Homily: August 13, 2024, Tuesday of the nineteenth week in Ordinary time (Eat the word of God)

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 “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 notebook was full of Bible verses which she picked up from various spiritual talks she has attended over time. It was so well organized according to different topics.

She has Bible passages for praising God, for times of sadness, when feeling lonely, for condolences, and so on. She would memorize these verses to use appropriately in various situations and she would pray using these verses. She also has passages appropriate for praying for priests. And she taught her children a prayer for priests which they recite together daily. I am so blessed.

This was also how my parents prayed when they were alive. I am rediscovering something beautiful which I have forgotten.

Praying with Bible verses is powerful.

My sister is a simple woman, but she has deep faith. She is "eating" the word of God every day, like Ezekiel eating the scroll. She is consuming the word of God into her heart, mind and soul, so that in times of need, she can recall God’s word to guide her.

Ezekiel ate the word of God and proclaimed it to the people of Israel.

We become what we eat. And our character, our outlook, our values are shaped and influenced by what our mind takes in.

The world, through social media, is feeding us a lot of unhealthy stuff, some fake, some twisted and some are even deadly for our soul. It will lead us astray, confuse us and ultimately lead us away from God, towards eternal condemnation.

Be careful what we consume, physically, mentally and spiritually.

Eat and pray the word of God daily, it is truly a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.

Amen.


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Homily, Wednesday,January 5, 2022, Memorial of Saint John Neumann, Bishop

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Homily:August 18, 2024, Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Wisdom)

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Homilía: 3 Julio, 2022, XIV Domingo Ordinario

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Homily April 29, Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

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 “And all day long, both at the temple and in their homes, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the Christ, Jesus”. Even after being flogged, all day long, the disciples continued teaching and preaching everywhere… Amazing, isn’t it?  These past few days, we have been reading from Acts of the Apostles. We see how the Jewish leaders and high priest tried to stop the apostles from preaching in the name of Jesus. But they failed. The Pharisee Gamaliel rightly said, “if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” How true. The church is from God. The disciples did not stop teaching and proclaiming. They even rejoiced at being flogged for what they were doing. They were on fire for Jesus. They were so eager and excited to tell everyone about Jesus. What about us? If there is a new restaurant serving delicious food or a store is having a great end-of-summer sale, we would hear many people talking about it. Some w...
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Homily: August 20, 2022, Saturday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

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Christmas Homily 2021,

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Homily: December 10, 2024, Tuesday of the second week In Advent (Word of God)

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Homily: November 2, 2024, The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls); Pleanary Indulgnce.

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