Homily: April 14, 2026 Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter (Simple Faith)

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 “If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?”

This first conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus happens early in John’s Gospel, but by then, Nicodemus would have already heard about Jesus and knew about some of the miracles He worked.

Nicodemus knew there was something different about Jesus, something beyond the ordinary, something possibly divine. Thus, he said, “No one can do these signs unless God is with him.”

Nicodemus was knowledgeable, and like the rest of the Jewish people, he was waiting for the Messiah. Yet he struggled to believe in Jesus.

Jesus often spoke to ordinary people using simple every day images – planting seeds, vineyards, shepherding, fishing – events which were familiar to the people of that time.

But when Jesus spoke to Nicodemus who was a learned man, He went deeper. He spoke about being born again, about the Spirit, about heavenly realities.

And Nicodemus struggled. Why?

Because even though he knew Scripture, even though he understood the traditions, he could not understand this: simple faith.

He knew so much about God that he could not simplify faith. He could not imagine the Messiah coming as a commoner. He could not visualize salvation happening in human ways.

Similarly, faith becomes challenging for people who are educated and intellectual - even for the clergy. We priests may know the Scriptures. We may know theology. We may know the traditions. But we may still lack faith.

Like Nicodemus, we need to have a personal encounter with Jesus. To have a deep conversation with Jesus, so that we can have a deep conversion of heart. To understand simple faith.

Faith is not just knowing about God.

Faith is trusting God.

Trust comes from encounter. Trust leads to surrender. To surrender like a child – totally open and receptive, trusting and believing, without doubt, without fear. That is faith.

Thus, Jesus told Nicodemus: You must be born again.

To begin again, as a child.

To start with nothing, so as to gain everything.

Only then will we believe in the earthly things Jesus warns us about, and the heavenly things He promises us.

May everyone of us encounter Jesus today.

Amen. 


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Homily: October 4, 2026, Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (No Anxiety)

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 “But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is alive because of righteousness.” What a hopeful and assuring message. Even though our bodies are weakened by sin and subject to death, the Spirit of God within us is alive and active. But note the one condition: if Christ is in you! The Father and the Son have given us this precious gift, the Holy Spirit, the divine helper who will dwell in our hearts if we accept Jesus Christ into our lives. If we follow the timeline of our salvation story, all of us are now living in the era of the Holy Spirit. God the Father has revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets. Then in the fullness of time, God the Son came into the world and revealed to us the Father’s love. Before returning to heaven, Jesus promised to send us the Holy Spirit to be our companion, our guide, and our strength till the end of time. And from then, the Holy Spirit has been active in the world, in the church and in o...
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“You heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it.” Whenever I read the letters of St. Paul, one thing that strikes me is his zeal. Paul never did anything halfway. Before his conversion, he was completely committed to what he believed. He thought Christianity was wrong, and so he became one of its fiercest persecutors. But when Paul encountered Jesus, something beautiful happened. Jesus did not take away Paul’s zeal; he redirected it. The man who traveled from place to place persecuting Christians now traveled from place to place preaching Christ. The man who tried to destroy the Church became one of its greatest builders. He crossed countries, entered unfamiliar cities, endured rejection, imprisonment, beatings, and suffering—all because he wanted people to know Jesus. That same fire comes through in his letters. Paul says, “Stir into flame the gift of God.” He says, “For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.”...
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Homily: September 27, 2026, Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary time (The Fair way)

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 “Thus says the Lord: You say, ‘The Lord’s way is not fair!’” I chose this phrase from our first reading for our reflection today because it sounds very similar to what we heard last Sunday in the first reading.  “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways.” I think most of us, at some point in our lives, have said something similar to God. I know I have. “Lord, this is not fair.” “Why do I have to go through this?” “Why didn’t you answer this prayer?” “Why did you allow this to happen?” “I am trying to follow you. Could you not treat me a little better?” We may not say those words aloud, but sometimes they are deep within our hearts. So what exactly is God’s way? The second reading gives us an answer.  For centuries humanity wondered what God was like. Then Jesus Christ, the beloved Son of the Father, came among us and revealed the face of God. And St. Paul describes Jesus with these extraordinary words: “He did not regard equality with God something to...
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Homily: December 2, 2024 Monday of the First Week in Advent (Banquet)

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 Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb, weeping. Today’s gospel begins by describing the emotional state of Mary. We can all visualize and identify with this scene. Mary Magdalene is very sad, to the point of experiencing deep emotional pain which triggers tears. This is love.  I recall when my papa died within a week of discovering his illness. It was unexpected, we were all unprepared. All my sisters wept on the day he died, and into the days after his burial. They cried again, very emotionally, when we visited his tomb thereafter and I recited the Office for the Dead. I, too, cried a lot at papa’s death. Love is a powerful emotion. It stirs our heart to feel the pain of loss, which works up our brain to trigger the release of tears, to help reduce the emotional pain. God gave us tears to help us manage our pain.  Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus, and before He entered Jerusalem, and at the garden of Gethsemane. His love for humanity stirred up deep emotional pain, s...
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Homily: April 24, 2023, Monday of the Third Week of Easter. (Angel Look)

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 "All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.” St. Stephen, one of seven selected deacons in the early Christian community, was standing in trial before the Sanhedrin, the supreme rabbinic court in Jerusalem. He was being accused of blasphemy, for his powerful preaching in Jesus’ name. According to the Jewish authority, he had offended the law of Moses. Stephen knew the sentence for blasphemy was death. Yet he did not look downcast, nor fearful. Instead, his face was like an angel. What look is that? After vesting for mass, I would always look in the mirror to check, today I did too and checked my face, I definitely do not look like an angel at all. I have seen many whom I think look like angels. They were all little children. On Saturday, I had 3 baptisms and all those babies looked just like perfect precious angels. Innocent, pure, at peace. Even when they cried, they were still angelic. We were all like that whe...
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Homily: Septemer 22, 2026 Tuesday of the Twenty Fifth week in Ordinary Time (The poor)

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“He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will himself also call and not be heard.” These words from the Book of Proverbs are very direct. They remind us that God expects us to hear the cry of the poor. And the reality is that the poor have always been among us. Jesus himself said, “The poor you will always have with you.” Wherever we live and wherever we travel, we encounter people in need. Poverty also has many faces. Someone may become poor because of the loss of a job, war, natural disaster, persecution, displacement, or circumstances completely beyond his or her control. Sometimes the poor person is someone without food or shelter. Sometimes it is a refugee or immigrant who has left everything behind and is trying to begin life again in a strange land. This week, the Catholic Church in the United States observes National Migration Week. It is a good opportunity for us to remember that our own state of Iowa has a long history of welcoming refugees and immigrants. And our parish ...
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