Homilies (Page 19)

Corpus Christi Sunday: When Sharing Keeps Everybody Well-Fed! Genesis 14:18-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Luke 9:11b-17 When we look at the celebration of this Sunday – The Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ – exclusively from the miraculous perspective, then we will have the excuse to do nothing about our brothers and sisters who are dying of starvation. On the contrary, today’s solemnity teaches us about the power of sharing in order to eradicate poverty both spiritually and physically/materially. It teaches us that prayer is not always done on our knees and addressed to God, but that prayer is at its best standingRead More →

Trinity or Living-with-God  Sunday Proverbs 8:22–31; Romans 5:1–5; John 16:12–15 Christians get discouraged about the Most Holy Trinity because it is called a mystery – something no one can understand! The good news is MYSTERY is NOT what we cannot understand, but a RELATIONSHIP with what God has revealed of Himself to human beings! After all, what do we actually know about ourselves or the world itself, yet we live our lives happily? If any thing, breathe God, speak God, hear God and feel God; then, living-with-God Sunday or Trinity Sunday will stop being a mystery to understand (with the brain) but a lifestyle toRead More →

Acts 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3b–7, 12–13; John 20:19–23 Two characteristics of Lucan narratives today (Acts 2:1-11) mark him out as a historian: his desire for chronology and detail. In the previous chapter (chapter 1), Luke underscores the fact that Jesus told the apostles not to leave Jerusalem before they had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Luke also added that Jesus appeared to his apostles for forty days before his ascension. Now, at the mention of Pentecost, it makes chronological sense to understand that on the fiftieth day after the resurrection of Jesus, it was Pentecost day, and the Holy Spirit came upon theRead More →

Heaven is Our Home! Acts 1:1-11; Hebrews 9:24-28; Luke 24:46-53 As a seminarian in theology, in the 90s, the seminary rector saddled me with lots of responsibilities. For a while, I managed to discharge them as best as I could, but they began to weigh me down. One day, I went to the rector to complain about all the responsibilities given me, whether he could give other seminarians some of the functions I had to discharge. His response to my request was unexpected; he said: “Ayo, the reward for hard work is extra hard work!” Really! Our first reading and the gospel appear to beRead More →

Freedom and Reconciliation Sunday Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29 I once worked in a village called Mayerthorpe, in the Canadian province of Alberta. It was summer, 2009, at St. Agnes parish. One Sunday, during my homily, I observed a spectacle. At Mass, there was this young mother (name withheld), with two young daughters. It seemed her daughters intentionally took turns to run to the back of the church; and, each time that happened, their mother goes after the one behind the church to negotiate with her on why she should return to her seat, and listen quietly to my homily. This backRead More →

Acts 14:21-27; Revelation 21:1-5a; John 13:31-33a, 34-35 It all depends! At the end of the elementary or secondary school term, some of us couldn’t wait to get home to report that we  either came first, second or third in our class. The joy of a chicken that will be killed to celebrate our success animated us. Of course, returning home to face the music of either failure at the end of the school year or not being among the top 3 in our class dragged the feet of some of us. It really depends on the news we have to announce to determine the joyRead More →

Called to Imitate Christ: Christ our Shepherd and Model Acts 13:42-52; Revelation 7:9, 14b-17; John 10:27-30 If the resurrection saga of Jesus has stirred so much controversy because the Jews wanted to discredit it, this Sunday’s readings have decided to shift gears and attention. Instead of dwelling on Jewish opposition to the resurrection story, the search light is turned on how those who preach the resurrection should do their job: we move from opposition to witnessing to the resurrection of Jesus Christ as individual Christians. The fundamental question is how does one respond to opposition to what one stands for? Better put, how does oneRead More →

Love and Service Sunday Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41; Revelation 5:11-14;  John 21:1-19 How normal is it for anyone to say, “I am glad because I am suffering?” Yet, that is what the apostles said in our first reading – “So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name” (Acts 5:41). This courage, and similar acts of valor, turn our minds to the real meaning of Christianity – a religion of the cross, the cross of Jesus Christ, the cross of a follower of Christ. Quite often, the cross of a ChristianRead More →

Hope of Salvation A story was told of a man who died and went to Hell. While in Hell, he decided to review his life on earth to ascertain that he really deserved to be in Hell. In his retrospections, he consoled himself for being in Hell because he began to enumerate his sins to himself and his conclusion was that Hell was where he belonged, on account of his wrong doings on earth. However, he lifted up his gaze, and to his utmost surprise, he saw his pastor/parish priest in Hell. In his amazement he yelled out, “Father, are you also here in Hell?”Read More →