Homilies and Other Writings

  Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh They offered gold, as for a king; frankincense, because they recognized Him as God; myrrh, because, despite being the immortal God, as a man He was going to die. 1. They offered frankincense, because Jesus is God. For some people there is no problem in saying that Jesus is God, because God, for them, is “up there” in heaven and does not bother too much with the earth and how things are going here. Religion, for them, is an escape from reality, like something you want to think about when things on earth become too hard. Religion, for them, is about “God,” about something “spiritual,” about something so tenuous that cannot touch the hard reality of matter and the world. That God, they think, might be called King of Heaven, but He does not rule on earth and does not rule in our lives. From Heaven, God has sent his commandments, but here on earth there is no law enforcement for those commandments. 2. However, to this God, the Magi offered myrrh. ...

  New Year’s Homily The Lord said to Moses, after indicating the way of blessing the people of Israel: “So they shall put my name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them” (cf. Numbers 6:22-27) They were not yet redeemed from slavery, but God still loved them and blessed them. How much more will He bless us now, that we are no more slaves, but truly children of God! St. Paul says: “God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law ,” that is, to deliver them from slavery, “so that we might receive adoption to sonship… So you are no longer slave but son, and if son then also heir, through God” (cf. Galatians 4:4-7). The slave does not own the inheritance and will never own it, because it belongs to his master. The slave does receive a roof over his head and food on his table, he might be even loved by his master, but not as a son. The master does not share his own things, his own life with the slave. When God made ...

  1. Christmas and Freedom - The mystery of the Incarnation does not appear as something dazzling or imposing, which would force us to accept it; nor does it appear as something common, or so easy to understand that it would become unworthy of our attention. It is not about a God who agrees with me on everything and walks with me no matter what I do, nor is it about a God who forces His will upon me. The mystery of the Incarnation is presented to us as something relevant, different, and extremely important because it gives meaning to our lives. It is presented to us with clear signs, with miracles and wonders that awaken us from the numbness of the ordinary, with unmistakable indications of God's presence in our midst. God manifests himself clearly to humankind. But He does not overwhelm us with miracles: His body shines only once (in the Transfiguration, for three people only), His voice thunders only once (but from the cross), He heals all who approach Him but tries to hide i...

  (Homily on Matthew 1:18-24, Fourth Sunday of Advent) The time for the Messiah to be born had come, and God needed three people: a woman to accept the challenge of being a mother; a man who would protect both mother and child, respecting the chastity of the mother and the divine dignity of her Child; and an angel to dispel the darkness of doubt in Joseph, an angel with a message of consolation and joy, an angel bringing clear indications of the way forward. 1. The woman receives an honor from God, but also an immense challenge… It was an honour for Mary to contribute with God’s plan of saving human beings. God, who created all things by Himself, did not want to restore His creation without the help of a woman. He Who could have saved us by Himself, did not want to save us without Mary’s yes. Because God loved Mary, He associated her to His work of Salvation, and made her the new Eve, the new Mother of all the living, that is, of all those who participate in the life of grace ...

  What do we Christians hope for? What is our hope about? In today’s Gospel, we see the existential impact of Jesus’ message on the people of His time. In other words, the Gospel shows Christian hope against the background of human desires. The other readings will help us to delineate the object of our hope, what is it that we expect from Jesus’ Gospel. 1. The words of John the Baptist, though not coming from his discouragement, may very well apply to our discouragement: “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” ( Matthew 11:2-11). We had expected peace, happiness… we had expected health, financial stability from You, Lord, and we have not always obtained what we had hoped for. “ We had hoped that you would do this or that for us, and here we are… are you the one that we were expecting would make our lives better, or are we to wait for another?” Jesus’ response is amazing: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the ...

Advent is a time of hope. Not only hope that Jesus will come to save, but also hope that He will save us , that we will benefit from salvation. If Jesus comes to save, but the fruits of His salvation are not shown in us, what’s good about His coming? Those who are not saved cannot rejoice. Those who cannot be saved, or those who think that they cannot be saved, those people have no hope. There is a crisis of hope in many churches, in Christians and also among priests. We have tried so many things to make our churches grow and nothing seems to work. People have tried so many things to attract the youth to our churches, and everything seems to have failed. We have tried so many times to change, to do better, and here we are… What else can we do? What can we hope for? Can Jesus save us? What can we expect from His coming among us? 1. Sometimes we think that there is nothing we can do because we have no strength left, or no talent, or no experience. “If anyone can do something, that g...