Homilies

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 →

Beatitudes Building the Kingdom of God on Earth  Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; Matthew 5:1-12a In an age of democracy, three elements are indispensable for the building of the human polity: 1) party-politics, 2) manifestos, and 3) capitalism. Individuals join different political parties on the basis of their philosophies and conviction; worse case scenario, politicians join the winning party or the political party that guarantees thievery as part of its unwritten laws. From these political parties emerge beautiful and hopeful manifestos, even though delivering on those manifestos is a different question. Finally, the deification of money or capital is key to democracy. Beautiful slogans,Read More →

“Come, follow me . . .” Isaiah 8:23–9:3; 1 Corinthians 1:10–13, 17; Matthew 4:12–23 One thing is absolutely certain: God’s call to discipleship has no age limit, no social restriction, and no expiration date. In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah speaks of a people who walked in darkness but have now seen a great light. God does not wait for perfection before calling; He enters history precisely where darkness, fear, and uncertainty reign. Samuel was called as a young child, still learning how to recognize the voice of God. In today’s Gospel, grown men—workers, fishermen, providers, parents—are called in the midst of their dailyRead More →

What Is Your SMELL? Isaiah 49:3, 5–6; 1 Corinthians 1:1–3; John 1:29–34   Maybe not so much for human beings, but smell plays a vital role in the animal kingdom. It marks boundaries and territories and helps establish group identity. Little did I know that “smell” is also important for human beings—and today, I realize that it is vital for Christianity.   As a young minor seminarian, I once went for morning Mass with another seminarian at a sisters’ convent chapel. As soon as we stepped into the convent, it took barely a few seconds before the seminarian with me asked the sisters whether hisRead More →