Homily: March 17, 2024, Fifth Sunday in lent (see Jesus)

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“And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.”

Are you drawn to Jesus?

In the Gospel, we see that the Greeks want to see Jesus. Greeks were non-Jews, they were pagans. They did not know the prophesies about a Messiah who will come to save the world. But these Greeks are seeking out Jesus. 

They might have heard of His wisdom, or witnessed the miracles He performed, or seen the number of people He healed. They might simply be curious, or they might really be drawn to this amazing person, so much so that they approached Philip to arrange for them to see Jesus.

Do you also want to see Jesus?

We are getting closer to Holy Week. This is already the fifth Sunday of Lent and traditionally, the church veils the crucifix from now till Good Friday. Some churches would veil the statues too. 

How do you feel seeing, or rather, not seeing the crucifix and statues of Jesus and the saints in the church?

Have you ever thought, what would this world be if Jesus had not come? How would your life be?

Veiling of the crucifix and statues helps us think deeper into the upcoming celebration of the Paschal mysteries, all that Jesus went through to bring salvation to the world, to bring faith to our homes.

It reminds us that we live in a veiled world, that nothing in this world lasts, that our true home is not here. It helps us ‘hunger’ for the redemptive death of Jesus on the cross, to hunger and be drawn closer to His resurrected presence in our lives. It helps us deepen our Lenten observances and preparation for Easter.

Do you know when the veils will be removed? Do you yearn for Easter?

It is psychologically very true that often we take for granted what we have and only begin to treasure it when we lose it. 

Are we nominal Catholics who take for granted the presence of the church, Jesus, the sacraments, the saints and all that Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection have won for us?

Do we take for granted our freedom to choose and practice our faith?

God spoke through prophet Jeremiah in the first reading, saying, "I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people."

The law of God is love; do you sense it within your hearts?

Seek within your hearts, can you see Jesus there?

Search within your hearts, do you feel drawn to Jesus?

We see the great, sacrificial love of God on the cross. And we receive the deep, merciful love of God in the Eucharist.

God is our father, who yearns to always be in communion with us. We are His children who should also desire to always abide in Him.

Do we?

Let us ask for the grace to be drawn to Jesus.

Let us pray for the strength to remove what blocks us from seeing Jesus.

Let us learn to be faithful to the law written in our hearts by our God.

Let us strive to come closer to God till we are in full communion with Him.

Amen.


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Homily, March 22, 2022, Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent.

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Homily March 20, 2022, Third Sunday of Lent Year A Readings (For RCIA)

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Homily: August 20, 2022, Saturday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

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“The angel led me to the gate which faces the east, and there I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east”.  These words in the first reading remind of the Orthodox and Oriental Churches. When they construct their churches, they would set their church altars to face the east, so that, when the priests celebrate Mass, they will be looking towards that direction. In India, especially in Kerala where I came from, all our church altars face the east. The concept is based on the expectation that Christ would come again, arriving from the east, and the priest is leading the community to the heavenly Jerusalem.  Interestingly, the Hindu temples also face eastwards.  And do you know, the houses in my village are built with the kitchens facing the east also. Why? It has nothing related to the coming of Christ. It has to do with the sunrise. The mothers of the households start cooking when they wake up, and the kitchens are open concept, so the rising sun will provide the much need
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Homily: February 27, 2022, Eight Sunday in the Ordinary Time

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For readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022722.cfm There were two brothers who lived debauched lives engaging in terrible deeds. They were notorious yet not at all ashamed. Then one brother died. The surviving brother asked the local pastor to preach at his brother’s funeral. The pastor, aware of the brothers’ background, was reluctant to do it. The brother then promised to donate a big sum of money to the church and begged the pastor to preach with a special request. “Father, in your homily, you just have to say that my brother was a saint.” The pastor thought about it and agreed. The funeral day came. The pastor began his homily, “The man laid in the casket was a rotter; he led a horrible and debauched life. He was truly rotten to the bone. But compared to his brother, he was a saint.” Saintly life or shoddy living – Would the priest at our own funeral have to be paid to tell a lie? It all depends on what kind of fruit we produce from the way we live. Usually, we cannot
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Homily: November 7, 2023, Tuesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time (Invitation).

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“Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame." Today’s gospel story really struck me deep. The poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame: who are they? At the time of Jesus, these were the people who were despised, considered imperfect and looked upon by society as people abandoned by God, cursed and thus without the blessing of wealth nor health. And because of their imperfections, being rejected by society, they can't do many things on their own, opportunities are blocked, doors are closed to them. They only have one hope - God. They have no one else to depend on. Conversely, those who were better off, those blessed with wealth and health, who were the first guests invited to the grand dinner, were so busy with their own affairs, and engrossed in their own world that they had little or no regard for the invitation.  They were independent, they did not think they needed to deepen their relationship w
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Homily: April 22, 2024 Monday of the fourth week of Easter (Uncircumcized).

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So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers confronted him, saying, “You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.” This incident happened soon after the Pentecost event. Peter was going around Jerusalem and its neighboring towns thus most of the newly converted were Jews, Orthodox Jews who were strictly faithful to the Mosaic laws and Jewish traditions and practices like circumcision, separating from the Gentiles, and even religious dietary restrictions. They wanted to follow Christ but were not ready to let go of their old way of life. They were not ready to live alongside the Gentiles who also accepted Christ and so could not include them into their community. They embraced Jesus’ resurrection but could not discard their deep rejection of the Gentile people. If the apostles and their successors had also maintained the same disposition, the church would not have grown. It was only when the good news spread to the Gentiles and non-Jews that the chu
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