Fr. Nivin's Homily Blog

 “Let no one deceive you in any way.” We live in a world full of lies, deception, cheating and empty promises. Fake news, fake products, now even fake identities are going around in the virtual world and destroying life in the real world. People who deceive aim to turn others away from what is real, to believe in what is not real, so that they can take advantage of the ignorant believers for their own profit and gain. Thus, parents, elders, and guardians would warn the young and vulnerable whom they love and care for, to let no one deceive them and lead them into trouble. St. Paul particularly loved the Thessalonian church because they were one of the first communities he formed, and they were faithful to his teachings. But they were still young and vulnerable as a faith community, St. Paul knew that they could be easily misled, tempted or influenced to deviate from the ways of the Lord. St. Paul was concerned for their souls, and so he warned them, “Let no one deceive you in any way.”

 “Accordingly, we ourselves boast of you in the churches of God regarding your endurance.” In today’s first reading, St. Paul writes to the Thessalonians, saying he boasts of them in the churches of God. He was so proud of them, the church in Thessalonia. Has anyone boasted of you and your achievements before?  Modern parents nowadays have access to many resources for parenting tips and wisdom, with lists of the do’s and dont’s. One common piece of advice is to never compare your child’s abilities and achievements with that of another child, especially in the presence of your child. However, many Asian parents in the previous generations followed a parenting approach from the old school. They thought that by comparing children, it could motivate a weaker child to want to do better. My parents did that to me very often. They would always tell me how some of my friends were doing well in their studies and that I should model after them. Did it help me in my studies? No. I continued to do

“This saying is hard; who can accept it?” “As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” This weekend is the last of the five Sundays during which the Gospel readings were taken from chapter 6 of St. John, the Bread of Life discourse, exploring fully Jesus’ teachings on the Eucharist, beginning with the multiplication of loaves. Next week we will continue with the Gospel of Mark. So, what saying is hard to accept for the disciples? It is Jesus’ saying that His body is true bread, His blood is true drink and only those who eat and drink His body and blood will have eternal life with Him. Is it also hard for you to accept? There are many teachings in the Catholic Church which are hard to accept. And like many of the disciples who left Jesus and returned to their former way of life, even after seeing all His works and miracles, many present-day Catholics also leave the church because they could not accept the teachings. Sho

 "Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him."  Bartholomew the Apostle is Nathanael. Today’s Gospel account is a moving encounter between Jesus and Nathanael. Nathanael encountered the true Son of God and Jesus encountered the true child of Israel, which also meant a true child of God. Jesus highlighted the quality that makes Nathanael stand out as being true and real - having no duplicity. Initially, I thought duplicity meant hypocrisy, a description Jesus often used on the Pharisees. Later I understood the difference. Hypocrisy is outwardly pretending to agree while inwardly opposing, or outwardly expressing to believe while inwardly is totally in disbelief. A hypocrite would criticize others openly for behavior which they themselves would engage in privately. A hypocrite is the biggest liar, pretending to be good when in truth, he is actually evil.  Duplicity is having two faces, two sides, often with the intent to deceive or simply hiding the truth. A p

“For thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will look after and tend my sheep.” At the end of the first reading, in which the prophet Ezekiel spoke to the people on behalf of God, saying that God will look after and tend His sheep Himself, that means He will never leave His precious sheep to anybody else. How many of you have pets at home? Do you love them and care for them? If you were going away for a long, long vacation, would you leave your pets with me to care for them? I used to have a pet cow when I was a little boy in India. Her name was Mannikutti. She was a newly born calf when she was first given to me. Every day after school, I would go to her, talk to her, feed her, clean her and just spend time with her. I love her very much! I would know if she was sick, just by the way she ate her food. And she would respond to me happily whenever I talked to her. And I was always very happy spending time with her. I know her very well because I am always with her, observing her and taking ca

 “It is I who deal death and give life.” This is our response to the first reading today. God gave a warning to the king of Tyre, about his impending death. The king had accumulated so much wealth and power that he considered himself supreme and like a god. He felt so highly of himself that he forgot he was only a human and could never escape death. Only God could deal death and give life. Only by recognizing our own frailty can we see God’s supremacy over our life and death. A few months ago, one of my first cousins passed away at the age of 49 after battling multiple myeloma. She was survived by her loving husband and two children. Among the cousins who are still relatively young, she was the first to pass on. We were shocked and saddened by her passing. A few days later, I had a group call with my siblings, and we were talking about it. One of my sisters asked, “Who will be the first one among us to pass away?” I immediately replied, “I’m not ready.” My oldest sister then said, “If

 “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” I admire the young man in today’s Gospel. His question “what do I still lack?” shows that he was seeking deeper, he knew whatever he was doing was not enough for him to gain eternal life. From the Gospel narrative, we understand that this young man had great wealth and was faithful to the commandments of the Lord. It seemed he was careful never to break the law. So, what did he still lack? Jesus went through the commandment checklist with him, but it's interesting to note that Jesus asked only the commandments which were about his relationship with others. He did not check on the first three commandments, which focused on his relationship with God. “All of these I have observed” was his reply. This young man was perfect in his observance of the law but imperfect in his relationship with others. He did not commit what he was required not to do, thus keeping the commandments, but he did not do what he could do, which was to help

 “Let whoever is simple turn in here; To the one who lacks understanding, she says, Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed!” This generous invitation in today’s first reading is from Lady Wisdom. This reading is taken from Chapter 9 of the Book of Proverbs which portrays two women: Lady Wisdom and Dame Folly. Our first reading presents only the invitation of Lady Wisdom. She invites us, ‘whoever is simple’, to her home to enjoy the real good life, one of understanding and food good for our body and soul, while Dame Folly attracts people to destruction. Many people seek wisdom, sometimes for unwise reasons, often in the wrong places, and in the wrong ways. Wisdom is unlike knowledge and intellect, it is not something we can gain through studying or hard work, it does not come automatically with age or experience; it is ultimately a gift from the Holy Spirit. In Proverbs 2:6, it says ‘For the Lord gives wisdom…” I am very blessed to have met many wise people who in thei

 “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them.” Quite recently, a family showed up at the office and asked if I could give them some basic orientation so that they can get their child baptized. They needed the orientation certificate on that day itself to submit to another parish conducting the baptism. The godparents came with them.  So, I asked them some questions to understand their situation. The couple are not married, they have no plans in the near future to marry in Church, do not attend Sunday Mass, and one of the godparents was not in good standing with the Catholic Church. I hesitated for a moment and seriously wondered if they know what it means to baptize the child and how to bring him up in the Catholic faith? Should I provide the orientation and certify them as such? I looked at the cute innocent little baby, who was gazing straight at me. I decided I should. I told them about the obligations they were going to undertake with the baptism, and the responsibilities

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.” Did you hear this proclamation in the Gospel reading today? Do you remember who said these words? Yes, Mary, the mother of Jesus. And we are reading this event about Mary because the Church is celebrating a beautiful feastday today, do you know what is the feast? Yes. We celebrate the feast of the Assumption - more precisely, it is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And what do we commemorate on this special feast day? We commemorate that, after her life on earth was done, Mary was assumed into heaven. She was not buried in the ground nor did her body rot in the earth. But we believe that Jesus, her beloved Son, took her from this world and brought her straight to heaven, body and soul. This is a special privilege that Mary received for several reasons. First, Mary was faithful to God all through her life. She kept all the Jewis

 “For he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed.” Indeed, two thousand years since then, over a billion Catholics and millions of Orthodox Christians continue to call her blessed. Blessed is she who said yes to God to be the mother of God’s Son, blessed is she who conceived and birthed the Savior into the world, blessed is she who cared for and raised the Messiah for all of us, blessed is she who watched in pain and stayed with her son as He died on the cross, blessed is she who accepted to be the mother of the church. Today, the whole Catholic church, every diocese in the world, is celebrating the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We celebrate this feast every year, and we already know it is to commemorate the belief that Mary was taken straight up to heaven, body and soul, because she lived and died sinless. What makes Mary so important to the Church? The Church honors her with many titles, because she is t

 “Be not rebellious like this house of rebellion, but open your mouth and eat what I shall give you.” God’s instructions in this first reading sounds similar to what Asian mothers would tell their children at mealtimes, “Open your mouth and eat whatever is being served. No fuss, no complaints. Eat and be thankful.” To these mothers, they believe that food is important for children’s growth, to eat well, for energy and good health, so that they can grow strong and be productive in life. Here, God is telling prophet Ezekiel to eat the scroll, which contains the word of God. Why? He continues and says, “eat this scroll, then go, speak to the house of Israel.” Last week, during my vacation with my sister and family, my sister was cooking all our favorite Indian food, thus she was always busy in the kitchen whenever we were back at the lodging. At one point, I went to check on her. I found her listening attentively to an online retreat and jotting down what she heard in a notebook. Her note

 “Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Give that to them for me and for you.” Isn’t this cool? This is another one of the four miracles Jesus performed which directly involved nature. It is interesting and perplexing at the same time. It is quite obvious that both Peter and Jesus did not have enough money to pay the temple tax. However, by virtue of His divine status, Jesus should not need to pay the tax. Yet, not wanting to claim the benefits of His privilege and not wanting to create unnecessary trouble, He exercised His divine authority and power to provide for the need. More worthy to note is that the amount brought forth by the miracle is just enough to pay for the temple tax for both Peter and Jesus. Nothing more, nothing less. Recently, I chanced upon a YouTube video about the former president of Uruguay, José Mujica. He was known as the poorest president. He declined all privileges of his presidency, including his pension and a private jet. He liv

 "This is enough, O LORD! Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers." In the first reading, prophet Elijah, who was a superstar in the earlier chapters, who called down fire from heaven and defeated the false prophets, was now feeling depressed with his life, asking God to grant him death. Having defeated the false prophets and showed Israel that the God of Israel is the true God, he then killed all four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and four hundred prophets of Asherah, supported by Queen Jezebel. She vowed to kill Elijah, and thus he ran away. One moment he was a hero, feeling proud to be God’s prophet, next moment within just a few days, he was on the run. But now he was tired out, he could not continue, he cried out in utter despair, feeling helpless and hopeless, and lifeless. Then God reached out to him and provided him with food. It was just two meals of simple bread and water, but it was enough to get him walking in faith and strength for the next forty d

 “Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” I am now eight years as priest, I love my ministry, I enjoy giving my time, my attention and energy to people who are need but there are a few tasks which I totally dislike and would try to avoid, if possible. One of these is fund raising. I detest having to ask people for donations. It could be my pridefulness, and my view that most people are not willing to give more. When I was sent to St. Ambrose, I thought God must be playing a joke on me. St. Ambrose, as you know, is always in financial difficulty and as rector, I am constantly trying to find ways to increase our funds. I thought God must be a joker, like St. Lawrence, whose feast we are celebrating today. St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr, who lived in the 3rd century, is the patron saint for comedians. During his lifetime, he made the people around him laugh. I am afraid I can’t retell his jokes, because I am the worst at making

 “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” Today we remember Edith Stein, or better known as St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She was born into a Jewish family in 1891 but later converted to the Catholic faith in 1922, after reading the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila. She completed reading the book overnight and declared: “This is the Truth”. She was so inspired that she joined the Discalced Carmelite monastery and made her perpetual vows in 1938, taking on the religious name ‘Teresa Benedicta of the Cross’. One of her books, titled The Science of the Cross, is a profound spiritual and theological reflection on the mystery of the Cross, based on the writings of St. John of the Cross. It was her last work, after which she was taken by the Nazis and martyred at the Auschwitz concentration camp. She was canonized as a martyr and saint in 1998. In her book, Teresa Benedicta compared entering the night as carrying the cross, it is a passa

“Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” What Peter said so spontaneously reflects an instinctive desire common to all human beings. I was away last few days in Colorado Springs. I went there to meet my second sister and her children for a short vacation. She needed the vacation, I was there to accompany her. But honestly, I did not want to come back to reality, I would have loved to continue the vacation forever. I was relaxed and free. I can understand Peter’s suggestion. He had just seen the full glory of his master, this mountain is the best place to be, why go back to the troubles and dangers in the town? Surely, he would prefer to stay on this mountain forever. Similarly, in life there would be moments when we experience deep satisfaction, pure happiness, love and peace, we would want that moment to last forever, we want things to stay that way. We wouldn’t want to go back to how things were before, and we woul