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 profound: wait. God was assuring them that His plan was unfolding. The vision will come to fulfillment. It will surely come. Just wait.

In the nine years of my priesthood, I met many people who lived with hopelessness. Many struggled with illnesses, family conflicts, addictions or losses that drained them of money, health and more importantly, peace. Without peace, they cannot see hope.

Hopelessness can creep into our hearts silently and sink deep. When desperate prayers seem to be unanswered, when dreams collapse, when life doesn’t make sense, we ask, like Habakkuk, “Where is God?”

God is faithful, even if unseen. God’s promises will be fulfilled even if unfelt.

God never delays out of neglect; He delays out of love. His timing is perfect, even when ours is impatient.

In the second reading, St. Paul tells Timothy: “Bear your share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God.”

That’s a reminder to every one of us, to bear our share of suffering, with patience and faith. We cannot choose our crosses, but we can choose how to carry them. Every difficulty, every disappointment, every period of waiting can either make us bitter or make us better. Bitterness will dip us deeper into hopelessness, but if we better our prayer and trust, it will draw us closer to God and fill us with greater hope.

There is a quote, “Pray harder when it is hardest to pray!”

Let us ask ourselves today: What is my share of hardship right now? What are the crosses I am carrying now? 

If you find yourself struggling, pray like the apostles:

“Lord, increase our faith.”

St. Paul reminds us again: “Guard this rich trust with the help of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.”

The Holy Spirit, who entered our lives at Baptism and Confirmation, is the strength that sustains us. When hope fades, call out to the Holy Spirit to help us believe. When the waiting feels endless, when the cross feels heavy, call out to the Holy Spirit to renew our strength.

In our world of instant solutions and quick answers, waiting feels like wasting time. But in God’s world, waiting is sacred, it is the space where faith grows. Habakkuk teaches us that hope is not the denial or rejection of suffering but the conviction that suffering is not the end, does not last forever and will even help to purify our thoughts and intentions.

Let us wait in faith, trust in hope, and live in love until God’s promises are fulfilled in our lives.

Amen!


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Homily: October 4, 2025 Saturday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time (devil's fear)

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  “Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am Holy”. Both the first and Gospel readings today presented a ‘to-do’ and ‘not-to-do’ list. Some are really tough tasks. Can we ever accomplish them? Is it possible for us to be holy? We all know that at the sacrament of reconciliation, it is Jesus Himself who is sitting at the confessional, listening to the confessions. And the sacred privilege for me as a priest, is that I get to see as God sees and hear as God hears. And what does God see and hear? He doesn’t see our failures. He sees our brokenness. He doesn’t hear our sins. He hears our desire to be good. And God wants to help us. He reaches out to us, pouring out His graces. We desire to be holy and God desires the same. In that moment of reconciliation, in that meeting of desires, we become holy. And I, the priest who witnesses that sacred moment, also become holy. The very first step to becoming holy is to desire holiness. To desire becoming what God wants us to be, to be like Him, to...
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