Homilies

Homily for Easter Sunday, April 5th, 2026

If Jesus’s display of love for us had ended at dusk of Good Friday, when his disfigured corpse was taken down from the cross, washed and placed in a new tomb, he would be a hero who lost his life trying to save us all. But we would have been lost forever.  The resurrection is instead that lone, historical fact that proves that through Jesus’s victory over death, all of us possess the guarantee of Life without end.  The resurrection changes everything for Jesus as Son of Man and

Homilies

Homily for Palm Sunday, March 29th, 2026

Perhaps what impresses us the most in this Passion Narrative by St. Matthew is the fact that Jesus does not defend himself.   The script that the Father had chosen for him calls for him to be made sport of, to be betrayed, arrested, falsely accused, struck, beaten, crowned with thorns, flogged and nailed to a cross.  This shocking fact offers us a splendid opportunity to assess the level of our trust in God our Father.  I am not referring to our duty to protect ourselves and our loved ones from very serious t

Homilies

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent, March 22nd, 2026

The resuscitation of Lazarus by Jesus (John 11:1-45) is meant to help us believers focus on what eternally endures, and channel our limited energies to make the most of this earthly life so that we may be found worthy of claiming our heavenly citizenship.  …but our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:20  Jesus grants a few more years of earthly life to Lazarus who was rotting in his tomb for four days.   Apar

Homilies

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Lent, March 15th, 2026

Considering the last blistering words coming straight from Jesus’ mouth today, we might want to take a second look at our spiritual condition, perhaps decades, ages, after we received the light of Christ at our Baptism.   I am referring of course to these words: “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see’, so your sin remains.”  Since Christ, as we so readily claim, is present at our assembly, these searing words are directed also at us.  We

Homilies

Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Lent, March 8th, 2026

The details of the narrative about the Samaritan woman are designed to bring us comfort and reassurance as we try to live out our Christian calling during Lent and throughout the year. (Jn 4:5-15,19b-26,39a,40-42)  Even those among us who rely ever more heavily on technology and on scientific progress are painfully aware of how fragile and insignificant we truly are.   Even as we benefit from the advancements of science and medicine, we keep experiencing, deep inside our heart,&nb

Homilies

Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent, March 1st, 2026

Today, the very fact that we are called upon to reflect on the familiar page of the Gospel describing the Transfiguration, should prompt us to reflect on OUR Transfiguration as the Body of Christ meant to glow with majestic brightness and glory.  We should turn very sad if we realize that our spiritual journey stalled or reversed its course due to a crucial oversight: that the only reality in which all believers are called to live is the Mystical Body of Christ.   Accordingly, whenever we hear or rea

Homilies

Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent, February 22nd, 2026

We need to start our reflection on temptations with some solid good news: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15  The gospel passage of every first Sunday of Lent describes how Jesus was tested by Satan at the beginning of his public ministry. However, Satan continued to put Jesus to the test throughout his public ministry and up to his weakest point as he was dying on the

Homilies

Homily for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 15th, 2026

In the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus speaks at length to us with examples that are plain, ordinary, familiar and, therefore, too direct and too personal to be easily dismissed. (Matthew 5: 17-37)  As he teaches about the action of the Holy Spirit in minds and hearts that are receptive, we begin to regret the opportunities we missed to be transformed by his divine teachings.  “I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” Mat. 5:17.  The Spirit of l

Homilies

Homily for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 8th, 2026

On the feast of the Presentation of the Lord Jesus in the Temple, (February 2) we reflected upon our lofty call to be the light of the world; a light which is expected to shine amid the darkness all around it.  Today, we reflect also on the other lofty call: the call to be the salt of the earth, giving flavor to this world of ours.  Be sure of this, either we give taste and meaning to the world around us or we, too, become flat, aloof, thus, part of the

Homilies

Homily for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 1st, 2026

But I will leave as a remnant in your midst a people humble and lowly, who shall take refuge in the name of the LORD. Zephaniah 3:12  Are we humble and lowly? Do we take refuge in the name of the Lord or not?  To answer these two questions, I like to share with you what Pope Benedict XVI teaches us in his book on Jesus of Nazareth about the Beatitudes.  For Pope Benedict XVI, the Beatitudes are a high-definition photograph of Jesus’ hea