Homilies

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 19th, 2021

Blessed are you among women.  Blessed is the fruit of your womb. Elizabeth said this to her young engaged but yet to be married cousin Mary. She said it to a thirteen, fourteen-year-old girl, pregnant out of wedlock and with her fiancé Joseph not being the baby’s father. At that time the incarnation of our God in our midst was hanging in the balance. If, for a variety of reasons, the Fruit of Mary’s womb had not grown to full gestation and be born, we would not be here celebrating the most astonishing fact in the history of humankind: God in human flesh like

Homilies

Homily for the Third Sunday of Advent, December 12th, 2021

Brace yourselves for a huge understatement: every single human being who ever existed, exists or will exist has happiness as his/her ultimate aspiration. After a moment of reflection, some might wonder: “What about those who kill themselves; those who are self-destructive? What about those enslaved by addictions such as alcohol, drugs, pornography, gambling, greed, lust for power, violence and any other enslavement that removes or reduces freedom considerably? What about those who wallow in self-pity and seek commiseration?” Those who reach the point of ending the

Homilies

Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent, December 5th, 2021

What St. Paul encourages us to reflect on in today’s 2nd reading (Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11),  could be a wonderful way of capitalizing on the holy season of Advent and it could be also a profitable program to carry out the rest of our life.   I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus…. that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ… Wow!

Homilies

Homily for the First Sunday of Advent, November 28th, 2021

Let me start by stating what is painfully obvious: we are living in a very difficult, trying, unsettling time. To the seasonal surges of the Covid-19 add the barbaric and violent behavior of different splinter groups of Islam jihadists especially in Nigeria and Cameroun; add the forced conversions to Islam of  kidnapped Christian girls and loss of property and/or of life due to the “blasphemy law” in Pakistan; add the continuous threat of terrorism; add senseless violence; add concerted efforts to divide our Country, pitting one race against another;

Homilies

Homily for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinal Time, November 14th, 2021

This is what we heard from the 1st reading: It shall be a time unsurpassed in distress…Daniel: 12:1. And from the gospel: "But in those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Mark 13:24-25 Once we make the chances in terminology required by modern astronomy, what we have here predicted is the end of the world through a cosmic catastrophe. From time unmemorable, human beings have been forced occasionally to think about th

Homilies

Homily for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinal Time, November 7th, 2021

Today’s 1st reading (1 Kings 17:10-16) and Gospel passage (Mark 12:38-44)  force us to determine the degree of genuine dependency that we have on God. In other words, they show which concrete facts prove or discredit our claim of trusting in God with our very life, with our whole life, in all its facets. Extreme cases are offered to our consideration so that we are denied any wiggling room and any rationalization to claim that our dependency on God doesn’t have to be more than nominal. "As the LORD, your God, lives," she answered, "I have nothing baked; th

Homilies

Homily for the 31st Sunday in Ordinal Time, October 31st, 2021

  We are often confronted by painful reminders of how the culture of death is hardening the hearts of many and, thus, devastating our country and large portions of the world also in ways not readily evident. If some of us need evidence of this hardening of hearts, let them just observe the contorted faces of abortion activists as, enraged, they shout obscenities and threats in front of the Supreme Court building. Could they be possessed by a demon?  The contrast with the serene and joyful faces of those participating in Marches for Life is simply st

Homilies

Homily for World Mission Sunday, October 24th, 2021

Today is World Mission Sunday. It should be the Day meant to define and shape every single day of our life as disciples of Jesus Christ, because he has entrusted us with the spreading of the Good News, the most astonishing and hope-filled message ever revealed by our heavenly Father. Today’s 1st reading offers us “a teaser,” of that Good News that should keep us charged up around the clock and “dying” to share it with others. “They departed in tears, but I will console them and guide them; I will lead them to brooks of water, on a level road, so that none sha

Homilies

Homily for the 29th Sunday in Ordinal Time, October 17th, 2021

  The readings of today’s Eucharistic celebration offer a clear suggestion which is as great as it is unusual. It is the call to serve each other and to give our life in ransom for many. Unless we were ever held for ransom, or we were those who had to pay it, we could not fully appreciate the weight of this call. Jesus, the Son of Man, came to serve and to give his life in ransom for many. Matthew 20:28   18 years ago, one of our PIME priests was captured by Muslim rebels on the island of Mindanao, in the Philippines, and went through the ord

Homilies

Homily for the 28th Sunday in Ordinal Time, October 10th, 2021

No matter how self-confident and bold we might feel we could all have certain people who intimidate us. We sense a majestic aura around them, weightiness and a penetrating force emanating from them that leaves us with no place for hiding our deficiencies. We might choose to steer clear of them or to face them only after a thorough preparation. What would your reaction be to my saying that Jesus, as Word of God, is now and will be the most intimidating Person in our life? I would even add that those who disagree with this statement might have spun their “spir