Second Sunday of Lent
Jesus was making his final journey toward Jerusalem. Please don’t take this lightly. The gospel of Matthew describes Jesus’ ministry as a purposeful journey toward Jerusalem. Jesus was purposefully and decisively moving toward Jerusalem. Even though he did go to Jerusalem with his parents for the Passover, and he is found at the temple in Jerusalem for one of the temptations, most of Jesus’ ministry was in the Galilee area. It was not a purposeless wandering. Jesus’ entire ministry was an intentional, purposeful, and decisive movement toward Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, his life and God’s plan for salvation would move toward a decisive climax. In Jerusalem, he would also meet his end. The Transfiguration happened right before he entered Jerusalem for the last time.
First Sunday of Lent
I find the account of the temptation of Jesus in the desert both very intriguing and fascinating. Forty days and three temptations are packed into mere eleven verses. I wish there was more we could know. For example, what did he do for forty days and forty nights beside fast and pray. Were there more than three temptations? Did each temptation just come and go, or did they last for several days? For the second and third temptations, did he leave the desert for Jerusalem and later to a high mountain or was he led there in his mind?
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
In the last few Sundays, the first and second readings may have been from different parts of scripture, but the gospel reading has had a seamless progression. We have been reading from Matthew’s Sermon on the Mountain. We began with Jesus going up the mountain. While the crowd stayed at the foot of the mountain, some came up to Jesus. Those who went up to him were called disciples. To them, Jesus proclaimed the Beatitudes. Last Sunday, Jesus said to these very disciples, “You are the salt of the earth,” and “You are the light of the world” (Mt 5:13-14). Today, we hear about how we become the people in the Beatitudes; how we can be the salt of the earth and light for the world. Jesus does this by laying out an ethic for his disciples. Commandments and how we understand them play a big part in this.
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I had just been newly ordained. I was twenty-eight. I had a meeting scheduled with my religious superior for a new assignment. It was a bright sunny day in Bangalore, India. It was morning peak hour traffic as I set out on my brand-new Hero Honda Splendor – a popular motor bike in those days. Midway through my commute, I saw a man lying face down on the road, with his rag picking bag still on his back. Rag pickers pick up recycling materials from public trash bins to make a living. It is a huge industry in India. Everything inside me told me to stop and help this man as the rest of world drove by. After all, I was a priest. I cannot explain to you or even to myself, why I did not stop. It was so uncharacteristic of me. After twelve years of seminary training, after having said Mass that very morning, despite carrying a desire to change the world, I did not stop when it mattered. It is thirty-two years since that day. It haunts me even today. I wish I could go back and make it right. I cannot.
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The nation is in turmoil. There is division, there is anger, there are protests, there are counter-protests, there is violence, there are deaths. Where do we go from here? How do we return to respect, civility and trust? What can lead us to a just and peaceful society? Perhaps, today’s scripture readings have the answer.
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
There is something interesting about the way today’s gospel reading describes the beginning of Jesus’s public ministry - the incredible geographical details. Five locations are mentioned – Nazareth, Capernaum, the Sea of Galilee, Zebulun and Naphtali. "At the news of John’s arrest, Jesus left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum, a coastal town of the Sea of Galilee in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali" (Mt 4:12-13).
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Last Sunday we celebrated the feast of the Baptism of Jesus. Central to the story was the testimony of a voice from heaven that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased!” (Mt 3:16-17). In my homily last week, I had said, that because our baptism is a participation in the baptism of Jesus, our baptism becomes a spiritual adoption as son and daughters of God. I also remember saying that just as Jesus was good at being a Son, we must be good at being sons and daughters; that since it is baptism that makes us Christian, we must good at being Christians.
The Baptism of the Lord
What are you good at? I mean, what is it you really love doing or being… and you are good at it? I have someone who does housekeeping for me once a week. She has been with me for about five years. When she was new to my place, one of the things she told me was that she loves to clean. I did not believe her. But then, I could see it in her work. She did not just work at my place. She cleaned. She didn’t just clean. She cared for me and my space. She constantly watches videos on better ways to clean the oven, the stove, the floor, the carpet. I love the way she folds my laundry and puts them back, the way she makes the bed, the way to place smells when she is done. She even makes a flower out of the toilet paper. I feel happy coming back home when has cleaned. One day I said to her, “You don’t just clean, you care! Thank you!”
The Epiphany of the Lord
Epiphany is one of the oldest Christian feasts. It predates Christmas. Even though it makes sense chronologically, originally, Epiphany was not a post-Christmas celebration. In the early Church, Epiphany was the primary feast commemorating Jesus' birth, baptism, and the Magi's visit all on the same day. It was only in the 4th century when the Western Church adopted December 25th as Christmas that Epiphany became a distinct feast. It came to be celebrated as a "manifestation" feast – a celebration of God's revelation of Jesus as Messiah to the world.
Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
I grew up in a very devout Catholic family. Perhaps, it was devout to a fault. We went to church all the time, my brother and I went to Catholic school, there was family prayer morning and evening, there were holy pictures in every room, and often at weekends a priest or nun was at the family dinner table. As my brother and I got older, some of this seemed a little too much. One day, my brother had had it. Truly upset about something, he said to my dad, “Coming back home from anywhere feels like I am going to church.” My brother meant is as a critique. My father took it as a compliment. After all, the home is called the “domestic church.” My family was not the perfect family. But then, which family is? Perhaps this the reason that a feast dedicated to the family is so appropriate.
The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)
It is the greatest love story – the story of Christmas. There is a God. There is humanity. And there is a little child. As the gospel says, “For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord” (Lk 2:11).
Fourth Sunday of Advent
“The LORD spoke to Ahaz” (Is 7:10). This is an interesting beginning to today’s first reading from Isaiah. In that brief reading, the destiny of a kingdom, the fate of a divine Covenant, and the prophecy of a future Messiah (whose name is Emmanuel), is at stake. The scene is similar in the gospel reading. “The Angel of LORD spoke to Joseph” (Mt 1;20). Nothing less is at stake. At stake once again is a kingdom, a Covenant, and the fulfilment of a messianic prophecy. I don’t envy Ahaz or Joseph. Standing at a crossroad with having to make decision that have widespread implications is not an enviable position.
Third Sunday of Advent
I did not have Mass last Sunday evening. I decided to take my puppy out for a walk around the Church. It was almost half-way through Mass, and I saw a woman trying walking toward the Church. We have probably seen each other, but this was the first we had met to speak. Thirty seconds into the conversation, she said to me, “Father, I want you to pray for me!” Before I could even ask, she said, “My husband and I are in the midst of a divorce. I have experienced all kinds of abuse – emotional, physical, sexual. And now he trying to alienate our children from me!” She gave me a few more details and I sensed that she could have gone on. But I did not want her to miss Mass even if it was the later bit of it. I encouraged her to go into Church and pray and offered to meet with her if she would reach out.
Second Sunday of Advent
During Advent, the scripture readings pay much attention to John the Baptist, perhaps even more than Mary. His message seems to be terribly out of sync with the sentiments of contemporary Advent. It’s like we are having a baby shower for Jesus and then we come to Church and hear John’s words, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is hand!” (Mt 3:1). It gets even more stern: “Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” (Mt 3:10). It is almost as if there is a dissonance between our Advent and the John’s Advent.
First Sunday of Advent
I celebrate the Eucharist on most days and on somedays more than once. I have weekday Masses, weekend Masses, funeral Masses, wedding Masses, memorial Masses, healing Masses. I have been a priest now for a little more than 31 years. How many Masses do you think I have celebrated? I wish I had kept a count. I have to be careful, because something we do very often can become routine, a mere ritual, or another chore.
The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
The Solemnity of Christ, the King of the Universe, is no ordinary celebration. Not only is it celebrated at the culmination of the liturgical year, but it also prepares the way for the new liturgical year. Even more significantly, it crowns Christ as the king of the universe. But the gospel reading for this feast is in stark contrast to the grandeur and solemnity that such a celebration calls for. It recalls one of the most vulnerable moments of Christ’s life – him lying helplessly on the cross while the rulers jeer him, the soldiers sneer at him, and even a condemned criminal reviles him. Surely the church could do better! What is in the Church’s mind as it proposes this scripture? How does the Church understand the kingship of Christ? Perhaps, in proposing the gospel reading she does, the Church is creating a model for her presence in the world.
Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
“The rapture that did not happen.” It is a reference to the failed prediction that the rapture was going to happen September 23-24, 2025. It went viral on social media. The clock was ticking on TikTok. The prediction stemmed from a dream by a South African pastor named Joshua Mhlakela. Supposedly, Jesus appeared to him in a dream and gave him the dates. Millions of people fell for the prediction. Some quit their jobs, some emptied their bank accounts, others gathered in prayer halls, some even created survival havens. September 23-24 came and went. Then, “#TheRaptureThatDidNotHappen” went viral. But Pastor Joshua Mhlakela was unapologetic. He said he had made a mistake. He had based his prediction on the Gregorian calendar instead of the Julian calendar. His new date was October 13. The day came and went and here we are.
Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome
Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome. It is one of those feast days, which, if it falls on a Sunday takes precedence over the regular Sunday readings. What does a basilica in Rome have anything to do with us? The Basilica of St. John Lateran is the cathedral of Rome. It was built in the time of Constantine and was consecrated by Pope Sylvester in 324. This is the church where popes were consecrated. Celebrating the dedication of this cathedral is symbolic of the unity of the Catholic Church. To everyone who loves the church, this is not merely the feast of a basilica. Rather, it is the feast the universal church, the people of God, the Body of Christ, united as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed
Today is the commemoration of All Souls. Within the last year most of you have probably laid to rest someone you love very dearly – a parent, a spouse, a sibling, a child, a relative, a friend, or perhaps even a pet. For that matter, all of us have at some time laid to rest someone we love. And it hurts. Nothing hurts more than death. It is the sheer absence of the deceased and the sheer helplessness we experience in the face of death that is painful. Many of us would give anything to spend another moment with our beloved departed. But all the money in the world cannot buy that another moment. And that hurts.
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
In today’s gospel, we have yet another parable about prayer. The “Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector” is the second parable where Luke gives us the precise reason for the parable. Last Sunday, we had heard the “Parable of the Persistent Widow”, and Luke’s introduction to the parable was, “Jesus told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary” (Lk 18:1). In today’s gospel Luke says, “Jesus addressed this parable (the Pharisee and the tax-collector” to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else” (Lk 18:9). Both these parables are about prayer.