Homily: June 27, 2026 Satuday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

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 "He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases."

The first reading from the Book of Lamentations paints a heartbreaking picture of Jerusalem after its destruction. The city that once enjoyed glory, security, and God's blessings is now wounded, abandoned, and without comfort. There seems to be no ray of hope.

Growing up in a developing country, I saw many people who were born poor, lived poor, and died poor. They accepted it because it was all they had ever known. But I also saw people who had once been wealthy lose everything through bad choices, mistakes, or circumstances. Their suffering was even greater because they knew what they had lost.

Jerusalem is like that. She once experienced God's protection and blessings but turned away from Him, and the consequences were devastating. The same can happen to our souls when we choose sin over God. We lose the peace, joy, and strength that come from living in His friendship.

But today's Gospel gives us hope. Jesus came precisely for those who are wounded. As Matthew reminds us, "He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases." No wound is too deep for Him to heal. If we turn back to Him with humble hearts, He will forgive us, restore us, and fill us with the hope that only He can give.


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Homily: September 21, 2026, Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and evangelist (Follow me)

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 “Follow me.” On this feast of St. Matthew, we hear Matthew’s own account of his calling. Jesus saw him sitting at the customs post and said just two words: “Follow me.” And Matthew gets up and follows him. No second thought. No long discernment. No plan for the future. Maybe Matthew had been waiting for a moment like this—a chance to begin again. Matthew was a tax collector, considered a sinner and hated by his own people because he worked for the occupying power. Yet Jesus looked at this man whom others rejected and saw an apostle. That should give every one of us hope. God can change people. God does not wait until we are perfect before he calls us. Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” We are all sinners. We all have weaknesses, habits, failures, and things in our lives that need to change. And there may be people around us struggling with addictions or trapped in sinful situations. Sometimes we may even wonder whether a person can ev...
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Homily: October 4, 2026, Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (No Anxiety)

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 “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.” This is how St. Paul speaks to us in today’s second reading. “Have no anxiety at all.” We might immediately think: That is easy to say! But look at the person who said it. St. Paul wrote these words while he was a prisoner. He was facing an uncertain future and even the possibility of death. And yet his Letter to the Philippians is often called the Letter of Joy. All of us have anxieties. I have my anxieties too—what to preach, how to raise money, what comes next, concerns about family and ministry. Parents worry about their children and their future. We worry about our health, finances, relationships, and many other things. St. Paul does not simply say, “Stop worrying.” He tells us what to do with our worries: bring them to God. “By prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.” In other words: Do what you can, and place what you cann...
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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: October 3, 2026, Saturday of the Twenty Sixth Week in Ordinary Time (God Restores)

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 “Thus the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his earlier ones.” This beautiful phrase comes from our first reading today, from the very last chapter of the Book of Job. The Book of Job is part of the wisdom literature of the Bible. Job is presented as a righteous man who loses almost everything—his possessions, his children, his health, and even the understanding and support of those around him. The great question running through the book is: Why does a good person suffer? Where is God when everything seems to be lost? Interestingly, the Book of Job does not give us a simple answer to the mystery of suffering. Instead, it invites us to trust in God even when we cannot understand his ways. And today, at the end of the story, we see something beautiful: God restores Job. “Thus the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his earlier ones.” This reminds us of the restoring power of God. God can restore what seems broken. God can bring hope after despair, joy after sor...
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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: May 29, 2026 Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

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Holy Family School Mass   "The grass withers, and the flower fades, but the word of our God remains forever." What comes to your mind when you hear the term “the Word of our God”? If you are thinking it is the Bible, then you are right. The Word of God is the Bible. The Bible is also known as the Book of books, because the Bible is a collection of many books. Do you know how many books are in the Bible? If you think there are about 10 books, put up your hands. What about 20 books? Put up your hands. Who thinks there are more than 50 books? And you are right! There are 73 books in the Holy Bible! Do you know how long it took to write the Bible? Who says 100 years? 500 years? More than 1000 years? Oh yes, the 73 books of the Bible were written over 1,500 years. Around 40 different authors contributed to it. It has been translated into hundreds of different languages and read by billions of people around the world, over hundreds and hundreds of years. The world has changed over ...
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Homily: Janaury 6,2025, Monday afer Epiphany (Whatever you ask)

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 "We receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him." At one point in my life, I was enjoying listening to prosperity gospel preachers like Joel Osteen. What they preached was not theologically profound nor sound, but their messages were so uplifting and impactful. They made having faith in God look very attractive and materially rewarding. “Believe in Jesus and you will be saved, you will be rich, you will be successful, you will be powerful! Pray for anything and God will give you everything!” Such wonderful promises sure sound good. But is it the truth of our faith? As I matured in life and in faith, I realized that such messages lack authenticity and do not at all align with Jesus’ teachings. Looking simply at the way Jesus Himself lived while on earth would show up the contradictions and reveal the lies. So, does God give us whatever we ask? The condition stated in today’s reading is that if we keep His commandments and do what...
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Homily: October 5, 2026, Monday of the Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time (Repay you on my way back)

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 “If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.” This is one of the beautiful lines from today’s Gospel.  We can easily see Jesus as the Good Samaritan. Humanity was wounded by sin, and Jesus came to rescue us. He lifted us up, cared for our wounds, and brought us to the inn. And we can see the inn as the Church—a place where wounded people are brought to be healed, cared for, and loved. But then Jesus gives the innkeeper two coins and says, “Take care of him.” Perhaps we can see ourselves as that innkeeper. Jesus has entrusted people to our care. And we might imagine those two coins as the two great commandments: Love God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself. The first coin is love of God. God deserves the first place in our lives—our heart, our time, our attention, our will. So let us intentionally live our lives trying to please God. Then comes the secon...
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Homily: July 21, 2026, Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Forgiveness)

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 In today's Gospel, Jesus says, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”  These words invite us to ask an important question: What is the will of our heavenly Father for us? Jesus gives the answer in other passages of the Gospel. He says, “Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect,” and “Be holy, for your heavenly Father is holy.” God's will is not simply that we avoid sin, but more that we become holy. The Christian life is not merely about avoiding evil; it is really about growing in virtue and becoming more like our heavenly Father each day, in what we think, say and do. Today's readings point us to one of the most difficult yet most beautiful virtues of Christian discipleship - forgiveness. In the first reading we heard, “Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin... who does not persist in anger forever.” In the Responsorial Psalm we prayed, “You have for...
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Homily: February 6, 2024, Tuesday of the fifth week in Ordinary time (Solomon Failed)

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He said, "LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below." Solomon is praising the God of Israel, acknowledging Him as the one true God. He sings a hymn of thanksgiving to God for dwelling in the temple he built. Solomon was especially blessed by God. In the earlier chapters of the book of First Kings, we read that God blessed Solomon with wisdom and all the riches of the world. Unfortunately, in the later chapters, Solomon failed God. He followed his pagan wives to worship other deities. The same lips which uttered those words of praise and thanksgiving began to praise other gods. What a pity. The Bible provides no mention whether Solomon repented of his numerous sins or tore down the pagan altars he built. Did he not turn back to the one true God He honored and worshipped? Was he tempted beyond the possibility of return? In the Letter to the Hebrews 6:4, it is stated, "For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlight...
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