Homily:" May 7, 2024. Tuesday of the Sixth week of Easter (praise and worship in Prison)

-

 "About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God…”

I cannot even imagine this scene. How could they still pray and sing in such a situation?

Whenever I have a slight headache, ear infection, or a little upset stomach, I would already be very disturbed. I would not even want to talk to anyone during those moments.

If I had something worse, I might not even be able to pray. If you look carefully at my left eyebrow, you will notice a scar. During my seminary days in Rome, there was once when I was late for class, and I ran so fast into the classroom that I crashed into the glass door without realizing it was closed. I shattered the glass and a piece of it cut deep across my eyebrow. Thankfully it missed my eye.

I was so in pain, shock and bleeding that I could not talk to anyone for a while, and I definitely was not in the mood to sing or pray.

But look at Paul and Silas. They had just been attacked by a crowd, were then stripped, and beaten with rods. After receiving many blows, they were thrown into prison. I am so sure they must have been bleeding and badly bruised, I wonder if they might even have suffered some broken bones.

But they were not groaning in pain. They were singing and praying out loud, praising God for having suffered for His sake. Imagine a joyous praise and worship service in prison by two fresh inmates who had just been bashed up and thrown in.

They were sharing the good news about God’s mercy and love, but they got beaten up. They did not complain about their dangerous job and were not cursing those who persecuted them. They should be suffering but instead, they were rejoicing!

Their attitude and behavior say a lot about the God they worship and the passion they had for their mission. 

Whenever I read this passage, I would feel ashamed of myself for complaining over minor troubles, taking offence over small matters, and getting all grumpy from slight injustices.

I am inspired by these apostles, their sense of joy simply for having done their mission. I need to learn from them how to praise and thank God always, regardless in good or bad times.

Holy Spirit, help us to sing and praise God always. Amen.

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Read

Homily: August 10, 2025, Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

-
 “You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” Do you like surprise visits? Some of us do. Recently, I went again to visit my sister and her family. Since the last visit, my 4-year-old nephew had been calling me almost daily and asking me to visit him again. So, this time, I told my sister to keep my trip a secret, I wanted to surprise the little boy. When he saw me finally, his eyes were wide open with disbelief, and his mouth too was wide open in surprise! I will never forget that look on his face, and the exuberant joy of the moment when I hugged and carried him. But not all of us like surprise visits, especially when the visitors come at the wrong time, and we are caught unprepared. When I was in high school, our principal, Fr. George, was very strict. He didn’t talk much, but he knew every student. Occasionally, he would walk along the school corridors, surveying every corner and if he caught any student misbehaving, he would carry ou...
Read more

Homily: August 11, 2025 Monday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Greatness of God)

-
“Think! The heavens, even the highest heavens, belong to the LORD, your God, as well as the earth and everything on it. Yet in his love for your fathers, the LORD was so attached to them as to choose you, their descendants, in preference to all other peoples.” The greatness of God is truly, completely beyond our full understanding, in fact, it is even beyond our partial understanding. What we know of God is probably just a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the true greatness of God. The people who lived during the time of Moses had only a minimal understanding of who God is because God had only revealed a little about Himself. Divine revelation is gradual. Even if He had revealed everything about Himself, no one would be able to grasp it all. First, God revealed Himself to Abraham and his immediate descendants. Then, through Moses, He revealed Himself to an entire community. Finally, in the fullness of time, through His Son Jesus Christ, God revealed Himself to the whole world. I...
Read more

Homily: December 3, 2024, Tuesday of the first week in Advent (Blessed)

-
 "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it." Compared to my grandparents, I feel incredibly blessed to have seen, used and experienced things and events that they could never even have imagined it - mobile phones, the internet, zoom calls, online Mass, immediate transfer of money and so many other amazing functions made possible by advanced technology. However, there is one blessing my grandfather had, which I sometimes wish I could have (This wish was before discerning my vocation to priesthood) – that he married my grandmother, a beautiful and capable woman, when he was 16 and she was only 15 years old. Together they had ten children in their 70+ years of marriage! Thanks be to God. Indeed, compared to previous generations, we are blessed in so many ways. This is also true with regards our faith. We now have a better understanding of G...
Read more

Reflection: April 18, 2025 Bridge Churches stations of the cross on good Friday.

-
"Then he said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.' He replied to him, 'Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.'"  The good thief asked only to be remembered, but Jesus, always faithful to His promises, responded with the gift of eternal life. Jesus was nailed to a cross, like a criminal, with two real criminals by His side. He had once been surrounded by thousands who needed His healing, followed by many who wanted to hear Him, and accompanied by friends who loved Him. But now at the final hour of His suffering and dying, they had all left Him. This is what many of us fear, to be forgotten and left alone at our dying moment. Let us look at the situation of the two thieves crucified beside Jesus. As thieves, they probably lived in poverty, anxiety and constantly hiding. They might not have family or friends since they work in darkness. Now caught and condemned, they too are in the last hour of their lives, about to die. Yet,...
Read more

Homilía: Marzo 24, 2022, Jueves de la III semana de Cuaresma.

-
 “El que no está conmigo, está contra mí; y el que no recoge conmigo, desparrama”.”. El mensaje de Jesús es muy claro. No podemos seguir a Jesús parcialmente. Si no lo estamos siguiendo de todo corazón, no somos sus seguidores. Hoy es el vigésimo día de Cuaresma, sin contar los domingos. Estamos a la mitad. ¿Recuerdas lo que decidiste hacer especial para estos 40 días de Cuaresma? ¿Lo estás cumpliendo? Mientras nos esforzamos por fortalecernos espiritualmente, los demonios se esfuerzan más para mantenernos deprimidos. Me pregunto quién está a la cabeza en esta mitad de camino. En mis años de infancia, solo los niños ricos de mi pueblo podían tener bicicletas. Cuando estaba en quinto grado, mi hermano mayor y yo decidimos recolectar flores silvestres de nuez moscada del bosque cercano para venderlas y poder comprar una bicicleta. Nos despertábamos muy temprano en la mañana y corríamos al bosque para buscar y recolectar tantas como fuera posible. Muchos niños de otros pueblos estaban...
Read more

Homily: August 6, 2025, Feast of the Tranasfiguration of the Lord

-
(Holy Family School Mass)   “While he was praying, his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white.” Today we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus. Transfiguration means a complete change of appearance into a most beautiful, glorious, spiritual state. Jesus’ transfiguration shows us that although He has taken on human nature, He is also at the same time truly God. Do you remember who were the three disciples who went with Jesus up the mountain when He was transfigured?  That’s right. Peter, James, and John. And how do you think they felt when they saw Jesus shining with glory? Oh yes, they were afraid, because they had never seen anyone shining so brightly before, it does not happen to human people. But then later they felt great too! That’s why Peter said, “Lord, it is good for us to be here!” He even wanted to build three tents for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. In those days, people do live in tents, not for camping. So Peter thought they...
Read more

Homily: February 26, 2024, Monday of the second week in Lent (God is mercy).

-
 In the first reading, it was during the time of exile in Babylon, when Daniel pleaded with God, saying, “But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness!” In the responsorial psalm, we prayed, “May your compassion quickly come to us.” And the gospel passage for today began with this verse: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Our God is merciful, compassionate and always forgiving! How do you feel about this? I feel totally blessed and thankful. Because if our God is not, I would be condemned forever for my sins! Pope Francis published a book in 2016 titled, “The Name of God is Mercy”, reminding us to trust and always turn to God even in our unworthiness. The world exists today because of our God is loving, compassionate and merciful. If we look around and examine within ourselves, sin is everywhere. In this country alone, legal abortions would have hit 30 million since the turn of the millennium, not counting the illegal ones. Humanity continues to commit s...
Read more

Homily: May 3, 2025, Feast of Apostles Philip and James (Message through the Earth)

-
 “Their message goes out through all the earth.” This is what we repeated in today’s Responsorial Psalm, and it aptly describes the missionary coverage of the apostles and disciples. They truly brought the message of Jesus’ Resurrection, the Good News of God’s redemptive love everywhere, to all corners, through all the earth. All the way to India, St. Thomas brought the Gospel, that’s how many of my ancestors became Catholic, and the faith has been handed down to the generations thereafter. Peter and Paul went to Rome. Luke went to Egypt. Matthew stayed and preached in Judea. Asia, Africa, even China received the Gospel. Today we celebrate the feast of the apostles James and Philip. James, the son of Alphaeus, also known as James the Lesser, is hardly mentioned in Bible, only when the twelve chosen apostles were listed. James wrote an epistle to his name. But Philip appears more often. When some Greeks came looking for Jesus, it was Philip who informed Jesus about it. At the multip...
Read more

Homily: November 18, Monday of the Thirty-Third week in Ordinary Time (Love)

-
“Yet I hold this against you: you have lost the love you had at first.” Love is the greatest Christian virtue. Without love, Christianity is meaningless. Without love, salvation is pointless. Without love, our life is aimless. We are created by a God who is love, saved by His Son out of love and called to imitate Him in love. He created us to accept His love, to love Him, and to love others. Therefore, a life without love is empty. The greatest love ever is Jesus giving his own life completely to us. Our response to this is to love Him back all our mind, heart and soul. In today’s first reading from the Book of Revelation, God’s angel rebukes the church in Ephesus for having lost the love for Jesus they had when they first embraced the faith. The Ephesians fell passionately in love with Jesus at the beginning. They surrendered totally to Him, obeying His teachings fully. They left all their old ways to follow Him. But now God’s  is warning and reminding them, because they have beco...
Read more

Homily: February 11, 2025, Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time (Multiply)

-
 God blessed them, saying: "Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it." What do you think? Does God’s command to multiple and fill the earth with humans and more humans logical? Is the world’s resources sufficient for all to consume and enjoy? Honestly, I take pride that I come from India, it is the most populous country in the world. Its current population is four times the USA. The Western world has, in the past, often ridiculed India for its massive and growing population, considering such population a burden and its continued growth a crisis. International organizations have invested heavily in promoting products and schemes to help reduce India’s population. Government clinics and hospitals have pressured women to exercise birth control. Among indigenous and poor communities, sterilizations were often performed without the women’s consent. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has even spent millions to promote such practices, primarily targeting poorer ...
Read more