Homily: March 6, 2024, Wednesday of the Third week in Lent (Laws)

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 “Observe them carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these statutes and say, 'This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’”

In today’s first reading, Moses exhorts the people of Israel to be carefully obedient to God’s Law. It is emphasized that if they remain faithful to these statutes, they will be a great nation, ‘truly a wise and intelligent people’.

We know how the story developed after this - they became arrogant, rebellious, and disobedient to God, their glory did not last, eventually they ended up in exile and slavery.

By nature, humans have been gifted with free will, and thus we do not like to be controlled, restricted, or bound by rules and laws. Yet, without boundaries, society or community will be in chaos. Everyone will be doing as they wish, there will be no order.

Thus, laws are everywhere – in the church, in school, in every country, even in the family. It seems like we have no real freedom, we are all bound by one law or another.

I grew up in a large family. There were seven of us children, my parents and my grandparents, so there were eleven members in the house. And to run this household meaningfully, our parents set many rules for all aspects of our family life: family prayer, household chores, work on the farm, behavior at home, in church, in school, including money matters, and more.

And guess what? I was the disobedient, rebellious, rule-breaker in the family. I was always eager to test every rule and push the limit. So, you can imagine how very often I get disciplined and punished. I finally learnt to be submissive and obedient when I entered the seminary. God knew how to tame me.

Our parents set rules because they loved the family. They knew with rules and boundaries, everyone will live in harmony and life will be ordered and not wild. They wanted us to get the best out of life and not become failures. Psychologists have found that meaningful but firm boundaries help children thrive in feeling secure and a sense of emotional stability.

When God gave His rules and statutes, He probably had the same intentions. As a loving Father, He wanted His children to live life to the fullest, attain true inner peace and a deep sense of spiritual well-being. His laws are not meant to suppress or oppress but are meant to shape us into ‘wise and intelligent’ people.

God’s laws and commandments passed down through the church will free us from the slavery of sin, helping us live in true freedom. So, let us observe them carefully. Amen.


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Homily: June 29, 2025, Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul

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“Then they heard a loud voice from heaven say to them, ‘Come up here.’ So they went up to heaven in a cloud as their enemies looked on.” In this scene, we can identify three parties: the loud voice from heaven, which we know is God; the two prophets who died, but later received the breath of life from God and went up to heaven in a cloud; and finally, their enemies who could only look on as the two were taken up to heaven. Are we people who reject Church teachings and persecute Jesus’ way of life? Or are we people who live by the teachings of the Church and give witness to the Gospel of Christ? We can be called Christians and be baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity, but are we living the life as witnesses or anti-witnesses? This vision from the book of Revelations gives us hope and reinforces our belief in resurrection, it also is a warning to those who are believers only in name but not in practice. This vision will become a reality at the end of time. Will we be the ones taken up...
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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...
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Homily: May 24, 2025,Saturday of the Fifth week of Easter (Persecution)

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Homily: Thursday, February 10, 2022, Memorial of Saint Scholastica

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