Homily: February 6, 2024, Tuesday of the fifth week in Ordinary time (Solomon Failed)

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He said, "LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below."

Solomon is praising the God of Israel, acknowledging Him as the one true God. He sings a hymn of thanksgiving to God for dwelling in the temple he built.

Solomon was especially blessed by God. In the earlier chapters of the book of First Kings, we read that God blessed Solomon with wisdom and all the riches of the world.

Unfortunately, in the later chapters, Solomon failed God. He followed his pagan wives to worship other deities. The same lips which uttered those words of praise and thanksgiving began to praise other gods. What a pity.

The Bible provides no mention whether Solomon repented of his numerous sins or tore down the pagan altars he built. Did he not turn back to the one true God He honored and worshipped? Was he tempted beyond the possibility of return?

In the Letter to the Hebrews 6:4, it is stated, "For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened and tasted the heavenly gift and shared in the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to bring them to repentance again, since they are re-crucifying the Son of God for themselves and holding him up to contempt." 

While this text was written regarding the newly baptized Christians during St. Paul’s time, it also describes Solomon’s situation. He saw the glory of the Lord in the temple he built for God, he was enlightened with the gift of wisdom, he tasted power in his kingship, but he fell away and did not seem to have repented.

Christopher Ferry warned, “The devil wouldn’t be attacking you so hard if there wasn’t something valuable inside of you. Thieves don’t break into empty houses.”

It seems that those who receive more from God will also face more temptations and spiritual attacks from the evil one. And the road to return is much harder to take.

So, let us be on guard, do not take our faith and our blessings for granted. We pray for ourselves, and all who are called into church service and leadership, that they may always serve the Lord with true humility and faithfulness. That they may be protected from evil and spiritual harm. That they may be kept away from the fallen path. Amen.


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Homily, Wednesday,January 5, 2022, Memorial of Saint John Neumann, Bishop

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 In the 2,000-year history of the Church, monastic orders like the Cistercians and Trappists have existed, and the monks dedicate themselves to a life of deep contemplation and penance. Some of these monks take a vow of perpetual silence, speaking only in an emergency. When they pass each other in the monastery, their silent greeting is "memento mori" - "remember death." They remind each other daily to consider the reality of death and to always be prepared for it. Today, November 2, we commemorate All Souls' Day, remembering all the departed souls in purgatory who long to see God face-to-face. Like the consecrated monks, this commemoration invites us to pause and reflect on our own mortality. Memento mori. Remember death. We probably have said goodbye to many people in our lives: family, friends, relatives, famous people and people who have done great deeds that impacted society. Some of their names may have already faded from our memories. Perhaps we’ve even s...
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Homily:August 18, 2024, Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Wisdom)

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Homilía: 3 Julio, 2022, XIV Domingo Ordinario

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Homily April 29, Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

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 “And all day long, both at the temple and in their homes, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the Christ, Jesus”. Even after being flogged, all day long, the disciples continued teaching and preaching everywhere… Amazing, isn’t it?  These past few days, we have been reading from Acts of the Apostles. We see how the Jewish leaders and high priest tried to stop the apostles from preaching in the name of Jesus. But they failed. The Pharisee Gamaliel rightly said, “if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” How true. The church is from God. The disciples did not stop teaching and proclaiming. They even rejoiced at being flogged for what they were doing. They were on fire for Jesus. They were so eager and excited to tell everyone about Jesus. What about us? If there is a new restaurant serving delicious food or a store is having a great end-of-summer sale, we would hear many people talking about it. Some w...
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Homily: August 20, 2022, Saturday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

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Christmas Homily 2021,

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Homily: December 10, 2024, Tuesday of the second week In Advent (Word of God)

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Homily: November 2, 2024, The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls); Pleanary Indulgnce.

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