Homily: August 27, 2024, Tuesday of the Twenty first week in Ordinary time (Deception)

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 “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.”

The early Christian communities believed that the “second coming of the Lord was near”. That sense of urgency helped them focus on their faith and live in preparation for the final judgement. However, communities thereafter, including we today, have lost that sense of urgency and are living as though there will always be a tomorrow. We all know that is not true, we can face death anytime, so let us not deceive ourselves.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Monica. We know her as the persevering and patient mother who prayed fervently for thirty-three years for the conversion of her wayward son, who became St. Augustine, doctor of the church.

But did we also know that Monica had her own conversion experience when she was young? When she was a little girl, her parents used to send her to the cellar to bring up the wine.

 While she was at it, she let in the temptation to take small sips of the wine secretly. Over time, she became a heavy drinker, still in secret. Only when she was finally caught by her uncle, she stopped her drinking habit. Shamed by embarrassment, it was the first step in her conversion.

Aren’t we all the same? Our big troubles usually began as small deviations. Our big moral sins usually begin with small venial sins. We believe we will not be caught, and so we continue. We deceive ourselves and we deceive others. Until finally it grows so big and deep that we lose control over it.

St. Paul warns, ‘Let no one deceive you in any way.” I would add… “including yourself”.

The way of deception is to block or hide the truth. So how can we avoid being deceived by ourselves, others or the world?

One of the most effective ways is to always seek the Word of God. In today’s Gospel acclamation, we heard, “The Word of God is living and effective, able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.”

My father was someone who reads the Bible almost all the time. And he often consulted scripture texts whenever he needed clear directions to make major decisions. I don’t recall any wrong choices he had ever made in his 71 years of life.

Jesus is the Word, His word is the Truth. Know Jesus, know His word, know the Truth and let no one deceive you in any way.

Amen.


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Homily: September 11, 2024 Wednesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time (best attitudes)

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 "Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven." When I was a small boy, I used to look up in the sky when I heard a plane fly by. At that time, no one in my village had ever flown in an airplane before, so my dream was to fly in a plane to a place far away from my home. I thought that would be the day I would be very happy. Today I am here in the USA, more than 8 thousand miles away! Do you have a dream for yourself? We all have dreams, and whatever our dreams are, we all believe that when they come true, we will be very happy. I too have a dream for Holy Family School. I dream that every student who comes to this school will experience joy, that they will be happy learning and growing together, to make good friends and create beautiful memories here, and that every student here will gain not just great knowledge of the world, but also develop a deep understanding and love for God. Today’s Gospel passage is known as the Beatitudes. The Be
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Homily: September 16. 2024, Monday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time (Reason)

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“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.” There are many reasons people choose to go to a particular church on Sundays. Some say, “I like the music,” or “I like the homily.” Others might say, “My friends are going there,” or “I like the diversity of this community,” or “The Mass time is convenient.” Some people choose to attend other denominational or non-denominational services to make their Sunday church experience more interesting. What about you? Why do you come to church? There could be many motivations too, but truly, any Mass at any Catholic church is the same, whether the homily is wonderful or awful, whether the music is traditional or contemporary, whether the community is lively or sleepy… because the exact same sacrificial event takes place at every Mass. Be it here in Iowa, or there in South Sudan, it is the same Jesus, the same sacrificial death on the cross, the same redemptive love at every Mass. And so, w
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Funeral Homily: Anna Gomes (103), Thursday January 20, 2022

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 Anna lived 103 years and God arranged me to encounter her in the last five months of her life. I first met Anna in September 2021. I had just moved to this parish and was having a stressful two months trying to resolve many pressing issues. When I was asked to visit her, I just went without expecting anything more than the usual anointing, blessing and go. I got into Anna’s room in University Park Nursing Home, it was the first time she had seen me and I was wearing a mask, so she gave me a suspicious look, wondering who this stranger was. I pointed to my roman collar and immediately her eyes lit up like an excited little girl. Yet, in her grandmotherly way, she commanded me, “Take off your mask!” and I did. She looked at me so tenderly and smiled like she was seeing her favorite grandson. What followed was the most joyful conversation I ever had with someone I met for the first time. I did not even notice how long we talked. I felt so relaxed, joyful and loved. That first meeting lef
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 Jesus promises to share his reign with the Good Thief (Luke 23:39-43) Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us." The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, "Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal." 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." ========================= Two criminals were being crucified beside You, Jesus. We call one of them the ‘good thief’. While none of Your gospel writers described him as such, he had become known by this title because of what he said at that moment before his death. Jesus, do you also think he was ‘good’? I thought he was ‘lucky’ more than good, because at that last m
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Homily: December 8, 2023, Solemnity of the immaculate conception of B.V. Mary.

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Homiía: Mayo 1, 2022, III Domingo de Pascua

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 Jesús les dijo: “Vengan a almorzar”. Mi mamá cocinaba nuestras comidas familiares a la manera tradicional de la India, preparando todo con ingredientes frescos y cocido a la leña. Pasaba la mayor parte de su tiempo en la cocina cocinando para sus siete hijos. También trabajaba en la granja familiar. Sin embargo, todos los días, a la hora de comer, cuando terminaba de cocinar, nos llamaba a todos: “vengan para comer”. Incluso cuando no nos habíamos portado bien o cuando estaba enojada y molesta con nosotros, siempre que la comida estaba lista, mamá llamaba. Ella debe habernos llamado miles de veces hasta el día en que fue enterrada. Las invitaciones a la hora de comer de mi mamá todavía resuenan claramente en mi corazón. Otra tradición india, mi mamá nunca se sentaba a comer con nosotros cuando teníamos invitados para cenar, tenía que esperar hasta que nosotros, incluido papa y los invitados termináramos de comer antes de comer ella. Mi mamá siempre se aseguraba de que estuviéramos bie
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Homily: June 18, 2023, Sunday of the Eleventh Sunday in ordinary time (God's Love)

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 "At the sight of the crowds, Jesus' heart was moved with pity because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd." I especially admire Pope Benedict XVI. I can relate to his personality in many ways. He was an introvert and shy, so am I. And he liked bier, so do I. He was one of the greatest theologians of our time. Through the encyclicals, which are papal letters to all the bishops of the church, Popes share their wisdom and insights on world issues and the faith to guide the church forward. When Pope Benedict was installed, many theologians and the world waited eagerly for his first encyclical, wondering which global issue of the time he would address. Instead, his first encyclical dwelt on a very basic yet profound topic, "Deus Caritas est", that means "God is love". It was what the church needed, to go back to who God really is and focus on the very basis and essence of our existence. No world issue can be resolved without kno
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Homilía: Marzo 24, 2022, Jueves de la III semana de Cuaresma.

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 “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 hac
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Homilía: 23 de Octubre 2022, XXX Domingo ordinario (ES)

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 En la primera lectura escuchamos: “El Señor es un juez que no se deja impresionar por apariencias. No menosprecia a nadie por ser pobre”. Siempre pensé que Dios tiene un amor especial por aquellos que son pobres, débiles y vulnerables. Sin embargo, de las lecturas de hoy está claro que todas las personas son iguales, nadie es favorecido, Dios nos ama a todos por igual. Rico o pobre, fuerte o débil, pecador o santo. Cuando nos presentamos ante Dios, todos somos iguales para Él, apreciados y amados. Igual de amados y valorados. Toda persona humana está creada a imagen y semejanza de Dios, esta es la divinidad que todos compartimos, nuestra identidad, nuestra dignidad. Todos los años, por este tiempo, cuando cambian las estaciones, a menudo noto que los animales también están ocupados preparándose para el invierno. En mi jardín vive una ardilla de tierra que está más ocupada en este tiempo del año. La veo corriendo para arreglar su nido para la hibernación y almacenar comida para el invi
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Homily: June 7, 2022, Tuesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time.

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 “You are salt of the earth.” When couples are in love, they call each other ‘sweetheart’, ‘honey’ and maybe ‘sugar’? Because they add sweetness to each other’s life. And most religious leaders would expect their followers to be powerful, mighty and unbeatable. But here, Jesus calls His beloved disciples ‘salt’. Such a humble reference. What does Jesus want His disciples to do differently? One. Humble yet purposeful. Salt is common yet very useful in every home, rich or poor. His disciples would reach out and preach the good news to every home, every family in the world. Two. Taste enhancing. The right amount of salt makes food tasty. Without it, food tastes bland. Just a sprinkle of it will bring out the full flavor. His disciples would help everyone realise their purpose, to bring about the full consciousness of their true calling as children of God. Three. Purifies. Traditionally, Holy water is blessed by adding a pinch of salt because salt purifies and wards off evil. Jesus’ discip
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