Homilies

Holy Thursday, Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Year A,  2026  Holy Thursday: Creating Unity through Eating the Body and Drinking the Blood of Christ Ex 12:1-8, 11-14; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-15 This night, we have come to eat; not just any kind of food, but flesh – meat and blood. We are here, not because we have no food and drinks in our individual homes, but because there is a party, Jesus’ banquet where there is food and drink for everyone who cares to stop by. It is a dinner, a supper with a difference – we will eat and become what we eat,Read More →

“Crucify Him”: What a God, and what a Humanity! Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2:6-11; Matthew 26:14—27:66 The drama that unfolds today, Passion Sunday, reveals the fragility of our human nature in the face of death, and reveals the power of grace in those who remain standing despite betrayals, denunciations, and death in cold blood. Indeed, “Crucify him” sums up the  betrayal that God turns to forgiveness of sins and salvation! God finds himself in the dock today, in the narration of our first reading, from Isaiah. The returnees from Babylon, the survivors of a long exile, take God to task for an explanation as regards whetherRead More →

This is “Hope”: God’s Grace is always Available! Ezekiel 37:12-14; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:1-42 Quite often, the knowledge of our faith does not help us to weather the storms of temptations and trials. For example, how often do we remember the meaning of “grace,” which we learnt in our Catechism classes – “Grace is the supernatural gift of God which makes us believe that God will do everything for our justification and salvation.” Because of the wars and genocides around us, many think that the end of the world is approaching or that “rapture” is fast approaching. Where is the power of God’s grace inRead More →

Not only David, You, too, are Anointed 1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41 A few days ago, I received a video clip about a famous French fortune teller and seer. A French journalist went to interview him, and this is what transpired: Journalist: Sir, is it true that you can predict the things that will happen in the future? Seer: Yes, Sir, I can predict the future with 100% accuracy. Journalist: The journalist gave him a dirty slap and asked him: did you see this slap coming? Seer: writhing in pain, the seer did not respond. Quite often, it is difficult toRead More →

“Is the Lord among us?” Exodus 17:1-7; Romans 5:1-8; John 4:5-42. “Is the Lord among us?” remains a pertinent question for every authentic Christian, given the economic and financial drama unfolding globally; but particularly for those individual Christians who pray hard everyday for God to intervene in the moral decay of our times, and all those who long for a new lease of life to be infused into Christianity and Christian practices. In fact, a new Pentecost is what is longed for and needed. “Is the Lord among us?” is the cry of hungry Israelites on their way to the Promised Land. Physical and materialRead More →

Focus on the Destination Genesis 12:1-4a; 2 Timothy 1:8b-10; Matthew 17:1-9 Two indispensable elements to every journey are start and end points, two terminals that co-exist. A time to be born and a time to die; a beginning to a visible and mortal existence and a time for immortal life; a time to care for the body and a time to nourish the soul; a time of exile from God and a time to reunite with God; a time to transcend the physical in order to reveal the metaphysical; a time and period we call LENT – the prioritization of the soul! The call ofRead More →

S.T.O.P.: Turning our Temptations into Strengths Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11 Jesus didn’t come to condemn sinners; he came to save sinners. Yet, when I listen to homilies, these days, the emphasis on the damnation of sinners tromps that on the salvation of sinners. One gets the urgency of repentance and the acute ascendancy of sin in the world, painted in the most apocalyptic terms possible. Yet, all the homilies in the whole world don’t seem to be helping matters. On the contrary, it seems humanity prefers wrong to right; we are in love with sin more than virtue; we promote evil insteadRead More →

“I am the Man/Woman” Sirach 15:15-20; 1 Corinthians 2:6-10; Matthew 5:17-37 You probably remember where that came from—“I am the man”. Well, it came from the incident between Nathan and David, after David committed adultery with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11-12). The prophet Nathan confronted David with his sin telling him the story of a man with many sheep, who had a visitor but was unwilling to offer any of his many sheep to be killed and a meal made for his visitor, instead, he took his neighbor’s only sheep and sacrificed for his guest. King David, on hearing the story, swore to killRead More →

Don’t Curse the Darkness; Be Its Light!  Isaiah 58:7–10 · 1 Corinthians 2:1–5 · Matthew 5:13–16 A hunter once found an eagle’s nest with eggs. He took them home and placed them among the eggs of a free-range hen. The hen hatched them all and raised them as her own. One day, while foraging, one of the young birds—an eaglet—looked up and asked about the creatures soaring in the sky and why he could not do the same. The hen replied, “Those are birds; they can fly. We can’t.” And so the eagle lived its whole life believing it was a chicken. Fortunately, God doesRead More →