Homily: December 1, 2025, Monday of the First Week of Advent (Hope)

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 “For over all, the LORD’s glory will be shelter and protection: shade from the parching heat of day, refuge and cover from storm and rain.”

Yesterday, we lit the first candle of Advent, the Prophecy Candle which represents hope. Today’s readings also lead our hearts to look towards hope as we begin another new year, walking closer to God.

The Prophet Isaiah speaks to the people in exile. They had suffered greatly, lost their land, their temple, even their identity. Yet Isaiah delivers a message of hope that God will again come to His people, gloriously, to protect, to restore all that they have lost, and even more. In their darkest and lowest moments, God did not abandon them and continues to reach out to them, keeping their hope alive.

In the Gospel, we see the centurion, who was not a Jew, not from the chosen people, who himself had great power and authority, yet he had humility, and great hope. He believed that Jesus could heal his servant, without even the need to be at his house. It was a faith deeper than what the Jewish people understood at that time.

Thus, Jesus exclaimed, “In no one in Israel have I found such faith.” With that, the centurion received the gift of healing for what he believed in.

We are now approaching the end of our Jubilee Year of Hope. This year has directed us to look towards hope, for that is how we can be saved.

There is so much around us that can discourage us: bad news, continuing wars, more diseases, rising unrest in the youth and within families exposed to negative influences from social media, even divisions within the Church.

But Advent reminds us that God is coming. God is near. God has not abandoned us.

During the recent digital encounter with the NCYC youth, Pope Leo repeated his very first words on the day of his papacy: “Do not be afraid. Evil will not prevail. We are all in the hands of God.”

This is the message of Advent. God is with us. He will heal. He will forgive. He will save. He will fill our lives, our families, our parish, and our world with His holy and loving presence. 

Let us begin this Advent with renewed hope. Let us open our hearts to the God who comes not just at Christmas but is ever so present in our prayer, in the Eucharist, in the sacraments, in a real way every day.

Come, Lord Jesus. Fill our hearts with hope. Amen.


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Homily: November 30,2025 First Sunday of Advent (Peace)

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 “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” Recently, I read a book titled “Breaking Ground” by Heidi Kühn, the 2023 World Food Prize laureate. This Californian woman transformed thousands of acres of land buried with landmines, in Croatia, Laos, Afghanistan, and other war-torn regions, and converted them into vineyards, fruit tree plantations, playgrounds, schools, and farmland. Millions of landmines were removed, and peace was established through agriculture. Throughout her book, she repeatedly mentioned the verse from Prophet Isaiah. Heidi is a mother of four children. When her youngest son was just a toddler in 1997, she felt called to begin this mission. Today, she has already raised and used over 2 billion dollars to bring flourishing life to where it was once a desolate and dangerous zone. As I was finishing the book, I thought to myself: If there were just a few more people like her, many more million mines could be removed, and mill...
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Homily: November 22, 2025, Saturday of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time (The end).

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 “I know that this is why these evils have overtaken me; and now I am dying, in bitter grief, in a foreign land.” These are the final words of Antiochus Epiphanes, the successor of Alexander the Great. If you have been following our daily readings, we first heard about him on Monday described as a “sinful offshoot.” He defiled the Temple of Jerusalem, persecuted the faithful Jews, and opposed the worship of the true God. Now, at the end of his life, Antiochus realizes his mistakes. He is filled with regret, bitterness, and sorrow. It’s a tragic end a man who once had so much power, wealth, and glory, yet dies far from home, spiritually empty and tormented by guilt. We’ve seen similar examples in the Bible and history people who made poor choices, turned away from God, and spent their last moments in deep regret. How different is this from the death of the saints, who met their final moments in peace and joy, having lived their lives faithfully. Life is short. When compared to the v...
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Homily: January 18, 2025, Saturday of the first week in Ordinary Time (High-Priest)

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"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin." When someone is diagnosed with a major illness, they often turn to others who have gone through a similar experience. They seek advice about doctors, treatments, and coping strategies. Why? Because those who have been through the same struggles can empathize and possibly share insights about the situation, better than someone who has not been through it. They know the pain, the challenges, and the fears, the journey. Of course, not everyone’s experience will be the same, but the reference can be useful. I remember when my mummy was diagnosed with cancer, we asked many people who had cancer before which helped us understand some things about the condition.  In today’s first reading, we hear about Jesus, our High Priest, who sympathizes with our weaknesses and knows what we go through in life, because He has gone through it all...
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Homily: July 29, 2025 Feast of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus (Presence)

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 “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...
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Homily: February 10, 2025 Monday of the Fifth week in Ordinary time (Good)

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 "God Saw How Good It Was." I love to read the story of creation, to visualize how it all started, the see our origin, the source of our being. God, in His infinite love, created the world to express His goodness, and made humanity the crown of His creation, to reflect His perfection. His expression was good. His reflection was good. Everything He created was good because each of His creation had a purpose for existence, a place in the world, a special relationship with Him. There was unique beauty in each, and harmony as a whole. His grace was in everything. He could see it. It was truly good. We know that as the story continued, the beauty and perfection were shattered soon after, by the sin of man, God’s masterpiece of all His created beings. Superficially, we see that God’s creation was destroyed. However, if we look around the world today, we can still see glimpses of the original goodness. A newborn baby. A full bloom flower. A bright rising sun. We can see how good it ...
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Homily: Janaury 11, 2025 Saturday after Epiphany (Increase-Decrease)

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 "He must increase; I must decrease." From this very simple statement, we can very clearly see the attitude of John the Baptist towards his mission - humility. John was a fearless man, he was not at all afraid of the Jewish authorities and preached courageously what he believed he was sent to do, he stood resolutely for truth and justice, not at all bothered about the cost or consequence. Nothing could stop him from speaking the truth. Yet, this aggressive preacher from the wilderness was humble, modest and meek when he acknowledges the presence of the Messiah. He recognized that his work, his purpose, his existence was done and must give way to the Lord. Tradition tells us that John the Baptist lived an ascetic life before his public ministry — a life of pure simplicity and total detachment, right down to the food he ate. Such a life demands complete abandonment of self and dedication to the mission. He lived with only one purpose – to accomplish the mission he was born for ...
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Homily: December, 22,2024, Fourth Sunday in Advent (Mother- Peace)

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 "His greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth; he shall be peace." The prophecy of Micah proclaimed 700 years before the birth of Jesus, had already foretold the extent and essence of our Lord’s greatness – it shall reach to the ends of the earth, and He shall be peace. Now 2,700 years later, Christianity has indeed spread to every corner of the world and for everyone who truly knows and follows Christ, will experience His peace. Here we are, celebrating the Fourth Sunday of Advent, just days away from Christmas, are you at peace? Almost every society throughout the world is celebrating Christmas, albeit with commercial overtones, but is there peace around the world? During this holiday season, in the confessionals and from conversations, I hear the same issues brought up - stress, worries, anxieties about the preparations, the family gatherings, the expectations. Shopping, cleaning the house, buying and wrapping gifts, writing cards, getting new clothes - all these ta...
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Homily: August 30, 2025, Saturday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time (Work Hard)

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 “Aspire to live a tranquil life, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you.”  This is exactly what I desire for my own life, a tranquil, serene, peaceful life. And I believe many of us long for the same too. St. Paul repeatedly encourages the Christian community to live in peace, to engage in meaningful work, and to live in harmony with one another, respecting a healthy privacy and space for others. One common misunderstanding among the early Christians was about the Second Coming of Christ. Many believed that Christ’s return was imminent, so close that it would happen within their lifetime. Because of this anticipation, some thought that working to upkeep livelihood or planning for their children’s future were pointless. And in some sense, it is practical. If you knew that everything you are working for would soon be useless, that your life would be totally transformed and all your property would be valueless, would you still work? Work ...
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Homily: February 17, 2025 Monday of the sixth week in Ordinary time (genration of sin)

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"Where is your brother Abel?" We are now in the fourth chapter of Genesis. Before this, we read about the first sin of mankind – disobedience - when Adam and Eve did what they were told not to do. They lived in a perfect world and had dominance over everything, but they were discontented and were tempted by greed. Sin did not stop there; it was passed on to the next generation. In this chapter, we see Cain committing a grave sin - he killed his brother Abel. He was discontented with God’s favor on Abel and was tempted by pride. As we continue through Genesis, we see sin perpetuating and spreading through humanity. The Lord had warned Cain that “sin is a demon lurking at the door: his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master.” Eve, Adam, Cain and every one of us are tempted by sin, yet we can be its master. The moment we let it enter our heart, and leave it unchecked, it will deepen its hold on us and enslave us. Jesus says, “Everyone who sins is a slave of sin.” (John 8:...
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Homily: April 1, 2025, Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Lent ()

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 “When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be well?’” I have to be honest, I really didn’t like the man who was healed, when I first read the event in today’s Gospel text. Jesus asked him a simple and direct question: “Do you want to be well?” All he needed to do was to answer yes or no. I would expect him to be enthusiastic and respond yes! But he didn’t answer the question directly. Instead, he complained. He blamed it on the fact that there was no one to help him get to the pool, and that someone else would always get in before he did. Again, after he was healed, when the authorities told him off for carrying his own mat on a sabbath, he blamed it on Jesus, for telling him to pick up his mat, and caused Jesus to be persecuted. Wasn’t he grateful for being healed? Did he want to be healed at all? It seems to me that he was a complainer, someone who doesn’t own up and puts the blame on others. But I paused and re...
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