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 be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.”

He emptied himself.

That is God’s way.

God does not grasp. God gives.

God does not cling to himself. God pours himself out.

God does not ask, “What can I keep for myself?” He asks, “What can I give?”

And when we look at the Cross, we see how far that giving goes. Jesus gives his strength, his comfort, his dignity, his life—and finally even the last drop of his blood.

God holds nothing back.

And then Jesus says to us: Follow me.

That is where Christianity becomes difficult.

We are happy to follow Jesus when his way agrees with our way. But when following him requires sacrifice, surrender, forgiveness, generosity, patience—then suddenly we begin to say, “Lord, your way is not fair.”

Sometimes what God asks of us is precisely what will make us humble.

Maybe I have to give up my pride and apologize.

Maybe I have to forgive someone when I would rather hold on to my anger.

Maybe I have to give my time when I would rather be left alone.

Maybe I have to be generous when I would rather keep what I have.

Maybe I have to surrender a plan that I desperately wanted.

Mother Teresa often spoke about giving until it hurts. Christian love is not simply giving what is convenient. It is learning from Christ to give ourselves—our time, our energy, our attention, our resources, our forgiveness, our love.

Because we cannot follow a self-emptying Jesus while spending our lives only trying to fill ourselves.

And May be this is why the will of God sometimes disturbs us. If I am holding tightly to my plans, my desires, my comfort, my pride and my way of doing things, then God’s way will always seem like an interruption.

But when I learn to empty myself, I begin to understand him.

Last Sunday God told us, “My ways are not your ways.”

Today he shows us what his way is.

It is the way of humility.

It is the way of surrender.

It is the way of generosity.

It is the way of the Cross.

The more we learn to give ourselves away in love, the more our way begins to become God’s way.

“Lord, when your way is not my way, give me the grace to trust you. When you ask me to let go, give me the courage to let go. And teach me, like Jesus, not to grasp—but to give; not to hold back—but to empty myself in love.”


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Homily: September 21, 2026, Mass of Healing and Remembrance for those who died by Suicide

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 “I desire mercy.” As I was going through the readings for today, on this Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, these words of Jesus stood out to me: “I desire mercy.” Those words seem especially appropriate as we gather today to remember and pray for those who have died by suicide, and to pray for their families and friends who continue to carry their absence. Two years ago, on a cold January day, I received a call telling me that a young woman I knew had taken her own life. She was only 21 years old, a young mother with a seven-month-old baby, and she had been struggling with postpartum depression. Her death shocked everyone, her family, her friends, and our community. I still remember the funeral. It was a bitterly cold day, and I remember seeing her little baby wrapped warmly and held in the grandmother’s arms. Looking at that child and realizing that the mother was gone was heartbreaking. After the funeral, the family did not want to keep all the plants that had been s...
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In those days: God delivered all these commandments: “I, the LORD, am your God…” In today's first reading, Moses passed on the Ten Commandments to the Israelites as he had received from God. Most emphasis is given to the first commandment because God wants His chosen people to focus on it seriously. It is the foundation on which all the other commandments rest. Whenever Israel failed in the first commandment, they would get into serious consequences. I am not an exorcist, but I have assisted exorcists as a translator on numerous occasions. Demonic possessions take place when people allow it through intentional offences against God. The exorcists would often ask questions to identify which commandment was violated, and commonly, it is the first commandment that was broken, such as playing Ouija board, practicing black magic or white magic, engaging in witchcraft, and so on. Violating the first commandment is denying God as our Lord, and that is the easiest way for Satan to possess a...
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 "It is my desire, then, that in every place, men should pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument." What a beautiful vision St. Paul had! Imagine if all people are prayerful and peaceful, no anger, no argument. The world would really be perfect. It is through prayerfulness that we learn to be deeply peaceful people, and I too desire to attain this. My papa and grandma were two great examples of prayerfulness for me.  Grandma was completely blind before I was born and she was living in my home. In my memory, she prayed the rosary all the time and she would spend hours reciting all the other prayers daily which she had memorized by heart. I have never seen her forgetting her prayers or skipping her rosary for even one day. My papa, too, had always kept a regular and consistent prayer routine. He read the Bible and devoted a good amount of time for prayer on a daily basis. I also do not recall seeing him miss a single day of his beautiful habit. I do regret though ...
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 “They are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance.” We hear this parable during the harvest season, so the image of seed and harvest is very familiar to us. Once, a farmer friend gave me a ride in his combine during harvest. He showed me the GPS system they use for both planting and harvesting. It was fascinating. The system could tell him what kind of seed had been planted in a particular area and how many bushels of corn were harvested from each acre. All that information would help him decide what seed to plant and where to plant it the following year in order to get a better yield. Seed is expensive. So naturally, farmers want to make sure that good seed is planted in good soil where it can produce a good harvest. But the farmer in today’s Gospel seems almost wasteful! He throws the seed everywhere—on the path, on rocky ground, among thorns, and finally on good soil. He knows that some of the s...
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Homily: September 25, 2026, Friday of the Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time (A time for everything)

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 “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for everything under the heavens.” Yesterday I watched the movie The Lovely Bones. The movie has many flashback scenes—moments from the past suddenly coming back to life. Later in the day, when I read today’s first reading, I found myself doing the same thing: going back through different moments and seasons of my own life. Whenever I hear this passage from Ecclesiastes, especially at a funeral Mass, memories come to mind—good times and difficult times, moments of joy and moments of sadness. Growing up, some of these images were very real to me: the season for planting and the season for harvesting. There really is a time for everything. And it is not only the different seasons of our whole life. Even a single day can contain so many different emotions. Those who regularly make an examination of conscience know this very well. At the end of the day, we look back: there was a moment when I was happy; a moment when I was frustra...
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Homily: August 15, 2026, Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Sin-death)

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 “For since death came through man, the resurrection of the dead came also through man.” Sin and death are connected, but Christ has come to break that connection and give us life. In his Letter to the Romans, St. Paul says, “The wages of sin is death.” Sin separates us from God, and God is the source of life.  God created Adam and Eve for life and friendship with him. But through their disobedience, sin entered the world, and with sin came death.  But when God prepared the world for the coming of his Son, he gave Mary a unique grace. From the first moment of her conception, she was preserved from original sin.  We can see Mary as the new Eve. Eve was created without sin, but she disobeyed God. Mary, by God's grace, responded differently. When the angel came to her, she said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Eve's disobedience was connected with humanity's fall. Mary's obedience opened the door for Christ, the Savi...
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Homily: September 12, 2026, Saturday of the Twenty Third week in Ordinary Time.

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 “That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock. When the flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built.” When we speak about the Church, these words give us great hope. Throughout her history, the Church has faced persecutions, divisions, scandals, wars, and many other difficulties. Yet she remains. For two thousand years, the Church has endured because her true foundation is not any human person; her foundation is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The world around us changes. Cultures change, opinions change, and people change, but Christ remains the same. And the Church continues to place her faith in him. In today’s Gospel, Jesus is asking each one of us to build our lives in the same way: to dig deeply and build our lives on the solid rock of faith in him. I have known many people who had that kind of strong and simple faith.  All of us nee...
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Homily: September 4, 2026, Friday of the Twenty second Week in Ordinary Time (Do not Judge)

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 “Therefore, do not make any judgment before the appointed time, until the Lord comes.” It is very difficult to live without judging others. Knowingly or unknowingly, we often judge people based on what we see, especially those who are different from us. But we are all different. Our life situations are different, our ideas are different, and the ways we were raised are different. There is a beautiful saying often attributed to Philo of Alexandria: “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.” How true that is. We often do not know what another person is carrying in his or her heart. Jesus also tells us, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged.” So how do we overcome a judgmental attitude? One way is by becoming more empathetic. Instead of immediately judging someone, we can try to know the person, listen to their story, and understand why they may think or act differently from us. St. Paul reminds us today that the final judgment belongs to God. God knows what is ...
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Homily: June 21, 2025, Saturday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time (Sufficient Grace)

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 “Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you.’” This sentence in today’s first reading is one of the most well-known and quoted lines in the New Testament. There are many interpretations about what could be the “thorn in the flesh” which St. Paul referred to and asked for the Lord to remove for him. No one knows for sure, and no one needs to know exactly. What we do know is that it was something Paul believed the “angel of Satan” was sent to torment him. It was so bad for him that he wished and prayed for the Lord to take away from him. But Jesus did no, and told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you.” Jesus is telling us the same: “My grace is sufficient for you.” Are you struggling terribly? Do you feel greatly tormented? Are you facing huge troubles? Do you feel like there is no way out? If you are crying out to the Lord like St. Paul, know that you are not alone. God’s silence is not absence. He is with y...
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