SUNDAY HOMILY (11/17/2024)
33rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)
Today I want to address an important issue regarding the reception of holy communion at mass. We know that the center of our Christian life and faith is the Sacrament of the Eucharist. We firmly believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is present in his body, blood, soul, and divinity in the consecrated host. It is not a symbol; it is the real body and blood of the Risen Lord.
I want to touch base on this particular topic because it is important to renew our love and reverence for the holy Eucharist. Sometimes, very sadly, we see a lack of reverence at the moment of receiving holy communion. And I know this lack of reverence does not come from bad intentions but, mostly, from a deep lack of knowledge and understanding of what and who we are receiving, or perhaps, because we are getting used to our faith, used to mass every weekend and we come to receiving communion mechanically, without thinking and acknowledging what and who we are actually receiving.
The consecrated host, the holy bread we all receive at the moment of communion, is the most valuable and sacred aspect of our faith. The Church teaches us that even a single particle of the consecrated host contains the whole body, blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, a single (almost imperceptible) particle of the host must be treated with all reverence, respect, and care.
The consecrated host is so valuable and important that a priest has the responsibility and the obligation to save it in cases of sacrilege, profanation, or in dangerous situations. For instance, if there is a fire in the church or an act of violence, or a flooding, the first thing a priest must do is to protect (even with his own life) the consecrated hosts. This means that a single consecrated host is even more valuable and important than the life of the priest.
There is a beautiful testimony and example of this, St Tarcisius. He was a 12-year-old altar server in the 3rd century. One day, he was asked to bring communion to the Christians persecuted by the roman government. On his way, some boys were curious about what he was bringing and, because he wanted to protect the holy Eucharist, he refused to show them; immediately, he was attacked. He saved the Eucharist but died due to the injuries. He died saving the consecrated hosts.
There are many other testimonies of priests and lay people who in dangerous circumstances had saved the consecrated hosts risking even their own lives.
Recently, a priest in Spain was celebrating mass and, a flooding suddenly entered the church, he reports that there was no time to react, to do anything, it was a very violent flood, and many people died. The priest’s concern, beyond preserving the lives of those who accompanied him and his own, was much deeper, he said, “I felt bad as a priest for having abandoned the Lord in the Tabernacle.”
We are not worshiping and receiving just a piece of bread that symbolizes communion, we are talking about a real person, and more than a person, we are dealing with God Himself who, in His humility and love for us, becomes so accessible and fragile.
That’s why it is so painful for me as a priest (and for many other people who really love the Eucharist) to see how people sometimes approach holy communion without the appropriate reverence and care. I certainly cannot judge people’s soul and heart, but I can see, by how they receive holy communion, how much they love, respect, and believe in the Lord, how much aware they are (or not) of what and who they are receiving.
That’s why I want to take this opportunity to catechize and make you aware of things we might be doing inappropriately when we approach holy communion.
1. There is no doubt that the best way to receive Holy Communion is on the tongue, if possible, kneeling. That’s the way we show the Lord the greatest reverence, worship, and awareness that we really know who he is and what he means to us.————————————However, the Church also allows holy communion in the hand. That’s acceptable, it is not a sin. The disciples at the last supper (most likely) received the body of the Lord in their hands. For many centuries, the only way to receive holy communion in the Church was in the hand. So, it is ok to do it. But, the person who receives holy communion in the hand must be 10.000 times more careful and aware of the possible risks that this implies, for example, particles might remain in the hands after touching the consecrated host, and because they are so tiny (almost imperceptible) we might fail in giving them the appropriate care and reverence, perhaps the hands might not be clean enough to touch the consecrated host, or for people who have difficulties standing and walking, the consecrated host might fall from their hands. So, I just want to encourage you to be more careful and more conscious when you receive holy communion in your hand.
2. The Church also teaches us that if the person chooses to receive holy communion in the hand, he/she must consume the host immediately, in front of the priest (or the extraordinary MC). The consecrated host cannot, for any reason, be carried back to the pew. So please, for the sake of reverence and respect for our Lord, if you choose to receive holy communion in your hand, consume it immediately, do not carry it with you to the pew.
3. There is only one way to receive holy communion in the hand, we place our right hand under the left hand, making a little throne for the king. We cannot “grab” the host from the priest, that’s very disrespectful and irreverent. The priest shows us the host, he says, “the body of Christ,” and we wait for the priest to place the host in our hand, we then take it with the right hand and consume it. Please, never grab the host from the priest, wait for the priest to place it in your hand.
4. There is only one response. When the priest (or the extraordinary MC) says, “the Body of Christ” the response is, “AMEN”. We do not say, “thank you” to the priest. Please, avoid other kinds of expressions we normally use in daily conversations. Amen is a Hebrew word that means, I fully believe, I accept this is the body of the Lord, I believe in this mystery. Please, let us not go to the two extremes, saying nothing at all or saying, “thank you”. Say, “amen” and say it loud enough so the priest can hear you are making that profession of faith.
5. Holy Mass does not conclude until the final hymn is over. That’s why we cannot leave right after communion, if you have an emergency and you know you are leaving soon, it is better to abstain from receiving the sacrament, you can make a spiritual communion, a personal prayer, that’s ok, but receiving communion and then going to the parking lot or the car is not appropriate.
Let us renew our faith in this Sacrament, let us love the Lord with all our reverence and conscience. God has become so vulnerable and fragile in the consecrated host, so let us be more conscious and aware of who we are receiving and how we are doing it. Teach your children, your grandchildren, and friends how to approach and receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God has left us a great gift of love and salvation, let us not take it for granted.
This little host we receive at every Mass has more value than any famous collection or painting we find in a museum or any expensive thing we have at home, this little piece of bread means everything to the person who loves the Lord and believes in his words,
Take it, this is my Body, this is my Blood
SUNDAY HOMILY (11/3)
31st SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)
In the Gospel today a scribe asks Jesus a very important question, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus is a Jewish, he knows the commandments given to Moses by God in the Hebrew Bible, so he recalls the first one which requires to love God unconditionally, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength…” This commandment means that God must become the center of our entire existence, our priority in everything we do.
The commandment calls us to love the Lord with our heart. The heart is the place of our choices in life, the place where we keep our feelings, our emotions. God requires to be loved with our intimacy, with our sentiments, with all our desires and longings.
To love the Lord with our soul. The soul is our spiritual area, where God communicates with us. The soul is what makes us enter in conversation and relationship with the Lord. To love God with our soul means to recognize that there is something more valuable than this material body, that is our capacity to transcend. Therefore, we love the Lord when we pray, when we contemplate his presence, when we open ourselves to a spiritual dialogue with Him.
To love God with our mind. God has given us intelligence, the ability to reason, to think, to question reality. And it is through this mental capacity that we also come to knowing the invisible God. To love God with our mind means to love the Lord with all our knowledge, recognizing that He is greater than what we know, than what we think.
To love the Lord with all our strength. We are to love God with our motivations in life, with those things that make us get up in the morning and continue, despite all the difficulties and challenges. We are to love the Lord with all our talents, skills, capacities.
But Jesus not only talks about loving God but also our neighbor, he says, “The second commandment is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” God not only created us with body, mind, soul and capacities, He also created us in relationship with others. Our brothers and sisters are the most visible and touchable image of God we have in this life.
That’s why Jesus (in another passage in the gospel of Matthew) says to his disciples, “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me…Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me…”
It is in the other person where we have a physical encounter with the invisible God. St John is his first letter claims, “If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen…This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother…”
When we forget about the needs of others we forget about God, when we stop loving our brothers and sisters, we stop loving God, and there is no prayer and devotion that would make us love the Lord more than what we do for others.
That’s why these two commandments must shape and direct our daily lives, everything we do, all we think, all we feel and all we expect in life. We were created to love and this journey we call “human life” is a school of love. In the end, we will be judged on how much we loved the Lord and our neighbor. Therefore, let us love as much as we can, as often as we can, “There is no other commandment, other goal, other purpose greater than these.”
SUNDAY HOMILY (10/27/2024)
30TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)
Master, I want to see
It is interesting to know that people who are born blind or have lost their sight are able to develop their other senses more quickly and more efficiently, especially the sense of hearing. We know that people who have lost their sight early in life have superior hearing abilities compared with sighted people. These people have the capacity to develop extraordinary skills that people even with their 5 senses can’t develop.
Blind people (for instance) are great musicians and singers. We have the example of the Italian opera singer, Andrea Bocelli, who became blind at the age of 12 years old. Despite his sight impairment, he continues to perform music. Some of the greatest novelists, scientists, artists were blind people (or had physical incapacity), however, they did extraordinary things.
People who practice martial arts or karate blindfold their eyes in their training in order to develop a greater awareness of their other senses.
Science teaches us that when we lose one sense, the brain (in its need for survival and adaptation) develops the capacity of other senses.
In the Gospel today Jesus has an encounter with a blind man (Bartimaeus). He heard Jesus passing by and immediately called him. Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” he replied to him, “Master, I want to see.” Jesus obviously performs a physical miracle, this man recovers his sight, but the gospel wants to teach us more about the spiritual blindness we all experience.
God is an invisible reality; He cannot be perceived by our physical senses. Sometimes, God allows extraordinary events to happen that tell us that He is real; sometimes He moves our emotions and feelings and allows us to sense, to feel His presence, but on a daily basis, the only instrument and means we have available to see and perceive God’s presence is our faith. And this is what the Gospel today invites us to do, to open the eyes of our faith, so we may be able to see the Lord in all circumstances, in all situations, in all people.
Oftentimes we are unable to experience God because we are “spiritually blind”, because we are so attached to our physical senses and we haven’t developed the oculi fidei, (the eyes of our faith), that also requires training, exercise, especially through prayer and contemplation of God’s Word and mysteries.
God only can be perceived through our faith. That’s why we close our eyes when we pray, it is something we do naturally, because we know that our eyes are useless as we enter intimacy with the Lord. Likewise, when two lovers kiss each other, they close their eyes automatically because that special moment only requires their hearts, their feelings for each other. They don’t need to see each other; they can feel what is going on.
The eyes of our faith help us see God’s power, love, and mercy in everything we do and experience in this life. When we open our spiritual eyes with trust and confidence, we are able to see God’s Will working and operating in our most difficult moments, in our trials, in our frustrations, in our sufferings.
Bartimaeus’ prayer to Jesus (in today’s Gospel) is so simple but also so powerful and necessary, “Master, I want to see.” In the midst of my illness, as I struggle with so much pain and weakness, Master, I want to see. Amid this crisis, as I am facing so many challenges and trials in my life, in my job, in my family, Master, I want to see. In this confusion I am experiencing right now, in my doubts, in my frustrations, in my fears, Master, I want to see.
We also need to recover our spiritual sight so we may see others not as sinners but rather as brothers and sisters who need our love and compassion, not our judgment. Master, I want to see, I want to see the goodness and dignity of those I meet in my life, the value of those who need my forgiveness.
Master, I want to see, I want to see God in the Church, in the sacraments, especially in the Eucharist, in the simplicity of this mystery that sometimes becomes so hard for me to believe in and accept it.
We cannot limit our experience of God to what we are able to see with our eyes, hear with our ears, touch with our hands; God manifests Himself, all His power and grace through our inner reality, in our hearts, through our trust and openness to His love.
Let us make the Lord more approachable to our reality, not with the limitations of our senses, but rather with the disposition and faith Bartimaeus shows us in the Gospel today.
If you are having a hard time seeing God in your life, make this simple prayer of Bartimaeus your permanent call. You certainly need more than your physical eyes to really see the Lord,
Master, I want to see.
SUNDAY HOMILY (10/20/2024)
29TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)
“Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.”
In the gospel today Jesus has a conversation with two of his disciples, James and John. They make a request to Jesus, “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” They mistakenly thought that the Kingdom of God Jesus was preaching and talking about was a political kingdom, even more powerful than the kingdom of that time, the Roman Empire, and they were looking for a better position. In other passages the disciples were always discussing who was the greatest among them.
Jesus was not the Messiah most people were expecting, a political leader, a revolutionary; he rather proposes peace, love, and even forgiveness for the enemies, a demand of great humility and service, “Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.”
How hard it is to humble ourselves before others, we are always in the move for competition, that others serve me, that others love me, that others recognize me. Our minds and feelings are always expecting that. But the Lord leads us to another direction, where we totally give ourselves to others, where we love, where we serve, where we exult. One of the most powerful and beautiful prayers I have found that helps us grow in this humility and service the Lord is demanding from us is the Litanies of humility, “From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being loved, honored, praised…From the desire of being preferred to others…From the fear of being humiliated, forgotten…”
There is certainly more satisfaction, more joy in giving than in receiving, in serving than in being served. The purpose of our existence is not to get the perfect life with all the comfort and ease, our purpose is to give it up in service for the sake of others, to wear it out like Jesus did it, he is our first example and model, “For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
James and John were wrong, they were looking for happiness in the wrong place (power, privileges, comfort). “Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all”, this is the key to real and authentic happiness, according to Jesus, this is what gives meaning to human life, to our relationship with others.
When we humble ourselves to serve our brothers and sisters, we rediscover our purpose in life, who we are, and what it is really important and essential, “Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.”
SUNDAY HOMILY (10/13/24)
28TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)
Love and do what you will!
This is a quotation from one of the greatest saints in early Christianity, St Augustine. Authentic love comes from authentic freedom. We certainly cannot love God and others without being free to do it.
In the Gospel today Jesus has an encounter with a young man. He comes to him to ask him a particularly important question, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” —-This is one of the most important questions we find in the whole bible, what do I have to do to go to heaven, to be saved? And the answer Jesus gives to this man is quite simple, “You know the 10 commandments”, you just need to obey them.
Most people certainly obey the commandments, we all try the best we can to do it, but it seems that to Jesus that is not enough, because we cannot obey the commandants of God without absolute and complete love and freedom.
This man was a very devoted Jew, he replied to Jesus, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth…” and Jesus, says the gospel, “Looking at him, loved him and said to him, ‘You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, and follow me.”
This man followed the rules very well, but he was missing the most important thing, freedom to love God and his neighbor. The gospel says that “at that statement of Jesus, his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions…. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”
Jesus’ request is not about money or possessions, it is about freedom to love. We are attached to so many things in this life, we feel vulnerable and afraid to lose. We unfortunately become slaves to our own feelings, emotions, material possessions, people, opinions, wounds. So many things that do not allow us to love God and our neighbor fully. That’s why St Augustine summarizes the theology of the gospel in that simple statement, “Love and do what you will”.
When we love with a sincere heart, we make better choices in life and when we are completely free, we can love God and others more authentically. That’s the dynamic of Jesus’ request to this young man. Jesus was not focusing on his money and material resources, he knew his heart, he discovered his slavery. Something essential in his life was missing, he needed more freedom from his possessions (and many other things, probably) to be able to love God and others unconditionally, more freedom to give away what he had, more freedom in his heart to totally give himself to others. But he was so attached, so controlled, so manipulated by everything he accumulated in his whole life that he was unable to freely embrace Jesus’ call, “his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions…”
Eternal Life (salvation, heaven) is a call from God, an experience that requires a lot of freedom. We only bring with us when we die our experiences of love in this life, how much we gave up, how much we loved the Lord and our brothers and sisters.
“So, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Love, and do what you will!
SUNDAY HOMILY (10/6/2024)
27TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)
“What God has joined together; no human being must separate”
In today’s Gospel Jesus is confronted by the Pharisees who ask him a very important question, “Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?” At the time of Jesus there were two teachers who had their own opinions regarding divorce, Hillel who taught that a man has the right to divorce his wife for any reason (either because the woman didn’t know how to cook, or because he found a more beautiful woman, etc.). The other one Shammai, was more conservative, he only allowed divorce in case of adultery. Jesus does not belong to either of these two schools, he answers the question with the Word of God, “From the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So, they are no longer two but one flesh…”
Jesus clarifies that the spouses cannot get divorced, “What God has joined together, no human being must separate”.
Marriage is a sacrament in which a man and a woman promise each other love and fidelity for the rest of their lives. The spouses express their consent at the wedding ceremony by saying, “I take you to be my wife/husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life….” This is a lifelong commitment that cannot be broken. —- That’s why the word “divorce” does not exist in the teachings of the Church. There is no way two spouses (married in the Catholic Church) can get a divorce, that simply does not exist.
However, the Church (as a mother and teacher) understands and recognizes that human relationships are not always easy. We all have different personalities, opinions, viewpoints, and sometimes our relationship with others (friends, family members, spouse) can become a burden. The Church knows that so many times marriage is unbearable, there are circumstances of great harm, violence, abuse, infidelity, that put in danger the mental, spiritual, and physical wellbeing of one or both spouses. That’s why the Church proposes two ways to help couples in difficult marriages, one is called “separation of the spouses”.
The couple has the right to separate physically from each other, they can live in different houses for a period of time. This does not mean the spouses are automatically free to enter into a new relationship with other partners, that’s considered adultery. Although they can “separate” with the consent of the Church, both are still married. This time of separation can help the couple to heal the marriage, to reflect more about the situation, to enter into a dialogue.
The other option is called “nullity” (also known as “annulment”). This is not a divorce. Many people get confused with this process. Nullity is when the Church (after a exhaustive investigation) comes to the conclusion that this particular marriage (from the very moment of the wedding ceremony) is not valid, in other words, it never existed, something must have happened at that moment, something was missing that made the marriage untruthful, not valid. If the Church recognizes this case, the person receives this annulment, he/she is free to enter into a new marriage.
Holy Matrimony is a very serious sacrament and institution; it is so serious that once it happens, there is no turning back, no even infidelity (adultery) can break the bond of marriage. If one of the spouses fails in his promise, if one of the spouses decides to leave, the other one must continue to sustain the marriage with the promise of fidelity and love until death. The marriage vows are very clear, “I promise you…I will love you and honor you all the days of my life…” Not until you cheat on me, not until you decide to leave me, not until you stop loving me.
The vows of Holy matrimony mean that even if you stop loving me, even if you leave me for another person, even if you want to break your own promise and vow, “I will love you and honor you all the days of my life…” That’s why there is no place for divorce in the Church, Holy Matrimony is a commitment a person makes without expecting anything from the other one, it is a personal decision and promise to make my spouse happy. In Marriage there is not a “conditional”, I will only be married to you if you love me and if you are faithful to me until the end. Matrimony is the opposite, I will love you all the days of my life, no matter what.
When a marriage enters into a time of crisis, the Church never leaves her children alone, divorce is not possible, but there are ways, processes that help couples to restore and heal their marriage, or in extreme cases, nullify their relationship, but always according to the Word of God, according to His Commandments, always based on what our Lord Jesus Christ taught us in the gospel,
“What God has joined together; no human being must separate”
SUNDAY HOMILY (9/29/2024)
26TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)
In today’s Gospel Jesus uses very radical words to help us understand the seriousness of sin, “If your hand and foot cause you to sin, cut them off, and if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter into Eternal life maimed and crippled and with one eye than with two hands and two feet and two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna…” Of course, we cannot take these words in a literal way, they only express that sin is a reality we cannot take for granted, that we are to fight against our sins constantly, that we have to be radical, and even, sometimes “violent” (in a good sense) when we deal with our sins.
Today’s gospel is giving us the key to holiness. We have a very romantic, almost “platonic” view of what holiness (sanctity) really is. We have the image of the saints (icons, portraits, statues), beautiful images of these holy men and women who lived out a life of prayer, purity, sacrifice, self-giving, martyrdom. But the reality of holiness and sanctity is quite different.
The greatest saints in the history of the Church are not canonized and venerated because they overcame sin totally or because they were perfect, but rather because they fought against sin until the end. We just need to read the official stories of these men and women to come to realize of how much they struggled with sin. Many of them converted to Christianity from a very sinful and messy life, but their conversion didn’t eradicate their sins, they had to battle with them every single day until death.
Jesus’ command and invitation in the gospel today is not to overcome our sins (which is impossible), only God can do it, but to fight against them as much as we can, as often as we can. The saints died as sinners (that reality never changed), but they died fighting, they died fighting the battle.
When I think about sin (and my own sins) I always keep in mind the image of the soldiers, the heroes of our country. Those men (and women) who fight and risk their lives in defense of their homeland. When they return home, they don’t come back with clean and ironed uniforms, smiling and joyful, they rather return hurt, wounded, injured, exhausted, some of them mutilated, others blind, others with a trauma. Those are the real heroes that must be officially recognized and decorated whether they won or failed the battle.
The real goal of holiness (and Christianity) is not to stop sinning (that’s almost impossible), the real goal is to get up when we fall, to repair our sins, to be sorry, to start over again as many times as it is necessary. The problem of so many people (even Catholics) is that they remain in their sins, they don’t even struggle themselves to fight against them.
The beautiful book of Proverbs (in the OT) states, “Though the just men fall seven times a day, they rise again, but the wicked stumble from only one mishap” (Prov 24:16). The just, the holy, the saint falls 7 times a day, but he gets up 7 times again, a person who strives for holiness never gives up in his battle against his sins. That’s why we have the extraordinary sacrament of Reconciliation; we come to the Lord with humility and trust in his mercy, recognizing that we have fallen, that we have sinned, but that we want to get up again. Most likely we will fall again in the same sin, but God calls us to get up again, and we fall again, and we get up once again, that’s the dynamic of holiness.
God doesn’t want us to come to heaven with a clean and perfect soul that never fell and never struggled with sin, He rather wants us to come to heaven like the soldier (at the battlefield) who fought until the end, who never gave up, who never “justified” sin, “It is better for you to enter into Eternal life maimed and crippled and with one eye than with two hands and two feet and two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna…”
The Christian life is a permanent battle against sin, and we are called to fight, we are called to confront our weaknesses and to do something about it. That requires changes in our routine, little sacrifices, rejections, a lot of humility, more prayer, more confession, more willingness to be better.
If you struggle with a specific sin in your life (gossip, pride, lust, anger, gluttony, judgment on others, laziness, lies, etc.) do not justify it, do not stay there, fight against it, find out the ways, the strategies, the most convenient methods to confront it.
Show God (with all honesty and sincerity of heart) that you are fighting your sin, that you are hurt, that you are wounded, that you’re getting up, remember, “better for you to go to heaven maimed and crippled and with only one eye than with two hands and two feet and two eyes to be thrown into hell…”
SUNDAY HOMILY (9/22/2024)
25TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B )
In the Gospel today the disciples hear two difficult teachings from Jesus that make them feel uncomfortable, something they didn’t expect, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.” The Gospel says that they didn’t understand what Jesus meant by saying this. Later on, they will see with their own eyes the passion of the Lord. The second teaching has to do with service and humility, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Two teachings that (likewise the disciples) make us feel uncomfortable because Jesus is touching two areas we try to avoid, suffering and humility.
The whole journey of human life is accompanied by the reality of suffering. Since the very moment we are born, suffering becomes part of who we are, we cry, we feel afraid, confused, lonely, weak, fragile. Last Sunday we heard in the gospel the moment when Peter proclaims that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah), and immediately, Jesus announces his passion, death and resurrection.
Peter didn’t want to accept it, “Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him…” But for Jesus suffering is a fundamental part of his mission and plan of salvation. We still keep the drama and scandal of the cross as a symbol of our identity as Christians. We contemplate the cross every day, we carry it with us, we pray to it. Jesus has given suffering a new meaning, as St John Paul II claims, suffering (united to Jesus’ suffering) brings redemption, suffering has power, it heals us from our selfishness and self-sufficiency. The real drama and tragedy of suffering is not to have it but rather to suffer without Jesus Christ. Suffering in this life without God makes it more painful, unbearable, more tragic.
In the second part of today’s gospel Jesus reminds his disciples of the need of service and humility, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
How painful it is for us to humble ourselves before others. Humility hurts our ego, it compromises our security, puts in danger our control and our superiority before others.
Jesus takes a child as an example because children (at the time of Jesus) were considered “nobody”, they didn’t exist in society, they were “invisible”, discriminated. And Jesus shakes the mentality of his disciples by telling them, “receive a child like this…”——“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives the One who sent me.”—— Humble service to others helps us recognize their dignity as human beings and children of God, it leads us to recognize that we are all equal before the Lord, that nobody is better than others, that resources, money, education, beauty, intelligence, do not make us superior to those who don’t have the same opportunities.
Two lessons the Gospel leaves us today that help us live out our Christian life with more determination and hope. We are called to embrace suffering as the path that leads us to the cross of the Lord, redemption and salvation. And humble service to others that makes us authentic disciples of the Lord and true brothers and sisters.
SUNDAY HOMILY (9/15/2024)
24TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)
In today’s Gospel Jesus asks his disciples a very important question, the question about his identity, “Who do people say that I am?”——Jesus wants to know what people think of him, what the rumors and opinions about him are. People have a very superstitious idea of who Jesus is, some say, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” Most people believed in the resurrection of those important figures of the past like the prophets. There was a strong belief that Elijah was about to return to the earth. If Jesus performs such great miracles and speaks with that authority, he must be a prophet from the past.
But Jesus was not concerned about what people thought about him, his concern was about who, his disciples (his friends) believe and think he is, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, ‘You are the Christ.”
“Who do you say that I am?” —A very simple question but a question that has a serious and profound impact on our lives because the direction and meaning of the life of the disciples and our own life (2000 years later) depend on what kind of answer we reply to that question.
If Jesus is just another prophet, the reincarnation of an important historical figure from the past, his identity has no real impact on our lives, it has nothing to say to the world, it doesn’t give us hope. So many people today believe Jesus was just a wise preacher and teacher of the I century, an extraordinary man who taught how to live a better moral and spiritual life. Nothing different from other religious figures and spiritual leaders/teachers in history such as Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha), Zoroaster, Muhammad. But if we have the same answer Peter gave, “You are the Christ”, that changes everything.
Recognizing that Jesus is the Christ means that he is more than a prophet, more than a teacher, it means he is our savior, our only Lord anointed by the Holy Spirit.
We have the testimony of so many men and women who in the first three centuries gave up their lives for proclaiming and recognizing Jesus as their Christ, they knew who Jesus is and believed he is more than a prophet.
Who do you say that I am? — It is a question Jesus continues to ask us. If He is the Christ then our lives make sense, then we can see human life with different eyes. When Jesus is the Christ of our life, we immediately start focusing on what is really essential and important, we begin to embrace suffering and the trials of human life with more hope and strength.—-We see in this dialogue of Jesus with his disciples that his identity is connected to his sufferings and passion, “He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly…”
When we recognize that Jesus is the Christ of our life, our relationships with people, even with our enemies, express themselves and grow in more sincere love, patience and understanding; our love for others and our charity works move not just by mere emotions and sentiments but rather by the source of all love, God Himself.
St James in our second Reading today claims, “Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead…” Our faith in the Lord must be the main motivation of our love, care, and support for others.
The way how we live out our lives, we treat others, we love, we pray, we worship tell us who Jesus is, what he means to us. This question in the gospel, Who do you say that I am? is so personal, it speaks directly to our hearts and minds, it is a question we cannot take for granted, it’s so essential, decisive; in the end, to know who Jesus is, how important he is for us, define who are. Proclaiming that he is the Christ gives us our identity, it helps us keep walking with more security, determination, and hope in this life.
“who do you say that I am?”
SUNDAY HOMILY (8/25/2024)
XXI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)
Master, To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life
So many times on our journey of faith we might find ourselves “between the sword and the wall”. Sometimes we have to confront difficult decision-making situations that might put in risk either our relationship with others, our comfort, our securities Or our obedience to the Lord.
We have come to the last part of this long discourse of Jesus on the Bread of Life. Everything was going very well until Jesus says, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life…” Last Sunday we heard in the Gospel that, “The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us [his] flesh to eat?” and in today’s gospel, many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?—As a result of this, many [of] them returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.”
It was certainly not easy to assimilate and accept those kinds of words, but Jesus was very serious, he didn’t even try to prevent the disciples from leaving him, he was firm in his convictions, in the truth he was proclaiming, and says to his friends, the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?”
Christianity is certainly a very difficult and demanding religion. When we take it seriously, we cannot deny that it is so hard to live it out. The foundation of our faith is eternal life, salvation, friendship with the Lord. So everything we do in the Church leads us to that priority, to that goal. That’s why faith requires sacrifices, to leave many things behind for the sake of our relationship with God.
The gospel is very clear, these disciples left Jesus because his teachings were very hard, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?”, they said.——The demands we find in the gospel are very hard for us too, especially in this time we are living now. To agree with the moral teachings of the Church is even harder. How can we accept the teachings of the Church when we have our own feelings, opinions, expectations in life?——But “Simon Peter answered Jesus, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” That’s Peter, a humble, smart and brave man, a real disciple; in today’s time, a real Christian, a real Catholic. A man who keeps his faith firm and strong despite the challenges and consequences he might face.
There is a person I love so much in my family who was married for 5 years, unfortunately the marriage broke up when her husband decided to leave her and start a new relationship with another woman. Since then, because of her faith, love for God and obedience to the Church, she still remains alone. She is still young, beautiful, smart. She easily can enter into a new relationship, but she knows she made an unbreakable vow/promise before the Lord at her wedding. Sometimes she tells me how hard it is to be alone, how much she desires to feel herself loved again, but she knows and accepts that what Jesus teaches about adultery, the sacredness of holy matrimony and the teachings of the Church are more important than her own desires and feelings, and she has decided (with all her difficulties and sadness and loneliness) to keep her vows as a Catholic wife. You can’t imagine how hard it is for me, a priest, to tell her that what she is doing is the right thing, the holy thing to do. She certainly doesn’t want to leave the Lord, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
I recently had a very serious conversation with another person who is in an inappropriate relationship. A wonderful person I really appreciate, and love, and admire, a faithful Catholic. A person who has suffered a lot in life. But that situation is putting in danger the relationship with the Lord. This person knows it’s wrong and recognizes that it’s time to make a difficult choice between embracing the morality of the gospel Jesus demands and keeping the relationship with that person that is contrary to God’s design. It was really hard for me to tell the truth, to explain the reasons why that relationship is wrong, but “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
Another person I really admire and appreciate had to resign from his job because the company was not being ethical with some issues. This person had to make a choice between being faithful to the gospel and losing a job which is important, a source of financial security. This person is really convinced of its faith, this person really embodies what Peter was thinking at that very moment when many of the followers of the Lord left because of the hardness of Jesus’ teachings, Lord, your teachings are hard but I don’t want to leave you, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
In our first Reading today from the Book of Joshua we are reminded of the big decision the people of Israel had to make, “Joshua addressed all the people: ‘If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites”.
What a hard question to ask, and it’s a question God still asks us today. We might find ourselves in situations in which we have to choose between what we want, what we desire and feel——and to serve the Lord and listen to him with all its implications, consequences, hardships.
Those moments in life are essential because the Lord personally asks us, “Do you also want to leave?” We have to be honest, humble and brave to claim, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
SUNDAY HOMILY (8/18/2024)
XX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)
We continue reading and meditating upon this extraordinary teaching of Jesus on the Living Bread. The Gospel of John doesn’t say anything about the Last Supper but in chapter 6 he develops this profound eucharistic theology; Jesus presents himself as the “Living Bread that came down from heaven…Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life…” We can imagine how hard, and shocking was for the Jews to hear and assimilate these words, “The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Next Sunday the gospel will tell us that, “…many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?…As a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.”
Even for us (2000 years later) to believe in the reality of this mystery, the Eucharist, is still hard, we don’t quite assimilate and embrace what really happens at the altar and what we really receive. But the truth is that what Jesus says at his last supper with his disciples, “Take and eat, this is my body…take and drink, this is my blood” and what he says to the Jews, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink,” is a reality we all experience in every mass we celebrate, when we come and reunite in church and participate in this mystery.
We are not in here every Sunday celebrating just a nice and beautiful rite (like many other religions in the world), we are neither recreating the last supper in a symbolic manner; what we are doing in here right now, every time we participate in mass, is receiving salvation, experiencing transformation, renewal, sanctification, in other words, we are receiving life, eternal life. That’s why the Sacrament of the Eucharist is so essential in the life of the Church and in the life of a Catholic. Everything revolves around the Eucharist; the other sacraments, your family, your marriage, your day of rest (on Sunday), my vocation as a priest.
The Sacrament of the Eucharist is so vital and serious that a priest must spend between 5 and 9 years in the seminary studying philosophy, theology, Sacred Scriptures, Canon Law, Liturgy just to be able to celebrate holy Mass. Nobody else is allowed to do it. Most people in the Church can baptize others, we all can preach the gospel, we all can evangelize, bring communion to the homebound, console the sad, heal the sick, teach the Catechism, but only 1 person is able to act in persona Christi (in the person of Christ) at the moment of the consecration of bread and wine.
If you read the missal, the book the priest uses to celebrate mass, you will find a lot of rules and instructions of how to celebrate mass, and the priest must follow each one of them because what he is doing and what people are witnessing in mass is very serious, it’s beyond our mental and intellectual comprehension, the reality of heaven, the reality of eternal life happening before our eyes.
We certainly cannot perceive it with our senses, they are limited, we only see a piece of bread that tastes as bread, but our faith and confidence in what Jesus says in the Gospel and in what the Church has taught for over 2000 years, lead us to see the true and real flesh and blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
The words of Jesus in the gospel are so true and real that God Himself has given many people the gift of seeing and perceiving the Eucharist as it is (the very flesh and blood of our Lord) in what is called the Eucharistic Miracles. Since early Christianity, in different countries (Italy, Mexico, Argentina, Poland, Spain) priests and lay people (believers and non-believers) have witnessed these Eucharistic Miracles. A Eucharistic Miracle is when a consecrated host transforms into real human flesh and blood with all the biological properties. All these miracles have been documented and everybody has access to information.
Scientists and doctors (believers, atheists, agnostics) have studied this phenomenon with all the medical and technological advances we have today, and all of them come to the conclusion that this biological tissue found in the consecrated hosts belong to a human person, a person who is alive but who has experienced a cardiac trauma due to a deep and severe injury, something that has no a reasonable and possible explanation. I encourage you to search and read more about this extraordinary phenomenon, the eucharistic miracles.
We know how many people (atheists, protestants, agnostics, people from different backgrounds) have converted to the Catholic faith and have renewed their lives because of the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink”. These words must resonate in our minds and hearts today and for the rest of our lives.
That’s why what happens in here, every single time we participate in mass, cannot be taken for granted, let us not allow the busyness and distractions of this life and society to make us miss and underestimate this food that can fully nourish us, this food that can save us from death, this food that can grant us what we all (believers and non-believers) ultimately long and desire, that is eternal life.
The Lord is very clear in the gospel, the Church has lived on this food, the Eucharist, for over 2000 years, science and medicine have confirmed the truth and reality of what the Lord said to the Jews, there is no other way to enter an authentic and true communion with God,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you…”
SUNDAY HOMILY (8/4/2024)
18th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)
I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.
In today’s Gospel Jesus delivers one of his most important and relevant discourses, the discourse of the Bread of Life. Jesus realizes that he is becoming a very popular teacher, and that people are desperately looking for him to be fed, to receive food. Let us remember that Jesus performed an extraordinary sign days before, the multiplication of 5 loaves and 2 fish for about five thousand in number. That’s why he says to the crowd, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled…”
This episode helps us become aware of this reality we all experience as human beings, we are in permanent search for something, most people are in search of happiness, to feel themselves satisfied, others are in search of acceptance and recognition, still others want fame, luxury, beauty, pleasure. And we live in a world that constantly offers us the means and opportunities it thinks we need to become happier, more comfortable, free, better.
There is a very sad reality young people are facing right now. We know how social media is affecting and putting in danger the mental health of so many young people, people who are experiencing a profound existential crisis, loneliness, lack of affection and love, and support.
Everything now becomes a race, a competition, who is the most beautiful, who is the most attractive, who is the most popular, who is the wealthiest. These people in today’s gospel were satisfied with Jesus’ miracle but they wanted more, more food, and Jesus reminds them, “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life”. Something is missing in the life of so many people today (believers and non-believers) and that (out of doubt) is God. We (unfortunately) are permanently working for food that perishes, that never satisfies us, that makes us slaves.
I’m always concerned about those great celebrities in the entertainment industry, men and women who have everything in life (fame, love, money, luxury, education, beauty) suddenly fall into a profound moment of crisis, at the point of committing suicide. And the question is, what was missing in their lives?
But on the other side, I rejoice when I see great conversions of celebrities who came to realize that something important and essential was missing in their lives, famous men and women who now profess their faith publicly and use their profession and fame and talents as a means to evangelize.
“Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life”. We have to be careful with what we desire, with what we want, with what we think we need, because that can lead to the wrong direction, we easily become slaves to what we want, to what we desire in this life.
In the first reading (from the Book of Exodus) we see how the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron after they left Egypt, “Would that we had died at the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt, as we ate our fill of bread! But you had to lead us into this desert to make the whole community die of famine!” They preferred to go back to slavery rather than trust in the Lord.
The Sacrament of the Eucharist has the power to satisfy our hunger, our thirst. When we take this extraordinary miracle seriously and make it the center of our life, it can make a great difference within us.
The Bread of Life has the power to transform, to renew, to heal, to change so many things in us. Let us not take it for granted, our longings, our desires, everything we think we need cannot satisfy us and fill us completely, only God can do, “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life…I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst”.
SUNDAY HOMILY (7/7/2024)
14TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)
The Gospel of Mark today shows us Jesus coming back to his native place, Nazareth, where he grew up and lived with his family for many years, and according to the gospel, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath. People who knew him were amazed and (at the same time) confused, “Where does this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and are not his brothers and sisters here with us?”
They were confused because they knew where Jesus came from, they knew his family, they knew that his family was of very simple people, not the most educated people in town, not the wealthiest. His father Joseph was just a simple worker, a carpenter, Mary was a woman who most likely didn’t even know how to read and write, a very simple family (like many others at that time and place) just trying to survive the injustice and challenges of that particular society, the roman oppression, the poverty, the violence, the racial discrimination. What else can people expect from Jesus? Another simple carpenter, not the best candidate to become a rabbi or a prophet, a scribe or a doctor of the Law.
But this all was God’s plan. God knows who we are, He knows what we like, what we expect, what we want. He very well knows that we don’t feel comfortable with simplicity, with poverty, with silence, even with what is natural. We are always looking for entertainment, for what is spectacular, noisy, colorful, for something that catches our attention, for things that are more sophisticated. But we have to be careful because this kind of mentality easily leads us to miss the essence of our faith.
We learn from today’s Gospel that God (the creator, the Almighty) hides Himself in what is simple, humble, insignificant, less valuable. That’s why it was so difficult for that people of the synagogue to believe in Jesus, to accept his message, let us remember that even his own family thought he was “out of his mind”, they couldn’t understand Jesus’ project and mission. And the gospel today shows us his neighbors trying to understand who Jesus is and why he does what he does and says what he says.
At the time of Jesus, the Jews had a different image of God. God is believed to be all powerful, almighty, a warrior. The Messiah everybody was expecting to come had to be a charismatic soldier, a revolutionary leader, a man willing to fight against the Romans and finally set Israel free from that oppression. But Jesus showed them that God’s plan for Israel was much simpler than that; they were wrong in their expectations.
So many people abandon their faith today because they expect more from God, they expect more from the Church, they expect more from the Sacraments. But we cannot forget that we only are able to find the true God and have a deeper relationship with Him through those things that (for us) are simple, humble, less valuable, even insignificant.
That’s why the sacraments are so simple and the Church uses simple elements that help us experience God’s grace, simple water in Baptism makes us children of God, a few minutes in the confessional and a simple absolution prayer forgive all of our sins, simple bread and wine constitute the center of our Christian faith, simple oil in the Sacrament of Confirmation seals our hearts with the grace of the Holy Spirit, and holy oil also can heal our physical and spiritual infirmities. God works (with all His power and wisdom) through little things. That’s where we are to find Him, in the poor, in the sick, in a child, in silence, in prayer, in the sacraments.
Let us not underestimate the powerful presence of God in those things, situations, people that are simple, humble, in those things that we often take for granted. God reminded Paul in our second Reading today, “Power is made perfect in weakness.” Let us not get confused and disappointed so easily (like these people of the synagogue), we know who our Lord and God is, we know His plan, He knows how He likes to work, we know that He has become Himself so poor, humble, simple, quiet, weak, fragile, so ordinary so we all (free from pride and false expectations) may have full access to His loving and gentle presence.
SUNDAY HOMILY (6/30/2024)
13TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)
“Do not be afraid; just have faith.”
The Liturgy of the Word today touches an important reality we all face as human beings, illness, and death. It is very interesting to see these two cases in one gospel passage; a woman who was suffering of a physical condition for 12 years and a little 12-year-old girl who died. Jairus is the father of the little girl, and he relies on Jesus’ power to heal her daughter. After she dies, Jesus said to him, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” And later on, he brought this girl back to life. This extraordinary miracle tells us that Jesus also has power over death.
The other woman after suffering for so many years (12 years) at the hands of many doctors, appeals to her faith in Jesus and says, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” And she immediately was healed. Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”
The key word in these two cases is “faith”. Faith (believe it or not) has a tremendous impact in our lives. Unfortunately, we live in a society that only relies on medical, psychological, and technological advances. These are certainly important and necessary. So many people benefit from them daily. Illnesses that could not be treated and cured many years ago now are controlled and cured. We cannot deny that medicine has done (and continues to do) an extraordinary job. We as believers and members of the Church cannot underestimate the progress of the world in terms of medicine and technology.
It might sound simplistic and unrealistic to ask people to appeal to their faith during challenging and difficult moments, but the gospel once again reminds us that faith plays an important and essential role in our lives, especially in those moments of crisis, illness, weakness, struggle, when we have to confront death. We cannot underestimate the power of such a great gift we all have received from God, the gift of faith.
There are myriads of testimonies of people who have been saved by their faith, men, and women (from all over the world) who have been healed of their infirmities, and also testimonies of people who have received a special grace to deal with the loss of a loved one.
Faith certainly has power, and that’s why the gospels are full of miracles and tell us that Jesus spent a lot of his time and public ministry healing the sick, casting out demons, touching the lepers. And he always says, “your faith has saved you”.
We not always see miracles like those recorded in the Gospel but when a miracle does not happen, when God does not heal that person we ask Him to heal, or when God allows people to die, it doesn’t mean faith is not working, it means God is performing a different miracle, faith can grant us the strength we need at that very moment to endure our infirmities, pain, frustration, faith grants us the consolation we need at that very moment to confront our emotional pain when we lose a loved one.
Again, let us not underestimate the power of faith. What Jesus did 2000 years ago with these people, he can still do it today, it just a matter of faith and trust.
No matter how challenging and difficult our struggles are, we can still appeal to our faith, to say to ourselves (like this woman), “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” God is powerful, God is with us, through the sacraments, through our permanent prayer, He continues to tell us over and over again, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.”
SUNDAY HOMILY (6/23/2024)
12TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)
In today’s gospel the disciples find themselves in a critical situation, as they are crossing to the other side of the lake, a storm came up and the waves were breaking over the boat. The most striking part of this dramatic moment is that Jesus was “sleeping”. They had to wake him up and let him know of the situation, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” But Jesus immediately “rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm…” He was amazed by their fear and lack of faith, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”
Fear is one of the most popular and very well known feelings we all face as human beings, we all feel afraid of so many things. From the very moment of birth we experience this reality. The baby cries because he is afraid, it is a new reality for him, a new environment, the baby has no idea what is going on. We keep that feeling with us as we continue to grow up.
The disciples, obviously, were in a risky situation, the natural forces are stronger and more powerful than what our human capacities can handle and overcome. But the Gospel once again reminds us that there is someone more powerful, almighty, who can save us, who can protect us, and that one is, God. The gospel says, “Jesus woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm.…”
It is certainly Ok to be afraid, it is OK to have fears. Fear is part of our human nature, our human condition. From the very beginning of our history in this world fear has helped us survive, fear has helped us become more attentive to danger, become more alert and learn what is safe and what is dangerous.
Fear is necessary because it helps us realize that something is going on and that we have to do something about it.
But what we cannot do is to allow our fears to control us, to manipulate us. That’s when our faith in the Lord plays an important role and becomes our most powerful weapon against fear.
The fact Jesus was sleeping does not mean God doesn’t care about our sufferings in this world, most likely, Jesus was not sleeping at all, but he wanted the disciples to handle the situation with more faith, to trust more and to be more confident in Jesus’ presence among them.
God wants us to trust more in Him, in His power. He wants us to be aware that He is in control. Let us remember what He revealed to Job in our first Reading today, “Who shut with doors the sea? When I set limits for it and said: Thus far shall you come but no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stilled!” God certainly has power, God has control and we are called to recognize His powerful presence among us, especially during those moments of chaos, fear, trouble. The more afraid we are, the more prayers we have to pray.
“Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” Let us not allow fear to take away the peace God has given us, let us not allow fear to control us and direct our lives. God is with us in our boat, He is navigating with us, and although sometimes it seems to us that He is asleep, let us be confident that He is always aware of our struggles in life, that He is always ready to rebuke the wind, and to say to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!”
If we allow God to be part of our lives, to be in control, even in the midst of our most powerful and dangerous storms, we can still confidently, cross to the other side.
SUNDAY HOMILY 6/16/2024
11TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)
We walk by faith, not by sight
In today’s Gospel Jesus explains to the crowds the reality of the Kingdom of God with 2 parables, simple stories taken from daily life situations that help people understand how God works in their lives. He says that the Kingdom of God is like a seed a man scatters on the land but he doesn’t know how it sprouts and grows. The same happens with a mustard seed, although it is the smallest of all the seeds, when it grows, it becomes the largest plant.
Through these 2 parables Jesus reveals to us something about God that makes us feel disappointed, impatient and, most likely, uncomfortable. God not only is invisible (we cannot see Him) but also quiet, imperceptible, subtle. God’s grace works in the absolute silence and normality of our daily lives. As St Paul in our second Reading today reminds us today, “We walk by faith, not by sight”.
That’s why faith (for so many people) is so difficult to embrace, and for many of us, so challenging to keep it strong. ——-99% of God’s activity in our lives happens through the most simple and quiet things of our daily routine. Only 1% happens through extraordinary events (miracles, healings, conversions, Eucharistic miracles, revelations, etc).
We live in a world that promotes and demands instant results, immediate productivity, we want all at once, at the moment. That’s why the image of God in our society is put aside, to people God is not showing Himself, He is hiding from us. We might also come to believe that God is not doing His job when difficult situations come across in life, when we pray over and over again and nothing happens. —————But Jesus, in today’s Gospel teaches us that God does work, that He is active, but in a way completely different from what we want and expect.
Let us take a moment to think about those things and moments that are essential in our lives and that we don’t even realize they are happening. Breathing, for instance. Every day we breathe about 22,000 times. Breathing is a vital activity our lungs are constantly performing and we don’t really become aware that it is actually happening. The same happens with the heart. Our heart performs between 60 and 100 beats per minute and we don’t even think about it. At this very moment the earth, our planet, is moving very fast, it’s spinning about 1000 miles per hour, and we don’t even perceive it. How many people at this very moment are (quietly) doing extraordinary works of charity in different areas of the world. But we are not aware of them. The news only shows us crimes, scandals, entertainment. For 1 crime or a government scandal we see on the news, there are thousands of good people (somewhere in the world) quietly and humbly feeding the hunger, helping the poor, forgiving their enemies, teaching the uneducated, healing the sick, consoling the sad, praying for the world, working for justice, dying for a just cause.
God does not work with propaganda, He works 24/7 in complete silence, in complete quietness and humility. That’s why every single prayer we address to the Lord has an enormous impact in our life, no matter how simple and short it is. Every holy Eucharist we celebrate has an extraordinary effect in our spiritual life, although we usually do not feel anything when we come to Mass, although mass appears to be boring, slow, monotonous, repetitive.
It is true that the consecrated host we receive in Holy Communion is so simple, still appears and tastes as regular bread, but God works through it. It is true that the world is a mess but God still works through that messiness. It is true that so many of us (or our loved ones) might be ill, dying, in trouble, facing a crisis, but God is still working (quietly) through those challenging moments.
Let us not underestimate God’s work in our lives and in the world. The fact we do not perceive it does not mean He is not doing it. The fact we don’t see the seed sprouting and growing doesn’t mean it is not becoming a plant. God’s grace (like breathing, like our heart, like the earth, like a seed) is in permanent work. We just need to be a little bit more patient, we need to embrace more silence and humility in our lives, to develop a more trusting heart that may help us recognize the great and extraordinary work God is doing within us, in the Church and in the whole world. Let us remember, We walk by faith, not by sight.
SUNDAY HOMILY (6/9/2024)
TENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)
With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption
In today’s Gospel Jesus has a discussion with the scribes who accuse him of being possessed by a demon called Beelzebul.
As we can see throughout the gospels, the religious authorities (although they saw Jesus’ extraordinary miracles, heard his amazing teachings, had theological conversations with him and recognized his wisdom and righteousness), didn’t want to open their hearts to him, they always found an excuse to criticize and diminish his work among people. That’s why Jesus pronounces one of the most enigmatic and hard sentences we find in the gospel, “…all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.”
It seems that Jesus is revealing that God’s mercy is limited, that God actually cannot forgive “all” our sins, that there is at least one particular sin God will not forgive. And this is true, the blasphemy against the HS limits God’s mercy and forgiveness, but not because God Himself has established that limit, not because He does not love us enough or He is powerless, but rather because God does not impose His love and mercy upon us.
The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit means the absolute rejection of God’s love and mercy for us. God only forgives our sins when we are open to receiving that gift. God does not oblige anybody to be forgiven, God does not oblige anybody to be saved. God respects our freedom and waits for us to seek His extraordinary gift of mercy. When we freely reject God’s forgiveness we ourselves limit His mercy.
Let us remember our first Reading today from the Book of Genesis. Adam and Eve have disobeyed God’s command not to eat from the tree of good and evil, and once they both realized that they have broken the divine law, they immediately hide from God, “The LORD God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?” He answered, ‘I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.”
That’s what we often do, we hide from God, we think our sins are so many and so big that not even God (with all His love and power) can forgive.
The first thing Adam thought was how to hide from the Lord and avoid reconciliation, but never thought of God’s love and mercy for Him, never thought that his sin could be forgiven, that his relationship with the Lord could be restored. He immediately blamed the woman and the woman blamed the serpent.
God knows all of our sins, all of our falls, God knows our misery and fragility, but most importantly, He understands who we are, He created us, He knows where we are coming from, how weak and fragile we are. That’s why no matter how big our sins are, how terrible our sins might appear to ourselves and to others, God is always willing to forgive us. So many people unfortunately commit a sin and stay in their sin, they stop believing in God’s mercy. That’s the blasphemy against the HS, to say, “God cannot forgive me! my sins are bigger than God’s power! I don’t deserve to be forgiven!”
How can we get well if we are not willing to go to the doctor? How can we recover from illness if we are not willing to take the medicine? In the same way, how can we be forgiven, restored and finally saved if we don’t even believe in God’s love and mercy for us?
Let us always keep in mind that God does not condemn anybody, God does not separate Himself from us, it is we who freely condemn ourselves, it is we who freely separate from God. Nobody is certainly obliged to go to heaven, nobody is certainly obliged to believe, nobody is obliged to be forgiven, our faith is a free choice.
Let us return to the cross once again, the gift of forgiveness is right there, the gift of salvation has been granted to us already, are you willing to accept it? Do you want to be forgiven? Do you want to be saved? Or (like Adam and Eve in the garden), are you still hiding from the Lord? Are you still hiding your nakedness without hope? Let us remember,
With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption.
SUNDAY HOMILY (6/2/2024)
SOLEMINITY OF THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST (CORPUS CHRISTI)
This Sunday we are celebrating The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). This is an important Feast because it reminds us of our identity as Christians and also leads us to an eucharistic renewal. So as we celebrate such an extraordinary mystery, I would like to share with you three significant aspects of the Eucharist.
1) This mystery of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ that we celebrate through the Sacrament of the Eucharist is the center of our Christian life. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1324-1327), states that, “The Eucharist is ‘the source and summit’ of the Christian life.”
If you notice everything we do in the Church has to do with the Eucharist. Most of the sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Matrimony, Priestly Ordination) are celebrated within Mass, evangelization and missionary work have the Eucharist as its source of strength and nourishment. The Church teaches us that Holy Mass is the most powerful prayer and act of worship and adoration we can give to God. Nothing in our spirituality can replace the Eucharist. It is important to have private devotions that nourish our spiritual life (novenas, the holy rosary, eucharistic adoration in the chapel, stations of the cross, pilgrimages, etc) but none of these can take the place of the Eucharist. Our devotions have their meaning and purpose because of the Eucharist.
2) We cannot forget that what we worship and receive in Mass is not symbolic but the real body and blood of our Lord. The Gospel according to Mark tells us that Jesus gathers with his disciples on the night of the Passover, he takes bread and says, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he takes a cup and says, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.”
Christianity (unfortunately) is facing a crisis of faith right now. A great number of Catholics do not believe in the real presence of the Lord in the Eucharist anymore. Secularism and rationalism are attacking our faith and leading people to turn away from the truth of the Gospel. But it is so significant to see how God is giving us extraordinary evidence of His real presence in the consecrated bread and wine.
There are thousands of what is called Eucharistic Miracles happening around the world, at different times. This is a phenomenon that really happens, when a consecrated host visibly transforms into human flesh, bleeding human blood. Doctors and scientists who have studied these phenomena confirm that this flesh is part of the myocardium tissue, which is a muscle of the heart we all have. So many men and women, scientists, protestants have converted to Catholicism and have come to believe in the real presence of the Lord because of these Eucharistic Miracles.
Not only our faith leads us to believe but also what we celebrate and believe is confirmed by science. God is telling us that what we receive in our hands and consume at the moment of communion is not a symbol but rather the Most sacred body and blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and that we have to show the best of our reverence, devotion and love for that mystery, for that gift.
3) The Sacrament of the Eucharist is communion not only with God but also with those who also believe with us, our brothers and sisters. Unfortunately technology, social media and many other factors are creating isolated and individualistic people. We are losing that sense of gathering and sharing. That’s why it is so imperative to participate in Mass every Sunday, to be present, to worship together, to pray together, to sing together, to recognize that we are not alone on this journey, that we are walking together and helping each other to grow in grace, sanctity and salvation.
Jesus has left us the most extraordinary gift we all can receive, his Body and Blood, a gift we do not deserve but that we certainly need.
Let us renew today our faith and love for this Sacrament, if we are losing our faith, if coming to mass is becoming meaningless, and boring, let us allow the Lord today to feed and nourish us with his very presence, with his flesh, with his blood, with all His being.
The Sacrament of the Eucharist is the only encounter with the Lord that fulfills all of our longings and desires and fills the emptiness of our hearts. Let us believe, let us celebrate. “Take it; this is my body…This is my blood.”
SUNDAY HOMILY (5/19/2024)
PENTECOST SUNDAY
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.
Today we celebrate the event that marked the beginning of the Church, Pentecost. Pentecost commemorates that special moment (we all know) when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and manifested Himself to them through the powerful signs of a strong driving wind and the tongues of fire that enabled them to speak in different languages.
The Apostles needed this powerful manifestation of God and strength to go out and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s why the HS is so important and necessary in our faith. The HS is the one who sustains the Church and everything we do in it.
First of all, the HS (as Jesus calls Him in the Gospel of John) is the Spirit of Truth. Jesus says to his disciples, “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth…”———-The Apostles didn’t go out preaching what was more convenient to them, what they thought it was the right message; they preached the Truth of God, the Truth they received from the HS. That’s why we are Catholics, because we believe the Church (guided by the HS) possesses the Truth revealed by Jesus, the Son of God. We are living in times of great confusion, darkness and relativism, times of misunderstanding, times of lies and fake news. We certainly need to find out what is true, what is right, what the correct path we are to follow, and the only one who can give us that grace is the HS, the Spirit of Truth, the one who keeps us on the right path, the one who helps us discern what is really true and what is false, what is right and what is wrong. Without the HS we live in a permanent lie.
The Acts of the Apostles also says that “There appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim…”
The HS is the one who keeps us united in one faith, in one baptism, in one Church despite all our differences. We remember all these people who came from different countries and regions at that moment and “…each one of them heard the Apostles speaking in his own language…” This means that our faith has no borders, our faith does not discriminate by sex, race, level of education, economic status. We are all united (as St Paul reminds us) in one body, in one Spirit, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit…” That’s the power of the HS, He keeps us united, He keeps us together. It is amazing to see that no matter where you go to celebrate holy mass (China, Africa, Germany, Latin America), the mass is always the same one we celebrate in here today, different language, different cultures, different traditions, but essentially, the same Catholic faith, the same Truth, the same Gospel.
That’s why today we invoke the HS, we pray to Him and ask Him to descend upon us, upon the Church, upon our parish community, upon the world, so we all may find and embrace the truth that makes us free, that leads us to walk on the right path and keep us always united in one faith, in one Church, in one love and charity for our brothers and sisters.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.
SUNDAY HOMILY (5/12/2024)
SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (B)
We are celebrating the Seventh Sunday of Easter and we are getting closer to the end of this beautiful season of Easter. Next Sunday the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Pentecost and then we begin a new liturgical time in the Church.
In today’s Gospel Jesus appears in prayerful intimacy with His Father. He prays for his disciples as he knows he is leaving soon, as he is going back to heaven and the disciples have to stay in the world and face persecution, hatred, and death. Jesus prays, “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me…”
Jesus is concerned about “the world”. In the gospel of John, the world has a negative connotation, the world is evil, the world draws us away from God. That’s why Jesus says, “The world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world…” And he prays, “Father, Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth…”
The world also in the theology of the Church represents evilness. The Church teaches us that we have three important enemies in our Christian journey, the world, the flesh and the devil. Our temptations come from these three enemies.
We just need to look at the world today to realize how it is drawing us away from God, how it is changing our morality, how it is attacking (even with violence) the teachings of the Gospel, the teachings of the Church. That’s why Jesus was so concerned about his disciples being in the world and asks his Father, do not take them out of the world but keep them from the evil one…” We are in this world, we cannot do anything about it, but we can still confront the world.
So many people mistakenly believe that because the world is changing and evolving, the Church also must change and evolve, that the Church must adapt herself to the progress of civilization. But that’s not true. The Church does not have to adapt to the progress of the world, actually, it’s quite the opposite, it is the world that must adapt to the teachings of the Gospel and of the Church.
The gospel is over 2000 years old and no matter how much our society has changed and progressed (in terms of thought, technology, medicine, philosophy) in the last two millennia, the Gospel of Jesus Christ does not change, the Gospel Jesus preached in Galilee and Jerusalem, the Gospel the Apostles preached in different cities and countries, is the same gospel we continue to preach today, in the 21st century. The Truth of God does not change, it cannot change. That’s why the Church continues to defend and promote the dignity of the human person in all its integrity, beauty and complexity.
Recently the Vatican released a beautiful document, a Declaration on Human Dignity, Dignitas infinita, in which the bishops make clear that no matter how the world is advancing, progressing and changing in terms of abortion, surrogacy, assisted suicide, same sex-marriage, gender ideology, in-vitro fertilization, human trafficking, the Church continues to defend the truth of the Gospel and the human dignity of every single person in this world.
We are in the world, but let us not forget who we are, where we are coming from and where we are going to; we are Christians, we are Catholics, we’ve heard the Gospel, we know the Commandments. We can let the world advance, progress, change, but we cannot allow it to get us confused, to make us believe and accept what is intrinsically wrong and evil, we don’t belong to the world.
May Jesus’ prayer in today’s Gospel make us aware of our place in this world, and may our Heavenly Father keep us united in the teachings of the Church and consecrate us in the truth of his divine Word.
SUNDAY HOMILY (5/5/2024)
6TH SUNDAY OF EASTER (B)
We continue meditating upon these final teachings of Jesus to his disciples in the context of the Last Supper. Jesus knows his time is coming, he knows he will die soon and wants to make sure his disciples understand why he is giving up his life, what the reason and purpose of his passion and death is. He says to them, “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends…”
We all have experienced the reality and beauty of love, we certainly love our families and friends, we love our wife and husband, our children, but because love is so fundamental in our daily lives we often come to forget what it means to really love one another. Today I want to reflect upon three important characteristics of love we can find in today’s Readings.
1) The first thing we should know about love is that real and authentic love only comes from God. St John in his first Letter today reminds us, “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love…”
It is true that we all can certainly love others without faith, without professing a religion, to love others is part of our nature as human beings, but it is also true that without God (the source of love) we cannot love authentically, with perfection. We need God in order to love as He asks us to love one another. That’s why Jesus says to his disciples, “love one another as I love you…” God’s love is the model, the measure, that can help us love our brothers and sisters authentically, perfectly.
2) The second characteristic of real love is sacrifice. We just need to contemplate the cross to realize how much God has loved us in Jesus’ passion and death. A sacrifice for another person is the highest demonstration of real and authentic love. That’s why the sacrifice of the Lord on the cross is the maximum model of love for others. Jesus says to his disciples, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends…”
Next Sunday we will be celebrating Mother’s Day and we just need to ask a mother what she would do for her children, we can be pretty sure that her answer would be, “I would do anything, even to die for them.”
Jesus teaches us today with his words and final self-giving on the cross that love without sacrifice is not love. Love is not based on sentiments (feelings) because they come and go, they are unstable, relative. Love is a choice that oftentimes hurts us, that sometimes makes us feel uncomfortable, that mostly leads us to give up everything for the sake of others.
If my love for my wife, for my husband, for my children, for my friends is not leading me to make sacrifices, to give up my comfort, to give myself completely, then we have to question our love for them. We have to go back to the cross and learn once again what to love one another means.
3) And finally, love is universal, which means, we cannot love only those who are around us, who love us, who take care of us. Love cannot be limited to my family and social circle. As Christians, we are called to love everyone we meet, no matter race, ethnicity, language, sex, economic status, level of education.
Our First Reading today (from the Acts of Apostles) reminds us that the grace of the Holy Spirit was also poured out upon the gentiles, which means, God was also calling those who are not Jewish to be part of His family, to embrace the mystery of faith, “Then Peter proceeded to speak and said, ‘In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.”
The Word of God today reminds us that love is the foundation of our faith, that we are to love one another because God Himself is love, that to love others requires sacrifices and self-giving and that it is not limited but always open to all our brothers and sisters.
SUNDAY HOMILY (4/21/2024)
FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (B)
Today we celebrate the 4th Sunday of Easter, and the gospel of John portrays Jesus preaching about his identity, telling people who he is. He says of himself, “I am the good shepherd.” This teaching happens in the context of a discussion with the Pharisees. Let us remember that these religious authorities were very legalistic in their interpretation of the Law of Moses; they put the Law over people’s life and dignity. That’s why Jesus says, “…A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own…works for pay and has no concern for the sheep…”
The Pharisees don’t care about people, they were only concerned about their social and religious reputation.
The Gospel of John shows us that Jesus is the true shepherd of humanity, the only one who really cares about the life and dignity of the human person. Jesus is the true and authentic shepherd because he loves his sheep.
Today we can still see shepherds in different areas of the country working and taking care of their sheep, we also see the sheep following them and only listening to them. For the shepherd, his sheep are part of his family, he loves them with great compassion and tenderness. That’s the image of the Father Jesus wants to show us. God is the authentic shepherd of humankind. Our relationship with Him is based solely on His love for us.
Oftentimes we turn our relationship with the Lord into a business, as if God were asking us something in return for His gifts and for His love. But the truth is that God expects absolutely nothing from us, His love is the love of a real shepherd, which means, He loves us not because that is His job but rather because (in His absolute freedom) He makes that choice, because He wants to share His existence with us. The only thing we are to do is allow Him to love us.
The first letter of St John in our second Reading today reminds us, “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” When we get to know God and become aware of His love and care for us, when we accept that we are His children, that we belong to Him, the meaning of our life changes completely. When we recognize ourselves loved, spoiled, welcomed, protected by the Lord, we automatically respond to that love with love.
The greatest saints in the history of the Church became holy not because they loved God but rather because they allowed Him to love them, they recognized him as their shepherd, and followed him, and listened to Him, this is the key to holiness.
When people convert to Christianity, when the people experience a radical conversion, they do it not because they love God but rather because they allow Him to share His Divine love with them, because they allow him to be their shepherd, their guide, their path.
God is the true and authentic shepherd who loves us no matter what, who loves us for who we are, not for what we are capable to do and offer to Him.
Let us remember our relationship with the Lord is not a business, neither an exchange, nor a trade, it is rather an encounter with a person (we know) loves us and really cares about us.
Let us allow God to be our Shepherd, let us allow Him to love us and care about us as much as He wants. Let us feel ourselves as the sheep that recognize their shepherd, listen to him and follow him.
The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. In green pastures he makes me lie down; to still waters he leads me; he restores my soul. He guides me along right paths for the sake of his name. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me.
SUNDAY HOMILY (4/14/2024)
III SUNDAY OF EASTER (B)
Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see
We continue meditating upon this extraordinary mystery of our faith, the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and the gospels lead us to recognize his presence through his manifestations to the disciples after the resurrection. Jesus appeared to some women when they visited the tomb three days after his death, he also appears to two of disciples on their way to Emmaus, he explains to them the meaning of the Scriptures and they come to recognize Him in the breaking of bread.
The Gospel of Luke today tells us that he finally shows himself to his disciples when they were together, “he stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” We can imagine that extraordinary moment. The Gospel of Luke says that they reacted with fear, doubt, confusion, joy, astonishment. It certainly was not easy for them to assimilate that manifestation of the Lord.
But Jesus appears to them with love and kindness, and shows them that he is truly alive, that he is not a ghost, “Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have…”
The powerful event of Jesus’ resurrection and transformation shows us that God is not away from us, that He is more approachable, more accessible. Jesus wants to keep his presence in our midst, in our reality, he doesn’t want to be far away from us, he died for us and he wants to remain with us.
One of the most striking aspects of the resurrection of Jesus is that he keeps the wounds of his crucifixion. He says to his disciples, “Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see…” Let us remember when he appeared to his disciples and asked Thomas to touch his side and believe. He is the same Jesus who suffered and died on the cross on three days ago. ———-Jesus keeps his wounds not as reminder of his painful passion but rather as a manifestation of his unity with us, his solidarity and compassion in our struggles and sufferings.
Unfortunately, for so many people God is unreal, God is like a ghost that cannot be touched, that cannot be loved, a ghost that is so far away from us that he cannot even establish a relationship with us. But today’s Gospel is a call, an invitation for us to rediscover that God is real, that He is close, that He continues to act and work in our midst. Our first Reading today from the Acts of the Apostles reminds us of Peter’s first preaching “he said to the people: God raised Jesus from the dead; of this we are witnesses…” God is not just a religious idea, God is not a ghost, He is real and when we embrace the gift of faith, it helps us get to know Him deeper, our faith helps us get closer to Him, to love Him.
And the most extraordinary moment in which we are able to experience the Risen Lord is in the Eucharist. In this Sacrament we are able to touch him, to see him, to enter in communion with him. The Sacrament of the Eucharist renews that same moment we just read in the gospel, “Jesus stands in our midst and says, Peace be with you…Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have…”
Let us not allow our fears, doubts, distractions, preoccupations to lead us to ignore and miss the presence of the Lord in our lives.
No matter how difficult it is for us to understand and embrace the event of the resurrection, let us allow our faith to lead us into this mystery, let us allow our faith to help us become witnesses to God’s extraordinary work in our history, He is still in our midst, Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see…
SUNDAY HOMILY 3/17/2024
5TH Sunday of Lent
Today we are celebrating the 5th Sunday of Lent, which means we are getting closer to the celebration of the Paschal Mystery of our Lord. Next Sunday we will be celebrating Palm Sunday and begin the festivities of Holy Week.
The Gospel of St John today brings us an important teaching from Jesus. He says to his disciples, “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit…” Jesus is aware of his destiny, he is now in the city of Jerusalem, and very soon, he will have to face the roman tribunal and a sentence of death for crucifixion; he says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…” But he also knows that by dying (by making that sacrifice) he will give eternal life to all men.
Death plays a very significant role, not only in our physical life, but most importantly, in our Christian life.
Death is an unconditional aspect of our existence, we all are to face that moment (sooner or later), we are finite, this temporal life has an end, like the rest of all material things in this universe, it is a reality all human beings have to confront.
But we (as believers) know that death is not the end, that’s what we are about to celebrate in Easter, Jesus has conquered death and has given us eternal life. However, we cannot wait until we die to experience eternal life, Jesus tells us that by believing in God and by professing this faith, we are to die to ourselves now, we are to die to this world now. Jesus clarifies his teaching by saying, “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life…”
There is not Easter without Lent, there is not resurrection without Calvary and death, not only in the physical way but also in the spiritual realm. We (unfortunately) become so easily attached to this life and to everything that it offers us (money, pleasure, relationships, people, ideas, dreams), sometimes we even become slaves to life itself.
That’s why Jesus went to the desert for 40 days, he went to die to himself, to his humanity. The desert is the place where we die to ourselves in order to have an encounter with God. That’s why Lent has this important dimension, penance and sacrifice, we abstain not only from meat but most importantly, from those things that draw us away from the Lord, from His gift of salvation.
It is necessary to die in order to receive life, it is necessary to sacrifice many things in this life for our own sake and for the sake of those we love the most, for the sake of our relationship with the Lord.
Let us continue this journey, the final steps of this beautiful time of Lent being aware that the most important things in life require sacrifice, to give up something, that if we want to achieve the life of God, eternal life, we are to die, not only physically but mostly, spiritually, “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit…”
SUNDAY HOMILY 3/3/2024
3RD SUNDAY OF LENT (B)
In today’s Gospel Jesus goes to the Temple of Jerusalem and (according to St John), he “drove all vendors out of the temple area, with their animals, and spilled the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables…” This is the only time we see Jesus really mad, acting in this way. The Gospel says that Jesus considered all these businesses inappropriate at the Temple area. He says, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” In the other gospels (Mt, Mk & Lk) Jesus say, “My house shall be called a house of prayer…”
Let us remember that Jesus was a very devoted Jew, he followed his religion with zeal and love. As a Jew, he considered the Temple as the place where God was dwelling. That’s why his disciples apply this statement to him, “Zeal for your house will consume me…” This act of Jesus in the temple must make us aware of the importance of sacrality in our Christian life.
We are immersed in modernity, in technology (which is good, it has brought progress to our society) but at the same time (unfortunately) it is leading us to lose that important part of our faith, devotion and respect for what is holy and sacred, especially the Temple, the church. It is true that the temple is a building, that we cannot reduce God to a physical place, but we cannot deny that the most extraordinary manifestation of the Lord happens in the church, which is the Eucharist.
The church is the place where we gather together as brothers and sisters to pray, to worship, to praise God, to love one another. And wherever we profess our faith it requires a suitable place, suitable objects, suitable linens.
That’s why the Church has created rules and instructions regarding the celebration of the liturgy because we are not coming to have a social meeting, or a presentation or a show. We come to the church to have an encounter with God, a physical and spiritual encounter with Him. That’s why everything in church must be perfect, clean, beautiful, appropriately decorated, everything must call us to devotion, reflection, and spiritual recollection.
It’s very sad to see some churches that do not look like real churches anymore but more like theaters, halls, churches that have lost their sense of sacrality, the sense of what is holy and sacred. Churches where the Altar looks more like a dining room table rather than an Altar table for the Eucharistic sacrifice; holy Masses that look more like shows and events, people dancing, laughing, singing inappropriate music. It is sad how we have also lost the sense of sacred silence, especially in a place like the church. When we come to church, we come not to say hello to everyone, to establish conversations. Once we enter these doors we enter a different atmosphere, we enter a sacred place that demands respect and devotion. We must begin immediately our preparation for Mass in front of the Blessed Sacrament. There are people who enter the church or the chapel talking (as if they were entering a secular place such as Wegmans, Walmart, a theater, a hall) without realizing that the presence of the Lord is always there and that any church, any chapel, requires respect, moderation and especially silence; “Zeal for your house will consume me…”
We can see how the reception of Holy Communion is also losing its sacrality and reverence. So many Catholics don’t even know how to appropriately receive the Most Holy Body of our Lord.
Let us not lose this zeal for God and for everything that reminds us of Him, of His holy presence, zeal for the sacred places, zeal for the church (The house of the Lord), zeal for the sacred objects we use in the liturgy, zeal for the Word of God, zeal for a devoted silence in the presence of the Lord.
Again, let us not lose this zeal for God and for everything that reminds us of His holy presence among us. God and all related to Him deserve all our respect, reverence, devotion, our zeal, and love.
My house shall be called a house of prayer…” Let us not make it a marketplace.
SUNDAY HOMILY 2/25/2024
SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT (B)
We are celebrating today the Second Sunday of Lent and in our first Reading (from the Book of Genesis) we have heard this enigmatic, (but at the same time), extraordinary story in which God asks Abraham to “offer in sacrifice” his only son, Isaac. We all know the story of this man, the first patriarch of Israel. He was married to Sarah who was old and barren, unable to conceive a child.
Let us remember how important it was for these people (the Hebrew people) to have children, offspring. Life only had meaning if you had children, otherwise, you were considered cursed and punished by God. So, Abraham and Sarah were living a very frustrating life since they didn’t have offspring.
But God changes Abraham’s life, He gives Sarah the possibility of having a biological child despite her old age and barrenness. Abraham starts a new life, his life now has meaning and purpose. But God (once again) changes everything. He asks him to sacrifice (to kill) his child, his only son; and Abraham fulfills that request without questioning the Lord.
This biblical story has to do a lot with us, with our faith, because we are so attached to many things in this life, including life itself. We develop emotional, physical, mental attachments that (if we are not careful) can become an idol in our lives, they come to replace God.
The Bible tells us that this was just a test. God was not asking Abraham to kill his beloved son, He wanted to prove him, to know how much Abraham loved Him. So, Abraham gives us a powerful lesson today, if God is not the center, the priority, the only motivation and meaning of our life, to lose (something or someone) becomes a tragic instead of a blessing.
God never takes anything away from us to make us suffer, but rather to give us something better. God knows what we need and what we don’t really need. The reading says, “The LORD’s messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said: ‘I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you acted as you did in not withholding from me your beloved son, I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky…, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing—all this because you obeyed my command…”
That’s why Jesus shows his glory and power to his disciples at the event of the Transfiguration. And this happens before his passion and death, because Jesus wanted the disciples to be aware that after suffering, after pain, after we lose something in this life, there is always something better, that is glory, spiritual transformation, eternal joy, eternal life.
Jesus wanted to show his disciples that suffering and death don’t have the last word in this life, because of this promise of glory and eternal life, because there is a heaven we are all called and invited to experience.
I know it is hard to lose in this life, to lose a loved one (a son, a daughter, a father, mother, a friend, a spouse) or to lose a job, to lose our health, money. It is certainly hard, but it is never the end of our life. St Paul reminds us in his Letter to the Romans (8:18), “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us…” That’s why we are called to keep focused on heaven, no matter what, no matter how many people and things we have lost in the past or will lose in the future, our focus must be heaven. That’s our goal, that’s our future, that’s our final journey and destination.
It is certainly important to have aspirations, academic or emotional goals in this life, to work hard for what we love and are passionated about, but nothing, absolutely nothing in this life has eternal value.
Abraham was so aware of this, that he was even willing to give up his only beloved son, the meaning of his entire life (his offspring). God was the center of his whole life, God was his priority, God surpassed his desires, his longings, his motivations.
Think about that person in your life you are afraid to lose, think about those things, or projects, plans, conditions, abilities, skills you are afraid to lose. What if God (one day) asks you to give Him that person, your health, your success, even your own life?———So many people (unfortunately) get angry with God, so many people start questioning His existence, so many people prefer to embrace their pain and suffering without faith, without hope, without love, just nourishing their minds and souls with resentment, frustration, anger, loneliness.
If we put God as the only source of our joy and meaning, no matter how much we lose in this life, no matter how much God takes away from us, we will continue walking in faith, in peace and in hope.
But if God is not yet the center and priority of our life, unfortunately, any loss, any pain, any failure we might experience in this life will be the end of our story, and even more tragic and painful, the end of our eternal story with the Lord.
Let us not be afraid to lose anything in this temporal life. Behind every loss we experience, there is always a blessing from the Lord, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, I will bless you abundantly—because you obeyed my command…”
SUNDAY HOMILY 2/18/2024
1ST SUNDAY OF LENT (B)
Today we celebrate the First Sunday of Lent, and we begin this special journey in the desert in preparation for the celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Our Lord, his passion, death, and resurrection. The Church every year proposes us to meditate upon the temptations of Jesus in the desert. The gospels tell us that Jesus (after his baptism) was driven out by the Spirit into the desert and remained there for forty days, tempted by Satan.
The Gospel of St Mark does not give us details of Jesus’ temptations, it simply informs us that he was tempted by the devil. However, the Gospels of Matthew and Luke do give us the whole account, so we know what actually happened, Jesus was tempted three times, the devil said to him: “command this stone to become bread…I shall give to you all my power and glory if you worship me…If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here for the angels will take care of you…”
I think we have a very poor image and concept of the devil. We think he is evil, and bad, always behind us making us fall into temptation. But I think the devil is quite the opposite, he is kind, compassionate, always concerned about our wellbeing, and the most important “good” the devil does, he makes things easier and more comfortable for us.
Let us think about it. Is anything really bad or evil in transforming a stone into bread? I mean, you are the Son of God, you have been in the desert for 40 days without food and water, you have the power to do it. Isn’t the devil helping Jesus to recover his physical strength? To be aware of his divine identity? What would you do if you had the power to eradicate poverty and hunger in the world in just 1 sec? Would you not do it?
Isn’t the devil so generous with Jesus that he wants to give up his power and glory and give it to him? Would you not do the same if you had more money, more power, more resources? Isn’t this an image of a devil who is so generous and kind?
Is the devil doing something really bad by asking Jesus to confirm his faith in God’s power and protection? Think about it. God is invisible, how do we know He cares about us? He must prove it; He must do something that confirms to us He is taking care of us if we are in danger. Isn’t that fair, much easier?
Isn’t actually the devil making Jesus’ life and ministry easier? Isn’t the devil being more generous and kinder and loving by offering us an easier life?
So, why should we complicate our life following and obeying the rules of the Catholic Church regarding faith and morality? Isn’t that easier and faster and more loving and more compassionate to allow a man who loves another man, to get married and be happy rather than to embrace years of painful chastity and celibacy? Isn’t that easier and less complicated to enter a second marriage if your first one didn’t work, rather than to remain faithful and alone for the rest of your life? Isn’t that easier to kill a fetus (who doesn’t feel anything and doesn’t know what is going on) in your womb than to keep him for 9 months? Isn’t that easier to confess our sins to God privately rather than to go to a priest (who is also a sinner) and reveal to him our secrets? Isn’t that easier to take money from the wealthy and give it all to the poor in Africa? Isn’t that easier to pray just one our father rather than to do 30 minutes of eucharistic adoration? Why do we complicate ourselves so much? Why so many moral rules and restrictions? It seems that God wants to complicate our lives but the devil (“in his goodness and kindness”) wants to make them easier and more comfortable.
Temptation (the Church teaches us) is the more common and ordinary way the devil uses to influence us and draw us away from God. The extraordinary way is the diabolic possession which is something more serious and complex. But in our daily lives the devil draws us to him through temptation.
And we must be careful because oftentimes our temptations do not appear as something evil, sinful, or bad, something to be rejected. Most of our temptations are disguised as something that looks good, benign, and even holy.
Let us remember, the devil is an angelic spirit, his intelligence is beyond our understanding, he is smarter than us, he knows us more than we know ourselves. He uses everything we think is morally and spiritually good and benign to make us fall.
Society (for instance) believes that same sex marriage is good and acceptable because we must be compassionate, easy! End of the problem. Divorce is necessary and fair because people change. If you don’t love your wife anymore, you have the right to leave her and get another one, easy! End of the problem. You can commit abortion, it’s your body, it’s your choice, it’s your future, easy! End of the problem. You don’t have to wait in line for confession, God can listen to you privately, easy! End of the problem. You don’t have to come to Mass every Sunday, you can pray the Our Father at home, easy! End of the problem. That’s exactly the problem with the devil and his temptations, he wants to make everything easier for us, he wants us to take the shortest and fastest way, but when things are easy then we become mediocre in all areas of our life, especially in our relationship with God.
We learn from the whole gospel, from the life of Jesus, from the saints that God definitely does not like the easy way, He rather prefers effort, work, process, dedication, discipline, discernment, preparation. God takes us through the longest path, through the narrow gate.
Everything that is truly good, beautiful, holy, requires a lot of effort, time, preparation, and resources. What does it require to build a building? Months, years, millions of dollars, hundreds of workers, meetings, plans. That’s complicated! —How long do you need to take it down? Less than 10 minutes? How many people? 1? That’s easy!
Let us be careful when things in our lives, in our spiritual lives, in our morality appear so easy and comfortable, and even benign. We must be careful with that mentality that says, if that makes you feel happy, do it! We oftentimes believe we are being kind and compassionate and truly human by simply allowing ourselves and others to live out a life that doesn’t demand a lot from God, in state of sin. It is easier than obeying the commandments, that’s for sure.
Let us be careful with telling lies to ourselves and others because they make our life and peoples’ lives much easier.
Do you see? All the sins we commit have this characteristic, they are so easy to commit, they make us feel so good, refreshed, empowered.
My brothers and sisters, remember! temptations usually appear as something good and benign; the devil wants to make our lives easier and more comfortable. But Jesus teaches us that this is not what God wants for His Church and for His people.
Authentic faith requires a calvary, authentic faith matures with a painful cross, growing in faith demands effort, time, struggle, discipline, preparation, dedication. Keep this in mind; nothing that truly comes from God is easy, magical, and immediate.
Jesus did not transform the stone into bread, that would be too easy and mediocre to do, he had something better, the bread of life, his Body and Blood. Jesus did not accept the devil’s offering of power and glory, that would be too easy and mediocre; he rather waited until his painful passion and resurrection to receive truly power and glory from his heavenly Father.
Examine your whole life this Lent, check your spectrum of morality, the principles that sustain and guide your life, the life of your family, how you see the teachings of the Church, check your spiritual life, your sacramental life, how much you believe, how much you take the devil and sin seriously.
If everything seems to be easy, comfortable, good, and benign, if you continue to be the same person every single year, if coming to Church is not leading you to make radical changes in your daily life, in your routine, in your relationship with the Lord, if the Gospel is not making you feel uncomfortable, if Jesus’ words are not shaking your soul and your mind, be careful! wake up! Your whole life, your spiritual life, even your moral principles (that you think are reasonable and good) might be guided and controlled and even manipulated by someone else, and believe me, that one is certainly not God.
SUNDAY HOMILY (2/11/2024)
6TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)
“If you wish you can make me clean…”
We continue reading the Gospel according to Mark in which Jesus performs many miracles of healing. Jesus begins his public ministry in Galilee preaching the Kingdom of God, healing the sick and casting out demons.
In today’s Gospel he has an encounter with a leper. Let us remember that leprosy was a very common illness at the time of Jesus. Many people suffered from this condition. Now in the 21st century, thanks to all the medical advances, the infection can be controlled and cured, but at the time of Jesus, unfortunately these people didn’t have resources available.
—————————According to the Law of Moses we just heard in our first Reading today, people who suffered of leprosy had to isolate themselves, they had to leave their family and friends behind because it was a very infectious illness, “The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “If someone has on his skin the sore of leprosy…he shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp…”
These people were excluded from the community, from society, they lost their jobs, their income.
This leper comes to Jesus and (in a humble way) says to him, “If you wish you can make me clean…” Jesus immediately feels compassion for him, “Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.”
Jesus knows how tragic this illness was for people and he feels compassion for them because it is not only the physical condition but all its implications, the psychological and emotional frustrations people have to confront, isolation, being away from their loved ones, being treated as an impure person, as a sinner.
Jesus “…said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” This is what Jesus does with his miracles of healing, not only the physical healing but most importantly the restoration of the human dignity of the person.
We can imagine the great joy this man felt once the leprosy disappeared, not only the fact that he was cure but also the possibility to see his family again, the reintegration into society, to be able to work, to love and be loved again.
Restoring the dignity of the human person was the most extraordinary and important work Jesus performs. That’s why he touches the leper with his hands, “Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him…” He has physical contact with him because he wants to let him know that he is also loved, that he deserves compassion.
The story of this leper helps us recognize that God wants to have contact with us. That’s why He remains in the Sacrament of the Eucharist as the most physical way to have an encounter with Him. Jesus was not afraid to touch this leper giving the implications and consequences, to get infected, to become impure.
God is not afraid of our leprosy, he is not afraid of our sins, He wants to cleanse us, to make us clean over and over again, no matter how big our sins are, His love and mercy are greater and much powerful. God wants to restore our human dignity. Psalm 32 reminds us of that, “I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation”
Let us not hide ourselves from the Lord, let us not hide our sins and sufferings. We have an extraordinary Sacrament that heals us and cleanses us, the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
God wants to heal us and restore us, we just need to be willing to come closer to him (like this leper of the gospel) and with confidence and humility in our hearts tell him, I am here Lord with all my misery, my sins, my frustrations, my pain, my weakness, “If you wish you can make me clean…”
SUNDAY HOMILY 2/4/2024
5TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)
Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted
The Readings we have proclaimed today portray the reality of human life, our limitations, our frailty, our suffering. In the first Reading we remember the dramatic story and situation of Job, a man who had everything in his life, good health, wealth, family, love, the perfect life. But one day everything changed dramatically when he started to lose all he had, he became very ill, he lost his wealth, his friends.
The story of Job is the story of humankind. Nobody is exempt from suffering, from losing everything. We are witnesses to how illness can appear unexpectedly in our lives, how relationships can change, how financial crisis surprises us at any moment, we know how vulnerable we are. Our lives can change without us being prepared for it.
Jesus was aware of this reality. In today’s Gospel he finds so many people who came to him looking for physical and spiritual healing. Simon’s mother-in-law was sick with a fever, and he was asked to cure her. He was also willing to heal those who were ill and possessed by demons. This is what brought people’s attention about Jesus, his capacity to heal illness and cast out demons.
God wants to heal us, He wants us to be well, physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, God doesn’t want us to suffer. This was Jesus’ mission in this world, to make us free from all infirmities, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” And Psalm 147 calls us to, “Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.”
It is important to develop a more trusting heart in the Lord, to be confident that God can do something extraordinary for us and for our loved us. Miracles really happen, there are so many testimonies, extraordinary cases of healing, conversions. God has power and more than power, He loves us, “He heals the brokenhearted.”
We easily take the power of prayer for granted and especially the prayer of intercession we can do for others. We put so much trust in medicine, in science, which is necessary. God uses doctors and scientists to perform miracles too, but it is also important to trust in the power of our faith, to be aware that God is powerful and believe that what Jesus did (2000 years ago) for Simon’s mother-in-law and for those people who came to him, he can do it again today.
If you are going through a difficult situation today (illness, struggles in your family, a financial problem, spiritual darkness, grief), pray! pray as much as you can, as often as you can, read and meditate upon these passages where Jesus heals people over and over again and trust that He can do something extraordinary.
God always listens to us, and although He doesn’t always do what we ask Him for, we are confident that He can use our sufferings and pain for good, to sanctify us and to be a living witness to His power for those who are around us.
Let us not give up so easily, let us keep knocking the door, looking for Him, let us bring to Him all our infirmities, struggles, frustrations, crisis, and let us “Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted”
SUNDAY HOMILY 1/28/2024
4TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)
Today we celebrate the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Readings lead us to focus on the public ministry of Jesus, the very beginning of his preaching. Last Sunday the Gospel of Mark showed us Jesus proclaiming the Kingdom of God, “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
In today’s Gospel he comes to Capernaum and performs his first exorcism. It is very interesting to notice that the first miracle Jesus performs (according to the gospel of Mark) is the liberation of a man who was possessed by a demon. Throughout the same gospel we will see Jesus having these encounters with people tormented by demons.
The fact that Jesus starts his public ministry preaching conversion and performing an exorcism tells us that the figure of the “devil” is real, and that Jesus had an important mission to save us from that reality.
In today’s world “sin” and the “devil” are losing their meaning. Most people (including Catholics) think that sin is just a human mistake and that the devil is just a mere symbol of evilness, not a real spiritual being. That’s why the confessionals in churches are empty because nobody considers himself a “sinner” anymore and psychology and medicine have the answers to all our physical, mental, and emotional problems.
But this is problematic because the devil (according to the gospel) is a reality, and he played an important role in Jesus’ ministry. Although we cannot perceive it with our senses it continues to have a powerful influence on the world, on our lives, on our families.
The devil (according to the teaching of the Church) works in two ways, what is called the extraordinary and the ordinary way. His extraordinary work we can see it in the Gospel today, when an evil spirit takes possession of the body and will of a person. These manifestations do not happen very often (1 case in a thousand) but they do happen because the devil is a reality. That’s what we learn from the gospel.
The ordinary way in which the devil works and influences our lives is through temptation that happens very often. There is something we are to keep in mind as Christians and believers, we are never alone in our faith. God is with us but also our most powerful and dangerous enemy. The devil only has one purpose, one goal in his existence, that is to draw us away from God.
I know it is hard to believe in this reality in the 21st century because in today’s world we put all our trust and confidence on science and medicine. We think science has answered all our questions and medicine can cure all our infirmities. But the Church continues to make us aware that there is a spiritual realm we cannot perceive that we have a spiritual enemy, who continues to have a powerful influence on our daily lives.
When we stop praying, when we stop nourishing our spiritual lives, when we notice that God doesn’t have a meaning in our life, when we allow our sins to remain with us and the Sacraments do not tell us anything anymore, when God is not our priority any longer, then we become an easy target for the devil, and the most dangerous part of this is that we don’t even realize we have been controlled and manipulated by him.
If you don’t know your enemy, you cannot fight and overcome him. Science, psychology, and medicine cannot answer all our questions and solve all our problems, because there is something else, another realm beyond our understanding and comprehension. Let us not allow the poverty of our minds and reason to make us forget who our spiritual enemy is.
Let us remember the first words of Jesus, “Repent and believe in the Gospel”. Repent! because we are still sinners and we need healing and believe! because we are not alone in this spiritual battle, because the gospel leads us to the only Truth that can save us.
SUNDAY HOMILY (1/21/2024)
III SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)
Repent and Believe in the Gospel
Today we come to celebrate the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. We have begun this new and beautiful liturgical time in which the Church invites us to contemplate the public life and ministry of Our Lord. The Gospel tells us that Jesus (after the arrest of John the Baptist) decides to proclaim the Gospel in Galilee.
It is interesting to notice how he starts his preaching, “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
These are the words we use on Ash Wednesday for the imposition of the cross because Lent is a time for conversion and strengthening of our faith.
Jesus’ first call in Galilee is to repentance and faith. The word the gospel uses is metánoia which means, change of mentality. Conversion is not only about feeling sorry for our sins but most important, a complete change in our way to think and act.
We have heard the story of the prophet Jonah in our first Reading today. God sends Jonah to the city of Nineveh to proclaim its imminent destruction. The text says, “When the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth…” Once they heard Jonah’s preaching, they immediately converted to God and changed their lives. The Reading concludes, “When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out…”
We continue reading and meditating upon these stories because “Sin” is still a reality in the world. The great lie society has told us is that “sin” is an old fashion concept, that we don’t need repentance and conversion, that we are all “ok” spiritually, that if God is loving and merciful, we all can be saved, that we can do whatever we want without consequences. But that’s not true, “sin” is still a reality we certainly can hide and disguise but that we cannot deny, a reality we cannot take for granted, a reality that brings terrible consequences. That’s why Jesus starts his public ministry and preaching with these words, “repent and believe…”
Jesus was aware of the reality of sin in the world. Later, he will say, “If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into eternal fire…And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into fiery Gehenna…” Jesus took sin seriously in his preaching and for that reason he was willing to die on the cross, to save us from the slavery of sin.
We are here today in Church, celebrating the Sacrament of the Eucharist because we are sinners, because we need that important change in our lives, because we need repentance and permanent growth in holiness. “Repent and believe in the Gospel” is a call God continues to make today, a call to keep fighting against our “sins”, against those things that draw us away from Him, from His love and mercy.
Let us take “sin” more seriously in our Christian life and let us allow God to lead us into His perfection as Psalm 25 proclaims, “Your ways, O LORD, make known to me; teach me your paths, Guide me in your truth and teach me your ways, O Lord…”
May the words of our Lord in Galilee continue to resonate in our hearts and ears, “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
CHRISTMAS HOMILY (12/25/2023)
The Nativity of the Lord
Today we are celebrating one of the most important and extraordinary mysteries of our faith, the mystery of the Incarnation of God in the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospel of John tells us, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…” God did not come into the world as a religious idea or philosophy, He took our human flesh and blood, He became one of us. And this is what gives meaning to human existence, to history and everything we experience in this temporal life.
In the gospel of Luke we can see different figures who played a significant role in Jesus’ birth, and once they had an encounter with the Lord, their lives began to make sense.
The first figure we are to remember is John the Baptist. He was a baby in his mother’s womb when Mary went to visit Elizabeth, he leaped for joy. The incarnation of Jesus gives meaning and infinite value to human life from the very moment of conception. That’s why we protect the unborn and reject abortion. No matter under what circumstances a child is conceived, every single human life has a meaning and purpose. A child in the womb of his mother is God’s creation, is loved and wanted. Infancy and childhood now make sense, it is valuable and precious because God incarnated Himself in one of the most sacred places in the world, the womb of a mother.
Luke also tells us that two very old prophets recognized Jesus when Mary and Joseph presented him in the Temple. We remember Simeon and Anna. Anna who was 84 years old when she met the baby Jesus. The incarnation of the Lord brought meaning and joy to their lives despite their old age and physical weakness. No matter how old we are and what limitations we have (80, 90, 100 years old), our life is still meaningful and has a purpose because God is in control of our history. Old people can still evangelize, pray, grow in holiness and grace.
Another significant group of people we see in the Nativity of the Lord is the shepherds who were the first ones who received the news that Jesus, (the Messiah) was born in Bethlehem.
Shepherds (at the time of Jesus) were the most discriminated people of society, they didn’t have any value and support, they were considered “nobody”. Poverty now makes sense because of Jesus’ birth. No matter how little we have, how poor we are, life still makes a lot of sense and we still have a purpose. Poverty is not a limitation; God can do extraordinary things out of our lack of resources and misery. The less we have, the less we desire, the less we long for, the more we receive from God.
Let us remember also Zechariah and Elizabeth. St. Luke informs us the great frustration this couple experienced for not being able to conceive a child, but God heard their prayers and, as a miracle, Elizabeth gave birth to John the Baptist. There is a reality we all face in this life, suffering, illness. But the incarnation of the Lord brought meaning to our most difficult and frustrating situations.
Suffering is not more a curse or a punishment, as many people believed it was (before the coming of Jesus). Suffering now makes sense, if we allow God to suffer with us it can draw us closer to Him. Illness helps us sanctify our souls and grow in grace. We can still do great and holy things for others, for society, for the Church, even in the midst of our physical limitations and infirmities.
God is among us, incarnated, and that is what gives meaning to everything we do in this life, it gives meaning to our past, present and future. Everything makes sense and is valuable because of that little child lying in a manger.
When Jesus is not the center, the motivation, the end and final purpose of our life, everything we do, say, think, hope and sacrifice makes absolutely no sense, it’s meaningless, empty.
I invite you all of you this Christmas 2023 to allow God incarnate in your life, in your family, in your circle of friends, in college, in your work, in your plans and projects.
This little child you see in the manger, vulnerable, weak, innocent changed the history of humankind, and the life and misery of millions and millions of people (men, women, young, scientists, atheists, sinners). Nobody has done such a remarkable transformation in the entire history of this world that this little child.
Imagine what He can do for you, let us imagine what He can do for us if we allow him to become the center, the motivation, the final purpose of our life.
Once we take the risk and come to Bethlehem like the shepherds, or see Him in Jerusalem like Simeon and Anna, our lives will make sense and no matter age, crisis, illness, fears, doubts, poverty, because of this little child in a manger our life continues to have a real value, meaning and purpose.
SUNDAY HOMILY 12/24/2023
IV SUNDAY OF ADVENT (B)
Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.
Today we celebrate the 4th Sunday of Advent, and we conclude this time of preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Church today invites us to meditate upon the life of the Virgin Mary through this beautiful passage of the Annunciation. The Angel Gabriel visits Mary and announces to her the great news, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.” We have read this passage so many times throughout the Liturgical Year, but I think it is important to go deeper and try to understand who was Mary? Who was that wonderful woman who gave birth to our savior?
Mary was just a young girl when all this happened, she was probably between 12 and 14 years old at that time. Unfortunately, the political, social, and religious context in which she had to live was not the most just and peaceful. Let us remember her country was under the oppression of the Roman Empire. As a Jewish woman, Mary had a minimal role in society, she was discriminated, no participation and voice at all in the community, she (most likely) didn’t have the opportunity to have an education, probably she never learned how to read and write; she probably had to memorize some passages from the Hebrew Bible and some Jewish prayers for her own devotions.
Mary lived in the north of the country, in a very small and poor town of Galilee called Nazareth, a town that was discriminated by the Jews who lived in the south, in Jerusalem. People living in the north had a very bad reputation. Most of the Jews in Jerusalem thought that the people who lived in Galilee were impure and were not considered as real Jews.
There is a book written in Aramaic called the Talmud that tells us some stories and Jewish traditions that we cannot find in the Bible. The Talmud tells us that the Jews in Jerusalem used to say, “I rather marry a pig than a woman from Galilee…” Very hard and insulting words probably Mary had to hear at some point in her life. Let us also remember the passage in the Gospel of John when Phillip tells Nathanael, “we have found the Messiah, he came from Nazareth”, and Nathanael replies, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Mary grew up in a very hard environment. This is the Mary the angel Gabriel finds in Nazareth. A young lady living in poverty, discrimination, rejection, danger, injustice. But God saw her, loved her and chose her. She was so surprised and amazed of God’s love for her that she cries out in front of Elizabeth, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he has looked upon his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me…” Mary (through her difficult life and story) teaches us that no matter our poverty, no matter how much we are rejected, discriminated, unloved by others, no matter if we didn’t have the same opportunities others have (great education, stability, appreciation, talents), God sees us closely and restores our dignity like He did it with Mary.
The most fundamental message of the Nativity of Our Lord is that we must work harder on the virtue of humility and become more aware of God’s love for us, especially, when we feel more vulnerable, weak, unprotected, sad, unloved, lonely, unappreciated, misunderstood.
Mary leads us to believe that God does extraordinary things for those who humble themselves and allow Him to dignify their lives.
Don’t wait for others to see you, present the Lord your own life, your own misery, your own poverty and allow Him to see you simply as you are, and as we get closer to the Nativity of Our Lord in a manger, allow the Blessed Mother to lead you in humility and openness of heart, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.
SUNDAY HOMILY (12/17/23)
III SUNDAY OF ADVENT (B)
“I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul”
Today we celebrate the Third Sunday of Advent that traditionally is called GAUDETE SUNDAY. Gaudate is a Latin word that means “rejoice” We continue on this Advent journey in preparation for the Coming of the Lord and His Nativity. This special Sunday reminds us that we have to be joyful as our Lord and savior is getting closer. That’s why we light the rose candle (in the Advent Wreath) and the priest wears a rose chasuble today. This color in the liturgy of the Church gives us a sense of feast, celebration, joy.
The Readings today also talk about the joy in God. The Prophet Isaiah claims, “I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul; for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation and wrapped me in a mantle of justice…” In the Responsorial Psalm we remember that beautiful Canticle of the Blessed Mother (the Magnificat) when she visited her relative Elizabeth, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…” And St Paul in his First Letter to the Thessalonians calls us to “rejoice always, to pray without ceasing. To give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God…”
This Gaudete Sunday is important because it calls us to renew our Christian joy in the Lord. We live in a world that constantly offers us comfort, happiness, relief, pleasure. But we all know and have experienced (through different kinds of circumstances in life) that the “happiness” this world offers us is so limited, temporal.
Unfortunately, we allow the true happiness of our lives to depend on external circumstances (people, things, situations, promises, guarantees, securities). And what we always get is disappointments and frustrations. The Word of God and the history of the Church teach us that true joy comes only from a relationship with the Lord.
God is the only one who can grant us that joy our soul desires and longs for. We cannot live out an authentic Christian life with sadness and frustration in our hearts. The real Christian is always joyful, in a joyful Advent, for he knows what the authentic source of his joy is, God.
The real Christian does not allow the limitations of this human life (suffering, disappointment, pain, injustice) to take control of his/her joy, the joy of being loved by God the Father, the joy of being saved by the Lord incarnated in a little child and crucified on the cross.
We (as Christians) cannot allow death, the loss of a loved one and our own death, to put us down in sadness and fear. We believe in the Resurrection of the Lord and keep the hope that we will be glorified in heaven, that death is not the end.
As long as we believe and base our happiness on a relationship with God, nothing in this life can take away our joy and hope the Lord has given us.
Let us be aware that what we are expecting during this Advent is not a Christmas symbol, nor a religious idea, nor a tradition; what we are expecting is a real person, God, the Father we know loves us more than anything in His entire creation and the salvation of His beloved Son Our Lord Jesus Christ.
What else can fill our emptiness and desires in this life? What else can give us authentic happiness, real joy that lasts forever? Let us rejoice today in our faith, let us allow God to fill our hearts with authentic joy. As we get closer to this extraordinary encounter with the Lord, let us proclaim with the prophet Isaiah, “I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul.”
SUNDAY HOMILY 12/10/2023
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT (B)
Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths
Today we celebrate the Second Sunday of Advent as we continue this spiritual journey in preparation for the Coming of the Lord. One of the most significant and relevant figures of this time of Advent is John the Baptist. We hear a lot about him during these special days. His preaching in the desert is found in the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John) which means, this prophet (John) played a very important role in Jerusalem before Jesus’ public ministry.
The prophet Isaiah says about him: “Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.”
John the Baptist is the prophet who prepares the way of the Lord, who opens the door for Jesus to preach the Kingdom of God and to perform the plan of salvation. “He proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me… he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Let us remember how he prepared the path of the Lord, with repentance and conversion. This was the center of his preaching. The Gospel says, “John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins…”
This is what Advent is all about. So many people (unfortunately) take this time for granted and this consumer culture takes us away so easily from the real meaning of this beautiful season. We think that Advent is Christmas already but that’s not right. 80% of Advent has to do with something that it is very serious, the Parousia of the Lord, our final encounter with God that certainly requires preparation.
ADVENT is a time to think about our lives, to stop for a moment and think about who we are as Christians, what it means to be baptized, what it means to be Catholic, how seriously we take sin and all its consequences in our spiritual life. If the Lord came today, are we ready?
St Peter in our second Reading today reminds us, “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay,” but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance…”
God is always patient with us and the fact we are here today celebrating another Advent, means God is being patient and, once again, He is calling us to take Christianity seriously, to change those things that draw us away from Him, from His love and presence.
Let us not allow this consumer society, this noisy culture to make us forget what we are celebrating, what we are waiting for. Advent is a time in which God cries out so loud into our ears and hearts, I’m coming! be ready! like John the Baptist who called the Jews of his time, ‘repent, acknowledge your sins, One mightier than I is coming after me…!!!
Let us take advantage of this graceful and beautiful time of Advent, let us focus on what it is important, essential and necessary in our lives, “let us Prepare the way of the Lord, let us make straight his paths…”
SUNDAY HOMILY 11/26/2023
SOLEMNITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE (A)
Where were you?
Today the Church celebrates The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. With this important Feast we come to the last week of the Liturgical Year. Next Sunday we begin a new liturgical time with Advent in preparation for the Nativity of the Lord.
As we come to the last week of the year, the Church invites us to meditate upon the Final Judgement in which Jesus (as the Supreme King of the Universe) comes to judge all peoples and nations according to their works of mercy and charity. He says, “I was hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, ill, in prison and you gave me food, a drink, you clothed me, you visited me…Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
St John of the Cross, one of the most important Spanish mystics and Carmelites of the 16th century summarizes this Gospel passage in one of his most famous quotes, “In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone.” Love is the center of Jesus’ message, love for God and love for our neighbor. Let us remember, we were created to love and to be loved.
It is important to see that in the Gospel today, Jesus identifies himself as the one who is in need, “I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was a stranger, I was naked…” This means that God is not indifferent to our reality, God Himself embodies our human misery. God is not seated at a distance in His heavenly Throne observing passively how the poor suffers from hunger, the thirsty strives for water, the immigrant for a shelter, the prisoner for freedom.
God Himself becomes the poor, the thirsty, the prisoner, the immigrant. That’s why we have to be careful with that famous question so many people ask when we contemplate suffering and injustice in this world, Where is God? Where is God when the poor dies of hunger, when the innocent is abused, when the immigrant is rejected? And God gives us the answer, “I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was a stranger, I was naked…”
The question is not where is God? The real question is, Where are we when people need us? That’s what Jesus makes us aware of in the gospel. What do we do when we see people in need? Do we turn away? Do we avoid contact with them? Do we consider it just a problem to be solved by institutions, by the Church or by God?
True and authentic charity calls us to recognize the presence of God in those who are suffering. The poor, the sick, the stranger are living sacraments. Let us remember that a Sacrament (Baptism, Eucharist, Anointing) is a visible sign of God’s presence and grace.
We recognize Jesus in the Consecrated Host when he says through the priest, “This is my Body…”, we recognize his mercy and forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation when he says through the priest, “I absolve you in the Name of the Father + Son + Holy Spirit”. We believe Jesus is sacramentally present, hidden in the bread and wine, hidden in the person of the priest. In the same way, the poor, the sick, the immigrant, the prisoner embody the presence of God.
That’s why it is so important to be attentive to the needs of our brothers and sisters. God is not asking us to solve all the moral and social problems of the world, to eradicate poverty, to heal all infirmities, it is impossible. God rather calls us to be there for those who suffer, for those who need to be loved, to be consoled, to do what we can to appreciate, recognize and restore their dignity as human beings and children of God.
Let us not miss that extraordinary opportunity to have a physical and sacramental encounter with the Lord in those brothers and sisters who are suffering, who are in need.
If we come to Holy Mass and receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have also to be able to recognize and embrace the presence of the same Lord in the poor, in the naked, in the immigrant, in the ill, in the prisoner.
Let us remember, we all will be judged on love alone, and when we all stand before the Judge, we will have to answer an important question Our Lord Jesus Christ, will ask us, Where were you? Where were you when “I was hungry, and thirsty, and a stranger, and naked, and sick…?”
Where were you?
SUNDAY HOMILY 11/12/2023
XXXII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)
“Stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
Today we celebrate the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time which means we are entering the final weeks of the Liturgical Year. In two weeks, we will conclude this current year with the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the universe and then we begin the new one with the Advent Season.As we move towards the end, the Church directs our attention to what is called the Parousia = the Second Coming of the Lord.
In the Gospel today Jesus uses the image of the Jewish wedding to call us to be prepared, to be awake, for we do not know neither the day nor the hour when the Parousia will happen, when Jesus (the bridegroom) will come back.
A Jewish wedding usually took place in the evening, that is why these 10 virgins in today’s gospel were keeping their lamps, but it was necessary to bring extra oil and save it for later in case they ran out of it. The gospel tells us that 5 virgins didn’t have enough oil to keep their lamps burning and they didn’t have extra oil either, that’s why they are called foolish. When the bridegroom arrived, they were away buying more oil but unfortunately, they arrived late and were unable to enter the feast.
The oil in the Bible represents our love for God and others which is manifested in good works. In this parable the Lord is telling us that we all have an important job to perform in this life, a job that will help us prepare for His coming. Let us remember what Jesus teaches us in another passage, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind…and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love is the most important work we perform in this temporal life, love is what always keeps us awake, alert, ready, and it is the only thing we are able to bring with us when we die. St Paul in his Letter to the Corinthians reminds us, “faith, hope, and love remain; but the greatest of these three is love…” When we die and have the final encounter with the Lord faith and hope will be no longer necessary, but love is what will keep us always united to God for all eternity. We were all created to love and to wear out our lives for the sake of others.
But there is a reality we cannot deny, love has a limit, a deadline on this earth, death. Last week (on November 2) we commemorated our faithful departed which is a reminder of our destiny in this life. It does not matter who we are, how much we have, how young or old we are, we all will face death at some point of our lives. Death is our Parousia; death is our final encounter with the Lord and the only thing we can bring with us when we die is the love we have professed to God and shared with others during our journey. How much we did for God and how much we did for our brothers and sisters.
Love always requires a little bit of extra oil, a little bit of extra of us, more time, more prayer, more service, more forgiveness, more humility, more devotion, more testimony.
That is why Jesus consistently calls us to be prepared, to be ready, to keep our lamps burning, because there is no worse tragedy in this life than to die unprepared, than to die without loving God enough, without serving our brothers and sisters enough, without forgiving enough, without giving ourselves enough to others. Let us love as much as we can, as often as we can.
Let us remember love has a limit, a deadline in this life, which is our death. Therefore,
“Stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
SUNDAY HOMILY 11/5/2023
XXXI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)
In today’s gospel Jesus warns people and the disciples to be careful with the Pharisees because they appear to be very religious, and pious and devoted men but behind that appearance there is a great search for recognition, admiration, superiority, control and manipulation. Jesus says of them, “They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’”
The Pharisees wanted to take advantage of their social and religious position among people, advantage of their authority, they wanted people to serve them, they made people slaves to their traditions and rules.
Jesus knows who they are and he recognizes that they have a special call from God, “The Scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you”.
Jesus certainly recognizes their authority as the interpreters and teachers of God’s Law but he also clarifies that a social position and authority has the purpose of serving the community, the society, the congregation not of being recognized and admired by others.
In our society and even in the Church we have different kinds of positions, titles, authorities: we call a professional man or woman a DOCTOR, a PhD, we call a priest REVEREND or FATHER, we call the pope YOUR HOLINESS. But what really defines who we are is not the title we carry on but rather what we do for others, what we give and share with others.
We might experience the temptation to think that we are better than others because of our high education, or social position, or income, or talents. But let us remember that what we have received from God (talents, skills, education, authority, leadership) is not for our own benefit but rather for the benefit of others. If our brothers and sisters, our community, the Church, our society are not benefiting from our talents, from our education, from our skills, from what we have, we are being like the Pharisees, looking just for admiration, status and recognition.
It is certainly important to be recognized and admired by others for what we have accomplished in life, for our efforts and dedication, for our contributions, for our leadership, for our talents and gifts, it is important to hear sometimes, “thank you” or “you’re doing great job!” or “I’m so proud of you!” Those things help elevate our self-esteem and encourage us to do better, to work harder but we cannot forget that what we do, we do it with humility, for the sake and benefit of others.
Jesus says to his disciples, “The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
How are we using our talents? What do we expect from others when we serve and help them? How do we see and perceive and treat others? How are we serving and working for the progress and well-being of our society, our community and the Church? Let us keep always in our mind and heart what Jesus teaches us, “The greatest among you must be your servant.”
SUNDAY HOMILY (10/29/2023)
XXX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)
In today’s Gospel Jesus answers a very important question, “Which commandment in the Law is the greatest?” Jesus (as a very devoted Jewish man) answered correctly, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind…” But let us remember that the Jews were very legalistic in their religion. They based their daily lives and faith on the Law of Moses, especially the 10 Commandments. They thought that they were good and holy people by fulfilling all the law requirements, by following all the religious traditions.
Very often we see in the gospels, discussions between Jesus and the religious authorities because Jesus didn’t follow the traditions, especially keeping the sabbath, the rites of purification, or washing hands before eating, etc.
The Jews also discriminated the poor, the widow, the orphan, the sick. They thought these people were suffering in life because they were sinners, abandoned by God. They even felt the right to kill those caught committing a sin. Let us remember the scene of the woman caught in adultery whom Jesus saved.
That’s why when Jesus answers this question, he reminds them that there is a second commandment as important as the first one, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself…” And he adds, “The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Jewish people forgot that to love God is not about following the rules and traditions. God is perfect, God is happy forever, He needs absolutely nothing from us. But what God does want from us is to love Him through His most beautiful and perfect creation, the human person.
St John in his first letter clarifies this idea, “If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he sees cannot love God whom he cannot see.” And he adds, “This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother…” (1Jn 4:20).
Our neighbor (no matter who he is, where he comes from, how many sins he has committed) is the image of God. In other words, the other person (we see, we touch, we hug, we talk to, we insult, we offend, we discriminate, we deprive from forgiveness, we fail to help) is the most realistic image of God the Father.
The invisible God we cannot perceive with our physical senses becomes visible and accessible in the reality of our brothers and sisters. That’s why there is no greatest hypocrisy among us than to come to Mass, to pray rosaries, to donate money to the church and yet be able to diminish the dignity of others, creating conflicts, offending, gossiping, lying about others. Our worship to God, our prayers, our devotions only make sense when they lead us to see and recognize the face of God in others, in the neighbor.
But we also have to be careful with the other extreme, to love and help others without loving and acknowledging the only and supreme source of love, God Himself. St John also reminds us, (Deus caritas est = God is love).
There are so many good and generous people in this world, people who help the poor, the sick, who work hard to defend the human rights of those most vulnerable, but people who don’t have a relationship with God or don’t even believe in Him. Certainly, to help others doesn’t require to believe in God, but we cannot fully and perfectly love our brothers and sisters without the source of love, which is God. (Deus caritas est = God is love).
We love others and support them in their needs not because we are good people, not because we feel sorry and compassionate for them (love is not a sentiment, nor an emotion), but rather because God has loved us first, and the love we share with others is the same love God has shared with us.
To love God and our neighbor are not two different options, we cannot choose which one is more convenient, we cannot say that one is more important than the other, it is only one commandment, two pillars that must sustain every single aspect of our lives; our spirituality, our worship, devotions, our relationship with family and friends, our work, our rest.
Many people have great projects, plans, enterprises in this life, but we (who have heard Jesus’ answer today) only have one project, one purpose, one enterprise that matters all and that transcends life and time, to love God (the only source of perfect love) and our neighbor (God’s image) as much as we can, as often as we can, as much as we love ourselves.
SUNDAY HOMILY 10/22/2023
XXIX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)
In today’s gospel the Pharisees ask Jesus a very tricky question, “Is it lawful to pay the tax to Caesar or not?” Let us remember that the Jews were governed by the Roman Empire and everybody had to pay taxes. Jesus immediately realizes that they wanted to put him in trouble. If he says, it is lawful to pay the tax, his followers could feel betrayed, they would say that he was in favor of the Roman oppression and control. But, on the other hand, if he says, it is NOT lawful to pay the tax, that could be considered an act of rebellion against the Empire. In fact, one of the false accusations by which Jesus was arrested and condemned to death was that one, some were testifying that he was against paying taxes to the Romans.
Jesus in his wisdom and extraordinary discernment was able to give them the right answer, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”
Jesus is aware of his people’s history, they were always oppressed and obliged to pay taxes to other nations. He understood that he had to be a good model of peace and justice, a good citizen and avoid scandals and revolutions.
In another passage of the gospel of Matthew Jesus says to Peter that only foreigners should pay taxes and the citizens should be exempt, “But that we may not offend people, he asked Peter to go and pay the taxes…”
We, as Christians, are called to be good citizens, to speak and act always according to the gospel principles of peace, justice and obedience. It is ok to have different opinions, to be in disagreement with political leaders and statements but we have to show others, as Jesus invites us today, that we are committed to peace and reconciliation.
The Word of God teaches us that all authority comes from God. In our first Reading today the prophet Isaiah reminds us that God Himself chose Cyrus to govern all the nations. Cyrus was the first Persian King. He allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile and rebuild the Temple and their religion. So Cyrus was considered the Messiah sent by God to restore Israel.
Let us remember also what Jesus says to Pilate during his trial, “You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above…”
St Peter also in his first Letter claims, “Be subject to every human institution for the Lord’s sake, whether it be to the king or to governors as sent by Him…For it is the will of God that by doing good you may silence the ignorance of foolish people…”
St Paul in his Letter to the Romans also calls us to respect our authorities, “Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God…”
It is true that our governments not always do the job they are called to do, some of them only serve to their own interests. We all know how much so many people (in different countries) have suffered due to the corruption and ambition of their leaders.
But God has established authority in the world to keep the society in permanent function, order and progress; and we as Christians, are called to contribute (the best we can) to the wellbeing and progress of the society, to be models of peace, respect and reconciliation, to “repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”
SUNDAY HOMILY 10/15/2023
XXVIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)
“Behold, I have prepared my banquet…and everything is ready; come to the feast.”
Today the Liturgy of the Word continues to teach us about the reality of the Kingdom of God. The Book of the Prophet Isaiah portrays a beautiful description of the Kingdom as a feast, a banquet. The Lord says through the prophet, “On this mountain the LORD of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines…On this mountain he will destroy death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face…”
This is a description of what we call “heaven”, a spiritual and transcendental reality where there is no more suffering and pain but only joy, peace, salvation, an eternal banquet of delicious food and permanent celebration.
That’s why Jesus also uses the image of the wedding feast in his parable today. He says that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a king who organized a wedding feast for His son. He invited people but all of them rejected his invitation. The gospel says, “Some refused to come, others ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business…The rest mistreated the servants of the king, and killed them…”
One of the most important aspects of our faith is that it comes from our freedom. God does not impose faith in Him, He gives us the invitation, He calls us. That’s why not everybody in this world believes in God or professes our Christian faith, because God respects our freedom, our capacity to decide whether we want to establish a relationship with Him or not. And this is the reality Jesus exposes in the parable. The king invited people to attend the feast, but some were too busy, others didn’t care, others were so evil.
Where do we find ourselves in our journey today? The world today is making us busier, technology is consuming our time, there is now so many demands. Are family duties or our work responsibilities taking us away from this opportunity to have a relationship with the Lord?
God is not asking us to give up our families and jobs or moments of rest and enjoyment to be in permanent contemplation; God simply invites us to establish a relationship with Him, to come to His feast, not only on Sunday (for Holy Mass) but every single day, even in the midst of our busyness, to be permanently aware of His gentle and loving presence. We responded to Psalm 23 today with this simple and beautiful statement, “I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.” The house of the Lord is not only the church, the building where we gather together, the house of the Lord is also our bodies. Let us remember what St Paul teaches us, “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit…” and when we receive Holy Communion at Mass God starts dwelling within us, even in a physical way, because we consume the very Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
If we are here today it is not a coincidence or just a mere chance, we are here alive, able to come and gather together because God is giving us a special invitation, “Behold, I have prepared my banquet…come to the feast.” -Are we accepting His invitation today? Are we going to do it tomorrow, and the next day? Are we taking a moment every day to collect ourselves in prayer and tell God that we want to go to His feast? That it is crucial and essential for us to go. Are we allowing the busyness of our daily lives to take control of our faith and Christian responsibilities? God wants to share with us His divine life, His perfection, his love and mercy. But it is up to us to accept it with joy, with hope and with responsibility. “Behold, I have prepared my banquet…and everything is ready; come to the feast.”
SUNDAY HOMILY 10/8/2023
XXVII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)
“I have chosen you from the world, says the Lord, to go and bear fruit that will remain.” This was our Gospel acclamation in our Liturgy of the Word today.
The last Sundays we have heard Jesus talking about the Kingdom of heaven and he uses the image of the vineyard. Two Sundays ago, we heard that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a landowner who hired men at different times during the day to work in his vineyard.
Last Sunday we read the story of the man who asked his two sons to work in his vineyard, one son said yes, but didn’t go, the other one said no, but changed his mind and went.
And today, Jesus tells another parable in which the main scenario is a vineyard. Jesus says that a landowner planted a vineyard and hired tenants to take care of it, but they decided to keep it for themselves. They killed the servants the landowner sent to obtain the produce and finally they dared to kill even his son, they said, “Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance…”
The image of the vineyard, especially in today’s gospel, helps us be aware that God has called us to work in His vineyard, to become its administrators, not its owners, “I have chosen you from the world, to go and bear fruit that will remain.” Our call is to bear fruit wherever we find ourselves, not to take control and absolute possession of the of our lives, our vineyard.
We are all know how today’s world is suffering a tremendous crisis in all areas because we (human beings) believe that the world and everything in it belongs to us.
We are all aware of how nature is in danger and declining globally. Pope Francis wrote a beautiful encyclical (in 2015) called “Laudato Si” in which he addresses the ecological crisis and environmental problems the planet is facing now. This beautiful planet, a place we call “earth” is our vineyard, a vineyard that requires care, a responsible and fruitful administration. When natural disasters happen (tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes) is a reminder that we are not the owners of this place.
We are all aware of the ideological and moral crisis of our society that shows us how the beautiful gift of our bodies and our sexuality is becoming an object of manipulation and control. Who told us that we are the owners of our body, the owners of our sexuality and identity and that we have the right to change our nature, our original design? Let us remember what St Paul says, “The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit” We are only administrators of this gift, of our body, we are called to bear fruits of charity and holiness.
We continue to put in danger the sacrality of human life from the very moment of conception to its natural death. Who told us that we have the right to interrupt the natural development of a human being in the womb of his mother? God called us to be only administrators of this vineyard, human life, not to take possession and control of it.
Right now, there is a synod of the Bishops in Rome where some important issues are being discussed. Some Cardinals and bishops long for radical changes in Church’s structure and morality. The blessing of same-sex unions, allowing women into the priesthood, holy communion for divorced-remarried people and some other things. The question is, are we the owners of the tradition and morality of our faith? Are we the owners of the sacrament of marriage? Are we the owners of sin? Can we say that an act was sinful yesterday and today is no sinful anymore?
Let us remember we are only administrators of this vineyard, we may improve things, we may discuss issues and dialogue, but we cannot forget that God is the only and absolute landowner of this vineyard (the planet, the church, marriage, faith).
We are all servants and administrators in this world, nothing belongs to us, and the proof of this is the reality of death. No matter who we are in this life and how much we have, we all die in the same conditions, in complete loneliness and poverty. We cannot take with us our own ideas, our own opinions, our desires, our possessions, not even the people we love the most. We only take with us our fruits (either good or bad).
My brothers and sisters, we cannot forget who we are in this vineyard, who we are in the world, in the church, in this society; we cannot forget who the landowner of this vineyard is, we cannot forget our main job in this life, what we are here for, “I have chosen you from the world, says the Lord, to go and bear fruit that will remain.”
SUNDAY HOMILY 10/1/2023
XXVI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)
The Liturgy of the Word today brings up an important topic for our Christian journey, conversion. In the first Reading, God explains to people (through the prophet Ezekiel) that we certainly will die for our sins, but if we change our lives and turn away from sin we will live. In the Gospel Jesus illustrates this teaching with the simple parable of the father and the 2 sons. At the father’s request to work in his vineyard, one of the sons was willing to go and work but, in the end, never went. The other son, however, who had said “no”, later on changed his mind and did go.
God knows we are not perfect, He knows we are weak, stubborn, selfish, unfaithful, fleshly, that for us it’s much easier to say “no” to Him rather than say ‘yes”; He is aware that we always will make mistakes in life and commit sins. But it is important to understand that God is not concerned about us committing sins, He is more concerned about us embracing our sins, justifying our sins, living in a permanent state of sin.
God has given us a great gift; the gift of freedom, and we have the option to use it rightly or not. God does not have control over us, so we can make mistakes and commit sins, we all enjoy absolute freedom; but we also have freedom to change, to repent, to turn to the other direction. That’s exactly what the word “conversion” in the New Testament means. Conversion comes from the Greek word “metanoia” which means a change of direction, a change of mentality. We are all capable of doing that. If we are able to commit sins, God tells us, we are also able to change.
That’s why sinners were so important for Jesus and played a significant role in his preaching. He was very clear on his mission, he knew what he came for, “Those who are well do not need a doctor, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
Jesus came to help us be aware that our sins and mistakes in life cannot fully define who we are and that they don’t have the last word, that we all can change, that our wounds (no matter how deep they are) can be restored and healed, that what really matters it’s not what we did in the past but what we are doing today. Psalm 25 claims, “Remember that your compassion, O LORD, and your love are from of old. The sins of my youth and my frailties remember not…” This is the good news Jesus proclaimed, we can change, it’s never too late.
This is what the chief priests and elders of the people didn’t know (or didn’t want to accept and recognize), that people can change, that people can start over again. Jesus uses hard words, “Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you…because they believed in the preaching of John and changed their lives. But you did not believe in him and changed.”
It is ok to make mistakes, it is ok to commit sins, we are all sinners, we are all so fragile and weak in our humanity; but what is never ok, never right, never acceptable is to justify our sins and remain in them. The problem is not falling (we all fall, some more often than others, some deeper than others), the problem is not getting up again. The problem is not committing sins, the real problem is not turning away, repenting, asking God for forgiveness.
That’s why the Church offers us the Sacrament of Reconciliation, a sacrament that becomes our second chance, not a tribunal where we are judged and condemned but rather a place of hope where we are lovingly and mercifully renewed and strengthened to keep fighting.
Let us not allow our sins to control us, to determine our eternal future, let us always keep in our minds and hearts this fundamental truth, that if we able to commit a sin today, we are also able to repent and change.
SUNDAY HOMILY 9/24/2023
XXV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)
“My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.” These are the words God addressed to the people of Israel through the prophet Isaiah. This is an important principle we should be aware of in our relationship with the Lord. God does not work based on our human logic. We have a particular way to see things, to understand situations, to deal with conflicts. But God has another way to do it. We just need to recall Jesus’ preaching and message throughout the gospels. Jesus has a different logic, “The last will be the first,” “If you want to be the greatest and the most important you have to become a child,” “deny yourself, hate father and mother and follow me,” “whoever saves his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will find it,” “love your enemies, bless them and pray for them.”
The parable Jesus tells in today’s gospel portrays this reality. A landowner needed workers for his vineyard, so he went out at different times of the day and asked some men to go and work for him. At the end of the day, he began to pay each one the same salary, starting with those who were hired later. The first ones who came earlier in the day and worked harder were surprised and annoyed to see that all workers (no matter how long and hard they worked) were being treated equally. It seems to be unjust what the landowner is doing. Our human justice and logic tell us, “The more you work the more you get.” But let us remember, “My thoughts are not your thoughts nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.”
That’s why it is so difficult to be a Christian in this world, the world leads us to follow a path based on our physical, mental and emotional needs, God (instead) leads us to go in the opposite direction.
The landowner (in the parable) is concerned about those men who were hired later; they must have families to feed, they need the money for their survival, therefore the landowner cannot allow them to go back home with less than a 1-day wage. But for us it’s so difficult to see it, to understand it, because we are more concerned about how much others can give us, how much others can do for us. We have the tendency to see others as simple products. God sees his children as individuals, their needs, their concerns, their problems, their joys and accomplishments in life. We need to start seeing others and situations in our daily lives with God’s logic, not with our limited human logic, because we are very selfish, we are interested, we are prideful and egocentric and these things do not allow us to perceive and accept God’s plan in our lives.
When things are not going the way we want it, we tend to complain, to look for logical explanations, we judge others, we judge ourselves, we complain to God, but we don’t usually take a moment in prayer to think what God is trying to tell us through that particular situation, what God is planning, what is His logic, what we can learn.
The parable Jesus told us today is a call to be more open to God’s work in the world and within us; it’s a call to see people, things, situations in a more Christian perspective, not based on our assumptions, judgements, personal and selfish interests but on God’s love and justice.
God is powerful, God is wise, God is intelligent, He knows what He does, and most importantly, God loves us in a way we cannot imagine, we cannot understand. So, we just need to trust in His ways, to allow Him to work and do what He knows is the best for us because “My thoughts are not your thoughts nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.”
9/17/ 2023
XXIV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)
The Liturgy of the Word today brings up one of the most important teachings of Jesus, the necessity to forgive, a call to forgiveness. In the Gospel, Peter approached Jesus to ask him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?” And Jesus’ answer is very surprising, he says in reply, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.”
Let us remember that in the Bible number 7 has a special meaning, it means totality, perfection, fulfillment. Jesus is trying to make Peter aware of the importance and essentiality of forgiveness, to forgive our brother “seventy-seven times,” means, to forgive everything, always, unconditionally, beyond perfection, beyond our limits.
Certainly, we all know how difficult it is to do it, especially when we are strongly offended, when we are hurt, insulted, humiliated. Our tendency (as human beings) is to develop a sentiment of anger, hatred, a desire for revenge.
The book of Sirach claims, “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight…” We are so selfish, egocentric, we believe that we only deserve to be forgiven, to have a second chance, but the others are not worthy to have this privilege.
That’s why it is so hard to forgive. Jesus portrays this reality in his parable. This wicked servant thought that he deserved the forgiveness of his master but he himself considered that his fellow servant was not worthy of receiving the same forgiveness he received.
And it is important to recognize why forgiveness is so central in Jesus’s preaching and so significant for God, “So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”
God calls us to forgive our brother because forgiveness is the beginning of a healing process. There are so many people who struggle with the consequences of trauma, people who have been hurt tremendously in their lives (physically, mentally, emotionally); and we know how much anger and hatred we are able to build and keep within us, in our hearts. Emotions that cause more damage and pain.
God calls us to forgive our brother not as a divine commandment but rather as a remedy for our wounds.
Nourishing our hearts with hatred, and anger and revenge (in reality) do not make us feel better, these negative emotions don’t help us recover, neither they heal our wounds, on the contrary, they destroy us and consume us little by little, they put in danger our mental, emotional and spiritual life.
The book of Sirach says, “Could anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the LORD?”
That’s why Jesus is so insistent on forgiveness, on forgiving always, as much as we can, “seventy-seven times,” because the first step toward inner healing, restoration and peace (after being hurt and offended) is forgiveness.
Jesus knows what he is talking about, he knows what he is saying to Peter, he is the first one who had to forgive the whole humanity, all our offenses and sins.
God knows there is evil in this world, God knows there are people who cause damage to others, but our response to evilness cannot be anger and hatred. It is certainly not easy to do it, but not impossible. Let us remember that forgiveness is not based on an emotion, it’s not a sentiment, forgiveness is a choice we are to make.
So many people wait and wait years trying to “feel” themselves ready to forgive. But it is not a matter of feeling something, it is a matter of choosing to do it, it’s an act of the will that leads us to healing and restoration.
Let us not allow our selfishness, our anger, our frustrations caused by others to control us, to manipulate us, let us be always open to forgiveness and allow God (through His forgiveness on the cross) to heal us, to restore us, to love even our enemies and overcome the evil of others with goodness and justice.
SUNDAY HOMILY 8/20
XX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)
In today’s Gospel Jesus has an encounter with a Canaanite woman who desperately asks him to heal her daughter who is tormented by a demon. This is a powerful scene that reminds us of the power of prayer and what it requires. Everything this woman does helps us rediscover some important aspects of prayer. Prayer requires 1) Persistence, 2) Humility and 3) Trust.
The gospel tells us that the disciples were annoyed by this woman, they said to Jesus, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” She keeps calling out. Prayer is a permanent encounter with the Lord and God asks us to keep trying, to keep calling out, to insist, to persevere because when we persevere in something it means we really want it, we really long for it. This woman didn’t give up on her request despite Jesus’ apparent rejection. She was convinced that Jesus was the only one who could help and heal her daughter. And thanks to that perseverance, she was finally heard, and her desire was fulfilled by Jesus. There is a beautiful quote that claims, “Pray not until God listens you, but until you listen to God.”
Let us never give up on our prayer, let us keep insisting, persevering, let us keep knocking on the door. Jesus says in another passage of the gospel, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened…”
Secondly, this woman shows Jesus great humility. Let us remember that this woman was not a Jew, she was pagan, she belonged to another culture, another religion. That’s why Jesus says to his disciples, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” and later on he says to her, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” The ‘children’ represent the people of Israel (the Jews) and the ‘dogs’ are the people from other countries, the pagans. And this woman recognizes that she does not belong to the chosen people of God and says to Jesus, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” She is telling Jesus, I know I am nobody, I am your servant, you are superior. Prayer requires to humble ourselves, to recognize our humanity, our limitations and nothingness before God’s majesty and power. When we pray, we must come to God with the same humility our Blessed Mother responded to the angel at the moment of the Annunciation, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
And finally, this Canaanite woman teaches us that prayer requires trust. “Jesus said to her in reply, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.” Jesus perceived her faith, her trust in his power. Jesus recognized her perseverance and humility. She did everything she could to catch Jesus’ attention and to be heard.
Our prayer requires to be convinced that God is powerful, that He can do extraordinary things for us and for our loved ones. God can heal (physically, mentally, emotionally), God can transform our lives and make us grow in maturity and holiness, God can forgive us our most shameful and terrible sins.
The testimony of this woman in today’s Gospel must lead us to grow in the habit of prayer, it must give us a new desire to deepen our relationship with the Lord. Let us never give up on God, let us come closer to Him by persevering in prayer, with a humble heart that recognizes His greatness and our lowliness——and trusting that He is powerful, loving and merciful enough to heal us, to transform us, to save us.
SUNDAY HOMILY 8/13
XIX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)
We all remember this extraordinary scene in the gospels. The disciples find themselves in a very difficult situation, they struggle with a heavy and strong wind that is putting their lives in danger. But something unexpectedly happens, Jesus appears to them walking on the water. This is a very dramatic moment in the life of the disciples that brings so many teachings for our Christian life and faith.
First of all, the gospel tells us that when the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, they were terrified, they thought it was a “ghost”. That happens when we draw away from God. When we don’t develop an intimate and permanent relationship with Him. God becomes a ghost, mysterious, inaccessible, incomprehensible, something we should be afraid of. —————But Jesus once again tells us, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Jesus presents himself as a close, friendly and personal God who wants to establish a relationship with His creation.
During that dramatic moment Peter (one of the disciples) takes the initiative and try to figure out by himself what is going on, he wants to see how real Jesus is. He says, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
That’s a very powerful act of faith. He wanted to do something that is humanly impossible, walking on water. Our faith leads us to take risks in life. Everything we face in this life is a risk. Marriage is a risk, commitments, a new job, a new business. Peter teaches us that, to not be afraid to take the risk of faith, the risk to believe, the risk to come to Jesus even when everything seems to be lost and hopeless.
Peter also gives us another important tip for our faith. He was doing a great job until he started to doubt and sink, “When he saw how strong the wind was, he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!”
Peter made a terrible mistake, he lost his focus on Jesus, he got distracted by the strong wind. That can happen to us too. When we focus so much on our problems and challenges and frustrations in life, instead of keeping our eyes on Jesus, we allow fear and desperation to take control of us and manipulate us.
I know human life is so fragile and it is certainly full of “strong winds” that can put in danger our securities, stability, our emotions, our physical and mental health, our relationships, our projects. We all know how an illness can change our lives in just a moment, or a financial crisis, or a simple mistake.
But we are all believers, we all profess a faith not in a ghost but rather in a real person and a powerful God, we believe in his power, that He can do extraordinary things in our lives, even in the midst of our storms and chaotic times. Human problems cannot define and determine who we are. Let us not allow fear and desperation to take control of our minds and hearts, and faith, and make us lose the focus. Our faith encourages us to keep always our eyes on the Lord.
We are only able to overcome our fears and struggles and doubts in life when we allow ourselves (like Peter) to get out of the boat (no matter how awful and terrifying the reality looks like) and start walking toward Jesus.
Jesus is always here, waiting for our determination, waiting for us to allow Him to take control, to finally see Him not as a ghost but rather as a loving, friendly and powerful God who will never let us sink. May this powerful story in today’s gospel and the testimony of Peter help us recognize God’s voice saying to us “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
SUNDAY HOMILY 8/6
FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD (A)
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, an important feast that leads us to remember that particular and significant episode in the public life of Jesus and his three disciples, Peter, James and John. Jesus appears to them completely transformed. The gospel says, “His face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light…” This is a manifestation of his glory and power. The disciples are contemplating an anticipation of the glory of Jesus at his resurrection.
The gospel of Matthew also tells us that Moses and Elijah appeared conversing with him. These two biblical figures are important. Moses represents the Law of God. Let us remember that he received the 10 Commandments from God on the mountain.
The other figure, Elijah represents the prophets of the Old Testament, especially those who announced the coming of Jesus as the Messiah. This encounter of Jesus with Moses and Elijah teaches us that the Law of God and all the prophecies about the Messiah are fulfilled in the person of Jesus. Jesus is the new Law of the Father. Therefore, there is no need for more sacrifices as the Law required, Jesus is the most important sacrifice; there is no need to stone and persecute sinners for breaking the Law because Jesus brings the mercy and forgiveness of God. He even had the authority to give his disciples a new commandment, “Love one another…”———As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”
Jesus also is recognized as the last prophet of the Father. God doesn’t want to speak through the prophets any longer, He has now spoken through His Son because Jesus is the Word of God made flesh.
All these details are important for us to know because they help us understand and recognize what our faith is based on. St Peter in his second letter claims, “We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that unique declaration came to him from the majestic glory, “This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain…”
St Peter is declaring that what he is teaching and preaching about Jesus is 100% true. The faith he professes is not based on a “myth” or a legend, or a lie. Jesus is a real person who was glorified by God. He died on the cross and was risen on the third day.
What we celebrate here every Sunday is not based on a simple belief in something, what we celebrate is the truth of God. Jesus is not a myth, Jesus is not a legend, neither he is another important rabbi in the first century who preached love and peace. He is more than that. “A bright cloud cast a shadow over the disciples, and from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” There is only one person we should listen to, Jesus Christ. He claimed of himself, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.”
The Feast of the Transfiguration leads us to clarify and confirm our faith, to recognize that Christianity is not another religion among others but the only one that follows the Truth of God.
Without Jesus all our beliefs are simply myths, legends, fairy tales. Without Jesus what we think is true and absolute in this life is actually false, without Jesus all our knowledge and education is simply ignorance. Without Jesus we certainly lose the right path, the right direction, we lose the meaning and purpose of life.
St Peter tells us that he was an eyewitness to that moment, he gave his own life later on (like many others) for that truth he saw. He left everything in order to be part of that glory and majesty he contemplated in Jesus at the moment of the transfiguration.
Let us not be deceived by all the truths and ways the world offers us today. Let us believe in what we have received from the Apostles who were eyewitnesses to all these marvelous and powerful events and let us focus our faith only on Jesus as God the Father proclaims, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
SUNDAY HOMILY 7/30/2023
XVII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)
In today’s Gospel Jesus tells his disciples two beautiful and simple parables that make us understand and recognize the priceless value of the Kingdom of heaven. Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a treasure buried in a field, a man finds it and then goes and sells everything he has and buys the entire field. Jesus also compares the Kingdom of God to a merchant looking for pearls and when he finds one of great value, he sells what he has and buys that pearl.
Jesus does not describe the Kingdom of heaven in a material way; he doesn’t tell us how it looks like physically, but he tells us that the Kingdom is so valuable, so beautiful, so essential that once it is found, one cannot take it for granted, it makes us leave everything behind just to keep it with us. These two parables simply teach us that there is nothing in this life more precious and valuable than a relationship with God.
Oftentimes we take it for granted and assume that God is not needed because everything in our life is going well. We are healthy, we are financially stable, we have friends, we are successful, we have a job, but what about when all these things are gone? That’s when we become aware of the great treasure God is and what it means to lose it.
There are so many people who have found God in the midst of a terrible crisis, when they have hit rock bottom in their lives. The love and mercy of God changed their lives completely and received a new opportunity.
That’s the most interesting aspect of these two stories. These two men not only found the treasure and the pearl, they immediately sold everything they had in order to buy that field and that particular and unique pearl, “…out of joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field…When the merchant finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.”
When we find God in our lives and come to establish an intimate and authentic relationship with Him, the other things we once considered valuable and essential, become secondary. Jesus claims in another passage, “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you…”
Let us not make that mistake, to think that what we have in this life is better and more necessary than what God can give us. Let us remember Solomon’s petition and prayer to God in our first Reading today, “The LORD appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Ask something of me and I will give it to you.’ Solomon answered: ‘O LORD, my God, give your servant an understanding heart…” and God was so pleased with that request, “Because you have asked for this—not for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies, but for understanding—I do as you requested. I give you a heart wise and understanding…”
God in the life of a person is a treasure and a precious pearl that makes us leave everything behind (our sins, our priorities, our fears, our doubts, our emotional attachments, our possessions) and makes us keep it with us, it changes everything, and everything recovers its meaning and purpose.
If you know you have found the treasure of God in the field of your life, don’t lose it, keep it with you, take care of it. It is something that not even death can take away from you.
But if you haven’t found the pearl of great value in your life yet, if God is not that valuable treasure, that unique pearl yet, Jesus invites you to keep seeking, to keep looking, until you find it, until you are 100% convinced that God and a relationship with Him is the most important, priceless, valuable treasure of your entire life. Believe me, once you find it, you will want to sell everything you have and buy that field, that precious pearl of great value.
SUNDAY HOMILY
XVI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)
Jesus continues teaching about the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven. Last Sunday we learned (from the parable of the Sower) that the seed of the kingdom falls in different places (the path, the rocky ground, the thorns, and the rich soil) and that we have to prepare a good soil for the Word of God to grow and bear fruit. —–Today Jesus brings another parable, the Parable of the wheat and the weeds.
The story tells us that a man sowed good seed in his field but during the night the “enemy” sowed weeds, and he allowed both to grow together. This simple parable is a very realistic picture of the world in which we all live. There are two realities that always accompany our existence, good and evil. From the very beginning of our human history, we all have experienced injustice, suffering, pain, violence. We just need to open the first pages of the Bible to find out how evil is always present even at the very beginning. Let us remember that dramatic episode when Cain killed his own brother (Abel) out of anger, jealousy, and envy.
Evil is a reality that continues to exist, that continues to grow along with goodness. The first thing we can learn from this simple story is that evil is necessary in the world, and it’s necessary because it leads us to practice and choose goodness. We are able to grow in the virtue of patience when facing conflicts with others. We become stronger in character when we are hurt. We come to value the presence of our loved ones when they are gone. People turn to God when something bad happens to them. Let us remember how God used the evilness and cruelty of the crucifixion, the evilness of the Roman Empire to save us through Jesus. God allows good and evil to grow together in the world to help us make the right choices in life, to help us choose good over evil.
There is another important teaching we can take away from the parable. In the parable “…the householder asked his servants to let both (the good seed and the weeds) to grow together until harvest; then at harvest time he will first collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning…” Jesus explains to his disciples that “all evildoers will be thrown into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth…”
When we see and experience evil in this world, we are to recognize (as believers) that God is more powerful, that evil does not have the last word. It is true that God is merciful, compassionate, patient but let us not forget that He is also just, that He is a judge who judges with justice. Our first Reading from the Book of Wisdom reminds us, “There is no god besides you who have the care of all, that you need show you have not unjustly condemned. For your might is the source of justice…” That’s the image of God Jesus portrays in the parable, “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth…,” which means that at the end of time evil will pass away and God will judge those who are permanently causing evil and pain and suffering in the world.
Let us remember God is patient, God is merciful and compassionate, but He is also just, and He will not allow evil to have the last word. The evilness we see in the world today cannot lead us to disappointment and frustration, it’s an opportunity that leads us to make the right choices, to always choose goodness over evil, and to strengthen the Christian hope and conviction that God does not take for granted the suffering of His children caused by evil. Evil will continue to exist, to harm, to destroy, to hurt, to cause pain but God will judge with justice at the end of the harvest, He will bring justice at the right time, at the right moment.
SUNDAY HOMILY
XVI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)
Jesus continues teaching about the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven. Last Sunday we learned (from the parable of the Sower) that the seed of the kingdom falls in different places (the path, the rocky ground, the thorns, and the rich soil) and that we have to prepare a good soil for the Word of God to grow and bear fruit. —–Today Jesus brings another parable, the Parable of the wheat and the weeds.
The story tells us that a man sowed good seed in his field but during the night the “enemy” sowed weeds, and he allowed both to grow together. This simple parable is a very realistic picture of the world in which we all live. There are two realities that always accompany our existence, good and evil. From the very beginning of our human history, we all have experienced injustice, suffering, pain, violence. We just need to open the first pages of the Bible to find out how evil is always present even at the very beginning. Let us remember that dramatic episode when Cain killed his own brother (Abel) out of anger, jealousy, and envy.
Evil is a reality that continues to exist, that continues to grow along with goodness. The first thing we can learn from this simple story is that evil is necessary in the world, and it’s necessary because it leads us to practice and choose goodness. We are able to grow in the virtue of patience when facing conflicts with others. We become stronger in character when we are hurt. We come to value the presence of our loved ones when they are gone. People turn to God when something bad happens to them. Let us remember how God used the evilness and cruelty of the crucifixion, the evilness of the Roman Empire to save us through Jesus. God allows good and evil to grow together in the world to help us make the right choices in life, to help us choose good over evil.
There is another important teaching we can take away from the parable. In the parable “…the householder asked his servants to let both (the good seed and the weeds) to grow together until harvest; then at harvest time he will first collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning…” Jesus explains to his disciples that “all evildoers will be thrown into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth…”
When we see and experience evil in this world, we are to recognize (as believers) that God is more powerful, that evil does not have the last word. It is true that God is merciful, compassionate, patient but let us not forget that He is also just, that He is a judge who judges with justice. Our first Reading from the Book of Wisdom reminds us, “There is no god besides you who have the care of all, that you need show you have not unjustly condemned. For your might is the source of justice…” That’s the image of God Jesus portrays in the parable, “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth…,” which means that at the end of time evil will pass away and God will judge those who are permanently causing evil and pain and suffering in the world.
Let us remember God is patient, God is merciful and compassionate, but He is also just, and He will not allow evil to have the last word. The evilness we see in the world today cannot lead us to disappointment and frustration, it’s an opportunity that leads us to make the right choices, to always choose goodness over evil, and to strengthen the Christian hope and conviction that God does not take for granted the suffering of His children caused by evil. Evil will continue to exist, to harm, to destroy, to hurt, to cause pain but God will judge with justice at the end of the harvest, He will bring justice at the right time, at the right moment.
SUNDAY HOMILY 7/16/23
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
In today’s Gospel Jesus shares with people one of his most famous parables, the Parable of the Sower. Let us remember that Jesus grew up in Nazareth, a small town in Galilee where most of the people were farmers. Jesus (most likely) grew up learning how to cultivate the soil and sow. Jesus uses the image of the seed and the sower to help people understand the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven.
This is one of the few parables Jesus himself explains to his disciples. So, we don’t really have to make an effort to interpret and understand it. Jesus tells us that the seed that falls on the path represents those who hear the Word of God without understanding it, the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in their heart. This is an image of the people who leave their faith, leave the Church with the excuse that they do not understand God, that they do not understand the Sacred Scriptures, or they feel uncomfortable obeying the teachings of the Church. Today people easily get seduced by new ideologies, by new moral concepts that promise success and a fake happiness. And this does not allow the Kingdom of God to grow within us.
Another seed falls on rocky ground which represents those who hear the Word of God and receive it with joy. But when challenges and trials come, people immediately give up. The knowledge of God must be rooted in a permanent relationship with Him. For so many people the only encounter with God is on Sunday but the rest of the week there is no prayer, zero encounter with His Word. That’s why we complain and give up so easily when we face difficult times. Faith is only able to grow and deepen when we spend more time in prayer, when we are in permanent search for God.
Jesus continues the story and says that another seed falls among thorns. This seed refers to those who hear the Word of God, but then worldly anxiety and longing for wealth and happiness choke the Word and it bears no fruit. These are the people who focus so much on their material and emotional and intellectual needs. People who are always in permanent financial, physical, intellectual competition with others. People who spend a lot of their time and energy and even their resources thinking about themselves but forget about the spiritual component that is so essential in their lives, a reality that also needs to be nourished and strengthened.
And finally, Jesus concludes his explanation with the seed that falls on rich soil which “…is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”
These are the people who take seriously their Christian and religious commitment with God, their Baptism. People who make God the center and priority of their lives, of their jobs, of their family. People of permanent and profound prayer and silent reflection/meditation. People who are always interested and eager to learn more about their faith and to live it out with dedication and joy.
The Parable of the Sower is a real diagnosis of our faith Jesus is proposing us. Where are we now in our relationship with the Lord and with His Divine Word? Are we bearing fruits? Are we growing in the virtues? What kind of spiritual “soil” do we cultivate in our lives? Do we really allow the Word of God to penetrate and fill our whole being, our whole reality as Christians? What are those obstacles (rocks, thorns) that do not allow the Word of God to grow and bear fruit within us?
Perhaps too much social and material anxiety and preoccupation for the future? spiritual laziness and carelessness? Perhaps we are too busy right now? Maybe we are too young, and life is too short? or perhaps we are too old and there is no time? Maybe too ill and weak? or most likely we are extremely happy and successful in this life?
Let us make an honest and serious diagnosis of our faith, of our spiritual soil through this simple but extraordinary parable. It might surprise us; it might help us rediscover how important and essential the Kingdom of God is in our lives; it might lead us to make new changes.
The sower (which represents God in the parable) will continue sowing the seed of His Kingdom in the entire world, but it is up to us to receive it, to embrace it and to make it grow.
SUNDAY HOMILY 7/9/23
XIV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR A)
In today’s Gospel Jesus reminds us of the importance of humility in order to embrace the mystery of God. He praises the Father saying, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones…” For Jesus the ‘little ones’ are not only children but especially those who are humble and open to accepting the Will of God in their lives.
We, unfortunately, live in a world that only accepts and believes in what is rational and material. That’s why the idea of an invisible God who created us and loves us is losing its value and reality, and it’s being changed for new ideologies, for new beliefs.
God is certainly a reality we cannot fully understand or explain but we can certainly experience, embrace and come to love, but it requires humility. Only the simple and humble person is able to have a profound experience of God. We don’t need to study theology to fully embrace the mystery of God in our lives, we need humility.
In the Gospel, Jesus is joyful that the Father has hidden His divine mystery from those who consider themselves as wise and learned. Who think they do not need Him, and has revealed it to the humble, to the innocent, to the poor, to those who are insignificant to the world.
Let us remember that God manifests Himself in what is simple. Look at the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the most extraordinary mystery of our faith, the center of our Christian life. A sacrament in which God becomes so real and accessible to us through the simplicity of bread and wine. We always expect miracles, extraordinary manifestations of God that make us believe.
Jesus teaches us that we can find him also in those we consider less valuable in society, the sick, the prisoner, the naked, the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me…” We tend to love and welcome those who are well, those who can give us something, but we miss the real presence of God in those who suffer, in those who need us.
That’s why Jesus chose to preach and be around those who were excluded and discriminated by society. He was criticized for touching the lepers, for eating with tax collectors and prostitutes. Jesus knew and understood that only the virtue of humility can allow us to have a personal and strong relationship with the Father.
Humility also helps us recognize and be aware of our permanent necessity for God, that we have limitations, that we cannot control everything and that those burdens sometimes we carry on in our lives need to be unloaded on the Lord.
Jesus gives us these consoling words in today’s gospel, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.” Humility leads us to trust in God’s power and love.
Let us cultivate this important virtue that makes us more human, more in connection with our brothers and sisters who suffer, and most importantly, that helps us enter in communion with the mystery of God the Father.
SUNDAY HOMILY 7/2/23 XIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR A)
In today’s Gospel Jesus reveals to his disciples the price we all must pay in order to follow him. He says, “Whoever loves father or mother, son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me…”
Certainly, these words coming from Jesus are difficult to assimilate and understand. We are people who live in permanent relationship with others. We are all attached to each other by emotional connections. Family is the most important and significant connection we have in this life. It is a biological, emotional, and psychological connection we all experience.
How can we love Jesus (whom we never see) more than the people we see every day and interact with? How can we put Jesus over a mother and a father, over my children? This is only possible when we come to experience the love of God in our lives because the love of God brings us to the highest level of our humanity, to the fulfillment and realization of our humanity.
In today’s gospel Jesus is not asking us to make a choice between our loved ones and God. He knows how important and fundamental our families and friends are in our lives. When Jesus compares our love for others to the love for God, he is making us aware of how important it is to be free in order to allow Him to fulfill our lives.
It is true that our families, our friends, and the people we love in this life can make us feel safe, loved, happy. Even Jesus himself wanted to be around people. He grew up with Mary and Joseph as his parents, he chose 12 disciples to be with him, he prayed and suffered for them. The Gospel of John tells us that He cried in front of his friend’s tomb, Lazarus, he experienced the pain of rejection, loneliness, betrayal. But he knew and understood the limitations of human relationships.
We see how easily parents abandon their children, how children reject their parents, how many families experience brokenness in their marriages, how many divorces, how friends betray and deceive their own friends. And of course, we cannot forget and deny the reality that people die, the people we love the most can die.
Jesus is not asking us to choose between people and God, to abandon our loved ones; Jesus is asking us to be aware of what is important and essential in this life, what the real source of happiness and security is, and that is God.
Jesus teaches us that God is not a Father, God is the Father, the only one. That’s why Jesus asked his disciples several times, life does not consist of possessions and in today’s Gospel he tells us, our happiness and security cannot depend on people.
We are to love everyone and especially those who are closer to us (father, mother, husband, wife, children) but never putting God aside. God must become our priority, the center of our daily life, the only source of our joy and peace.
Nobody in this life (not even our loved ones) can fulfill completely our need and desire for happiness and immortality. Only God, our heavenly Father can do it. Jesus calls us today to love, to love father and mother, to love our children, to love husband and wife, to love our friends but without losing our focus on God, without rejecting the cross,
“Whoever loves father or mother, son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me…”
SUNDAY HOMILY 6/25/23
XII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR A)
In today’s gospel Jesus calls his disciples to not be afraid of those who kill the body. This particular gospel was written in a very challenging and difficult time for the Apostles and the first Christian communities. In the first three centuries of Christianity the followers of Jesus were facing persecution and death. Many of them were killed by the Roman authorities. This passage was written in order to encourage and support those brothers and sisters who were suffering for their faith.
The first Christians knew how scary it was to suffer, to lose everything, even life. Even Jesus himself was afraid. We all remember that dramatic episode recorded in the gospels, the agony of the Lord in the garden the night before his passion. The gospels describe that moment as a moment of intense suffering, loneliness and fear. Jesus was afraid to be alone, so he asked his disciples to stay and pray with him, “My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch.”
He knew what was going to happen to him and, as a fully human, he felt the intensity of fear, “He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Take this cup away from me, but not what I will but what you will.”
The gospel according to Luke gives us another important detail, “He was in such agony, and he prayed so fervently that his sweat became like drops of blood falling on the ground…” Peter denied Jesus three times in front of people because he was afraid to recognize Jesus as his master, as his follower.
We are living in times of uncertainty and Fear is a reality we all face at different levels, it is a fundamental part of our humanity, of our human nature. And God knows this, He created us, He is aware of our weaknesses and limitations, He doesn’t want us to suffer, He wants us to use our suffering for something bigger and better, to transform us, that is why Jesus says to his disciples “fear no one…do not be afraid.”
Being afraid of something does not mean we are weak; it means we are humans. It does not mean we have to run away when we are afraid, it does not mean we have to hide. The only way to defeat our fears is by facing them, by confronting them. When Jesus says, “fear no one, do not be afraid” he is calling us to confront our fears with trust and confidence in Him. He calls us to trust, to believe, to keep going despite all of our fears.
Let us remember the words of the prophet Jeremiah in our first Reading today, “The LORD is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph…for to you I have entrusted my cause. Praise the LORD, for he has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked!”
How important and essential it is to trust in the Lord, especially when we feel vulnerable, weak, confused, afraid, God does not take away our fears, but He gives us the strength we need to face them, to keep going and that makes us stronger, wiser, it helps us grow and mature, it is very easy to say it than do it, but we have the example of many Saints that placed their complete trust, complete surrender to Our Father in Heaven, one of them St. John Paul II who lived through difficult and fearful times and left this message to us “I plead with you-never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Be not afraid”, God will never leave us alone in the midst of suffering, He will allow the fear to be a source of strength within us, so we can help others when they fear too, The Lord is with us, lets fear no one, let’s do not be afraid.
SUNDAY HOMILY 6/18/23
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few”
In today’s Gospel Jesus feels compassion for people who are wandering around without direction, without guidance, “troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd…” and asks his disciples to pray for more laborers, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”
This particular gospel is mostly used to promote vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. We also see the 12 disciples who were sent forth to preach the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven, to heal the sick, to cast out demons as the image of the priest or the bishop. But it is important to recognize and understand that (although some men and women are especially chosen and called to do a specific job within the Church, priests and religious men and women) we all who have received the Sacrament of Baptism, who identify as Christians, who come to Mass are called not only to pray for vocations but also become ourselves “laborers for the harvest.”
We cannot reduce and limit the work of evangelization only to those who are called to the priesthood and religious life. Evangelization is a job that belongs to all, mothers, fathers, single, married couples, workers, retired, children, teenagers, young people, doctors, teachers, etc.
Oftentimes we hear that there is a crisis of vocations in the Church, that there are not enough priests. And probably it’s true, but I think the real crisis in the Church is happening in our families, in the Catholic families. The first promoters of the Christian faith, the first catechists, the first evangelizers are the parents and grandparents. Families are the first “laborers that God needs to work for the harvest.”
It is rewarding to see parents and grandparents who are still concerned about the spiritual wellbeing and growth of their families, especially their children and grandchildren. That kind of laborers for the harvest is what we need to pray for.
We continue praying for vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life, but we also need to pray and promote the Christian vocation of Catholic parents and grandparents, especially young families. During these 4 years as a Religion teacher in SF-SS School I have had the opportunity to teach and evangelize these wonderful young people, but I’ve also learned the reality, the lack of faith, the absence of God in many of their families, the lack of participation in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. It is not the shortage of priests and religious vocations that we should be worried about, it is the crisis in the family. That’s the real crisis I perceive in the Church, that’s what we need to pray for, to “ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” To pray that our Catholic families become real and authentic domestic churches where children and the new generations may grow up learning about God, who He is and why a relationship with Him is so necessary and essential, no matter if at the end they will become doctors, lawyers or teachers, or parents.
If our Catholic moms and dads are not committed to their faith, never pray with their children, only show up for Mass at special events (funerals and weddings) it will be so hard for children, for young people to create a Christian identity and establish a strong relationship with God.
I dare to say that there are more priests, more vocations to the priesthood than families and Catholics really committed to their baptismal faith. That’s the real crisis the Catholic Church is facing. There’s still a lot of work to do, especially today when the world is facing so many changes that challenge our faith, that challenge the Gospel.
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.” We all who come to mass every Sunday, who identify ourselves as Christians, are the laborers for the harvest of the Lord and we need to ask the master of the harvest to send out more, not only priests but also Catholics committed to their faith, families that (through their testimony, love for God and faith) help the Church grow and sanctify.
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.
SUNDAY HOMILY 6/11/23
SOLEMNITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of CORPUS CHRISTI, the Most Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. A solemnity that reminds us that the sacrament of the Eucharist is the center of our Christian life and faith. Jesus says, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.”
The sacrament of the Eucharist is the answer to that important question in today’s gospel, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” It was really hard for people to understand and embrace Jesus’ words, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” Even today it is hard for so many people (including Catholics) and for the new generations to believe that Jesus is really present (body, soul and divinity) in the consecrated host and wine.
It is certainly not easy to believe in this mystery because we are conditioned by our physical senses. We only perceive a piece of bread and wine, it looks and tastes like bread and wine but it is exactly in the simplicity of bread and wine that God wants to become real to us.
TAKE THIS ALL OF YOU AND EAT OF IT, THIS IS MY BODY, TAKE THIS CUP AND DRINK FROM IT, THIS IS MY BLOOD. These are the words the priest pronounces at the very moment of the consecration, when the bread becomes real flesh, and the wine real blood of our Lord, not a symbol, not just a mere religious or theological idea, but a reality.
It is really extraordinary that a simple piece of bread and a little of wine become the body and blood of our Lord, something that is only possible through the work of the Holy Spirit, but the real miracle that happens in this beautiful Sacrament is that God (being so powerful, almighty, creator) humbles Himself to become a simple bread and wine for our benefit, for our salvation.
That’s why the only way to fully embrace this mystery in our hearts and believe in its reality is by becoming humble people, the person who humbles himself before God is able to recognize His greatness and power in the simplicity of His mystery. To fully understand what really happens every time we celebrate holy Mass requires our humility.
It is ok to doubt, it is ok to ask questions, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Is it real the Body and Blood of Jesus? Can this celebration do something good for me, for my life, for my soul? Can God really save me through a piece of bread?—but let us not underestimate the simplicity and humility of God.
When I think and preach about the Eucharist I always remember that powerful quote from the book ‘the little prince,’ that states, “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eyes.”
And this is absolutely true about the sacrament of the Eucharist. The Sacrament of the Eucharist always reminds us that it is in those things that are simple and humble (sometimes invisible to our eyes, sometimes insignificant) where God performs His greatest miracles, where His presence becomes so real and powerful to us.
TAKE THIS ALL OF YOU AND EAT OF IT, THIS IS MY BODY, TAKE THIS CUP AND DRINK FROM IT, THIS IS MY BLOOD.
SUNDAY HOMILY (6/4/23)
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, the greatest mystery of our Christian faith. As a mystery, we know, it is impossible for our human and limited mind to comprehend it. The mystery of the Holy Trinity (understood as a community of three different persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit but only one God) is beyond our logical and systematic thinking. That’s why the mystery of God is not a reality to be analyzed and totally understood, it is rather a reality to be experienced, and the only way to do it is through “love.”
The gospel the Church asks us to meditate today is a very short passage from the gospel of John in which the evangelist describes the purpose of the Holy Trinity, “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.”——-“God so loved the world…” is what really gives meaning to everything we believe. God the Father revealed Himself to humankind not to show us that He is God and powerful but simply because He loves us as a Father loves his children.
Let us remember the first reading today, Moses is before the presence of God and God describes Himself as, “…a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.”
St John in his first letter gives us the best definition of God, Deus caritas est (God is love), “Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love…” That’s why there is nothing more spiritual, more sublime, more divine than love.
Our experience of love in this life (although imperfect and limited) is the only way we have, the only tool we all possess to get to know God and get closer to Him.
When we love one another, we experience the reality of God in our lives. Love is what makes us to be together, in permanent communication and encounter, love is what leads us to forgive even the cruelest offenses against us; love is what makes us endure suffering and pain for those we love the most. That’s how Jesus showed us the love of the Father, through his suffering on the cross. When we experience and practice love for others without selfishness, without interest, with perfect freedom, sincerity and honesty of heart, we are able to embrace the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity within us because that’s how the Holy Trinity is described, a community of love. The Father loves the Son and that love between the Father and the Son is the presence of the Holy Spirit.
We certainly cannot explain love, there is not science behind love, we just experience it and enjoy it. The same happens with God, we cannot explain who He is, we only experience His love for us and enjoy it. ——That’s why love is the most perfect prayer addressed to God, the most perfect sacrifice offered to Him, the most perfect and realistic encounter with the mystery of God.
The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity calls us and leads us to love as much as we can, at any opportunity, without excuses, without selfishness, without conditions because this is the only gift that leads us to see God as He is and to experience His eternal love and compassion for us.
The only way to embrace the mystery of God, the most Holy Trinity, is by loving one another, “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.”