Homily: August 1, 2025, Firday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time (Jesus Titles)

-

 “Is he not the carpenter’s son?” 

Jesus was referred to by various titles during His lifetime on earth: Son of Man, Son of God, Son of David, Messiah, Rabbi. People also acknowledged Him as a divine healer, prophet, Savior, even as their King.

But when He got back to His hometown Nazareth, people knew Him only as “the carpenter’s son.”

His foster father, Joseph, must have been well known in town as the carpenter, and Jesus thus was recognized as the son of the carpenter. Traditionally, the parents would teach and train their children to learn their trade, so that they would grow to be apprentices and finally become masters of their parents’ professions.

So, to the people of Nazareth, Jesus was expected to be a good carpenter like His father Joseph. They couldn’t imagine Him becoming anything else, because they did not think He would know any other trade than His father’s. 

Their understanding and expectations of His capabilities were very limited and narrow, they could not even believe how He could preach and teach so well; thus, they did not go to receive blessings or healing from Jesus.

They lacked faith. They could not see beyond the ordinary and the familiar, they could not believe that God would come to His people in a simple and humble way, through the household of a carpenter.

We too will have a faith block, if we expect God’s blessings to come through human logic, material wisdom or worldly power. The power of the Holy Spirit is most effective, and God’s graces pour out most abundantly in the simple, ordinary and humble situations.

Who is Jesus to you?

Can you accept that He, the son of a carpenter, is truly the Son of God?

Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph, Savior of the world, strengthen my lack of faith and help me see you as you truly are. Amen.


Comments

Post a Comment

Read

Homily: July 6, 2026, Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Crowd)

-
 "When Jesus arrived at the official's house and saw the flute players and the crowd who were making a commotion..." That detail in the Gospel about ‘the crowd’ caught my attention.  There were many people in that house that day. They were not people who lived in that household, they were there because someone died. Some could be relatives, some neighbors, some were professional mourners, some were there because they were curious or idle. I grew up in India, the most populated country in the world. The cities are always crowded. Buses are full, trains are full, bus stations and markets are full of people. Everywhere you look there is a crowd. But just because there is a crowd does not mean something meaningful is happening. Sometimes people gather simply because they have nowhere else to go. It was similar in Jesus' time. People gathered at weddings, funerals, and wherever something was happening. Many people followed Jesus not because they believed in Him but because...
Read more

Homily: July 11, 2026, Saturday of the Fourteeth Week in Ordinary Time (Sinfulness)

-
"Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" When the prophet Isaiah had this profound vision of heaven and stood before the Lord, these were the first words that came from his lips. He became deeply aware of his own unworthiness in the presence of God's holiness. I once heard a beautiful definition of prayer: "When we stand before the Creator as creatures with humility, that becomes prayer." I have never forgotten those words. A few years ago, during a retreat, the retreat director said that the first thing we should do when we come before God in prayer is to acknowledge our sinfulness. That awareness reminds us of who we are and who God is. We are limited, weak, and sinful; God is holy, loving, and merciful. Our prayers become more effective when they are offered with humility. None of us is worthy of God's love, yet He continues to love us unconditionall...
Read more

Homily: April 2, 2024, Tuesday in the Octave of Easter (Mary at the Tomb).

-
 Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb, weeping. Today’s gospel begins by describing the emotional state of Mary. We can all visualize and identify with this scene. Mary Magdalene is very sad, to the point of experiencing deep emotional pain which triggers tears. This is love.  I recall when my papa died within a week of discovering his illness. It was unexpected, we were all unprepared. All my sisters wept on the day he died, and into the days after his burial. They cried again, very emotionally, when we visited his tomb thereafter and I recited the Office for the Dead. I, too, cried a lot at papa’s death. Love is a powerful emotion. It stirs our heart to feel the pain of loss, which works up our brain to trigger the release of tears, to help reduce the emotional pain. God gave us tears to help us manage our pain.  Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus, and before He entered Jerusalem, and at the garden of Gethsemane. His love for humanity stirred up deep emotional pain, s...
Read more

Homily: July 5, 2026 Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (I will give you rest)

-
 “Thus says the LORD: Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!”  A Beautiful and comforting words of prophet Zechariah. A long weekend is of course a time of joy for us especially as we celebrate 250th year of independence.  But truly, are you rejoicing in life? Are you rejoicing as a believer? Only a person who is truly free can be full of joy and be at peace. Life in this country is full of freedom; we enjoy privileges and opportunities that many people in some other parts of the world are still yearning and fighting for. Yet I have a friend, whenever I ask, “How’s life?”, would often reply, "It sucks,.  Is life really that burdensome? Yes, we all struggle with some variations of family problems, work issues, disappointments, sickness, and other daily battles, and our own battle with sin and evil. But we have the freedom to work, to speak, to go anywhere, to believe in any religion, to choose what we want. Is there nothing worth rejoi...
Read more

Homily: July 7, 2026, Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Shepherd)

-
In today's first reading, the Lord says through the prophet Hosea: "They made kings in Israel, but not by my authority; they established princes, but without my approval." I wonder what would go through Pope Leo’s mind when he reads this passage today. Just last week, the Holy See excommunicated six bishops from the SSPX (Society of St. Pius X), four of whom were newly consecrated without the approval of the Vatican. Sadly, this is not the first time in the history of the Church. Throughout the centuries, there have been similar situations where certain individuals or groups have outright opposed the authority established by Christ and acted against the unity of His Church. Today’s Gospel is so apt. Jesus looks upon the crowds and sees sheep without a shepherd. He is not simply talking about people who have no leaders, but rather lacking leaders after the heart of God. There is no true shepherd. "I will give you shepherds after my own heart" (Jeremiah 3:15). Jes...
Read more

Homily: July 10, 2026 Friday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Promise of Healing)

-
 "I will heal their defection, says the LORD, I will love them freely; for my wrath is turned away from them. I will be like the dew for Israel: he shall blossom like the lily."  God expresses His promises to His chosen people on various occasions and many ways in Sacred Scripture. What we have just read in today's first reading from prophet Hosea is beautiful and very assuring. It is beautiful because God is expressing His love so affectionately, it is assuring because it was addressed to a people whom He should be angry with, yet He was still showering love. The Book of Hosea was written just before the Assyrian exile of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The people had turned away from God. They worshipped idols, had forgotten the covenant and lived unfaithfully to the Lord. As a result, they began to experience the painful consequences of their sins. Eventually, the Assyrians conquered them, they were exiled from their homeland, the Promised Land, and never returned. Yet...
Read more

Homily: May 10. 2025, fourth Sunday of Easter (Good Shepherd)

-
 “The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.”  This line always impacts me greatly. Imagine being filled with both joy and the Holy Spirit, especially while facing intense rejection and persecution. That’s not something ordinary. That’s something supernatural - something that comes only from God. I have five sisters. One of my sisters will start singing without a care in the world and won’t stop – when she drinks just a glass of wine! Another sister becomes the queen of jokes, jokes one after another, creating a funny scene – simply after having a glass or two. What about me? I just have a good sleep when I get more drinks. The point is, they’re not normally like that. Normally they are too shy to sing or too dull to say anything funny. But wine or alcohol seem to melt away their mental or social blocks making them mentally high and socially carefree. In the Acts of the Apostles, we see Peter and the other apostles giving their first big preaching, and people thou...
Read more

Homily: February 22-2026, First Sunday of Lent (Angles)

-
 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. ...
Read more

Homily: March 8, 2026, Third sunday of Lent (Jesus Thirsts)

-
 “Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’” Many of us would remember that Jesus said on the cross, “I thirst.” These two words carried a deep message. It meant so much to Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who reflected deeply on it all through her missionary life. St. John Paul II also referred to it often in his spiritual reflections. Our Lord Jesus on the cross, in His dying breath, said: “I thirst.” Surely, He wasn’t asking for a drink. He was thirsting for something else. But this thirst of Jesus did not begin only when He was on the cross. We see it already here in today’s Gospel, when He met the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus’ thirst is real. Yes, He was physically thirsty when He was at the well. But there was something deeper. Jesus thirsts for souls. Not to consume, but to commune. He wants so much to be a big part of our lives, and for us to be totally in His life, eternal life. We are created in His image and likeness. God did not need to our existence to complete Him. He is ...
Read more

Homily: May 23, 2026, Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter (Scripture is enough)

-
 “There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.” Once I walked into our youth Bible study, and they were discussing the Book of Enoch, an ancient Jewish apocalyptic text traditionally connected to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. They asked me questions about it. I had read it myself when I was their age, mostly out of curiosity, but honestly, I do not remember much of its content. There are also several other apocryphal writings, like the Gospel of James, the Gospel of Thomas, and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene. But the Church never considered them inspired Scripture, because many of them were written decades after the death of the last Apostle, St. John. Public Revelation ended with the death of the last Apostle. Sometimes I also wish the Bible had more details about Jesus’ infancy and His hidden life. But St. John reminds us today that the world its...
Read more