Homilies

Homily for the 5th Sunday in Lent, April 6, 2025

…since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12  What a wonderful statement uttered by St. Paul! It should become the template of our relationship with Christ.  There are two basic ways of becoming somebody else’s possession: by being purchased as slaves or as the result of being smitten by love.  Today, St. Paul tells us how he fell in love with Christ. (Philippians 3:8-14)  Two people smitten by love desire intensely to be possessed by their beloved. It is as if they forfeit their own will to be always

Homilies

Homily for the 4th Sunday in Lent, March 30, 2025

While it is comforting and reassuring to know from the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:1-3, 11-32) that God’s love for us is such that we are guaranteed a safety net of grace were we to stray and become “big time sinners,” it begs the question: “Why is Jesus, today, retelling us the story that we know so very well?”   He knows that we are quite familiar with it … unless he feels that we really need to take another look at this parable and see if there is something of vital importance in it, we urgently need to consider.   Right away, we

Homilies

Homily for the 3rd Sunday in Lent, March 23, 2025

Time is a very valuable gift given to us by the Lord.  He is the owner of the vineyard where our “fig tree” is growing. It would be absurd to expect the fig tree to determine when its time is up. (Luke 13:1-9) That right belongs to the owner of the vineyard.  Similarly, we don’t decide when our time on earth is up.  Regardless of our bearing good fruit or of our sterility; regardless of our preparedness, age, health condition, goodness or lack thereof, the Lord reserves the right to call us to himself whenever he sees fit.  Besides old age,

Homilies

Homily for the 2nd Sunday in Lent, March 16, 2025

Already bruised by the skirmishes of life, we grown-ups let kids take refuge in a world of dreams, make-believes and incredible feats made easy by super-heroes. We do not want them to be scarred and traumatized by an early brush with the real world in which we must live.  Alas, the world of grown-ups reserves many unpleasant surprises.  At times, unceremoniously, we can be thrusted into surreal situations in which we would feel numb, disoriented, enveloped in darkness, trudging hesitantly through thick clouds.  This is what happened to Abram (Genesi

Homilies

Homily for the 1st Sunday in Lent, March 9, 2025

We all sense that Lent is a special time of grace from God…but we might think that giving up a few little things for 40 days or so, is all that it takes to get in spiritual shape and ready for Easter.  Lent is perhaps the most intensely spiritual time of the year but must be so for a more comprehensive and radical reason; one that covers all aspects of life.  It is our fundamental choice to be unconditionally faithful to God and trusting in him alone as our Father.  Knowing well our weakened human nature, God has always tested the mettle of his pe

Homilies

Homily for the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 23, 2025

Are these orders from Jesus (Luke 6: 27-37) a string of exaggerations designed to shock us?    NO!  We all know very well that Jesus means every single one of these statements, shocking and nearly impossible to implement as they truly are.    We know him well enough to realize that these teachings are so “Christ-like,” so incredibly different from conventional wisdom, so radical that they must be divine; they must be filled with Life and designed to fill us with Life too.  Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you

Homilies

Homily for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 16, 2025

Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh…Jeremiah 17:5  This divine message is somber and blunt, but we shall thank God for it even so.  How accurate is this warning? Let us begin by asking ourselves: “who keeps failing us?”   Many would say that the Government, at the local, or at the state or at the federal level, fails them. Even some of those whom we elected to look after our interests and rights do fail us.   However, let us start, instead, by listing those closest to us, those whom we

Homilies

Homily for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 9, 2025

We are swamped with words.  Some poisonous like gossip; some devastating like slander; others unsettling like rumors and criticism.  Most of them, though, are empty and meaningless, hot air—precisely.  How many millions of words have invaded our being this past week?  Printed words, broadcast words, casual words from friends and passerby—words, words, and more words.    Almost screaming, we take refuge in this church and say: “No more words… I need facts!”  However, here we get more words.  But we do not mind that, a

Homilies

Homily for the feast of The Presentation of the Lord, February 2, 2025

But who will endure the day of his coming?  For he is like the refiner’s fire, or like the fuller’s lye. …He will sit refining and purifying silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi… from the first reading, Malachi 3:1-4  Isn’t it overkill, a pure exaggeration?  We are talking about a 40-day-old baby, so cute, so charming.  The 2nd reading (Hebrews 2:14-18) sheds light on this obvious discrepancy.  It speaks of Jesus’ entire life as spent in obedience to the Father’s command.  It also deals with the extremely high personal c

Homilies

Homily for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 26, 2025

Then, Nehemiah, that is, His Excellency, and Ezra, the priest-scribe and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all the people: "Today is holy to the LORD your God. Do not be sad, and do not weep"- for all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law. Nehemiah 8:9  Often enough, as a priest I am privileged, especially in the Reconciliation room, to witness women and men weeping when they are touched by God’s grace and return to him after many long years of absence from the Church.  There are tears of joy because how they feel