Homily: November 15, 2025, Saturday of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time (Preserverance )

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 “Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.”

It is very easy to get discouraged in our spiritual life. Many of us become discouraged by our repeated sins and weaknesses. Another area where discouragement often enters is in our prayer life.

Sometimes, after praying for a long time without seeing results, we grow weary or lose hope.

That is why Jesus gives us today’s parable the story of the unjust judge. The judge was not a good man. He had no fear of God and no compassion for people. And the person who came to him for help was a poor widow. She had no power, no social standing, and no one to defend her. In that time and culture, widows were among the most forgotten and neglected people.

Yet this widow received justice. Why? Because she refused to give up. Her persistence and perseverance won the judge’s attention. If a heartless judge can respond to persistence, how much more will our loving Father in heaven respond to the prayers of His children!

When we pray, we must pray with hope surrendering our hearts to God’s holy will, trusting that He knows what is best for us. Sometimes His answer is yes, sometimes not yet, and sometimes I have something better for you. But He always listens.

We can take inspiration from those in Scripture who persevered in prayer. Abraham and Sarah praying for a child, Hannah praying for Samuel, Elizabeth and Zechariah praying in their old age, and St. Monica praying for the conversion of her son Augustine. None of them gave up, and God did not disappoint them.

Let us pray with that same perseverance.  Amen.


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Homily: December 21, 2025, Fourth Sunday of Advent (Joseph -Trust)

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“When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.” God chose Joseph, a simple carpenter, to be the foster father of His beloved Son. A man from Nazareth, an insignificant town. A man with no power, no influence, no recorded words in Scripture. Yet Joseph stands at the very heart of the salvation story. What makes him so important is not what he said, but what God entrusted him with. There were kings and scholars, priests and leaders, wealthy and influential men. But God entrusted His Son not to them. He entrusted Him to Joseph. That tells us something profound about Joseph’s character. If God trusted him with Jesus, then Joseph must have been a man of deep integrity, quiet strength, steady faith, and faithful obedience. He did not question God’s decision, did not demand explanation to be convinced, nor sought recognition for his sacrifices. He listened. He trusted. He obeyed. And he acted without delay. This Fourth Sunday of Advent i...
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Homily: December 23, 2025 Tuesday of the Fourth week of Advent (Stories)

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 “All these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea.” I know how this works. I grew up in a hill country very much like Judea, long before the time of internet, wi-fi and cell phones. Only one house in our village had a telephone, yet somehow everyone knew what was happening in every family. News traveled fast and no one was ever left out of the details. Communication was efficient and effective, without technology. And everyone shared quite freely about their joys and sorrows, ups and downs, happy stories, sad stories, all real, nothing fake. I wonder if the youth of today can imagine that. I am glad we still have these ways of personal communication in practice, especially with those who do not depend on cell phones. I love the little children of St. Ambrose whenever they come to me in excitement. Because they tell me everything that happened in their homes, even things I probably didn’t need to know! They are fast, and detailed. And often they return very soo...
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Homily: December 20, 2025, Saturday of the Third Week of Advent

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 “The Lord spoke to Ahaz: Ask for a sign from the Lord, your God.” Some people have special gifts, they are able to see signs of divine intervention or direction everywhere. Almost every day, they recognize God’s hand directly at work in their lives. I have friends who seem to be gifted in this area. They notice signs that I overlook and would dismiss as normal daily incidents, but only to realize later they were truly divine intervention. Recently, I read an autobiography. The author shared that on one occasion she was waiting a long time for a friend to join her for lunch, but who did not arrive. She later learned that her friend was killed in an accident. Overwhelmed with grief, she went to church to pray. An infant baptism was taking place, and she heard the newborn baby cry. At that moment, she felt God speaking to her, consoling her that though her friend’s life on earth had ended, at the same time, a new life was brought into Church, reborn through water and the Holy Spirit,...
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Homily: December 28, 2024 Feast of the Holy Innocents (Suffering).

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"Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you." Just three days ago, we celebrated Christmas - a joyful commemoration of the day God came to live among us in our world, it is a when divine light entered human darkness, it is a day for rejoicing. The Christmas season continues for the Church up until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. However, if we read and reflect on the details of Christ’s birth and events surrounding this season of joy, we see poverty, simplicity and suffering. Just before our Lord was born into this world, His earthly parents went through hardship just to find a place to rest, He was then welcomed into physical and material poverty, the day after His birth, we celebrated the death of the first martyr, St. Stephen, followed by the feast of St. John the Evangelist who suffered persecution and isolation till a ripe old age. And now today, we observe the feast of the Holy Innocents — a sorrowful event when hundreds of...
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Homily: December 22, 2025 Monday of the Fourth week of Advent (Surrender)

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“Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the LORD. She left Samuel there.” How long did Hannah pray and wait for a child? Jewish tradition suggests that Hannah possibly waited about nineteen years. Throughout scripture, we understand that being childless in those days meant living like being cursed. There was no sympathy from others, only gossip and scorn. Despite carrying deep sorrow in her heart, Hannah did not give up, she kept praying and asking for God’s compassion and mercy. Finally, God answered her prayer, and the child was named ‘Samuel’ which means ‘because I asked God for it’. What would you do if you received a gift you have been longing for and waiting for years? You would hold on tightly to it and not want to lose it, right? Well Hannah was different. She was totally grateful that God has removed her shame and restored her dignity with the gift of a son, Samuel. But Hannah did not cling on to her gift, she readily dedicated her ...
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Homily: December 23, 2024 Monday of the Fourth Week in Advent (Purification)

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 "He will purify the sons of Levi, refining them like gold or like silver, that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD." There are usually five steps to refine gold or silver. The very first step is to melt it in a hot furnace, then the molten gold is cast into molds to separate it from base metals and other impurities. It is further refined through electrolysis and other refining processes. Today’s first reading tells us God will purify His people like refining gold. Isn’t it a lot of hard work for God the refiner and such painful process for us, the refined? Yes, but it is so that we will all shine bright and flawless. Yesterday, after Sunday Mass, I was standing near the baptismal font, talking to a parishioner who informed me that Afaf Bakal, a Sudanese parishioner, had just passed away. Two years ago, I baptized her at that very same font and administered her Confirmation and First Communion. I remember her baptism vividly because she was already very weak at the time....
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Homily: May 19, 2023, Friday of the Sixth week of Easter (Shave Head)

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 At Cenchreae, he had shaved his head because he had taken a vow. At the end of the first reading, we heard that Paul shaved his head because of a vow he took. Scholars have suggested that very likely Paul had taken a Nazarite vow, and at the completion of the term and requirements, he would shave his head. Such a custom is common in Asia, especially in India. Catholic devotees would make vows to Mother Mary or some saints. Hindus also practice the same, taking vows to their deities, and they would shave their heads in response to the fulfilment of their petitions or requests. My mother was such a devotee, she took many vows. When my parents were childless for 7 years, my mother took many vows in return for the blessing of a child. One of which she promised to shave the head of her first child at the Velankanni Shrine. It is a major Marian shrine located in another state next to where my family lived. Finally, my mother gave birth to 7 children over 13 years, she could not travel t...
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Homily: December 25, 2025, The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)

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 “So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Infant lying in the manger.” Today we hear the beautiful story of the shepherds visiting the newborn Christ. They found not only a Child, but a family. God sent His Son into the world not as a warrior or a king, but into the care of a mother and a father. Into a home. Into love. And what kind of family did God choose? Not a wealthy family. Not a powerful family. Not a comfortable family. Mary and Joseph had no room in the inn. Mary gave birth in poverty. Joseph struggled to provide safety and shelter. Their situation was not easy there was fear, uncertainty, and hardship. Yet God entrusted His Son to them. Even if they lacked material comfort, Jesus never lacked what mattered most: a loving mother and a caring father. As God wanted His Son to have a holy family, so too God wants every child to experience a holy, loving, safe family. Today we look around and see many broken families, many homes burdened with pain, absence, d...
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Homily: October 18, 2022. Tuesday of the twenty-ninth week in Ordinary time (Feast of St. Luke)

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“Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you.” This sounds fine to me because I am not fussy with food and am happy to eat anything offered. I can’t think of any food that I will not eat. And it helps a lot in my ministry, especially in this parish since I get invited to homes of various cultures and different cuisine. So far, I do enjoy Eritrean, Burmese, Laotian, Sudanese, Mexican and of course, American food. Yes, it is easy to feed me but very difficult to slim me down. But why did Jesus give such a specific instruction to His disciples regarding eating and drinking? It may look simple for us, but it was challenging to His disciples. They were Jews and the Jewish law laid out very strict food practices and prohibitions. And now they were being sent out to Gentile villages to preach to them. They were to live in Gentile homes and eat as they eat, drink as they drink. The disciples probably had never done anything like that before. Can you imagine the cultural sho...
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Homily: JUne 28, 2022, Memorial of Saint Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr.

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 He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” There was a violent storm and the boat was going to sink. Naturally, anyone would be terrified. Why did Jesus continue to sleep when they were all in danger? Was it unreasonable of them to wake Him? Why did Jesus rebuke them? Well, Jesus rebuked them not because they interrupted his sleep but because of their lack of faith. They were calling, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” They were so sure they would die. They called out in fear. They have seen so many miracles from Jesus, yet they did not have any confidence having Him in the boat with them. Should they not wake Him at all then? I have a very good friend from Sri Lanka. During our seminary days together, I remember he struggled a lot with his studies, especially in the first year.  He was trying so hard but was feeling helpless and hopeless. One day, his spiritual director told him, “Jesus is sleeping in your boat, you have to call out to Him. He will wake...
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