Homily: October 30, 2023, Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time (Crippled).

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 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, "Abba, Father!" 

In today’s gospel event, when Jesus saw the woman ‘crippled by a spirit’, he immediately healed her, telling her she is set free.

He saw her physical state, but He also saw the spiritual bondage which shows up in her physical infirmity. Her physical impairment is a result of sin.

But when we look at Jesus on the cross, physically crippled by human cruelty and evil, it shows up our spiritual infirmity. Jesus’ physical deformity is a result of our sin.

When we see Jesus on the cross, we see God, fully human and we also see man, fully divine.

Physically He is nailed to the cross, but spiritually, he is free.

Jesus shows us how we too can live free and live fully. 

St. Paul said it plainly in the first reading, by calling God, “Abba, Father!”

To imitate Jesus in the way he lives, as sons and daughters of the Father, exercising the gift of free will, by willing it to God and exercising the gift of life, by freeing it from sin.

Like Jesus, this is our identity. By accepting this fully, even if we are nailed to the cross of life physically, even if we are burdened by material poverty and challenged by worldly anxieties, our spirits will never be crippled. Let us live our lives to the fullest.

Abba Father, we surrender our life to you. Amen.


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Homily: October 12, 2025, Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Gratitude)

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 “In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” This Gospel acclamation perfectly captured the heart of today’s readings – ‘give thanks’. We heard the story of the ten lepers who were healed, but only one Samaritan returned to give thanks. That small act of gratitude was the key to his salvation. As I grew older, I also became more grateful. There were many things I didn’t appreciate when I was younger. I didn’t know how to appreciate the simplicity of my family’s life, the way my parents disciplined us, the schools my parents chose for us, all the church activities they made us attend, and many more. But decades later today, I looked back and realized my parents knew what was best for us, and I am now grateful. The siblings I used to fight with often are now my greatest blessings and closest friends. I sometimes wish I had been more thankful, more kind, more obedient. Gratitude makes relationships stronger and life more joyful. But even on...
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Homily: October 5, 2025, Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Wait-God's Time)

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 “For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late.” These powerful words from the prophet Habakkuk point towards hope. Hope in the fulfillment of God’s promises, despite the people’s failures. Habakkuk is one of the twelve minor prophets in the Old Testament, a small book of just three chapters, but every line is theologically deep. Habakkuk lived in the 7th century before the Babylonian exile. He saw the kingdom of Judah sinking in moral decay, corruption, and spiritual emptiness. The kings were weak, the people disobedient, and the once glorious nation of Israel was on the brink of collapse. Meanwhile, nearby nation Babylon was rising in power and strength, and ruthlessness. Habakkuk could see what was coming, and it terrified him. He wrestled with God in prayer. “Lord, how long?” he cried. Why do the wicked prosper while the righteous suffer? And God’s answer was simple yet...
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Homily: January 13, 2022, Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

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Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011322.cfm  “…It was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly…” In yesterday’s gospel reading, Jesus told His disciples, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.”  Jesus’s mission is to preach the good news to everyone. He needs to enter as many villages are possible but now we see in today’s gospel, this is being challenged. Why? After Jesus healed the leper, He told him, “…see that you tell no one anything”. Instead, he “went away and began to publicize the whole matter”. He disobeyed Jesus. It is normal that someone who is healed of a terrible disease like leprosy, would be so full of joy and excitement that he wants to tell the whole world about it. It is not a bad thing, it is logical, right? But clearly, when we act out of our own will instead of following what the Lord tells us to, we may be blocking the work of God for greater things. My parents tried to tea...
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Homily: August 21, 2023, Monday of the twentieth week in Ordinary Time.

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 “The children of Israel offended the LORD by serving the Baals.” We often say that "experience is the best teacher." However, this holds true only for those who are open to learning. It seems that humanity has never learnt from experience and so history repeats itself. If we had learned the lessons from World War 1, there would never have been World War 2, and the world thereafter would have been free from all wars as well. The Israelites were foolishly guilty of the same. While in the desert, they worshipped other gods and suffered the consequence of being bitten by snakes, leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of people. That was not the only experience they had for being unfaithful to God. Did they learn their lesson? No. What are the baals? They were names given to deities, commonly referred to the Canaanite-phoenician god of fertility and rain. Rain was necessary to bring about a bountiful harvest in a fertile land, it was a symbol of fertility. Fertility was a sym...
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Homily: October 7, 2025, Tuesday of the Twenty-Seventh week in Ordinary time (Lord-Speak to me)

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 “She had a sister named Mary, who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.” What a beautiful image. Our Lord Jesus was speaking, and Mary was sitting close by at His feet, watching Him and listening with full attention. No distractions, no interruptions, she was fully present before Him, receiving, absorbing, taking in everything He was saying. Years ago, when I was in my home diocese working at the chancery office, since I was not attached to a parish, I would celebrate Sunday Mass at a convent for the nuns. After Mass, they would always invite me for breakfast. And a few of the elderly nuns would keep serving food to my table, and each one would keep asking me if I need more food, drinks or other things. They were busy serving me.  Naturally, I’m a shy person, so having many of them surrounding me and constantly checking on me made me even more nervous. I could not really enjoy the food. Deep down, I wished they would just sit around the table to eat together...
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Homily: October 4, 2025 Saturday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time (devil's fear)

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“Behold, I have given you the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy, and nothing will harm you.” Last week, during one of my classes at Holy Family, I asked the 4th graders, “How many of you are afraid of the devil?” Every single one of them raised their hands. And so, I ask you too, how many of you are afraid of the devil? I suppose it is normal to fear the devil, thinking he has powers which we do not have. But do you know what the devil is afraid of? The next slide I showed the class was a quote from St. John Bosco: “There are two things that the devil is deadly afraid of: fervent Communion and frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament.” Isn’t that good news for all of us here? If we do these two things, the devil will be more afraid of us than we are of him. But note the emphasis St. John Bosco made, it is ‘fervent communion’ and ‘frequent visits’. The truth is, the devil is jealous of us because we are God’s beloved children. We are created...
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Homily: August 14, 2022, Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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 “I have come to set the earth on fire.” “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” Jesus has told us He is meek and humble of heart, and we should learn from Him. We call Him the ‘Prince of peace’ and he prayed for us, “Father, that they may be one as we are one.” So, why would he want to set fire? Why would He cause division? First, the fire which Jesus wants to set for the earth is not a destructive fire, but that of the Holy Spirit. It is a purifying, sanctifying fire. Second, Jesus came to preach the truth, but many do not want to accept the truth. Those who reject will oppose those who accept. This is the division caused by hardness of the heart and blindness of the mind. Only when all have accepted the truth, then the world will be of one heart and mind, united and at peace. In this world we see divisions everywhere. Those of us who follow Jesus’ teachings become enemies of the world. Because the worldly ways and values ...
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Homily: Feast of Saint John, Apostle and evangelist, Monday, December 27, 2021

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  “ They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter…” Today is the 25th death anniversary of my paternal grandmother. I remember vividly that day. My papa had always been a calm and composed man, I hardly see him excited or hurried. But exactly 25 years ago this day, I saw my papa run in anxiety. Early that morning, my grandmother collapsed at home and was unconscious. We had no telephone, no car. There were only three cars in our village and only two families had telephone connection. Papa ran to one family to ask them to drive grandma to the hospital. The rest of us waited in silence at home. Later in the afternoon, our neighbour who had phone connection, ran to our house and reported, "grandma is no more". That was the first time I encountered death in the family. I was eight years old. I didn’t understand what death meant. I knew I would not see grandma at home anymore, I felt sad, because papa was sad. Grandma’s death was certain. But is death final? In the g...
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Homily: October 18, 2025, Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist (Right - Companion)

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“Behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way.” This line from today’s Gospel captures the mission Jesus gave to His seventy-two disciples. He sent them out two by two, trusting completely in divine providence. Tradition tells us that St. Luke, whose feast we celebrate today, was among these seventy-two. Jesus’ instruction was clear: they were to depend entirely on God. No extra money, no supplies, no comfort just faith and obedience. It sounds difficult, but throughout history, we’ve seen countless saints who lived this way: St. Francis of Assisi, St. Mother Teresa, and many others who relied fully on God’s providence and never lacked what they truly needed. In the first reading, St. Paul writes to Timothy and mentions St. Luke. He laments that many of his companions abandoned him, but says with great affection, “Only Luke is with me.” Luke stayed faithful to Paul even when others walked away. Luke was not on...
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Homily: December 3, 2024, Tuesday of the first week in Advent (Blessed)

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 "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it." Compared to my grandparents, I feel incredibly blessed to have seen, used and experienced things and events that they could never even have imagined it - mobile phones, the internet, zoom calls, online Mass, immediate transfer of money and so many other amazing functions made possible by advanced technology. However, there is one blessing my grandfather had, which I sometimes wish I could have (This wish was before discerning my vocation to priesthood) – that he married my grandmother, a beautiful and capable woman, when he was 16 and she was only 15 years old. Together they had ten children in their 70+ years of marriage! Thanks be to God. Indeed, compared to previous generations, we are blessed in so many ways. This is also true with regards our faith. We now have a better understanding of G...
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