Homily: May 6, 2025, Tuesday of he Third week of Easter (Daily -Martydom)

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 "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them."

The courage of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, always amazes me. Where did he get such strength? How was he able to withstand the big solid stones being thrown at him? 

Imagine the heavy and harsh hits on the face, the head, the chest, everywhere on the body – breaking skin, damaging flesh and smashing the bones.

Pain aside, how could he still pray for them who were hurting and killing him at that moment?

What gave him such strength?

It was what he believed, his firm and steadfast faith. Stephen knew who was waiting for him in heaven. As we heard at the beginning of the reading:

“Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.”

He saw Jesus, the King of Martyrs, waiting for him in glory. Jesus was waiting to receive Him. Surely Stephen’s soul could not wait to be united with Christ too. He would be so eager and might even wish for more stones to hit him dead fast. 

And he would not want anything to delay him, nor prevent him from reaching Jesus immediately, not anger or unforgiveness. Thus he was able to pray for his attackers, because he would not want any unforgiveness to hold him back from flying to Jesus fast.

Now, if you or I were to have such a welcoming vision when facing our death, we too would have the courage to die for our faith. But here’s the truth: this kind of holiness doesn’t happen overnight.

Martyrs like Stephen didn’t decide to die for Christ only at that fatal moment. They had been living for Christ and dying to self in daily situations. They would have had many moments of little acts of sacrifice, for the sake of the kingdom, for the purpose of their mission to preach Christ, for their intense love for the Lord.

So, when the big moment came, they were ready to give it all to Jesus.

What would I do if I were caught in the same situation? Would I stand firm in my faith and risk persecution, accept physical suffering or even mental torture? Or would I take the easy way out and deny Jesus? Would I choose to be realistic and run away, or would I be idealistic and stay on to die?

We will not be able to decide there and then. The decision should be made every day. We give witness to Christ daily by embracing our hardship and sufferings in life. If we offer them up to the Lord with joy and firmly allow God’s will to reign despite difficulties, we are exercising martyrdom.

Let us be faithful in little things, and we will be ready when the big moments come. May we all receive this grace: To see Jesus in glory, waiting for us, when our own final hour comes.

Amen.


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Homily: September 21, 2026, Mass of Healing and Remembrance for those who died by Suicide

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 “I desire mercy.” As I was going through the readings for today, on this Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, these words of Jesus stood out to me: “I desire mercy.” Those words seem especially appropriate as we gather today to remember and pray for those who have died by suicide, and to pray for their families and friends who continue to carry their absence. Two years ago, on a cold January day, I received a call telling me that a young woman I knew had taken her own life. She was only 21 years old, a young mother with a seven-month-old baby, and she had been struggling with postpartum depression. Her death shocked everyone, her family, her friends, and our community. I still remember the funeral. It was a bitterly cold day, and I remember seeing her little baby wrapped warmly and held in the grandmother’s arms. Looking at that child and realizing that the mother was gone was heartbreaking. After the funeral, the family did not want to keep all the plants that had been s...
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In those days: God delivered all these commandments: “I, the LORD, am your God…” In today's first reading, Moses passed on the Ten Commandments to the Israelites as he had received from God. Most emphasis is given to the first commandment because God wants His chosen people to focus on it seriously. It is the foundation on which all the other commandments rest. Whenever Israel failed in the first commandment, they would get into serious consequences. I am not an exorcist, but I have assisted exorcists as a translator on numerous occasions. Demonic possessions take place when people allow it through intentional offences against God. The exorcists would often ask questions to identify which commandment was violated, and commonly, it is the first commandment that was broken, such as playing Ouija board, practicing black magic or white magic, engaging in witchcraft, and so on. Violating the first commandment is denying God as our Lord, and that is the easiest way for Satan to possess a...
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 “Therefore, do not make any judgment before the appointed time, until the Lord comes.” It is very difficult to live without judging others. Knowingly or unknowingly, we often judge people based on what we see, especially those who are different from us. But we are all different. Our life situations are different, our ideas are different, and the ways we were raised are different. There is a beautiful saying often attributed to Philo of Alexandria: “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.” How true that is. We often do not know what another person is carrying in his or her heart. Jesus also tells us, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged.” So how do we overcome a judgmental attitude? One way is by becoming more empathetic. Instead of immediately judging someone, we can try to know the person, listen to their story, and understand why they may think or act differently from us. St. Paul reminds us today that the final judgment belongs to God. God knows what is ...
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 “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for everything under the heavens.” Yesterday I watched the movie The Lovely Bones. The movie has many flashback scenes—moments from the past suddenly coming back to life. Later in the day, when I read today’s first reading, I found myself doing the same thing: going back through different moments and seasons of my own life. Whenever I hear this passage from Ecclesiastes, especially at a funeral Mass, memories come to mind—good times and difficult times, moments of joy and moments of sadness. Growing up, some of these images were very real to me: the season for planting and the season for harvesting. There really is a time for everything. And it is not only the different seasons of our whole life. Even a single day can contain so many different emotions. Those who regularly make an examination of conscience know this very well. At the end of the day, we look back: there was a moment when I was happy; a moment when I was frustra...
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 “Thus says the Lord: You say, ‘The Lord’s way is not fair!’” I chose this phrase from our first reading for our reflection today because it sounds very similar to what we heard last Sunday in the first reading.  “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways.” I think most of us, at some point in our lives, have said something similar to God. I know I have. “Lord, this is not fair.” “Why do I have to go through this?” “Why didn’t you answer this prayer?” “Why did you allow this to happen?” “I am trying to follow you. Could you not treat me a little better?” We may not say those words aloud, but sometimes they are deep within our hearts. So what exactly is God’s way? The second reading gives us an answer.  For centuries humanity wondered what God was like. Then Jesus Christ, the beloved Son of the Father, came among us and revealed the face of God. And St. Paul describes Jesus with these extraordinary words: “He did not regard equality with God something to...
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 As I was preparing this homily, I first thought of preaching about the three temptations of Jesus. Then I changed my mind and thought of focusing on the first reading, and then perhaps the second reading. I couldn’t get the right inspiration, so I went through the readings several times over the past days. Finally, I noticed one phrase which stayed with me quietly but firmly: “The devil left Him, and angels came and ministered to Him.” It was a reassuring resolution to an intense build-up of temptations. Jesus had fasted forty days. He endured hunger, thirst, solitary living and silence. At the end of it when he was at his weakest, tempting offers to satisfy His possible needs and wants were presented to Him. He was at His weakest, physically, but he was also at His strongest, spiritually. As He overcame the temptations and defeated the devil, heaven responded - not with applause, but with accompaniment. Angels came to minister to Him. We see the same later in the Gospel of Luke. ...
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