Homily: August 12, 2024, Monday of the Nineteenth week in Ordinary time (No privilages)

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 “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 lived in a tiny house on a farm, instead of the presidential palace. During his presidency, he worked hard to reduce unemployment in his country, and gave away 90% of his salary.

Such people are rare. We live in a world where people often seek privileges and benefits accrued to their rights and statuses, they expect special considerations, and demand changes in circumstances to bend in their favor.

For a president to live humbly, without claiming even the basic privilege, is inspiring.

For the Son of God to live poorer than the common folks, without clinging to His Godly status, is more than inspirational, itself is the essence of His divinity.

Jesus is God - the very God whom we worship at the temple. Jesus could have argued that, as God, He did not need to pay the temple tax. But here, we see Jesus’s humility, and His divinity shines forth.

St. Paul described this humble but powerful divinity of Jesus: "Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross."

Do we cling on to our statuses and demand to receive the full measure of our privileges?

Or do we empty our pride and ego, and be open to receive the full measure of God’s spiritual blessings – which might come in the form of a cross, pain or suffering?

The more we empty ourselves, the more we live free. I love these lines from the Litany of Humility:

From the desire of being esteemed,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being honored,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

Amen.


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Homily: July 5, 2026 Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (I will give you rest)

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 “Thus says the LORD: Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!”  A Beautiful and comforting words of prophet Zechariah. A long weekend is of course a time of joy for us especially as we celebrate 250th year of independence.  But truly, are you rejoicing in life? Are you rejoicing as a believer? Only a person who is truly free can be full of joy and be at peace. Life in this country is full of freedom; we enjoy privileges and opportunities that many people in some other parts of the world are still yearning and fighting for. Yet I have a friend, whenever I ask, “How’s life?”, would often reply, "It sucks,.  Is life really that burdensome? Yes, we all struggle with some variations of family problems, work issues, disappointments, sickness, and other daily battles, and our own battle with sin and evil. But we have the freedom to work, to speak, to go anywhere, to believe in any religion, to choose what we want. Is there nothing worth rejoi...
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Homily: October 18, 2025, Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist (Right - Companion)

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“Behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way.” This line from today’s Gospel captures the mission Jesus gave to His seventy-two disciples. He sent them out two by two, trusting completely in divine providence. Tradition tells us that St. Luke, whose feast we celebrate today, was among these seventy-two. Jesus’ instruction was clear: they were to depend entirely on God. No extra money, no supplies, no comfort just faith and obedience. It sounds difficult, but throughout history, we’ve seen countless saints who lived this way: St. Francis of Assisi, St. Mother Teresa, and many others who relied fully on God’s providence and never lacked what they truly needed. In the first reading, St. Paul writes to Timothy and mentions St. Luke. He laments that many of his companions abandoned him, but says with great affection, “Only Luke is with me.” Luke stayed faithful to Paul even when others walked away. Luke was not on...
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Homily: June 30, 2026, Tuesday of the Thirteenth week in Oridnary Time (God's Favorite)

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"You alone have I favored, more than all the families of the earth." Through Amos, God is reaffirming His covenantal relationship with Israel as His chosen nation, as promised to Abraham. It is an affectionate expression of God's faithful love. The rest of this reading is about Amos warning Israel the consequences of turning away from God, intending to bring them back to faithfulness. Despite all the disobedience and unfaithfulness, God loves Israel and continues to favor them specially. He has chosen them and will not back out of His choice. This is truly how God loves. Faithful, unwavering, unchanging. I heard that when someone spoke with Mother Teresa, she would ignore everything else around her and give her full attention to that one person. She remained fully present for as long as that person needed her. St. John Paul II was also well known for giving people that same kind of attention. They did that well because they were really giving God their undivided attention...
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Homily: July 7, 2026, Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Shepherd)

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In today's first reading, the Lord says through the prophet Hosea: "They made kings in Israel, but not by my authority; they established princes, but without my approval." I wonder what would go through Pope Leo’s mind when he reads this passage today. Just last week, the Holy See excommunicated six bishops from the SSPX (Society of St. Pius X), four of whom were newly consecrated without the approval of the Vatican. Sadly, this is not the first time in the history of the Church. Throughout the centuries, there have been similar situations where certain individuals or groups have outright opposed the authority established by Christ and acted against the unity of His Church. Today’s Gospel is so apt. Jesus looks upon the crowds and sees sheep without a shepherd. He is not simply talking about people who have no leaders, but rather lacking leaders after the heart of God. There is no true shepherd. "I will give you shepherds after my own heart" (Jeremiah 3:15). Jes...
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Homily: May 23, 2026, Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter (Scripture is enough)

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 “There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.” Once I walked into our youth Bible study, and they were discussing the Book of Enoch, an ancient Jewish apocalyptic text traditionally connected to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. They asked me questions about it. I had read it myself when I was their age, mostly out of curiosity, but honestly, I do not remember much of its content. There are also several other apocryphal writings, like the Gospel of James, the Gospel of Thomas, and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene. But the Church never considered them inspired Scripture, because many of them were written decades after the death of the last Apostle, St. John. Public Revelation ended with the death of the last Apostle. Sometimes I also wish the Bible had more details about Jesus’ infancy and His hidden life. But St. John reminds us today that the world its...
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Homily: May 29, 2026 Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

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Holy Family School Mass   "The grass withers, and the flower fades, but the word of our God remains forever." What comes to your mind when you hear the term “the Word of our God”? If you are thinking it is the Bible, then you are right. The Word of God is the Bible. The Bible is also known as the Book of books, because the Bible is a collection of many books. Do you know how many books are in the Bible? If you think there are about 10 books, put up your hands. What about 20 books? Put up your hands. Who thinks there are more than 50 books? And you are right! There are 73 books in the Holy Bible! Do you know how long it took to write the Bible? Who says 100 years? 500 years? More than 1000 years? Oh yes, the 73 books of the Bible were written over 1,500 years. Around 40 different authors contributed to it. It has been translated into hundreds of different languages and read by billions of people around the world, over hundreds and hundreds of years. The world has changed over ...
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Homily: November 26, 2023: Solemnity of Christ the king.

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 “Thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will look after and tend my sheep.” Today we celebrate the solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. This feast was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925, when he proclaimed, “Pax Christi in regno Christi” which means ‘The peace of Christ in the reign of Christ’. Christ is our sovereign spiritual King and Ruler who rules by truth and love, and we, His subjects, declare our loyalty and faithfulness to Him. Historically, kings had absolute sovereign power and authority over his people, many had wielded that for their own advantage, at the expense of the people’s good. Is our King the same? In the first reading today, prophet Ezekiel was delivering God’s message to the Israelites whose kings had been utterly unfaithful to God and irresponsible to the people. Ezekiel was reminding the people that God Himself is their ultimate King who is caring, loving and merciful. God’s Kingship is like a shepherd who is dedicated to the well-being and ...
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Homily: April, 14, 2025, Monday of Holy Week (Silent Justice)

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“He shall bring forth justice to the nations, not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street.”  Throughout Holy Week, we will be reading from the Book of Prophet Isaiah. 700 years before the birth of Jesus, Isaiah had prophesied about the coming of the Messiah, not in a grand arrival, neither would He leave earth in a dignified departure. The image of Christ described by Isaiah is that of a humble suffering servant of God. His mission is to ‘bring forth justice to the nations’, by taking on injustice on Himself. He will carry the sins of the world through pain, yet He will not cry out, nor shout, He will bear all these in a meek, mild and humble way. Isaiah’s prophecies were all fulfilled by Jesus, particularly in the days of Holy Week. This week’s readings invite us to look to Jesus, no to pity and pain for Him, but to learn from Him, to straighten up our spirit to imitate Him, and to follow His example. All through Jesus’ trial, His great sufferings on the...
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Homily: May 19, 2023, Friday of the Sixth week of Easter (Shave Head)

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 At Cenchreae, he had shaved his head because he had taken a vow. At the end of the first reading, we heard that Paul shaved his head because of a vow he took. Scholars have suggested that very likely Paul had taken a Nazarite vow, and at the completion of the term and requirements, he would shave his head. Such a custom is common in Asia, especially in India. Catholic devotees would make vows to Mother Mary or some saints. Hindus also practice the same, taking vows to their deities, and they would shave their heads in response to the fulfilment of their petitions or requests. My mother was such a devotee, she took many vows. When my parents were childless for 7 years, my mother took many vows in return for the blessing of a child. One of which she promised to shave the head of her first child at the Velankanni Shrine. It is a major Marian shrine located in another state next to where my family lived. Finally, my mother gave birth to 7 children over 13 years, she could not travel t...
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Homily: September 19, 2023, Tuesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

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 "For if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how can he take care of the Church of God?" In the early days of the church, bishops and deacons chosen from the community could be married and had their own families. And there were situations where some of these chosen leaders of the church had neglected their families and failed in their duties as sons,  husbands and fathers. In time, the problems in their family became so detrimental that it badly affected their roles as church leaders. Isn't it true, that if a man cannot manage his own family, how can he manage the church. Although I don't have my own family, this phrase applies to me as well. My household is me, my prayer life, the state of my mind, my body, my emotions, my spiritual well being. Am I managing them well? As I have shared yesterday, I aspire to develop a consistent prayer life like my grandma and papa. I also need to improve my self-care,  protect my personal time and using my off days ...
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