Homilies (Page 36)

Corpus Christi: 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 standing upRead More →

Acts 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3b–7, 12–13; John 20:19–23 Pentecost Day: Creating Unity through Love and Forgiveness 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 PentecostRead More →

You’re God’s Intercessors Acts 16:16-34; Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21; John 17:20-26 Sin is a reality that needs no researchers to prove, it suffices to look at ourselves and realize that we too are sinners. This doesn’t mean that virtuous persons do not exist, but the presence of sin necessitates a new vocation, the vocation to become intercessors: those who spend their lives in prayer and penance for the salvation of the world. Monasticism has long shown us the need for people like that, not just the present day Charismatic intercessors. Today’s gospel provides us with two models of intercessors: visible and invisible. Jesus spent hisRead More →

Fake News: Replacing our Self-Image Mirror with Christ’s Acts 13:14, 42-52; Revelation 7:9, 14b,-17; John 10:27-30 Mirrors, many of them, is all you see, but how many want others besides themselves in that mirror? These individual mirrors have broken down the meaning of society and community, where we believe the same thing and have a common value. We no longer have a human society, a community of persons with one mirror for everybody, we have severed ourselves, defined ourselves, and chosen our individual paths – it is a new era, the era of fake news! In an era of fake news, “directionlessness” is the orderRead More →

Right Hand of God, Right Side of the Boat, and the Stretched Hands of Peter: Where are You? Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19 “Where are you” is an invitation to take bearings because the Christian faith and life is a journey. Like every journey, there are markers and indices that show where we are at – the importance of a place. Places and place-names are important beyond point of references; the location of a thing tells, at least, three things about it: why it is there, its importance, and how it got there. In our human society, some belong to high-class, others, low-class.Read More →

You and I are Missionaries of God’s Mercies to the World! Acts 5:12-16; Revelation 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19; John 20:19-31 We know, for historical fact, that God’s Mercy came to us in a human form about 2000 years ago – Jesus Christ of Nazareth – who came, lived among us, and died for our salvation. If for no other reason, the statements of John 3:16-17 prove it beyond doubts: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn theRead More →

Where are you? Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-9 Surely, the question “where are you” takes our minds back to the garden of Eden. It reminds us of the Fall of our First Parents, and God’s journey to them with the question: “Where are you?” After creation, there was the need to redeem creation because of sin – Adam, where are you? This same question is pertinent today, Easter Sunday, for a number of reasons: 1) the disciples returned to their former job – fishing. The troubled road to the grave was too traumatizing for them, their beliefs about the Messiah squared off withRead More →

Holy Saturday: Stepping out of Darkness into the Light of God “Time” matters, not just because it marks and gives perspectives to human actions, but it also offers us the opportunity to celebrate the defeat of darkness. “Darkness” allows for no presence, it celebrates absence. Before the great statement of our first reading today – “Let there be light,” darkness had a field day, celebrating the absence of light. The joy of this night, the greatest of all nights because light will dawn to put asunder whatever is left of darkness, is the celebration of Christ, the Light of the World; it is the re-enactmentRead More →

When Good Friday is Just a Bus Stop, Easter Sunday is the Destination  Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9; John 18: 1-19: 42 When morning after morning someone greets you “good morning,” “bonjour” or “buenas dias,” you need to ask: what makes the day good? Even when one did not sleep well, the greeting is still “good morning.” A hungry person with rumbling stomach and an employee whose salary has not been paid, they are all greeted “good morning”. Those sent to hospital at night and battling for their lives in the hospital receive the same greeting – good morning! Why not greet people on theRead More →