Homily: December 5, 2025, Friday of the First Week of Advent

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 “Do you believe that I can do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they said to him.

We often place trust in people based on our experience with them, or simply because we need them to take on some tasks and responsibilities, we choose to trust them.

Many times, when priests receive new assignments from the bishop, we would respond, “I don’t think I can do this.” And what would the bishop say?

“Yes, you can.”

My nieces and nephews would do the same. When they need a favor from me, they would be so encouraging and affirming, “Uncle, you can do it… don’t say no!”

Jesus, however, is different.

When Jesus asked the blind men, “Do you believe that I can do this?”, He was not teasing them, nor testing them. He was sincerely inviting them to be intentional in their faith in Him. He was inviting them to trust in His divine power.

These men were blind and had never seen Jesus. But they had heard about Him. In their blindness, they would have imagined whatever they have heard. Their imagination of His compassion, His miracles and His love could have been so amazing and real, thus they believed Him.

Their greetings already showed their faith. Addressing Him “Son of David”, it showed that they recognized Him as the promised Messiah, the heir of Israel’s greatest king. They believed without seeing with their eyes, because they have seen in their hearts.

As St. Paul tells us: “Faith comes through hearing.”

Since they could not see, they relied even more on their hearing, and that was enough to bring them to Jesus with confidence. We also need to hear more preaching and proclamation of the Holy Word, so that we are familiar with the ‘voice’ of Jesus.

The more familiar we are with what Jesus did and taught, the more we will believe.

And like the blind men, we must learn to pray and say: “Jesus can do this.”  Jesus, increase our faith in You.

Amen.


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Homily: December 2, 2025, Tuesday of the First Week of Advent (Knowledge)

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“There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain;  for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD,  as water covers the sea.” How beautiful this promise is, the entire earth filled with the knowledge of the Lord as water covers the sea. Imagine a world where every heart, every home, every nation is filled with the knowledge of God. What a different world that would be. Knowledge is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. But this knowledge does not simply mean information it means truly knowing God: knowing His heart, His will, His love, His commandments. This is the very purpose of human life. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1721 teaches: God placed us in the world to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him, and so to come to Paradise. And notice the order: Know> Love> Serve. We cannot love someone we do not know, and we cannot serve someone we do not love. So how do we know God? The Psalm tells us:  “Be still and know that I am God” (Psal...
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Homily: November 7, 2025, Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time (Knowledge)

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 “You yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to admonish one another.” ‘Full of goodness and filled with knowledge’. What powerfully positive words from St. Paul. One of my greatest blessings is being born into a traditional Catholic family and raised by God-fearing parents. From an early age I learned about Jesus, memorized prayers, and was familiar with church matters and traditions. But do I fully know God? No, not even at this stage of my faith life. My soul knows Him intimately, but my human knowledge and intellect still have a lot to learn. My knowledge of Christ and Christianity remains incomplete. Some who join the Catholic Church later may know more about God, more about the faith, than many of us who have been in the Church all our lives. That is why we must continue to grow in our knowledge of God, understanding of Church, and deepen our practice of faith. Jesus said, “For the children of this world are more prudent in their generation than ...
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Homily: November 30,2025 First Sunday of Advent (Peace)

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Homily: November 3, Monday of the Thirty-First Week in Ordinary Time (Poor)

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Homily: August 10, 2025, Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

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Homily: November 1, 2025-All Saints Day (Children of God)

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 “See what love the Father has bestowed on us, that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are.” Today, the church celebrates All Saints Day. Who are the saints? We may be thinking of the many canonized saints we know of, like St. Therese, St. Ambrose, St. Benedict, St. John Paul II and so on. These were people who lived a life of holiness and faithfulness to the Lord. Their holiness was very visible such that when they died, the church began their canonization process. But seriously, who is a saint? In a simple description, a saint is someone who is in heaven with God. There are many of these who are unknown to us, only known to God. They are not canonized by the church, but they are in full union with Jesus after they died. Now, do you want to be in heaven with God when you die?  If your answer is yes, then you need to seriously think about holiness. Because if not heaven, it will be hell. Our late Pope Francis said, “To be saints is not a privilege for a few, but a...
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Homily: August 3, 2025, Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Saints-Heaven )

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 “If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.” What does it mean to ‘seek what is above’? There’s no doubt that ‘what is above’ is ‘where Christ is seated at the right hand of God’. St. Paul was writing about heaven. In other words, Paul is asking us to think about heaven, about eternity, and to set our minds and hearts to reach it. Let me ask you: When was the last time you thought seriously about heaven? Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. From the catholic perspective, we might say that everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to be a saint. Both are ironic. Without death, there can be no heaven. And only saints can enter heaven. Heaven is ‘saint-land’. Now, let us consider the context of today’s second reading. St. Paul wrote this letter to the Colossians while he was imprisoned in Rome. At the very beginning of this letter, he said that he was ...
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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: 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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