Homilies (Page 37)

“Passion Sunday”: Why Suffering is Christian! Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2:6-11; Lk 22:14-23:56 or 23:1-49 Today, a name matters. Our Sunday is called “Passion Sunday” to teach us that suffering is Christian and normal/natural. In order to tell us the importance of “Passion,” we read a “Passion Narrative,” the story of the suffering, betrayal and agony of Jesus. In fact, all three readings of today qualify as “Passion Narratives”. In our first reading, we read the agony of Jesus in the prophecy of Isaiah, how the Messiah’s beard becomes an instrument of torture; his face, a toilet for spittle; and his back, a punching bag. ImagineRead More →

Hope, not Despair, as we Near the Finishing line of Lent! Isaiah 43:16-21; Philippians 3:8-14; John 8:1-11 With rumors of another economic down-turn, imminent radical nationalism, observable break down in global alliances and looming power shifts, we all need to hear good news, reassurances that the human race is always resilient before any economic, political and moral catastrophes.  The message of this Sunday comes in handy: “Hope, not Despair, as we Near the Finishing line of Lent” is the message of the Fifth Sunday of Lent. The good news is that, down memory lane, our generation has the best record in knitting webs of humanRead More →

Turning “Hearing” into “Listening: Don’t Hear God, Listen to Him! Joshua 5:9a, 10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Lk 15:1-3, 11-32 It is impossible not admit that our times suffer from noise-pollution. The number of headsets one sees people wearing testify to the human desire to separate “hearing” from “listening,” a determination to pick and choose what one listens to and shut out what one hears. When we “hear,” we mean we are not in control, but when we “listen,” we filter out information from noises. When we listen, we learn and take instruction. In fact, some think that the noises of contemporary society lead to anRead More →

We Are the Problem, Not God!  Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15; 1 Cor 10:1-6, 10-12; Luke 13:1-9 I was disappointed in God for many years; not because of what he did, but for what he failed to do: a nun/sister was raped by armed robbers, and I couldn’t understand how God could sit by and watch that happen to a person who had consecrated her life to him! I was just 12 years-old at the time. In my mind, I questioned God’s omnipotence and love, at least, for that nun/sister. Today, all is coming back to me, because of our gospel reading. But I now know thatRead More →

A Christian Lesson on Naturalization Strategy Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18; Philippians 3:17-4:1 or 3:20-4:1; Luke 9:28b-36 A novice, a nun in training, goes to her spiritual director to complain to him that she was convinced God was not calling her to be a nun because she had lost three members of her family since she (began her formation) went to the novitiate. Her spiritual director asked her to produce the contract paper she signed with God that no one will die in her family because she wanted to become a nun/sister. She answered that there was no such contract signed with God. Her spiritual director encouragedRead More →

Here is Why I Worship God and Practice Lenten Observances: I am a Child of God! Deuteronomy 26:4-10; Rom 10:8-13; Lk 4:1-13 Selfishness comes from those who believe they have nothing and have received nothing. Such persons are characterized by the desire to receive and are full of arguments why they need to receive and never to give. There is a hollowness in them that blinds them to what they have and are receiving. Satan is a typical example of people like that, he forgets that he was created by God, empowered by God and loved by God. Yes, God loves Satan and awaits hisRead More →

Ash Wednesday: Starting a Journey [to God] of Remembrance Joel 2:12-18; 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 Life is a journey that starts in maternal womb and ends in the womb of the earth, but with a guarantee of resurrection for the children of God. The journey of life takes two vehicles, the body and the spirit-soul. To keep the vehicle of the body going, we need to work and eat everyday. We study hard in schools to obtain degrees, and our degrees obtain us jobs which require hard work in order to be paid salaries and all forms of remunerations. Neither money nor foodRead More →

It is Possible to be a Christian, Christ’s Victory Over Sin is Yours too Ben Sirach 27:4-7; 1 Corinthians 15:54-58; Luke 6:39-42 The many adjectives (blind, good, superior, rotten and evil) of today can serve as distractions and sources of confusion, when we do not ask the simple question: what is an adjective? Behind and before any adjective is a noun or substantive which the adjective describes. We waste our time, should we pay attention to the adjectives rather than what they qualify – a Christian. Who is a Christian and what are the expectations of God vis-à-vis a Christian? is the focus of today.Read More →

Cemetery of the Living: Dying in Order to Live, that is the only Way  1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-231 Corinthians 15:45-49; Luke 6:27-38 Driving by a cemetery with a friend, he said to me: “look over there, what do you see?” I replied, “that is a cemetery”; and he said to me, “they are dying to enter there”! The the pun dawned on me that one needs to die to be an inmate of a cemetery – dying to get in there, indeed! However, the challenge today, from our readings, is: how does one become a child of God? The answer is simple: dyingRead More →