Homilies

Homily for the 5th Sunday in Lent, March 17, 2024

In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death… (Hebrews 5: 7)  This powerful statement underlines forcefully how close to our flesh, to our predicaments, to our fears, to our anguish God made himself in the flesh of his only begotten Son, Jesus.   We must be heartened by Jesus’ loud cries and tears to ponder existential questions that we might ask ourselves only very rarely—if ever:  The inevitability of death; what expects us be

Homilies

Homily for the 4th Sunday in Lent, March 10, 2024

Decades ago, a familiar sign held by bold believers at major sports events, simply read “John 3:16.” For those unfamiliar with the Bible, it refers to these words: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” But what are we to understand by the words “everyone who believes in him?” Taking into consideration the pattern of Jesus’ public life and his horrific death on the cross, I submit to you that the bottom line for a true disciple is still the same as ever: anyone who

Homilies

Homily for the 3rd Sunday in Lent, March 3, 2024

“You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth.” Exodus 20:4 It should be obvious to us believers that no human being can adequately create an image of God. God’s full revelation of himself was recorded by John in his first letter. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. 1 John 4:8.             We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in

Homilies

Homily for the 2nd Sunday in Lent, February 25, 2024

The Preface of the second Sunday of Lent tells us that the impressive display of breathtaking glory enveloping even the body of Jesus at the Transfiguration, was shown to Peter, James, and John to help them (and the rest of the group) to get over the scandal of the cross. (cf. Mark 9:2-10)  To fully appreciate the intensity of today’s readings, we need to become a bit familiar with their colorful oriental symbolism.  A high mountain: God reveals his presence on high mountains as, even physically, they are closer to heaven…  However, closeness t

Homilies

Homily for the 1st Sunday in Lent, February 18, 2024

Today’s readings leave us feeling uneasy, somewhat uncomfortable and with troubling questions in our minds.  The 1st & 2nd readings (Genesis 9:8-15 and 1 Peter 3:18-22) mention the global devastation caused by the flood survived solely by Noah and seven others.  However, confronted by havoc, at times, we dare to question the promise made by God himself: …there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth..." (Genesis 9:11).  The 2nd reading also mentions the Risen Lord descending into a mythical underworld prison to inform the disobedi

Homilies

Homily for the 6th Sunday in Ordinal Time, February 11, 2024

To better appreciate this page of the gospel of Mark, I was thinking of the emotions which, most certainly, would grip the heart of a person with an irresistible passion for gardening and who, one morning, wakes up to the horrific sight of her garden in a mess: the gorgeous flowers whacked, plants mercilessly uprooted and trampled upon. In the beginning, before original sin devastated everything, God’s creation was like a most beautiful garden. In this passage about the healing of a leper (Mark 1:40-45), we should understand the verbs used by the evangelist Mark t

Homilies

Homily for the 5th Sunday in Ordinal Time, February 4, 2024

The older we are the more evidence we accumulate to agree with Job and his assessment of life: So, I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights have been allotted to me. Job 7:3  In painful situations stretched out over the years, one might feel pushed inexorably towards bitterness, cynicism, even near the brink of despair.   Job, this iconic Old Testament figure of composure and dignified reaction to misfortunes and tragedies, proposes unconditional trust in God as the correct remedy to fend off bitterness, cynicism, and despair.&nb

Homilies

Homily for the 4th Sunday in Ordinal Time, January 28, 2024

A prophet like me (Moses) will the Lord, your God, raise up for you from among your own kin; to him you shall listen. Deuteronomy 18:18 God has kept this promise by sending us THE Prophet, his only begotten Son Jesus Christ in human flesh. This event must become a mighty reason for rejoicing and celebrating. If God were to speak to us without the “screen” of his human flesh, we would die of fright. 'Let us not again hear the voice of the LORD, our God, nor see this great fire anymore, lest we die.' Deuteronomy 18:16 Today’s gospel passage (Mark 1:21-28) describ

Homilies

Homily for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinal Time, January 21, 2024

What is the message we should glean from the very familiar tale of the prophet Jonah? God loves and cares for everyone in the world and he wants everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth because all are meant to be his children forever. Instead, Jonah was convinced that only the Israelites, the chosen people of God, were to be saved because only they were the objects of God’s care and love. So, as the story goes, he was dead set against even entertaining the idea of preaching repentance to Israel’s sworn enemies, the Ninevites.  After being sp

Homilies

Homily for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinal Time, January 14, 2024

So, they went and saw where Jesus was staying, and they stayed with him that day. John 1:39 That must have been the best time of their whole life, the time spent “hanging out” with Jesus. This is the ideal picture of discipleship which the gospel of John has to offer, and it pairs up with the other fascinating picture offered by the 1st reading of young Samuel opening to the Lord and to the Lord’s voice. “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:9 If we were to reshape our life by modeling it after these two pictures, psychologists, psychiatrists,