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 church began to grow and flourish.

Thanks to the Apostle St. Thomas who brought the faith far to the other side of the world, India, thus you have an Indian priest celebrating Mass for you today.

So, are we all well integrated and there are no differences, no discrimination, no misunderstood communities in our churches today?

Sadly, no. We still experience the same internal persecutions and rejections within our churches, among Catholics, there are still individualistic mindsets and attitudes which cause divisions and separations. There are still people who could not welcome new members different from themselves - ethnicity, language, culture, and so on. 

Just like the Orthodox Jews in the apostles’ time, they see themselves superior and in right standing with God, but not everybody else. They believe Jesus is their personal savior and they are the privileged members of His kingdom.

We know the truth, that Jesus shed His precious blood for everyone, those who lived before him, those who lived during his time, and all those who live after him. His love and sacrifice are not exclusive but inclusive. Jesus is not selective; all are invited and welcome to believe and receive Him.

So like Peter and the apostles, let us enter the house of anyone who welcomes the word of the Lord, and let us eat and fellowship with them. We all belong to one flock and we follow one and the same good shepherd. Amen.


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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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 The Lord God took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars if you can. Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”  “I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as a possession.” God made these two promises to Abram. For the people in ancient times, and for many even in modern times, having children as heir and owning land as property are two most important possessions in life. Abram had been leading a nomadic life for many years and his wife Sarai, already in her old age, was still childless at that time. So, Abram doubted and questioned, “how am I to know…?” Have you been praying for something important, bearing heavy burdens while waiting, trying to keep hopeful but still you received nothing? Would you also doubt and question God? In response to Abram’s doubt, God assured him by cutting a covenant with him, known as a covenant of the pieces. In ancient times, when people entered a treaty, a contractual agreement, they wo
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 “One of them, a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, from the city of Thyatira, a worshiper of God, listened, and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying.” The Easter readings are truly remarkable. We witness how the Holy Spirit did amazing works through the acts of the apostles. The apostles simply went about sharing about the life of Jesus and spreading the good news. They were unperturbed by rejections or persecutions, and their persistence and bold proclamations won more hearts than objections. And we also see how the Holy Spirit converts not always in the same way but through many ways according to the charisms of the preachers as well as the unique situations of the listeners.  On Pentecost day, we saw a massive conversion of three thousand people all in one day through one event. Today we encounter the story of a single conversion: that of Lydia, a woman from Thyatira. We are told she was a dealer in purple cloth, that meant she had dealings w
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Homily: June7, 2023, Wednesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time (Pray Hardest).

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Homily: November 20, 2023, Monday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time (Hope).

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"But many in Israel were determined and resolved in their hearts not to eat anything unclean; they preferred to die rather than be defiled with unclean food or profane the holy covenant, and they did die.” At the beginning of the first reading, the situation of the Israelites was disappointing. There were many ‘breakers of the law’ who ‘seduced’ their fellow Jews to discard their covenant with God. Many chose to disobey and disown God, and accepted the gods and deities of the Gentiles, believing that would protect their lives. They were quick to give up their faith in the generous God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses because of some difficulties and discomfort in life. That led to the persecution of the Jews during the time of the Maccabees. But when we come to the end of the reading, the determination of some of the Jews ‘not to eat anything unclean’ shows that there were many who kept the covenant with God and were faithful even in the face of death. There is hope. Looking at
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Homily: February 3, 2023, Friday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

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 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” Amen! I remember very vividly seeing this Bible verse written across the outer wall of a Pentecostal church in the neighbouring town of my village. I was a child then and did not fully understand it. Now I am an adult. This verse is now firmly written in my heart and mind, I can’t claim to understand its full effects, but I know this is the truth about Jesus. He is the same then, now, and forever. He has not changed and never will. In contrast, we are the ones who have changed, and will continue to change, in our thoughts, views, values, beliefs and behaviour. Our emotions also change. And that affects many relationships. Think about your relationships with your parents, children, spouses, friends – have they changed in the way they treat you, love you, connect with you? Have you changed? For better or for worse? We change because we are not consistent. We change because we grow. We change because we are not yet the full version
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Homily: July 12, 2022, Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time.

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 “Will you be exalted to heaven?” How many of us are sure that we will be exalted to heaven if we had died today? Yesterday while driving along road, I checked that the traffic was clear and was about to turn left into a small lane, when another car appeared from nowhere and sped past right in front of my car so fast. I didn’t have time to react but thank God, I was turning very slowly and managed to stop just in time with shock. When I realised what happened, I knew I would have been hit if I had just turned a bit faster. From the speed of that car, I am sure I would have died instantly. Fear ran through me. I am not afraid to die, but I am afraid to die now. I am not ready, not prepared to meet the Lord, not worthy to be exalted to heaven yet. And I would like to skip purgatory if possible. Are you also afraid to die unprepared? In the first reading, King David was afraid of the kings of Aram and Israel. But God had His plans. It was not time for David to die yet. So, through prophet
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Homily: March 23, 2022, Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent.

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 “However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.” This morning I did reconciliation for the Holy family school. For the children’s penance, I would usually ask them to recite one or two Hail Mary or Our Father prayers. Easy right? Yes, and yet, some of the students told me they do not know how to say the prayers or where to find these prayers. I was surprised the very first time I did reconciliation for children in this country, but now I realized it is a common situation here. I remember in my time, before receiving first communion, we had to memorize thirty-three Catholic prayers and recitations like the angelus, Hail Mary, all mysteries of the Holy Rosary, the ten commandments and so on. Anyone who could not recite from heart all these thirty-three items, will be denied receiving first communion. Till toda
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Homily: June 30, 2023, Friday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time.

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 “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said…” This was how our first reading began today. God promised Abram when he was already 99 years old, that he would have a son with his 89 year-old wife, Sarah. I kept thinking to myself, “why did God wait till Abram was 99?” God could have appeared to him much earlier and given him a son when he was in his 20’s or 30’s. Why so late? Similarly with Moses. Why did God wait till Moses was 80 years old to call him into the mission of delivering the Israelites out of slavery? Moses could have done a much better job if he was younger in his 30s or even 40s. Another one is St. Paul. He was persecuting the Christians for so long before his conversion. If he had had that powerful encounter with Jesus earlier, many Christians would not have suffered so much, and Paul would have been less of a sinner. Why did God take so long to act? Honestly, I do not know the answer. I don’t think anybody knows. None of my seminary professo
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Homily: July 11, 2023, Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Namesake)

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