Homilies and Other Writings

 ( Corpus Christi Homily ) The disciples said, “Dismiss the crowd, Lord, so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and take care of themselves.” Jesus said to them, “Give them some food yourselves.” They replied, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have.” “No,” Jesus could have replied, “you have also me, and this is what the crowd needs, this is what will allow you to feed thousands with the little bit you have. I am the bread of life! Have them sit down” (Cf. Luke 9:12-14). God wanted to feed human beings with Himself through the Apostles. Thus, He made the Eucharist a very personal affair, a very personal meal. A meal provided by a person (the Church’s minister), for persons (the people of God), where we eat a Person (Jesus Himself, the Incarnate Word). Nothing wrong with calling the Eucharist “a ritual meal,” but only as long as people understand that, here, ritual implies real: the food is a real Person and, therefore, eating this meal is not simply a rit...

  Jesus said to Peter: “Feed my sheep. Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go” ( John 21:17-18). Jesus said this signifying in what way Peter would die. I think the words of Jesus can be applied to all of us in one way or another. When we are young, we are focused on ourselves. As children, we need to grow, feed ourselves and take care of ourselves. But an adult, a mature person, is a person who is now able to love, who is now able to take care of other people; an adult is a person who is now able to have and face a social life. But to love is to die, that is, it is dying to self-centeredness and loneliness and rising again to service and communion. To love is sacrificing oneself for the other. It is accepting that our way now depends on someone else. When we love in this way, we are ...

 In one of the readings for this weekend I found an inspiring text. It is from the letter to the Ephesians (1:22-23): “He [God, the Father] put all things beneath his [Jesus’s] feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.” The Church, which is the community of Christians, is referred to as the body of Jesus, and thus the Church is the fullness (or “completion”) of the one who fills (or completes) all things in every way. Jesus, in a way, is completed by the community of Christians . This is why Paul could say, “I complete in my flesh what is lacking to the Passion of the Christ, for the sake of His body which is the Church” ( Colossians 1:24). At the same time, He is the one who completes us in every way, insofar as “from His fullness” of perfection “we have all received grace upon grace” ( John 1:16). What strikes me as inspiring is that God decided that we were going to be part of Hi...

The Mystery of the Trinity and Today’s Misconceptions of Love Priests are advised to preach today about the mystery of the Trinity, even if it is difficult to understand, let alone to explain to others. It is easy to fall into the temptation of preaching about “something to do” rather than trying to make sense of this mystery which is the center of Christian and Catholic doctrine. Today I may fall into that temptation… but let me try, at least, to tell you something about this mystery and then, yes, a practical application. 1.   The mystery of the Trinity is the mystery of one God subsisting in three distinct persons. There is only one divinity which is entirely given by the Father to the Son and by both of them to the Holy Spirit. The divinity of the Father and of the Son is one and the same because the Father gives everything He is and He has to his son. Whatever the Father is, the Son is as well, because the Father gives Himself entirely to the Son. The divinity of the Holy Sp...

 (Homily for Fifth Sunday of Easter) -  Today’s readings seem to me a good opportunity to speak about the beauty of priesthood. The beauty and struggles of marriage we breathe in our own homes, as we grow; whereas the beauty and struggles of priesthood need to be made evident in church. In this way, our youth are given the opportunity to better discern their call. 1.   The first reading ( Acts 14:21-27) tells us a lot about the activities of the priest. Look at the verbs Luke uses to describe Paul and Barnabas’ mission. “After Paul and Barnabas had proclaimed the good news to that city and made a considerable number of disciples , they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch. They strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith … They appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord in whom they had put their faith. Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pa...

(Homily 3rd Sunday of Easter)   “Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep.” As we mourn the death of a pope and get ready for a new pope, we reflect about the office of Peter. 1.   A good shepherd is not simply a man who loves human beings, but mainly a man who loves Jesus. In fact, if you love Jesus, then you necessarily love the people for whom Jesus gave up His life on the cross. And if you do not love Jesus, the love of other human beings becomes worldly, imperfect and sometimes even false or diminishing of other people’s dignity. Jesus did not ask Peter, “Do you love people?” What is loving people? We usually love our close relatives, we all enjoy hanging out with friends, some people enjoy being always around people (others do not), other people love works of charity towards the poor. Is loving people loving those who love us? “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them” ( Luke 6:32). Is loving people loving those w...