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: December 28, 2025, Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Dreams)

-
 “The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you.’” As a young man, Joseph must have had beautiful dreams about his future family. He could have imagined a helpful and capable wife, children playing around the house and growing up to be well respected people in the community, a vision of a stable and peaceful life. When he got engaged to Mary, it seemed like his dreams would become reality soon. Many of us, married or not, can identify with the dreams that Joseph could have had. Yet like Joseph, the realities of our lives would have unfolded quite differently from how we have dreamt it. Joseph’s family life turned out totally unlike his own dreams, yet he continued to dream, now with God’s will revealed and God’s plan unfolding in the reality of his life. The hardship he went through in Bethlehem, with the birth of Jesus, did not end there. Today’s Gospel shows another unexpected cha...
Read more

Homily: Janaury 11, 2025 Saturday after Epiphany (Increase-Decrease)

-
 "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 ...
Read more

Homily: January 4, 2025, Feast of Elizabeth Ann Seton (Come and See)

-
 “He said to them, 'Come, and you will see.' So they went and saw where he was staying.” “Come and See” is often an invitation to take an personal exploration and not just hear about something from others.  Many religious congregations use similar programs for those who are discerning a vocation to the priesthood or religious life, because often it is better to have an experience than simply reading or hearing about it before making a decision with regards the consecrated life. I participated in one such program before. At that time, I had absolutely no interest in joining the priesthood. I went because one of my best friends had asked me to accompany him to that three-day event. And guess what? Later that same year, I entered the seminary. The disciples in today’s Gospel wanted to know where Jesus was staying, instead of telling them, Jesus invited them to ‘Come and you will see.” Whatever it was that they saw, it was convincing enough for them to want to stay with Him, to fo...
Read more

Homily: December 31,2024, The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas (Truth)

-
 "Because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Once recently, I was with a group of Catholic friends, having a casual conversation and one topic that came up was about modern behavioral trends and attitudes, particularly referring to LGBTQ trends and gender identity. One friend among us spoke up strongly supporting the ideology of LGBTQ and questioning the natural law of God. Since it was a group setting, I was simply listening to the exchanges, but as the conversation progressed, I finally felt the need to speak up. Firmly, I said, “If you believe this, then you are saying the Holy Bible is wrong.” My friend kept quiet after that. I believe everything in the Bible is true and inspired by the Holy Spirit. I believe in God’s law. Thus, I do not agree with anything that opposes the Bible or compromises God’s law. A true believer in Jesus Christ accepts His teachings entirely. We cannot be half-baked believers or be selective in what...
Read more

Homily: December 28, 2024 Feast of the Holy Innocents (Suffering).

-
"Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you." Just three days ago, we celebrated Christmas - a joyful commemoration of the day God came to live among us in our world, it is a when divine light entered human darkness, it is a day for rejoicing. The Christmas season continues for the Church up until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. However, if we read and reflect on the details of Christ’s birth and events surrounding this season of joy, we see poverty, simplicity and suffering. Just before our Lord was born into this world, His earthly parents went through hardship just to find a place to rest, He was then welcomed into physical and material poverty, the day after His birth, we celebrated the death of the first martyr, St. Stephen, followed by the feast of St. John the Evangelist who suffered persecution and isolation till a ripe old age. And now today, we observe the feast of the Holy Innocents — a sorrowful event when hundreds of...
Read more

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

-
“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...
Read more

Homily: December 25, 2025, The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)

-
 “So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Infant lying in the manger.” Today we hear the beautiful story of the shepherds visiting the newborn Christ. They found not only a Child, but a family. God sent His Son into the world not as a warrior or a king, but into the care of a mother and a father. Into a home. Into love. And what kind of family did God choose? Not a wealthy family. Not a powerful family. Not a comfortable family. Mary and Joseph had no room in the inn. Mary gave birth in poverty. Joseph struggled to provide safety and shelter. Their situation was not easy there was fear, uncertainty, and hardship. Yet God entrusted His Son to them. Even if they lacked material comfort, Jesus never lacked what mattered most: a loving mother and a caring father. As God wanted His Son to have a holy family, so too God wants every child to experience a holy, loving, safe family. Today we look around and see many broken families, many homes burdened with pain, absence, d...
Read more

Homily: April 30, 2025, Wednesday of the second week of Lent (God's power)

-
Holy Family School Mass Homily   “The men whom you put in prison are in the temple area and are teaching the people.” Wow, what happened? The apostles of Christ were supposed to be locked up in prison, how did they appear in the temple area preaching and teaching the people? Well, blessed and happy Easter to all of you! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend and a restful spring break! Jesus died, and have risen from the dead, and continued to walk around earth, spending time with His disciples for 50 days, that is why we are still in the Easter season. Thereafter, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to His followers, empowering them with many spiritual gifts and that changed everything! Before that, the apostles were all afraid and were hiding from their enemies. But once the Holy Spirit came upon them, they became super courageous. They began to go around preaching boldly and confidently about Jesus, even to the very people who had put Jesus to death. They were no longer afrai...
Read more

Homily: The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas, Thursday, December 30, 2021

-
 For readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/123021.cfm “She never left the temple, but worshipped night and day with fasting and prayer”. Look at Anna, the prophetess’ life of worship and dedication, isn’t it beautiful and inspiring? Have you ever met someone who prays day and night like her? I have. On Monday I shared about my grandma who died 25 years ago. I was only eight years old then so I do not have much memory of her life, but one very vivid and lasting impression I have of her, is that she was a prayerful person. I almost always see her praying the rosary, day and night, whenever she was not doing any chores. It was a green rosary which one bishop gave her some years before. And you know what? Grandma was completely blind. She had never seen me and my younger siblings before. Yet, she taught us how to pray and would lead the family morning prayers. She helped with the household chores, with chopping vegetables. She would even make brooms for us using coconut...
Read more

Homily: June 15, 2025 Soemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

-
Today’s second reading ends with this powerful phrase: “Because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Today we celebrate two beautiful events: the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity and Father’s Day. So, happy Father’s Day to all our fathers, grandfathers, fathers-to-be and godfathers! My siblings and I are incredibly blessed to have had a good Christian father who fulfilled his duties both as a father and as a Catholic. My papa was a very quiet, resilient, yet very gentle person. He loved and protected all his seven children, physically, emotionally, mentally and especially spiritually. He taught us the faith and was a great model of the traditions. He made sure we never missed Sunday Mass and took us regularly to Confession. I was very much a “dad’s boy”, working with him daily on the farm, taking care of the animals together with him. He didn’t worry much about school grades, but he was very firm and strict with us re...
Read more