Homily: June 16, 2025 Monday of the Eleventh week in Ordinary time (Grace not in vain)

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“Not to receive the grace of God in vain.”
Today’s first reading began with a stern warning.
Are we receiving the grace of God in vain?
Do we got to confession, yet continue to live in habitual sin and disobedience to God’s will?
Christian living is a life in and of grace. It is a life of grace, because from the moment of our baptism, followed through with the other sacraments, God pours out His grace to us.
But the full effect of His grace requires our cooperation. If we take it for granted, are non-responsive or even ignorant, if we do not actively nurture it, God’s grace would be fruitless, and futile in our life. Imagine pouring water to a cup with a closed lid, nothing gets filled, the cup remains empty.
Think of baptism. At a child’s baptism, the parents and godparents profess the faith on the child’s behalf. They promise to raise the child according to the Catholic faith. If they fail to live that promise, if they do not bring the child to Mass, do not pray with the child, neither do they teach the about faith, God or the church, then the grace God showered on the child during baptism is not received in full, the child’s spiritual being is not nourished or nurtured, does not grow or develop. God’s grace is received in vain. 
Similarly with the other sacraments. Frequent reception of Holy Communion or Confession can become a mere routine, just going through the motion, if we are not spiritually awake and intentional.
The enemy knows this weakness in us and keeps up the temptation to distract and discourage us. He wants us to live as though the grace of God is ordinary, unimportant, or ineffective.
There are two things the devil is deadly afraid of according to St. John Bosco: fervent communions and frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament.
Because he knows how the graces poured out from these sacraments can transform and empower us to become more like Christ. Do we also know this truth?
Grace is not a passive gift. It is God’s life in us. It is divine strength, divine presence, and divine love when activated in weak, broken but humble, receptive and fertile souls.
So let us not receive the grace of God in vain. Let us wake up each day asking for the strength to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and end the day in gratitude for His grace showered upon us throughout the day. Let us live our faith intentionally and consciously, so that God’s grace may grow in us and bear fruit that endures.
Amen.

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From the first reading, we heard Stephen declare, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But his persecutors ‘cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears, and rushed upon him together.’ If we could visualize the scene, we would imagine Stephen looking radiant with joy as he anticipated his death, while his persecutors looking tormented and fearful as they prepared to kill. We know why Stephen was joyful as he looked up to heaven, because he could see where his future would be. We also know why his persecutors were afraid as they closed their ears to Stephen’s words, because they did not want to hear the truth. It tormented their conscience and pierced through the darkness in their hearts. I am sure we ourselves may have experienced the same, when our wrong doings were being highlighted, when our shame were being revealed or when our hurts were being exposed, we might also cry out, “stop! I don’t want to hear it! I don’t want to know i...
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