Homilies

Homily for Pentecost, June 5th, 2022

If we, westerners, had been in the Upper Room on the morning of Pentecost Day we would have had a hard time trying to sort things out and decipher God’s message. Not so for the disciples gathered in it with the Blessed Mother. They were all Jews; they must have quickly realized that they were experiencing a powerful theophany with fire and thunderous, driving wind, like the fire of the burning bush (cf. Exodus 3:2) when God revealed to Moses his intention to do something about the sufferings of his people in Egypt and similar to what the Israelites experienced

Homilies

Homily for the Solemnity of The Ascension, May 26th, 2022

The Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord into heaven forces us to reflect on a reality with which we are totally unfamiliar. We had a beginning, (having been born at a recorded time and in a very specific place); we are living in time and space, but with a solemn pledge of immortality made to us through the divine rebirth of Baptism. This pledge of immortality is reaffirmed every time we feed on Jesus as the Bread of life in Holy Communion. As soon as we pause to reflect on this divine call which opens for us a boundless future of bliss and glory with n

Homilies

Homily for the 6th Week of Easter, May 22nd, 2022

What is a source of serious concern to me, as Pastor, is to have to remind you, my people, more often than in the past that Jesus’ Resurrection, his victory over all evils, death included, is irreversible and unstoppable. At increasing frequency, what we see on television and/or read in newspapers or we might experience directly, is deeply disturbing and unsettling. In our anguish, we look up to heaven; we sigh and place ourselves in God’s hands. But, if not even God comes quickly to our aid hope itself might die in our hearts. Yet, in these unnerving and sc

Homilies

Homily for the 5th Week of Easter, May 15th, 2022

Let us put side by side a sentence from today’s gospel passage: I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. John 13:34 And one from the 1st reading: It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God. Acts 14:22 The first sentence shows the only effective way to salvation both for individuals and for humanity as a whole. The second indicates what we can expect as “temporary retribution” if we adopt Jesus’ new commandment. It is salvation from what? Here are, arguably, t

Homilies

Homily for the 4th Week of Easter, May 8th, 2022

Today’s Gospel passage is rather short and, thus, it needs some supporting information to make it adequately relevant to our spiritual life. Jesus introduces himself as our Shepherd. Perhaps the Psalm most familiar and dearest to us is Psalm 23: “the Lord is my Shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.” However, even in our familiarity with that Psalm we are in no way hardwired to appreciate the role of Christ as our Shepherd and, even less, to accept our role as his sheep. It is hard for us to benefit from the message that the 2nd reading and the gospel passa

Homilies

Homily for the 3rd Week of Easter, May 1st, 2022

All pages of the Gospel are designed to bring us comfort and to enlighten our path to the Kingdom of God, because our life unfolds in the wake of the total transformation offered to all those who believe in the Resurrection. Yet, the page I just finished reading to you is one particularly rich in light, comfort and encouragement as it resonates with what we might live through ourselves. A first resonance: whenever we feel isolated, confused and defeated, we ought to look for a special presence, the presence of the Risen Lord. In the midst of very trying times, if

Homilies

Homily for the 2nd Week of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, April 24th, 2022

At this Eucharistic meal the Lord provides for us his flesh as real food and his blood as real drink for the nourishment of our hearts.   While it is true that the Lord appreciates, actually expects our contribution, symbolized by our collection and by the bread and wine, what the Lord welcomes most of all is Tom, that part of our soul that can be dubbed “Doubting Thomas.” He wants our doubting self, so that he may transform him and bring the best out of each one of us. This transformation is produced by Christ even on people who have messed up as

Homilies

Homily for Easter Sunday, April 17th, 2022

The Resurrection of Christ imposes a serious obligation on each one of us within the Body of Christ (the Church) toward those with whom we share humanness. It is the obligation which stems naturally or, rather, supernaturally, from the very obligation that prompted the first witnesses of the Resurrection to bear witness to the Risen Lord before the whole world, always at high personal cost; even at the cost of their very life. This man God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible, not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advan

Homilies

Homily for Palm Sunday, April 10th, 2022

This is hardly the first time we heard the reading of the Passion narrative on Palm Sunday. Is the shock wearing off? After all, we hang the Crucifix anywhere we intend to find signs of his love; we even wear it around our neck. However, even if, by now, the shock wears thin perhaps because we emphasize the divinity of Christ over his humanity, there should be enough sorrow for us to wonder if there is anyway we could ease such horrific and prolonged agony. As a matter of fact there is; and this is the main reason why the Church keeps turning Palm Sunday into a

Homilies

Homily for the Fifth Sunday in Lent, April 3rd, 2022

In order to emphasize the significance of today’s gospel passage I would like to share a statement from my first spiritual director at the minor seminary. “Remember, you can receive the Lord in Holy Communion every day and still live with mortal sins on your soul; but it is impossible to open your heart to Jesus, as God’s Word, and still be enslaved by a mortal sin.” Such is the power of God’s Word: Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern ref