Fr. Nivin's Homily Blog

Holy Family School Mass Homily.   “As Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands, he did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant.”  How many of you went to CYC? Wonderful! I helped to pick up some of you after the camp was over, and you know what? Many of you looked different after the camp. Because you spent a lot of time in the sun at camp. What happened to your skin? Oh yes, many of you got sun-tanned! If you have darker skin like me, you might not notice much change, but if you were to compare the exposed areas with areas of your skin which were covered, you will see the difference clearly. That is what sunlight does, it darkens our skin. But today’s first reading tells us that the skin of Moses’ face was different. It was not darkened by sunlight, instead he was radiant, that means looking very bright. What happened to him? Yes, he spent a lot of time with God on Mount Sinai. St. John tells us that God is ligh...

 “She had a sister named Mary, who sat beside the Lord at His feet, listening to Him speak.”  We heard this same Gospel text just two weeks ago at Sunday Mass. Many of us can relate easily to Martha, the busy, action-oriented person, with a clear vision of tasks and responsibilities to accomplish, goals and objectives to achieve. There is work to be done, so we just get on with it. We end the day satisfied with the checklist all ticked. But we often realize there is something more important we have missed, only when we reach the end of our life. Through my growing years and ministry as a priest, I have accompanied many people at the end of their lives: my grandparents, my parents, many elderly parishioners, and some close friends. Consistently, during those final moments, people do not ask for anything else but the presence of their loved ones.  Elderly people often long to see their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Parents wish to be visited by their children. Thei...

 If you would only forgive their sin! If you will not, then strike me out of the book that you have written.”  Wow. Does this sound like emotional blackmail? When Moses came down from Mount Sinai and saw how the Israelites had turned from God and were worshipping the golden calf, he was furious. In his rage, he broke the tablets of the Ten Commandments, the very tablets written by the hand of God. He even ground them into powder, mixed with water, and made the people drink it. Moses was super angry with them, because he knew they have committed a grave sin, to worship something else other than God, but he allowed his anger to take over his head. He was chosen by God to lead the people, not to punish them. Moses believed God would be furious too and feared the worst. What was striking was what happened the next day. Moses returned to God, despite his own anger, he wanted God to forgive the people. He stood before the Lord and pleaded, more like he threatened God with his resign...

 “Even when you were dead in your transgressions, He brought you to life along with Him, having forgiven us all our sins.” A dear friend of mine, a Catholic, who has been struggling with deep depression and lingering wounds from a past abusive marriage, sought help with a counselor, who is a prayerful and spiritual Christian. During one of the counselling sessions, this counselor told my friend, “You need to be born again.” Do I think she should be born again? No. Then she voiced some of the struggles she is having with the Catholic Church, in her opinion we are restrictive, do not encourage people to use their spiritual gifts, are caught up in rites that are not relevant to real-life problems, and wondered why the Church does not teach much about the Holy Spirit… I don’t know whether you think the same, but what went through my mind was what Archbishop Fulton Sheen said: “There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, how...

“While everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.”  The parable in today’s Gospel warns that we live in a world where sin has entered through the works of the devil, disguised to look like wheat. Good and evil are thus left to grow side by side, because it is hard to tell the difference at this point. We experience this confusion every day and now with technology, it gets harder to distinguish real from fake, good from evil. Think about the phone calls we receive, many of us hesitate to answer unknown callers because we don't know if it is a genuine call or a scam. Health products and medications proposed to help us get better could be found later to cause more problems or threaten our well-being. Parents might think cartoons or children’s games are suitable for children but might contain inappropriate content that could contaminate or mislead innocent minds. Sin often disguises itself as something good, poison is sometimes package...

 “So death is at work in us, but life in you.” Profound words from St. Paul. Death was at work in his life, in other words, he was dying. Whatever he was doing at that time, it was causing his death sooner than later. But his dying was giving life to others. I grew up witnessing real models who died to themselves to give life to others. They were my parents. My papa worked hard from very early in the morning till late in the evening on our farm every day. There are no rest days for farmers because the crops need attention daily. My mother cooked all our daily meals, prepared from scratch, used firewood for cooking, there was no running water from taps, water had to be fetched from the river. You can imagine she would be cooking and washing non-stop from the moment she woke till she rested at night. Life wasn’t easy. They worked hard to provide for their seven children; they gave their life for us. They were dying a little each day while we were growing steadily. We, their children,...

 Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’  St. Mary Magdalene is known in the Church as the “Apostle to the Apostles”, a privileged and beautiful title. Even Peter, the head of the apostles, or John, the beloved disciple, were not entrusted with the first announcement of the Resurrection. Instead, Jesus gave that mission to Mary Magdalene. She was the first to proclaim the central truth of our faith: Christ is risen! He has overcome death, and because of that, we live with hope and our faith is strengthened. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. Death has no power over us too, because the One who conquered it, has the power to resurrect us as well. For over 2,000 years, since Mary Magdalene’s first announcement, Christians have continued to proclaim the Good News of Jesus’s resurrection. It is our call, our mission, to echo Mary Magdalene’s joyful ...

 “Fear not! Stand your ground, and you will see the victory the LORD will win for you today.” In the first reading, we read an account of how the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, leaving Egypt behind, travelling on foot towards the promise of a land prepared for them by God. That journey, which began with more than 1.5 million people and their livestock, lasted 40 years through the desert, every day was a pilgrimage through the rough and tough terrain, with no fertile land in sight. Eventually, they arrived at the Promised Land, where they settled with joyful anticipation of abundance, freedom and peace. It is not just a triumphant story of how the Israelites survived, but it is a powerful story of how God saves His people, them and us. In the Gospel, we heard the scribes and Pharisees ask Jesus: “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” By that time, Jesus had already performed many public miracles. But they were still not convinced that Jesus was God coming to save them and the w...

 “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing.”  What is the only one thing needed? In the first reading, God visited Abraham in the heat of the day. Abraham saw three men approaching his tent and sensed something special about them. In normal circumstances, Abraham simply could have acknowledged them and gone on with his work, but he did not. He dropped his work, ran to them, bowed before them, presented himself at their service, and got his household to prepare a good meal for them. He paid attention to their needs, and to what they had to tell him. In the Gospel, Jesus visits His dear friends Martha and Mary. Martha busies herself to prepare food to serve her special guest. While Mary chooses to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to Him. Mary is paying full attention to Jesus and enjoying His presence, while Martha is overwhelmed with perfecting her tasks, and then complains, in an attempt for Jesus to deny attention to Ma...

“The children of Israel set out from Rameses for Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, not counting the little ones.”  Can you imagine the scenario? About 600,000 men, not even counting the children, and not counting the women also. If we include everyone, we’re talking about at least over 1.5 million people leaving Egypt all at once. That’s not a small caravan. That’s an entire nation on the move! And leading them was just one man, Moses. What is even more remarkable is that Moses had a speech impediment. We can better understand now why he was reluctant at first, he was not confident, he did not think he had the ability, the qualities to be a leader, to represent God to save the whole Hebrew nation. And yet, God chose him, and he obeyed. And yet, all 1.5 million people or more, trusted him and followed him. God’s hand was working through an unqualified but obedient servant. Today, with advanced communication tools and highly efficient technology, leading a traditional ...

 “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off, leaving him half-dead.”  A few months ago, one member from Knights of Columbus shared a story of his recent experience with me: It was just before the Easter Vigil mass, he was handing out candles to parishioners coming for the procession. Without noticing it at first, he handed out a candle which was cracked. When he realized it, immediately he apologized, saying, “Sorry, this one is broken.” Without much hesitation, the woman smiled and replied, “Aren’t we all broken?” So true. We are all broken in some way, none of us have a perfect life. Whether it is emotional, physical, psychological or spiritual, every one of us would have experienced some setback, pain or suffering which were never fully healed, not resolved, not yet gone away. It broke us and stayed on in our lives. Finally, our own sins and sinfulness are our biggest brokenness. These break through our s...

 “Then his brothers proceeded to fling themselves down before him and said, ‘Let us be your slaves!’”.  Joseph’s brothers were fearful that Joseph would seek vengeance on them for the evil they did to him decades ago, now that their father Jacob had died. Decades ago, Joseph had a dream in which he saw his brothers’ bundles of sheaves bow down to his own bundle of sheaf, symbolizing their submission to his authority and power. Naturally, the brothers, who were already jealous of the special favor Joseph received from their father, were filled with resentment hearing about that dream. They plotted to kill him but finally sold him away as a slave. Now that they needed his help and protection, they were offering themselves as his slaves. Joseph’s dream came true, it was a vision of the future, it was prophetic. But Joseph assured them: “Have no fear.  Can I take the place of God? Even though you meant harm to me, God meant it for good, to achieve his present end, the surviva...

 “You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”  This promise is very important to me. Very often when I am expecting to a difficult conversation, or speaking to someone who disagrees with me, I would remember this promise and anticipate that the Holy Spirit would give me the right words. Yet so many times, it is only after the conversations are over that my mind gets flooded with bright answers and intelligent arguments. Sometimes when people ask me questions about the faith, I would know the answers but often struggle to express it convincingly, and then the perfect words would come to me after they have left. I wonder to myself, “Why didn’t I say that earlier?” and I ask the Holy Spirit, “Where were you?”  Maybe because I was too anxious and tried too hard to sound impressive, thus I was deaf to the Holy Spirit. But Jesus’ promise holds up if we trust Him. Just look at the Apo...

 Life on earth has come to a peaceful end for our beloved brother Bill Wolfe, but his joy and passion for living continues to eternity, the reward promised for his faith. Here at St. Ambrose Cathedral, was where Bill used to attend Sunday Mass faithfully. He was nourished with the holy Body and Blood of Christ, the true food, true drink of life. While he won’t be worshiping here physically with us anymore, I am sure he will continue to give praise and thanks to God spiritually with us, with all the angels and saints, at every Mass we celebrate here. And we hold on to the promise that we will meet each other face to face again, in the glory of heaven. Meanwhile, all of us who know and love Bill will miss his physical presence dearly. I noticed something amazing about Bill. Anyone who got to meet him, even just once, will not forget him. He had a way of making people feel warm, welcomed, heard, and appreciated. He was a people-person: joyful, witty, and full of good humor. I remember...

 “When the man saw that he could not prevail over him, he struck Jacob’s hip at its socket, so that the hip socket was wrenched as they wrestled.”  Jacob was quite a character, wrestling with the angel of God all through the night. Surprisingly, the angel ‘could not prevail over him’. Jacob must have been stubborn and strong to be able to persist in the battle against the divine. But this incident is not just about physical or mental wrestling, it is symbolic of the inner struggles of life, the restlessness of the soul. We all wrestle with something: our past, our present, our fears, our desires, our boundaries, our free will. Like Jacob, we fight, sometimes with others, sometimes with ourselves, sometimes with God. And God welcomes us to fight it out with Him. He knows we need it. Now why did the angel wait till the morning to strike Jacob’s hip? He could have done it at the beginning and ended the fight quickly. But God allowed Jacob to wrestle all night, until dawn. Perhaps...

“Early the next morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head, set it up as a memorial stone, and poured oil on top of it. He called the site Bethel, whereas the former name of the town had been Luz.”  Jacob had a holy dream of seeing angels entering heaven from where he lay asleep, and with that, Luz was renamed Bethel, and Bethel was consecrated, set apart as a holy place, a ‘House of God’, a sacred site. From that moment on, Luz disappeared, and Bethel would be remembered forever. Luz was left in the past; Bethel was consecrated for the future. Jacob’s pouring of oil on the stone marks the first ever act of consecration recorded in the Old Testament. That act of consecration changed the identity of the place, with a new name and new future. That first anointing continues as a practice and tradition in the life of the Church till today. When we consecrate a new altar, we anoint it with sacred chrism, making five crosses on it representing and remembering the five wo...

“Cursed be those who curse you, and blessed be those who bless you.” With that sentence, sealed the blessing Jacob received from his father Issac, through cheating. His mother Rebekah had planned the evil plot to steal the blessing for her precious son Jacob. And poor Esau, who was supposedly the rightful beneficiary, was still out in the forest, trying to hunt for the best animal to bring to his father, unaware of the happenings at home. Because of this, for a long time, I personally did not like Jacob. And Rebekah, I initially admired her virtues and character, until she married Isaac. Thereafter, she changed. She became cunning, dishonest and evil. Salvation history began in Genesis 12, with the call of Abraham. By the time we reached chapter 27, we would have seen many troubles, grave injustices, sinful acts among God’s chosen people, starting with the first generation. Sarah had insisted that Abraham have a child with Hagar, after which she grew jealous and ill-treated Hagar. Afte...

 “Flee for your life! Don’t look back or stop anywhere on the plain.” Sodom was about to be totally destroyed, and the angel of the Lord came to save Lot and his family. But Lot hesitated. Why? Because all his property, his possessions, his wealth, his pleasurable and comfortable life were left behind and would be destroyed. Lot was very attached to all those material things. They were his life. We recall in the earlier chapters of Genesis, when Lot and Abraham divided the lands, Lot chose the best portion for himself, it was the fertile land near Sodom. He wanted to be wealthy and prosperous. Now, everything he had built had to be abandoned; he had to detach and let go. Detachment is painful. This reminds me of a real-life story I heard recently. A businessman who left India years ago and went to Kuwait. Through much hard work there, he finally built a profitable and successful crude oil company with many offices in major cities around the world. But when the Kuwait War broke out,...