Homily: May 24, 2024, Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time (Don't complain).

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"Do not complain, brothers and sisters, about one another, that you may not be judged… Indeed, we call blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord."

I really wish we had more scripture texts by St. James the Apostle. His short epistle is full of wisdom. He was the earliest among the apostles to receive martyrdom, which is why he did not get to write much.

Look at today’s reading and you can see how much he understood the human condition and was able to preach effectively with relevance to people’s lives. His advice for his listeners in those days is still applicable and very relevant for us in our time. We still struggle with the same issues even after 2,000 years.

Do not complain but count every blessing! That is my constant reminder for myself. Although most of the time, I just needed to vent my anger and frustrations to someone who understands, yet I would always regret it after complaining. Thank God I behave better and complain less now, my humility is still a work in progress.

Truly, if we were to count it seriously, we would find more blessings than misfortunes. God’s blessings are in abundance and beyond measure. Based on our sins and disobedience in many ways, we do not at all deserve these blessings. Still, we are in the habit of complaining about little things and small issues.

Life is not smooth sailing, there are big waves and thunderstorms but let us persevere like Job, like Moses, like all other prophets, like Jesus our Lord. Pope Benedict said, “The world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness!”

The rough times are not permanent anyway, those will pass and if we manage it well with the help of the Holy Spirit, we get strengthened and graced.

Yesterday, I celebrated Mass for the students from Holy Family school, for their graduation from middle school. While preparing to preach, I reflected a lot on my own journey in life, especially the school days. Looking back, without a doubt, I can confidently say that God has been guiding me, loving me, blessing me, and being with me daily leading me closer to holiness.

I have a lot to be thankful for, I am sure you too can count your blessings and be thankful. Our challenges, difficulties, and crosses of life are privileges, there is really nothing to complain about but much to be thankful for. God is good all the time. Amen.


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Homily: September 27, 2022, Tuesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time (Memorial of of St. Vincent de Paul)

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“Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. Job spoke out and said: Perish the day on which I was born, the night when they said, “The child is a boy!”  Job was so upset that he wished he was never born! I can fully understand how Job felt. He had been faithful, he had lived right but he had lost everything in his life, including his own health. He had nothing left. He had every reason to curse, to complaint. Recently I visited a mom whose son took his own life. She was lamenting and crying her heart out to God. She cursed her life, complained to God and questioned Him why He allowed this tragedy to happen. In my own troubled moments when nothing is going right, I too wonder, “Why did God create me?” Why send me to this world to go through hardship then bring me back again? He could have just kept me in heaven. When everything go wrong, won’t we also think that life is meaningless? Even though I don’t have the perfect explanation, I find my consolation in the cross of Christ, looking...
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 “Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived.” In Christian theology, there is something known as the Last Things, which are namely these four: Death, Judgement, Heaven, Hell. Death is the event at the end of this life when our mortal body is separated from our immortal soul. At that moment of death, each person is judged by God based on our faith and conduct in this life, and our soul will either be rewarded or punished. The reward is heaven, eternal bliss and joy when we come face to face with God, our Creator. Some will go through purgatory, a temporary state of purification in preparation for heaven. The punishment is hell, eternal torment and condemnation for our rejection of God. Heaven is real. Hell is also real. Once, during a talk for priests, the speaker asked us, “When was the last time you preached about eternal punishment?” I tried to think of a recent homily or message where I spoke about it, and there was none. I realised ...
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Homily: December 27, 2022, Feast of Saint John, Apostle and evangelist

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“We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.” Today’s first reading ended with these words. To St. John the Evangelist, his joy would never be complete if he didn’t write down all that he had seen, heard and learnt from Jesus. Imagine him heaving a deep sigh of relief and satisfaction when he was done writing these texts. What is the one thing that would complete our joy? What gives us joy in the first place? St. John the Evangelist is my patron saint. My baptism name is John. I have always wished I could be like St. John, the beloved Apostle of Jesus, to love the Lord and Mother Mary with the same devotion and affection.  He was the only disciple who was at the foot of the cross and stayed with Jesus in His dying. He was the one appointed with the responsibility to care for Mary. Other than Peter, John was the other disciple who ran to the empty tomb after Jesus was resurrected. He was the only apostle who lived long into old age. However, it was not a life of comfort. He...
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Homily: February 17, 2023, Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time.

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“Let us then go down and there confuse their language, so that one will not understand what another says." If that did not happen at Babel, we would all be speaking the same language, I would not need to learn Spanish and you would understand me perfectly, right? Did you wonder, what was so wrong with building a high tower in Babel which would reach up to the sky? If we look around the cities in the world, we will see many huge and tall buildings. And many are so iconic, making the city they are located at famous and well known. Like the leaning tower of Pisa in Italy, Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, Petronas Twin Tower in Malaysia, Burg Khalifa in Dubai, Taj Mahal in India, just to name a few. Possibly, the question should be, why do people need to build such mammoth buildings? In the first reading, we are told that the people in Shinar wanted to make a name for themselves. So, it was pride. Their plan would need to use up lots of time and resources to build something which would ...
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Homily: December 28, 2024 Feast of the Holy Innocents (Suffering).

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"Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you." Just three days ago, we celebrated Christmas - a joyful commemoration of the day God came to live among us in our world, it is a when divine light entered human darkness, it is a day for rejoicing. The Christmas season continues for the Church up until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. However, if we read and reflect on the details of Christ’s birth and events surrounding this season of joy, we see poverty, simplicity and suffering. Just before our Lord was born into this world, His earthly parents went through hardship just to find a place to rest, He was then welcomed into physical and material poverty, the day after His birth, we celebrated the death of the first martyr, St. Stephen, followed by the feast of St. John the Evangelist who suffered persecution and isolation till a ripe old age. And now today, we observe the feast of the Holy Innocents — a sorrowful event when hundreds of...
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Homily: December 24, 2024, Christmas Mass (Swaddling clothes )

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"She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger..." This Gospel scene brings me back to one special day when I was in grade eight. My eldest sister was back at home from college for summer vacation. The rest of my family were out of the house for a parish event, and so it was just the two of us at home. Before leaving the house, my mother had pre-empted us that one of our she-goats on the farm was ready to give birth, although she did think it might happen in a few more days. However, shortly after my parents and other siblings left the house, the she-goat or doe went into labor and gave birth to three babies: two males, one female. The baby doeling was very weak and looked unhealthy, my sister and I did not know what to do. So we called our grandmother on the phone, and she explained to us how to take care of the newborn kids. Following her instructions, we used iodine to treat the navel cords to prevent infection, cleaned up the birth site, made a nice bed of...
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Homily: November 1, 2024, All saints day (Holy family School Mass )

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 Did you hear this question in the first reading? "Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?" St. John the Apostle had a vision of heaven and asked the angel regarding the many people he saw who were praising and worshipping God. I think you might know some of those people. Let’s see. Do you know who this is? Yes, Saint Teresa of Calcutta, we affectionately call her Mother Teresa.  Do you know where she was born in? She was born in Skopje, where it is now Albania. And where did she spend most of her life? She spent her life in India, taking care of the very poor, sick and dying. Who’s this man? Yes, he is Saint Joseph. Where was he born? In Nazareth. What was his job? He was a carpenter. And he was chosen by God to be the foster father of Jesus. St. Joseph cared for and protected Jesus and Mary as a family, serving God in his own humble way. Who is this woman? That’s right, Saint Kateri Tekakwitha. Do you know where she was born? She was born in New Yor...
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Homily: July 13, 2022, Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time.

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 “Although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, you have revealed them to the childlike.”  What does it mean to be childlike? One of my sisters has three children, a 5-year-old son, a three-year-old girl and a 4-month-old baby girl. One day, her older children were playing with her husband. He was lying on his tummy while they were having so much fun jumping on his butt and sliding off the blanket. My sister then jokingly told the children, “If you keep jumping, daddy’s butt will be gone!” The three-year-old girl suddenly lifted up the blanket and reported, “Daddy’s butt is still here!” How simple. How un-inhibited. How innocent. That’s how children are. They do not think too much, they do not complicate life with unnecessary thoughts and concerns. They respond spontaneously and purely. They wonder but not doubt. They may be ignorant but they trust. They may not know so much but they believe. They may not be capable of big things but they are wise in lit...
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Homilía: 3 Julio, 2022, XIV Domingo Ordinario

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 “Pónganse en camino; yo los envío como corderos en medio de lobos. No lleven ni dinero, ni morral, ni sandalias”. Jesús está enviando a sus discípulos a proclamar la buena nueva de la salvación a todos. Sin embargo, su instrucción suena como si los estuviera enviando a morir, a una misión peligrosa. En lugar de avisarles que traigan todas las necesidades y recursos para ser autosuficientes e independientes, les está diciendo que sean indefensos y vulnerables. ¿Pueden manejar? Jesús es el cordero de Dios. Su misión es dar Su vida por Sus ovejas. Él es totalmente dependiente sólo de Dios. Él no necesita nada más de este mundo para cumplir Su misión. Y ahora Él está enseñando a Sus discípulos a hacer lo mismo. Él nos está diciendo que hagamos lo mismo. ¿Podemos manejarlo? Parece difícil, ¿no? Tengo un muy buen amigo, Doctor Samuel Thomas. El es un ministro pentecostal también presidente de una organización internacional llamada Hope Givers que da esperanza de un futuro mejor a los ni...
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