Homily: January 26, 2025, Thir Sunday in Ordinary time (God - Today)

-

 “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus is a man of “today”. Throughout the Gospels, we hear Him emphasize the significance of the present moment:

• “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

• “Today salvation has come to this house.”

• “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

Even in the prayer He taught us, He said, “Give us this day (today) our daily bread.”

In Luke’s Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus is just beginning His public ministry and has not performed miracles of healing the blind and deaf etc, but He boldly declares that the Scripture passage which prophesied how things would be when the Messiah arrives is fulfilled in their presence, thus He is almost making an announcement that He is the Messiah, that He is the fulfillment of the prophesy.

Indeed, our Messiah comes not to be crowned a worldly king, but to lower Himself down to heal and help us. And He is present and actively reaching out to us in our ‘todays’, every day.

And often, His saving grace reaches out through the simplest and purest way.

I have a little nephew. He is a simple, sweet and innocent three-year old boy like any other at his age. So innocent that often God’s love shines through him so easily.

My sister shared with me just last year, that when their neighbor’s elderly mother passed away, they brought their father to stay with them for sometime. Very often, this old man would sit quietly alone at the verandah, deep in thought and looking sad. My little nephew observed this daily and without saying too much, one day my sister discovered that he climbed over the short wooden divider between their home and their neighbor’s home, walked over to the elderly man, stayed close to him, talked to him in his innocent way and after a few minutes, came back home the same way he went. He did this everyday till the elderly man went home.

Their neighbors reported that their father started opening up to talk, began to smile more and seemed to be back to his normal self again since the ‘secret visits’.

Now you must know, the first amazing thing is that my nephew was at that time just learning to speak, most of the time when he spoke to me, I had to guess really hard to understand what he was trying to say, and more amazing is that the elderly man and my nephew did not speak the same language.

God reaches out to us in the simplest and purest way, today and every day.

In our lowest and most desperate moments, God is present there and then. We do not need to search for God in past or wait for Him coming in the future, He is here today, here now.

In the first reading from the Book of Nehemiah, the Israelites had returned from seventy years of exile and rebuilt their temple.

Do you remember how it was like when all our churches had to be closed during the pandemic? It was just a few months but people who loved the Eucharist were sorrowful for not being able to receive Jesus, not knowing when things will ever return to normal, doubtful and fearful wondering if they will ever be able to attend Mass in church again. 

Now recall how joyful and happy we all were when the churches re-opened!! Now imagine the Israelites back in the temple hearing the Word of God, worshipping Him and being in His Holy presence again. It must have been surreal for those who have grown old while in exile, it must have been exhilarating for those who were born during the exile and had only heard about the temple worship.

Ezra the priest spoke and confirmed the reality of their return: "Today is holy to the LORD your God. Do not be sad, and do not weep... Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!"

The people were weeping out of joy and were also pouring out all the sadness and anxiety accumulated over the years away from God.

This Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is dedicated to the Word of God. God’s Word is not just words of a language, but it is Jesus Himself, the Word made flesh.

God is with us both in the Eucharist and in His Word. Reading and reflecting on the Word of God, is letting Jesus enter our minds, our intellect, our logic. Receiving the Eucharist is letting Jesus enter our hearts, our guts, our blood, our flesh.

We need both daily – the Good News and the Real Food.

Let us take refuge in His Word and His presence, and let us find joy in our faith, knowing that He is with us today and always.

Amen.


Comments

Post a Comment

Read

Homily: December, 22,2024, Fourth Sunday in Advent (Mother- Peace)

-
 "His greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth; he shall be peace." The prophecy of Micah proclaimed 700 years before the birth of Jesus, had already foretold the extent and essence of our Lord’s greatness – it shall reach to the ends of the earth, and He shall be peace. Now 2,700 years later, Christianity has indeed spread to every corner of the world and for everyone who truly knows and follows Christ, will experience His peace. Here we are, celebrating the Fourth Sunday of Advent, just days away from Christmas, are you at peace? Almost every society throughout the world is celebrating Christmas, albeit with commercial overtones, but is there peace around the world? During this holiday season, in the confessionals and from conversations, I hear the same issues brought up - stress, worries, anxieties about the preparations, the family gatherings, the expectations. Shopping, cleaning the house, buying and wrapping gifts, writing cards, getting new clothes - all these ta...
Read more

Homily: May 1, 2024: May crowning Mass at Holy Family School

-
 "A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” Did you remember hearing this from today’s first reading? This verse really struck me. The ‘woman clothed with the sun’ mentioned, do you know who this woman is? Yes, it is referring to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. St. John the Apostle had this vision and he described the mother of the Jesus as ‘clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her heard a crown of twelve stars’. Who would usually wear a crown? Yes, a king or a queen.  It is a symbol of their authority over everyone in the country, a sign of the power vested in them to rule the people and for them to obey their rule. So, Mother Mary is a queen, who wears a crown of twelve stars. Why twelve? Do you know what in the Bible are twelve in number? Yes, there were twelve tribes of Israel and Jesus had twelve apostles. The twelve tribes of Israel descended from the twelve chi...
Read more

Homily: January, 8, 2025 Wednesday after Epiphany (Take courage)

-
Holy family school Homily Did you listen carefully to today’s first reading and the Gospel? There are two phrases that really struck me. From the Gospel, Jesus says, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid!” And from the first reading: "There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear…" Let me ask you: is there anyone here who has no fear, who does not fear anything at all? Do you think I have any fears? Oh yes, I do! I do not fear death, illness, wild animals, reptiles, or insects. But I am fearful of dark places and confined spaces. I do not fear crowds of people, but believe it or not, I fear preaching! Yes, every time I walk up to the ambo to preach, my heart starts beating heavily. Thankfully, I’m getting better at managing that fear. While I do not fear death for myself, I am afraid of losing my loved ones. When I was in 4th grade, one of my best friends lost his dad suddenly. From that time, I started fearing that I might lose my own parents too. Eventually,...
Read more

Homily: January 23, 2023, Monday of the Third week in Ordinary Time.

-
 “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” This is applicable to any kingdom, any organisation, any group, and of course, it applies to church, the kingdom of God here on earth as well. We see decline and weakening of organisations where divisions exist. Is the church, the kingdom of God here on earth divided or united? In this so-called modern society, it is not difficult to see many divisive opinions and views. Many people strongly advocate abortion, same-sex marriage, and other behaviour which the church has explicitly identified as unacceptable. Yet these people claim to be catholic. They justify their arguments based on their own ideologies and political principles, not on the church’s teachings. And there are church leaderships who keep silent regarding these issues for fear of losing popularity. Yes, God forgives but we cannot take God’s mercy for granted and live like ...
Read more

Homily: January 10, 2023, Tuesday of the first week in Ordinary Time.

-
In today’s first reading, St. Paul is writing to the Hebrews to tell them about the dignity with which God created the first man, “You crowned him with glory and honour, subjecting all things under his feet.” This was our original state. We were subject to God only, and all else, the whole of creation, were subject to us. But with one fall, a single sin, we lost our glorious state, and became subject to many other things, even to nature and its forces.  In today’s world, we are still enslaved. The greatest slave master is the social media. Many children are addicted to it and can’t live without their gadgets. Through easy access to social media and its influences, these children are also exposed to drugs, alcohol, pornography, promiscuity and other illegal and immoral activities easily. Many adults too are vulnerable to these. Who introduced gadgets and social media to the children? Their parents, the adults. Slavery is passed down from one generation to another. It all began with ...
Read more

Homily: December 24, 2024, Christmas Mass (Swaddling clothes )

-
"She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger..." This Gospel scene brings me back to one special day when I was in grade eight. My eldest sister was back at home from college for summer vacation. The rest of my family were out of the house for a parish event, and so it was just the two of us at home. Before leaving the house, my mother had pre-empted us that one of our she-goats on the farm was ready to give birth, although she did think it might happen in a few more days. However, shortly after my parents and other siblings left the house, the she-goat or doe went into labor and gave birth to three babies: two males, one female. The baby doeling was very weak and looked unhealthy, my sister and I did not know what to do. So we called our grandmother on the phone, and she explained to us how to take care of the newborn kids. Following her instructions, we used iodine to treat the navel cords to prevent infection, cleaned up the birth site, made a nice bed of...
Read more

Homily: August 14, 2022, Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

-
 “I have come to set the earth on fire.” “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” Jesus has told us He is meek and humble of heart, and we should learn from Him. We call Him the ‘Prince of peace’ and he prayed for us, “Father, that they may be one as we are one.” So, why would he want to set fire? Why would He cause division? First, the fire which Jesus wants to set for the earth is not a destructive fire, but that of the Holy Spirit. It is a purifying, sanctifying fire. Second, Jesus came to preach the truth, but many do not want to accept the truth. Those who reject will oppose those who accept. This is the division caused by hardness of the heart and blindness of the mind. Only when all have accepted the truth, then the world will be of one heart and mind, united and at peace. In this world we see divisions everywhere. Those of us who follow Jesus’ teachings become enemies of the world. Because the worldly ways and values ...
Read more

Homily: December 2, 2024 Monday of the First Week in Advent (Banquet)

-
 "I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven." Do you have a favorite saint who inspires you? How would you feel if you got to meet this saint in real, and had a meal together? In today’s Gospel text, Jesus describes the banquet in heaven. Imagine that glorious day when we will all recline at the heavenly banquet together with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and your favorite saint! All the saints, the martyrs, the prophets we have read about in the Old Testament and the apostles of Jesus will all be present too. How wonderful that will be! At the head of the banquet table we see Jesus, gloriously radiant, with the Father and the Holy Spirit united as one, and Mother Mary right beside them! That is just the heavenly banquet we can describe; I am sure the real thing will be much more wonderful. Every time we celebrate Holy Mass, we get a tiny glimpse, a foretaste of that heavenly b...
Read more

Homily: September 11, 2023, Monday of the twenty third week in Ordinary time.

-
“The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely to see if he would cure on the sabbath so that they might discover a reason to accuse him”.  Today’s miracle healing took place in a synagogue on a Sabbath, the Lord’s holy day, in the Lord’s holy place. But when we follow this reading closely and try to visualize what the scribes and Pharisees were doing, we can really understand why Jesus considered them hypocrites. We also wonder, why did the Pharisees go to their synagogues? What was the Sabbath to them? The Sabbath is a day for prayer and thanksgiving to God for the week that passed, for rest and relaxation from a week of labor, a day to recall and recollect how God saved their forefathers from slavery and gave them hope of a Messiah. It is a day to fellowship with their fellow Jews to celebrate the blessings received, as one race, one people of God. However, sadly, the scribes and Pharisees here weren't even truly hearing the message of love, compassion, and mercy from Jesus ...
Read more