Homily: October 24, 2024, Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time (Know God )

-

 "…that you…may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

I love this passage very much. In my native language, it is expressed even more beautifully, and I have cherished it in my heart since young.

Can we ever fully comprehend the love of God?

I don’t think we can ever grasp even a fraction of it. His love is immensely wide, long, high and deep, it surpasses all knowledge and understanding, beyond our imagination.

How do we even begin to understand something so vast? 

Let’s look at how today’s first reading started: "I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named."

To kneel before God is probably one of the first and best way to start to know Him. It is said that St. Thomas Aquinas learned more theology on his knees than from books.

And Blessed Archbishop Fulton Sheen put this wisdom so simply, “No man discovers anything big unless he makes himself small.”

Recognizing and embracing our smallness, our nothingness, means we recognize and embrace the greatness of God. We come before Him humble and empty, and He will fill us full of His graces. That begins our relationship with God.

We can read about God, think about God, and talk about God, but to truly know Him, we must kneel before Him and unite ourselves with Him through prayer.

And we pray and pray and pray. Praying consistently and unceasingly, is not so much for God to hear us, but it is for us to hear Him. And from hearing Him well, we will know Him better. It is much like how we become familiar with a friend, through constant connecting, through regular conversations, through listening to one another.

The wonderful relationships all the saints had with God came not from intellectual studying or learning, but from a life of prayer and contemplation.

So let us pray for the strength to comprehend the greatness of God, to know the love of Christ and be filled with the fullness of God. Let us daily strive to know Him, love Him and serve Him. Amen.


Comments

Post a Comment

Read

Homily: November 3, 2024, Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time (Memento Mori)

-
 In the 2,000-year history of the Church, monastic orders like the Cistercians and Trappists have existed, and the monks dedicate themselves to a life of deep contemplation and penance. Some of these monks take a vow of perpetual silence, speaking only in an emergency. When they pass each other in the monastery, their silent greeting is "memento mori" - "remember death." They remind each other daily to consider the reality of death and to always be prepared for it. Today, November 2, we commemorate All Souls' Day, remembering all the departed souls in purgatory who long to see God face-to-face. Like the consecrated monks, this commemoration invites us to pause and reflect on our own mortality. Memento mori. Remember death. We probably have said goodbye to many people in our lives: family, friends, relatives, famous people and people who have done great deeds that impacted society. Some of their names may have already faded from our memories. Perhaps we’ve even s
Read more

Homily: November 1, 2024, All saints day (Holy family School Mass )

-
 Did you hear this question in the first reading? "Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?" St. John the Apostle had a vision of heaven and asked the angel regarding the many people he saw who were praising and worshipping God. I think you might know some of those people. Let’s see. Do you know who this is? Yes, Saint Teresa of Calcutta, we affectionately call her Mother Teresa.  Do you know where she was born in? She was born in Skopje, where it is now Albania. And where did she spend most of her life? She spent her life in India, taking care of the very poor, sick and dying. Who’s this man? Yes, he is Saint Joseph. Where was he born? In Nazareth. What was his job? He was a carpenter. And he was chosen by God to be the foster father of Jesus. St. Joseph cared for and protected Jesus and Mary as a family, serving God in his own humble way. Who is this woman? That’s right, Saint Kateri Tekakwitha. Do you know where she was born? She was born in New Yor
Read more

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

-
 “The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.” This beautiful passage from today’s first reading is one we often hear at funeral Masses. It comforts and consoles us deeply, assuring us of God’s merciful love and protection for those who have passed from this life. Today, as we commemorate All Souls’ Day, we remember the souls of all the faithful departed, those in purgatory awaiting the fullness of union with God. Their souls are in the hands of God, and while we need not worry for them, we can still assist them with our prayers. During the first week of November, the Church offers us the special grace of a plenary indulgence for our deceased loved ones. But what exactly is a plenary indulgence? It is a special grace that removes the temporal punishments due to sin. While the Sacrament of Reconciliation forgives sins and removes the eternal punishment of hell, temporal punishments may remain. Temporal punishments are the natural consequences arising f
Read more

Homily: Ocotber 29, Tuesaday of the Thirtieth week in ordinary time (Subordination)

-
 "Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord." I chose this phrase to preach, knowing it might meet with some resistance, even rejection from some of you. When this same passage appears in Sunday readings, there’s even an option to use a shorter form that would avoid these verses. Why? Because the teaching of subordination is hard to accept, and the preaching of it is even harder. Being obedient or subordinate to someone is challenging, even if under authority. And to expect a woman, especially a modern, independent and self-assured American woman, to be subordinate to her husband, is like declaring war. This resistance is not just in spousal relationships. Sometimes, it seems like the only “person” who obeys my commands perfectly is my phone – Google Assistant. ‘She’ is most obedient, ever ready to satisfy and please, always responds politely and would do whatever I ask, and without delay. Google As
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 hac
Read more

Homily, June 1, 2022, Memorial of Saint Justin, Martyr

-
 “And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated”. This is Jesus’ prayer for His disciples, and His prayer for us who believe in Him. What does it mean to be consecrated? It means to be set aside for holiness, to be anointed for God’s purpose, to be devoted totally to God. Jesus consecrated Himself for the disciples and for us. And by that, we too may be consecrated to God, to be set aside for God’s purpose of salvation, mercy and love. In the book of Genesis chapter 28, Jacob anointed a stone with oil, dedicated that place to God and named it Bethel. Thus, Bethel became part of salvation history. Samuel anointed David and the little shepherd boy became the king of Israel. Jesus consecrated His disciples, anointed them with the Holy Spirit and these simple fishermen became powerful fishers of men. Consecration empowers and transforms. It gives new purpose, new identity, new mission to the consecrated. Once, I attended a Cistercian ordination rite. The newly orda
Read more

Homily: February 17, 2022, Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time.

-
For Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021722.cfm St. James advised the Christian community, “My brothers and sisters, show no partiality”, with a stern warning, “if you show partiality, you commit sin…” Is it really possible to treat everyone without partiality? My grandfather had more than 50 grandchildren and he loved all as fairly as he could. But he had a favorite - me. He loved me very specially because we had a common interest – gardening. He often praised me for my green thumb as I am quite gifted in this area, and he valued it very much. To him, it is a great talent. He favored me so much that when he was dying, he called me to his bedside to give me his final blessing. He called no one else. In this world, money is highly valued. And St. James was warning about the biased treatment of favoring the rich ones in the community while despising those who were poor. Being rich or poor should not differentiate the disciples from one another. Neither should it different
Read more

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

-
 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
Read more

Homily: May 28, 2024, Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time (Holy Family School Mass)

-
Today we are celebrating a very, very special and joyous occasion, do you know what that is? Yes! Our second graders received their First Holy Communion! So a school famliy we celebrate their joy. Now why is this so special and so joyous? Because receiving Holy Communion is really receiving Jesus Himself, to be united with Him heart in heart, body in body, totally and fully. Can you imagine the powerful King of the Universe, who loves you very, very much, so much that He is willing to become so small so that He can enter into your heart and stay with you? That is so wonderful! Something hard for us to fully understand but yet it is true! Jesus wants so much to be with us always, forever and ever. He wants to bless us and give us everything that we need for our souls to be saved. Do you think Jesus would give us everything we ask for?  Like what we heard in the gospel passage today, James and John went to Jesus and boldly asked Him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of
Read more

Homily: July 1, 2024, Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time (The poor)

-
 "For three crimes of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke my word; because they sell the just man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of sandals. They trample the heads of the weak into the dust of the earth and force the lowly out of the way." This was how our first reading began today. Prophet Amos was prophesying against the northern kingdom of Israel. They had become rich and established themselves as a superpower among the nations, but they had completely forgotten how God was the one who guided and protected them all through the years when life was uncertain, and they were poor. Instead of being thankful to God, they disobeyed His commandments and abused the poor among them, the rich became richer while the poor became poorer. Thus, Amos warned how God will ‘crush (them) into the ground’ if they persisted in their sinfulness. Is being poor a sin? In this country, many people choose to be poor and homeless. In my home country, no one wants to be poor, because in
Read more