Homilies (Page 14)

God is Alive, Cast Away your Fears! 1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:22-33 “The only thing to fear is fear itself,” sets the tone for the message of this Sunday. Today, we are paralyzed by fears at many fronts: the lingering Russian-Ukraine war, the looming economic meltdown, the persistent injustices against the weak, and orchestrated rhetoric of war between Niger Republic and the West. In this atmosphere, we need reassurances that all will be well; we need a voice that says “you’ll weather the storm, because I’ve got your back”. That is exactly what God is doing in our readings today, helping usRead More →

Managing our Wow-Moments Daniel 7:9–10, 13–14; 2 Peter 1:16–19; Mark 9:2–10 “Wow-moments” come in unexpected surprises organized either by friends or Providence. Unexpected victories in competitive sports, acing a difficult exam, winning a jackpot, or achieving a dreamed job or winning a spouse. These are wow-moments, and they bring about a mixture of joy and confusion that leave some speechless, others in tears, or trying new stunts. There is another kind of wow-moment – when things simply refuse to add up,  when the odds are orchestrated against us. In place of progress, we record retrogression; instead of successes, failures take their places. Negative wow-moments doRead More →

A Mission of Self-Discovery 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12;  Romans 8:28-30; Matthew 13:44-52 or 13:44-46 Despite our human wish that only goodness will surround us, it suffices to have observing eyes and a perceptive mind to notice that people behave differently. God often gets the blames for the absence of goodness in our society, especially when we perceive injustices tarnishing the goodness of God’s creation. Our readings of this 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A, 2023, attempt to point out the direction towards the recovery of universal goodness, provided that God gets human cooperation. But is God to blame for the evil in the world?Read More →

Are you a weed? Wisdom 12:13, 16-19; Romans 8:26-27; Matthew 13:24-43 We are back to that period of the liturgical year where parables garnish our spiritual menu. It is a time in which we need to struggle to understand what God says to us in metaphors and images. Above all, the parables of Jesus meet us where we are at individually. With parables, Jesus does not spare anybody. Each human being finds his or her place—the good, the bad, and the ugly. The messages of the parables are not uniform for everybody; that is the joy of the parables. Those who think that only goodRead More →

Holy Spirit is Always Present Wisdom 12:13, 16-19; Romans 8:26-27; Matthew 13:24-43 or 13:24-30 One question is capital this Sunday: Where is the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ parables? There seems to be a fierce competition between God and the Devil, and the Holy Spirit alone can help us weather the storm. For example, God sows good seeds, and the Devil sows the weeds among God’s good seeds. When asked that the weeds be uprooted, God decided it is better for both to grow up side by side. Our first reading comes through in God’s decision that the good seeds and the weeds be allowed toRead More →

No One Left Out! Isaiah 55:10-11; Romans 8:18-23; Matthew 13:1-23 When we read the translation of today’s gospel, that the Sower is God, the soil is the human heart and the seed is the Word of God, the temptation that comes with a human reading of today’s gospel is to imagine that God leaves out or behind those of us with rocky and thorny hearts from the fruitfulness of his Word. Nothing can be further from the truth! If the idea that the seeds that fell on the path, rocks, and thorns were scorched to death and failed to produce fruits comparable to those onRead More →

Trinity Sunday: Bringing back Love Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; John 3:16-18 A father was once pissed by the misbehavior of his son that he asked his son to pack and leave his house. His son laughed and said: “nobody can chase me out of my father’s house”. If anyone is to pack and leave, he said to his father, it is you: you need to pack out of my father’s house and go to your father’s house. His father collapsed! Ironically, the use and misuse of the concept of “love” today has largely hijacked its meaning from what God revealed to us inRead More →

On Fire, burning up Sins Acts 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13; John 20:19-23 Why Pentecost? Do we need the Holy Spirit? Jesus was convinced that his disciples needed the Holy Spirit and that was his gift to them. According to our gospel reading today, the action of Jesus’ disciples showed fearfulness. The disciples of Jesus Christ went into hiding after seeing how ingloriously he was beaten, spat upon, crowned with thorns, made to carry a wooden cross to Golgotha, crucified with nails running through his hands and feet. A lance was driven through his side to certify that he was indeed dead! Criminals were his companionsRead More →

Prayer: Making God Present and Active in the World Acts 1:12-14; 1 Peter 4:13-16; John 17:1-11a Once upon a time, Jesus Christ physically walked down the streets of Palestine, visited friends and foes, loved, healed, and saved all through his death on the Cross of Calvary. Now, with the Ascension over with, the question is: Is God still with us? Through Vatican II (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 7), the Catholic Church teaches that Jesus is present in the Holy Eucharist, in the Presiding Priest at Mass, in the gathered Eucharistic assembly, in the Sacraments and in his Word. Today, our liturgical readings take up the idea ofRead More →