Homily: October 19, 2025, Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Constant Prayer)

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 “Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them?”

These questions from Jesus in today’s Gospel invites us to reflect on the secret of a powerful prayer. What makes prayers powerful?

When we pray for a particular intention, and the intention is fulfilled, we conclude that the prayer was powerful.

Jesus questions us to reflect and realize that God is the generous One, who gives us the rights to call out to Him, day and night. God is the patient one, who will answer our prayers timely – His time, not ours.

Recently past, one of my sisters told me of a problematic situation she has been trying hard to resolve, but it didn’t. I then suggested to her to pray the novena to our Lady, Undoer of Knots, and she did, she prayed the novena faithfully.

Then last week, she called me with great excitement. “The prayer worked!” Her intentions were fulfilled, her prayers were answered according to her wish.

Like her, many of us may have witnessed or experienced how prayers have been answered, and we think it is either the person who prayed had God’s favor or the prayer formula was an effective one.

But truly, if it is true that God knows our needs even before we ask, then it is not how we pray but rather, why we pray that matters. We pray, because God wants us to pray. Jesus tells us so, that we should “pray always without becoming weary”.

We should connect with God always, He wants it and we need it. Constant prayer keeps us connected to God’s WiFi network and blessings, inspirations, wisdom, knowledge, will be transmitted to us speedily and will transform us and transform our lives.

Holy Mass, the celebration of the Eucharist is the highest form of prayer for us Catholics. It is connecting to God, through the loving sacrifice of Jesus. This connection does not just link us but it unites us into one with God. This prayer is thus the most powerful.

Deep within every human soul, there is a longing for something beyond ourselves, there is an emptiness that needs to be filled with real love, a yearning to be connected with our Creator, the One who gave us life.

And for the many people who do not know God, they seek to be filled and satisfied elsewhere in the world, but never ever finding true lasting satisfaction, happiness, joy or love.

But for us who believe, prayer is our lifeline to our life source, God Himself.

In today’s second reading, St. Paul tells Timothy, “Remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known the Sacred Scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

The widow in the Gospel teaches us persistence in prayer. She kept returning to the judge until he gave her justice. If her persistence could move a corrupt judge, how much more will our loving Father respond to our faithful prayers? 

So let us pray keep praying, because it pleases God when we sign in to His network, when we make Him present in our consciousness, our intentions, our needs, our dreams, our wishes. He wants to hear our stories, our concerns, our problems. He wants to be involved. He wants to help and direct us.

Praying is saying yes to God. Amen is saying I believe.

He listens, He cares, and He never fails those who trust Him. So, remember, the network is G-O-D, the password is ‘believe’. Start praying and stay online.

Amen.


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Homily: October 12, 2025, Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Gratitude)

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 “In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” This Gospel acclamation perfectly captured the heart of today’s readings – ‘give thanks’. We heard the story of the ten lepers who were healed, but only one Samaritan returned to give thanks. That small act of gratitude was the key to his salvation. As I grew older, I also became more grateful. There were many things I didn’t appreciate when I was younger. I didn’t know how to appreciate the simplicity of my family’s life, the way my parents disciplined us, the schools my parents chose for us, all the church activities they made us attend, and many more. But decades later today, I looked back and realized my parents knew what was best for us, and I am now grateful. The siblings I used to fight with often are now my greatest blessings and closest friends. I sometimes wish I had been more thankful, more kind, more obedient. Gratitude makes relationships stronger and life more joyful. But even on...
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Homily: September 17, 2023, Twenty forth Sunday in Ordinary Time (die for the Lord).

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 "None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord...”  What does it mean, to live and die for someone? There are many movies I have watched where characters declared ‘I would die for you’ and then they proceed to do the most dangerous tasks and take life threatening risks for the sake of helping or saving their loved one. Yes, they prove that they would truly be willing to die for the person they love by doing anything and everything for the good of that person. And that is what our Lord does for us. He lives and dies for us. He has proven it, He has done it, and He will keep doing it if that is what will save us from sin. Here in this second reading, St. Paul declares that he too would live and die for the Lord, that we all should do the same. Would you? Would you really live and die for the Lord? If you think your answer is ‘Yes’, then it means you really love the Lord more than your own life...
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Homily: October 18, 2025, Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist (Right - Companion)

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“Behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way.” This line from today’s Gospel captures the mission Jesus gave to His seventy-two disciples. He sent them out two by two, trusting completely in divine providence. Tradition tells us that St. Luke, whose feast we celebrate today, was among these seventy-two. Jesus’ instruction was clear: they were to depend entirely on God. No extra money, no supplies, no comfort just faith and obedience. It sounds difficult, but throughout history, we’ve seen countless saints who lived this way: St. Francis of Assisi, St. Mother Teresa, and many others who relied fully on God’s providence and never lacked what they truly needed. In the first reading, St. Paul writes to Timothy and mentions St. Luke. He laments that many of his companions abandoned him, but says with great affection, “Only Luke is with me.” Luke stayed faithful to Paul even when others walked away. Luke was not on...
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Homily: January 13, 2022, Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

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Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011322.cfm  “…It was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly…” In yesterday’s gospel reading, Jesus told His disciples, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.”  Jesus’s mission is to preach the good news to everyone. He needs to enter as many villages are possible but now we see in today’s gospel, this is being challenged. Why? After Jesus healed the leper, He told him, “…see that you tell no one anything”. Instead, he “went away and began to publicize the whole matter”. He disobeyed Jesus. It is normal that someone who is healed of a terrible disease like leprosy, would be so full of joy and excitement that he wants to tell the whole world about it. It is not a bad thing, it is logical, right? But clearly, when we act out of our own will instead of following what the Lord tells us to, we may be blocking the work of God for greater things. My parents tried to tea...
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Funeral Homily: William J. Baum, June 8, 2023

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 The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. The soul of Bill is in the hand of God, no torment shall touch him. We are here to bid our final farewell to Bill, our beloved brother, grandpa, dad, husband, friend. I feel privileged to have known Bill these last two years and honored to preside over this Mass for his sending off. Many of you would have known him much longer and much better than I. I wish I had more time with him. I was awed when I read his obituary, his life story is inspirational. I know from my encounter with him that he was a dedicated husband, a loving and caring father, the greatest fan to every one of his grandchildren, and an incredible friend to countless people here and around the world. His going would surely leave a void in our lives. It is only natural that we grieve this loss. Bill was a man of remarkable character. His love for life, his sense of humor, and his thoughtfulness for others were the hallmarks of his persona...
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Homily: August 21, 2023, Monday of the twentieth week in Ordinary Time.

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 “The children of Israel offended the LORD by serving the Baals.” We often say that "experience is the best teacher." However, this holds true only for those who are open to learning. It seems that humanity has never learnt from experience and so history repeats itself. If we had learned the lessons from World War 1, there would never have been World War 2, and the world thereafter would have been free from all wars as well. The Israelites were foolishly guilty of the same. While in the desert, they worshipped other gods and suffered the consequence of being bitten by snakes, leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of people. That was not the only experience they had for being unfaithful to God. Did they learn their lesson? No. What are the baals? They were names given to deities, commonly referred to the Canaanite-phoenician god of fertility and rain. Rain was necessary to bring about a bountiful harvest in a fertile land, it was a symbol of fertility. Fertility was a sym...
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Homily: October 7, 2025, Tuesday of the Twenty-Seventh week in Ordinary time (Lord-Speak to me)

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 “She had a sister named Mary, who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.” What a beautiful image. Our Lord Jesus was speaking, and Mary was sitting close by at His feet, watching Him and listening with full attention. No distractions, no interruptions, she was fully present before Him, receiving, absorbing, taking in everything He was saying. Years ago, when I was in my home diocese working at the chancery office, since I was not attached to a parish, I would celebrate Sunday Mass at a convent for the nuns. After Mass, they would always invite me for breakfast. And a few of the elderly nuns would keep serving food to my table, and each one would keep asking me if I need more food, drinks or other things. They were busy serving me.  Naturally, I’m a shy person, so having many of them surrounding me and constantly checking on me made me even more nervous. I could not really enjoy the food. Deep down, I wished they would just sit around the table to eat together...
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Homily: October 5, 2025, Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Wait-God's Time)

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 “For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late.” These powerful words from the prophet Habakkuk point towards hope. Hope in the fulfillment of God’s promises, despite the people’s failures. Habakkuk is one of the twelve minor prophets in the Old Testament, a small book of just three chapters, but every line is theologically deep. Habakkuk lived in the 7th century before the Babylonian exile. He saw the kingdom of Judah sinking in moral decay, corruption, and spiritual emptiness. The kings were weak, the people disobedient, and the once glorious nation of Israel was on the brink of collapse. Meanwhile, nearby nation Babylon was rising in power and strength, and ruthlessness. Habakkuk could see what was coming, and it terrified him. He wrestled with God in prayer. “Lord, how long?” he cried. Why do the wicked prosper while the righteous suffer? And God’s answer was simple yet...
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Homily:May 21, 2025, Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter (Pruning)

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(Holy Family School Mass) “He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.”  Do you know what is pruning? If you ever see a gardener or farmer carefully cutting some parts of the plants, very likely he could be pruning the plant. He is definitely not killing it! In today’s reading Jesus tells about pruning grapevines. Now I am not very familiar with pruning grapevines, but I do know a little about pruning tea plants from my farming experience in my childhood years. When I was a young boy, my family had a few acres of tea plants on our farm. Every five years, toward the end of summer, we would prune those tea bushes. We carefully cut away all their leaves. Yes, all the leaves. So after pruning, the plants would look lifeless as if dead, with no leaves, nothing to admire, just bare branches and short. Seems very cruel and crazy, isn’t it? But then something amazing would happen soon afterward. In just a few days...
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