Homily: January 17, 2026, Saturday of the First Week in Ordinary Time (Discipleship)

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 Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” And without hesitation, Levi got up and followed Him.

There was no second thought, no delay, no negotiation. In that moment, Levi left behind his profession, his security, and all the benefits and privileges that came with it, and he became Matthew, the apostle.

Not only that, Matthew brought many of his friends to Jesus. 

Where there is true conversion, others are always drawn in.

This is how discipleship works. When someone genuinely encounters Christ, that encounter never remains private. Every true conversion becomes contagious. Those who grow closer to Jesus naturally begin to bring others to Him.

The same is true for us. Our discipleship is not a one-person journey. We live our faith within families, communities, and parishes. If we are truly walking with Christ, our lives will influence others, whether we realize it or not.

And this leads us to a serious truth.

Influence works both ways.

In the first reading, we hear about Saul, who was anointed king by God. But as the story unfolds, Saul becomes unfaithful. His personal failure does not remain personal, it affects the entire nation. One person’s infidelity to God had consequences far beyond himself.

The same is true today. The failure of a priest deeply affects a parish. The failure of a parent affects the entire family.

The failure of a Christian affects the community.

God has called each of us by name—not only into life, but into Christian life, into discipleship. Our response matters. Our faithfulness matters. Our choices matter.

Like Matthew, let us rise when Jesus calls us. Let us follow Him wholeheartedly. And let us remain faithful, so that our lives may lead others not away from Christ, but toward Him.

Amen.


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Homily: March 13, 2026, Friday of the third Week in Lent (Trees)

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 “I am like a verdant cypress tree - because of me you bear fruit.” These words from today’s first reading from the prophet Hosea caught my attention, especially because of the image of trees. From a very young age, I enjoyed exploring nature - plants, trees, and animals. I learned a lot about nature not from books, but from my father and grandfather. They knew the forest very well and built their home in the forest. They taught me how to recognize different trees from their smell, structure, strength, and usefulness. In those days, none of the trees mentioned in the Bible grew in our part of India, so they triggered my curiosity. I remember wondering about the story of Adam and Eve hiding themselves with fig leaves. I asked my grandfather, “What kind of leaves are fig leaves?” My grandfather had no idea. He simply said, “Maybe something big like teak tree leaves!” And there were no gyms in our village, so if you want to build some muscles, you must find other ways. My mother saw t...
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Homily: march 15, 2026, Fourth Sunday in Lent (Laetare Sunday)

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 “Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand, anointed David in the presence of his brothers; and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David.” This is one of the most powerful scenes in the Old Testament. A young shepherd boy was suddenly anointed the king of Israel – the least-expected to be king material, yet God chose him. David did not come from any royal line. There were no kings before in his family. He was young, tender in experience, and in the eyes of the world, he didn’t look promising as compared to his older brothers. The prophet Samuel saw more potential in David’s older brothers, yet God chose him. God reminded Samuel: “Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance, but the LORD looks into the heart.” God saw something in David’s heart which made him the perfect king for God, something no one else could see. Dear catechumens and candidates, in just twenty-one days, you will be fully initiated into the Catholic faith during Easter Vigil. Y...
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Homily: March 17, 2026, Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Lent (Water)

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 “Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live… wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.” Where there is water, there is life. The prophet Ezekiel in today’s first reading, tells us with great detail the prophetic vision he had, about the water of life which flowed from the temple. If you have read the book The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese, you would know something about my home in India, the state of Kerala. It is a small state. Iowa is almost three times the size of Kerala. But Kerala has a lot more water than Iowa. The Western Ghats is a mountain range that runs 1,600 km along the western coast of India, covering several states including Kerala. It is an important watershed, keeping in the rain clouds thus bringing much rainfall, and feeding many rivers. Because of that, Kerala has forty-four major rivers. Forty-one of them flow toward the Arabian Sea and three toward the east. Rain is plentiful throughout the year e...
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Homily: March 16, 2026, Monday of the Fourth week in lent (God rescues)

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“I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.” This was our response in today’s responsorial psalm, an expression of our gratitude and praise to God. The word ‘rescued’ triggered a memory. Recently a family invited me to dinner. They have two little boys, a two-year-old and a four-year-old. They asked me over mainly because the boys wanted to play with me. When I was there, the four-year-old came to me and said very seriously, “Father, you are stuck in the mud. I will rescue you!” Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me with his might, as if really trying to get me out of mud. After that he asked, “Are you okay?” I had to answer, “Yes I am ok, thank you.” A few minutes later he would come to me and repeat the same: “Father, you are stuck in the mud. I will rescue you!” I don’t remember how many times he did that, but he never seemed tired of repeating it. He loved the idea of rescuing me, someone who seemed to be enjoying being rescued by him too!  In a much deeper and more real...
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Homily: March 3, 2026, Tuesday of the Second Week in Lent (Talk-Walk)

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 "The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example.” It is commonly said that ‘talk is cheap’. It is very easy to say what is right, what is good, what is impressive. But it is not easy to walk the talk, to live out what we speak about. In today’s Gospel, we understood that the scribes and the Pharisees talked a lot. Their position gave them the right to teach the law of Moses. But their ways did not match up. Jesus too taught a lot. But what gave power to Jesus’ teaching was not any official title He held. It was His integrity. His words and His works matched. His walk and His talk matched. He was authentic. What about us? As parents, teachers, priests, leaders, elders – we speak and teach often. People hear us but they are also watching us. Finally, especially children, they model us. They may hear us, but effectively, they follow what they see us do. The powe...
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Homily: February 27, 2026Friday of the First Week in Lent (Salvation)

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 “Since he has turned away from all the sins that he committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.” In the spiritual tradition of the Church, we often talk about the four last things: death, judgment, heaven, hell. Death is certain for each one of us. We will all die one day.  Judgment is also certain. It is part of our encounter with God. He is the ultimate Judge. Then the final destination. It is not heaven and hell, it is heaven or hell. Each of us will have the freedom to choose. Do you think everyone will choose heaven? Many do not want hell, but that does not mean they want heaven. Choosing heaven means choosing God, choosing His will. This is where we all failed. Everyone has sinned. But in today’s first reading, the prophet Ezekiel gives all of us a great big hope: our past does not have the final word. The hope is that if a person turns away from sin, if they repent and choose what is right, they shall live - repent and believe in the Gospel! Many people, myself ...
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Homily: March 9, 2026, Monday of the Third week in Lent (prophet -Accepted )

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 “No prophet is accepted in his own native place.” I have experienced this personally many times. Years ago, when I was newly ordained and was about to preach at a relative’s wedding, my oldest sister, lacking confidence with my ability, whispered to me, “Make sure you do a good job.” I whispered back, “Why don’t you do the preaching!” Last year I went to my nephew’s First Holy Communion. The parish priest asked if I could give the homily, and I happily agreed. The night before the Mass, my second sister came to my room and questioned me, “Do you really want to do the homily? People expect a good one for this occasion.” She worried I would do poorly. And my third sister who lives in Ireland, keeps sending me videos of popular preachers - like Fr. Mike Schmitz and Bishop Barron. She probably hopes I will learn to preach like them. My siblings grew up with me at home, and they know me well from young. However, they were not with me in my seminary life and have not witnessed my growth...
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Homily: March 25, 2025, Solemnity of the Annunciation ()

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 "Therefore, the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel, which means 'God is with us!'"  One book I read during my school days was titled: ‘The God of Small Things’. The book has nothing to do with God or religion, but I like the title because it reminds me that our God is also a God of small things. He appreciates and takes pleasure even when we offer Him the littlest effort or prayer or joy of our day. And He too often shows Himself in simple, silent humble signs. In today’s first reading, King Ahaz was given the opportunity to ask for a great sign from God, but he rejected, claiming to not want to test the Lord. Still, God chose to give him a sign anyway - not in a big way, but something simple yet powerful: "A virgin shall conceive and bear a son." This sign is simple yet powerful because while it is normal for a woman to bear a child, it is impossible for a virgin to do so. Only ...
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Homily: March 24, 2022, Thursday of the Third Week of Lent

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 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me, scatters.” Jesus’ message is so clear. We cannot follow Jesus partially. If we are not following him whole heartedly, we are not his followers. Today is the 20th day of Lent, not counting Sundays. We are halfway through. Do you remember what you decided you will do specially for these 40 days of Lent? Are you keeping up to it? While we are trying hard to grow stronger spiritually, the devils are working harder to keep us down. I wonder who is in the lead at this halfway mark? In my childhood years, only rich children in my village could afford to own bikes. When I was in the 5th grade, my older brother and I decided to collect wild nutmeg flowers from the nearby forest to sell, so that we can afford to buy a bike.  We would wake up very early in the morning and run to the forest to search and collect as many as possible. Many children from other villages were doing the same so whoever got there first ...
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Homily: March 10, 2022, Thursday of the First Week in Lent

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 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” When I was much younger, I wanted to become very rich, to have lots of money, a nice car, a big house etc.… It was a common village boy’s dream. I don’t think I actually prayed for it, but I surely dreamt about it often. What happened thereafter? Well, I am still dreaming about it. And I even pray for it now! Not for myself but for the parish. When I first moved to this parish, I was shocked by the financial situation, so I did wish and pray for this parish to be rich.  Money is indeed helpful in life but not the most important. Money solves a lot of problems only when it is used wisely. Being poor helps me learn to depend on God’s providence. So, my dream for the parish now is to be rich in God’s word, in community life, in prayerful spirit, in loving and caring for one another. I dream of hearing our prayers and singing rise-up strong and joyful to the heavens when we gather...
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