Homily: April 26, 2026, Fourth Sunday of Easter (Life in Abundance)

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 “A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

These words of Jesus are very clear. There are two types of people you can allow into your life. One will give you fullness, peace, and joy in life. The other will come in then leave you with emptiness, sorrow, and destruction.

Who will you invite?

Jesus says: I came to give you life - life in abundance.

What is life in abundance?

The world offers abundance too. It promotes and promises happiness through prosperity of material wealth and possessions, great power and control through high position and status. Thus many people keep working hard, they compete and fight, some even try to outsmart the system.

Over time, more often than not, all these things will pass, deplete, fail and leave us empty, not one bit happier than when we were innocent children with nothing to our name. The worldly culture promises freedom, but it actually leads to slavery and sadness.

So, what is the life of abundance offered by Jesus?

It is a life filled with true peace, meaningful purpose, deep joy, real love. 

These will fill, and keep filling our souls, even when we have no wealth and no food, even in the midst of struggles and troubles, we are happy. It is happiness that last, because it is truly free, independent of what the world dictates.

You just need to believe in Jesus.

If your intellectual mind cannot accept this, it is because you have never truly experienced it, and you are afraid to let go of the worldly way you have been living all your life.

But if you have truly tasted the promise of Jesus, you will be able to agree with me.

Jesus tells us the truth: The enemy wants to steal, destroy, and scatter every bit of our life.

Look at materially successful people who do not have faith. Do they have true peace? Many are tired, restless, burdened and fearful.

But Christ wants to restore, heal, and fill our lives. 

When I reflect on my own life, I am deeply grateful for my parents. They were not rich materially, but they were rich spiritually. They took care of my basic needs very simply, but they took care of my soul very seriously.

I was baptized the vest first month of life, I received the grace of God. The Holy Spirit entered my soul. Original sin was washed away. I became a child of God.

They send me to catechism, and I received my first holy communion and confirmation. They nourished my soul with grace. 

Even when both my parents battled cancer and faced suffering, I have never seen them question God or fear death. Most vividly, I did not see them lose faith or peace.

My parents had life in Christ, and it was an abundant life. Material wealth was missing surely, but their life was so full..

My parents’ life taught me something very important, they showed me true faith, they showed me they were safe and contented sheep in the care of the Good Shepherd.

Do you want that abundant life? Do you want real peace?

Do you want lasting joy?

Then return to the source of life. Go back to the root of faith. Follow and keep close to the Good Shepherd. Hold on to the real stuff, the sacraments, the real food, the real drink, the true Master of your life.

Today’s Psalm reminds us so beautifully: “The Lord is my shepherd… He leads me beside restful waters… He refreshes my soul.”

Like sheep trusting the shepherd, we must surrender ourselves to His care. Yes, we may still wander through dark valleys, but He will never leave us, He will never abandon us.  If we lose contact, He will search for us till He finds us and brings us home.

But… we must still agree to follow Him to safety. The gift of free will is never taken away from us. Use it wisely.

Today, Jesus is inviting you again: Not to a life of fear,

not to a life of emptiness, but to a life of abundance. The closer you walk with Him, the more you open your heart to Him, the more you live in His grace, the more you will experience His peace, His joy, the full life.

Hear your Good Shepherd calling your name.

Amen.


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Homily: April 20, 2026, Monday of the Third week of Easter (Friendship with Jesus)

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 “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled.” I have many personal friends whom I do not contact regularly anymore, mostly because of our busy schedules, time zone difference, and simply how quickly time passes. But when I need something from there, when I need their help, I would not hesitate to call them. And they would oblige and not reject me. They too, would reach out to me only when they need my help, and I would not deny them my assistance either. I do feel guilty quite often, however. I do think I should have called them more often, to check in with them and show concern, not just when I needed help. My friends are guilty of the same. In today’s Gospel, people were looking for Jesus, and He knew their motivation, because they knew He could provide for their needs, He could feed them and satisfy their hunger for food. Sadly, they did not know He could give them much more than mere food, they simp...
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Homily April 29, Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

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Homily: March 24, 2026, Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Lent (Old-New )

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 “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert…? We are disgusted with this wretched food!” When you read the story of Exodus to this point, do you feel frustrated with the Israelites? Don’t you think they should be deeply grateful to God? For years, they have been praying and crying to God to save them from slavery. Then God sent Moses and they saw with their own eyes the many miracles and wonders God performed to bring them all out of Egypt safely. The ten plagues, the passover, the parting of the Red Sea as they walked on dry ground to freedom. They experienced God’s power firsthand and saw what generations before and after them have not seen. They know God is real. Now they did not have to be flogged and beaten, they did not have to work in harsh conditions, they did not have to live in fear, they didn’t even have to grow their own food. God provided every day. And yet, they complained, they blamed God and Moses, they even called manna, the food God gave them fro...
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 “The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little.” We all experience some suffering in life. We don’t have to go looking for it. It will come looking for us. And as Christians, suffering is part of our discipleship. Jesus said very clearly: “If you want to follow me, take up your cross daily and follow me.” That means every day in the life of a Christian, we each have a cross and we are called not to despise or deny it, but to carry it with grace. Throughout the history of the Church, followers have carried their crosses in various ways. The Desert Fathers believed in severe fasting and a very austere life. In the Middle Ages, some monks practiced harsh penances - even self-inflicting physical suffering. Today, we hardly see such extreme practices. Life itself has enough hardship to offer. Simply by being faithful to our Christian vocation – as a married coup...
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 “Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother Lazarus, who had died.” Martha, Mary and Lazarus — loving brother and sisters to each other, and close friends of Jesus during His earthly life. We do not know how He became friends with them, nor what happened to Lazarus after he was raised from death. Common tradition holds that he and his sisters moved out of Bethany after Jesus’s ascension to go out and preach the Gospel. Lazarus was said to have become a bishop and thereafter, died again either from natural causes or from martyrdom. No one knows for sure what exactly happened to Lazarus, Mary and Martha after that, but we know enough to be certain that Jesus loved them and taught them about eternal life and the kingdom of God. They too loved Jesus and were faithful to His teachings. Each of the three of them were different, in personality and preferences, strengths and weaknesses. The levels of their spirituality were also different, yet Jesus l...
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 In the first reading, it was during the time of exile in Babylon, when Daniel pleaded with God, saying, “But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness!” In the responsorial psalm, we prayed, “May your compassion quickly come to us.” And the gospel passage for today began with this verse: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Our God is merciful, compassionate and always forgiving! How do you feel about this? I feel totally blessed and thankful. Because if our God is not, I would be condemned forever for my sins! Pope Francis published a book in 2016 titled, “The Name of God is Mercy”, reminding us to trust and always turn to God even in our unworthiness. The world exists today because of our God is loving, compassionate and merciful. If we look around and examine within ourselves, sin is everywhere. In this country alone, legal abortions would have hit 30 million since the turn of the millennium, not counting the illegal ones. Humanity continues to commit s...
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