there was a 400-year silence from God until the voice of John the Baptist was heard. Even during this silent period, God called forth the Maccabees and brothers to rebuild the temple and led His people in holiness. And then Jesus came, God Himself made an entrance into our world to shepherd us.

God will give us pastors, shepherds, bishops, priests, and deacons to continue the sanctifying work in this world. The world needs shepherds according to the heart of Jesus, who are ready to forgive sins not just seven times but seventy-seven times. Are we prepared to also forgive them for their wrongs and mistakes, again and again?

Amen.


Comments

Post a Comment

Read

Homily: April 20, 2024, Easter Sunday (Witnesses)

-
 “This man God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible—not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.” In many classic films, the story ends with the stylish title flashing on the screen: “The End.” On that special Friday, the Pharisees and chief priests thought their script had come to a perfect ending. They had planned it thoroughly and executed it ruthlessly. With the help of Herod, Pilate, the soldiers, and the shouting crowds, Jesus had been put to death. The stone was rolled in place. The tomb was sealed. The disciples were scattered. To them, it was over. They believed the story of Jesus had reached ‘The End’. It looked like the end, even for those who loved Jesus. Mary Magdalene had on the third day prepared spices to anoint Jesus’ body, a traditional burial practice for the dead. Little did she realize that what had ended was not the whole story, but just one episode. The next...
Read more

March 1, 2025: First Holy Communion Homily: St. Joseph's Catholic Church Seffner, Florida

-
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...
Read more

Homily: April 18, 2025, Good Friday.

-
“…there was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him, nor appearance that would attract us to him.”  “Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured…” I picked out these two phrases in today’s first reading to help us reflect deeper into the significance of what we are celebrating today. God spoke these words, through prophet Isaiah, some 700 years before it was all fulfilled. It described Jesus as the suffering servant, bruised, beaten and abandoned. If we were all there at the scene, looking at Jesus, beaten and bloodied, would we be able to look at Him? Would we be attracted to Him? I am quite sure we would all feel very uneasy, uncomfortable and might even walk out if we were to witness the full condition of Jesus suffering on the cross. It is not at all a pretty sight. Condemned as a criminal, stripped of dignity, mocked as a failure - Who would be drawn to someone so humiliated, badly broken and bloodied face? Yet today, we want to look intens...
Read more

Homily: May 1, 2024: May crowning Mass at Holy Family School

-
 "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...
Read more

Homily: November 20, 2023, Monday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time (Hope).

-
"But many in Israel were determined and resolved in their hearts not to eat anything unclean; they preferred to die rather than be defiled with unclean food or profane the holy covenant, and they did die.” At the beginning of the first reading, the situation of the Israelites was disappointing. There were many ‘breakers of the law’ who ‘seduced’ their fellow Jews to discard their covenant with God. Many chose to disobey and disown God, and accepted the gods and deities of the Gentiles, believing that would protect their lives. They were quick to give up their faith in the generous God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses because of some difficulties and discomfort in life. That led to the persecution of the Jews during the time of the Maccabees. But when we come to the end of the reading, the determination of some of the Jews ‘not to eat anything unclean’ shows that there were many who kept the covenant with God and were faithful even in the face of death. There is hope. Looking at...
Read more

Homily, July 11, 2022, Memorial of Saint Benedict, Abbot

-
 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword.” Did Jesus really say these words? We know Jesus is the Prince of Peace, but here He says He is not bringing peace. We know Jesus to be meek and mild like a lamb, willing to die for the world, but here He says He is bringing the sword. What is Jesus telling us here? In letter to the Hebrews, it is written that Jesus’ word is a two-edged sword, it cuts both ways. In attacking the false beliefs of the world, it cuts. And in presenting and defending the Truth of God, it cuts too. Jesus is the Word incarnate. He is the Truth. He preached the word of God and defended the Truth, and He was persecuted by the world. God’s Word challenged the ways of the world by bringing light to its sins. Its false peace was shaken. God’s Truth awakened the consciences of the people and brought about remorse and a sense of guilt in those who listened to the Truth. Their temporal peace was broken. S...
Read more

Homily:August 18, 2024, Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Wisdom)

-
 “Let whoever is simple turn in here; To the one who lacks understanding, she says, Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed!” This generous invitation in today’s first reading is from Lady Wisdom. This reading is taken from Chapter 9 of the Book of Proverbs which portrays two women: Lady Wisdom and Dame Folly. Our first reading presents only the invitation of Lady Wisdom. She invites us, ‘whoever is simple’, to her home to enjoy the real good life, one of understanding and food good for our body and soul, while Dame Folly attracts people to destruction. Many people seek wisdom, sometimes for unwise reasons, often in the wrong places, and in the wrong ways. Wisdom is unlike knowledge and intellect, it is not something we can gain through studying or hard work, it does not come automatically with age or experience; it is ultimately a gift from the Holy Spirit. In Proverbs 2:6, it says ‘For the Lord gives wisdom…” I am very blessed to have met many wise people who in ...
Read more

Homily: February 13, 2022, Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

-
 In the first reading we heard, “Thus says the LORD: Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the LORD.” And then it continued with, “Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD.” It is very clear, isn’t it? That those who turns away from God will be cursed and those who trusts in God will be blessed. The gospel reading today is known as the beatitudes, in which our Lord Jesus also spelled out the curses and the blessings. But it seems much harder to accept what Jesus is teaching here. I too struggle with this. Let us try to understand it together. We have been told that we came from God, and after this life, we will go back to God. For a long time, I questioned the rationale. Why create me to throw me into this difficult life just to bring me back to Him again? Why not just keep me with Him from the beginning and save me the trouble of going through this life? This earthly life is not easy. I w...
Read more

Homily: February 5, 2024, Monday of the fifth week in Ordinary time (God's presence).

-
"When the priests left the holy place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD.” All the forty years when the Israelites walked through the desert in exodus, God walked with them, in the form of a cloud in the day and in the form of a pillar of fire in the night. Now after the priests placed the ark of the covenant in the holy place, God again made Himself visible to them in the form of a cloud filling the whole temple. God’s presence is so visible and so real them. King Solomon, the priests at the temple, and the people of that time were so blessed to be able to see the glory of the Lord. I too wish I could see it with my own eyes and be in awe of God’s visible presence. A priest friend of mine, who loves the incense, would sometimes fill the sanctuary with the smoke of the incense. It probably looks like the cloudy temple, but I am sure the Israelite temple had a strong and powerful aura, because God was present. Yes, they were indeed blessed. Were they grateful and thankful tha...
Read more

Homily: October 18, 2023, Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist (Lambs and wolves)

-
"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...
Read more