Homily: June 2, 2026, Tuesday of the Nineth Week in Ordinary time (Get ready)

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 “Therefore, beloved, since you await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace.”

This warning from St. Peter is important for our salvation. There is no doubt that all of us gathered here today, even if we are still struggling in their faith, within our hearts there is a deep longing for holiness.

We want to grow to become more like Jesus. We want to be ready to meet him face to face and stand before God without spot or blemish, truly pure and without sin.

In the past two months, I have had two encounters that deeply impacted me. The first was in a hospital emergency room. I had gone there to anoint a parishioner who was brought there. And then there was an elderly man talking to everyone around him loudly. When he saw me, he came over and said, “I need a blessing.” I said, “Of course.” But almost immediately he changed his mind and said, “No, I’m okay. I’ll pass this time.”

The second encounter happened as I was just leaving a restaurant after having a meal. An elderly woman noticed me and asked if I was a Catholic priest. She seemed to want to talk, perhaps to ask for prayer or advice, I guess. But then she hesitated and something seemed to hold her back. She said nothing more and walked away.

In both situations, I wondered if both elderly persons were searching for something, looking for help or simply needing to connect. Perhaps they were searching for God.

Yet they seemed like they were not quite ready to say “yes”. 

What was holding them back? I don’t know but I pray that they themselves know and will be given another opportunity to finally reach out and find what their souls needed.

Many people who experience a conversion later in life often admitted that they wished they had known God sooner. Some wished they had given their life to Jesus when they were younger.

St. Augustine expressed the same regret when he wrote to Jesus, “Late have I loved You, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new.”

St. Peter’s reminder to us today, is not to procrastinate our preparation. Holiness is not something we should put off until tomorrow. Every day, every moment is an opportunity to draw closer to Christ, to repent, to grow in virtue, and to prepare our hearts for heaven. Even if it is a small step forward.

May we move firmly towards holiness today. May those who are searching, hesitant, or afraid, move courageously towards Jesus. May we not delay. May we be found without spot or blemish when we meet Him. Amen.


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Homily: July 6, 2026, Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Crowd)

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Homily: April 2, 2024, Tuesday in the Octave of Easter (Mary at the Tomb).

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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: July 5, 2026 Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (I will give you rest)

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 “Thus says the LORD: Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!”  A Beautiful and comforting words of prophet Zechariah. A long weekend is of course a time of joy for us especially as we celebrate 250th year of independence.  But truly, are you rejoicing in life? Are you rejoicing as a believer? Only a person who is truly free can be full of joy and be at peace. Life in this country is full of freedom; we enjoy privileges and opportunities that many people in some other parts of the world are still yearning and fighting for. Yet I have a friend, whenever I ask, “How’s life?”, would often reply, "It sucks,.  Is life really that burdensome? Yes, we all struggle with some variations of family problems, work issues, disappointments, sickness, and other daily battles, and our own battle with sin and evil. But we have the freedom to work, to speak, to go anywhere, to believe in any religion, to choose what we want. Is there nothing worth rejoi...
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Homily: July 7, 2026, Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Shepherd)

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In today's first reading, the Lord says through the prophet Hosea: "They made kings in Israel, but not by my authority; they established princes, but without my approval." I wonder what would go through Pope Leo’s mind when he reads this passage today. Just last week, the Holy See excommunicated six bishops from the SSPX (Society of St. Pius X), four of whom were newly consecrated without the approval of the Vatican. Sadly, this is not the first time in the history of the Church. Throughout the centuries, there have been similar situations where certain individuals or groups have outright opposed the authority established by Christ and acted against the unity of His Church. Today’s Gospel is so apt. Jesus looks upon the crowds and sees sheep without a shepherd. He is not simply talking about people who have no leaders, but rather lacking leaders after the heart of God. There is no true shepherd. "I will give you shepherds after my own heart" (Jeremiah 3:15). Jes...
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Homily: July 10, 2026 Friday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Promise of Healing)

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 "I will heal their defection, says the LORD, I will love them freely; for my wrath is turned away from them. I will be like the dew for Israel: he shall blossom like the lily."  God expresses His promises to His chosen people on various occasions and many ways in Sacred Scripture. What we have just read in today's first reading from prophet Hosea is beautiful and very assuring. It is beautiful because God is expressing His love so affectionately, it is assuring because it was addressed to a people whom He should be angry with, yet He was still showering love. The Book of Hosea was written just before the Assyrian exile of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The people had turned away from God. They worshipped idols, had forgotten the covenant and lived unfaithfully to the Lord. As a result, they began to experience the painful consequences of their sins. Eventually, the Assyrians conquered them, they were exiled from their homeland, the Promised Land, and never returned. Yet...
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Homily: May 10. 2025, fourth Sunday of Easter (Good Shepherd)

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Homily: February 22-2026, First Sunday of Lent (Angles)

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 As I was preparing this homily, I first thought of preaching about the three temptations of Jesus. Then I changed my mind and thought of focusing on the first reading, and then perhaps the second reading. I couldn’t get the right inspiration, so I went through the readings several times over the past days. Finally, I noticed one phrase which stayed with me quietly but firmly: “The devil left Him, and angels came and ministered to Him.” It was a reassuring resolution to an intense build-up of temptations. Jesus had fasted forty days. He endured hunger, thirst, solitary living and silence. At the end of it when he was at his weakest, tempting offers to satisfy His possible needs and wants were presented to Him. He was at His weakest, physically, but he was also at His strongest, spiritually. As He overcame the temptations and defeated the devil, heaven responded - not with applause, but with accompaniment. Angels came to minister to Him. We see the same later in the Gospel of Luke. ...
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 “Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’” Many of us would remember that Jesus said on the cross, “I thirst.” These two words carried a deep message. It meant so much to Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who reflected deeply on it all through her missionary life. St. John Paul II also referred to it often in his spiritual reflections. Our Lord Jesus on the cross, in His dying breath, said: “I thirst.” Surely, He wasn’t asking for a drink. He was thirsting for something else. But this thirst of Jesus did not begin only when He was on the cross. We see it already here in today’s Gospel, when He met the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus’ thirst is real. Yes, He was physically thirsty when He was at the well. But there was something deeper. Jesus thirsts for souls. Not to consume, but to commune. He wants so much to be a big part of our lives, and for us to be totally in His life, eternal life. We are created in His image and likeness. God did not need to our existence to complete Him. He is ...
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Homily: May 23, 2026, Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter (Scripture is enough)

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 “There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.” Once I walked into our youth Bible study, and they were discussing the Book of Enoch, an ancient Jewish apocalyptic text traditionally connected to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. They asked me questions about it. I had read it myself when I was their age, mostly out of curiosity, but honestly, I do not remember much of its content. There are also several other apocryphal writings, like the Gospel of James, the Gospel of Thomas, and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene. But the Church never considered them inspired Scripture, because many of them were written decades after the death of the last Apostle, St. John. Public Revelation ended with the death of the last Apostle. Sometimes I also wish the Bible had more details about Jesus’ infancy and His hidden life. But St. John reminds us today that the world its...
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