Homilies and Other Writings

  The three temptations of Jesus are related to the three practices of Lent: penance, almsgiving and prayer. These practices help us to recover the true sense of our dignity. In other words, they help us to purify common misconceptions of what is good for us, misconceptions regarding what it is to be good, a good person. 1. The first misconception is that in order to be good, in order to be happy, I need to feel well. Feeling well, people think, is necessary for happiness, regardless of how moral or not it is in a certain situation. And so, people look for comfort or pleasures, sometimes without even giving a thought to the question about morality. This is because they cannot understand how they could feel good about themselves if they did not have these pleasures. They avoid pain as if it were hell, and search for comforts as if they were heaven, happiness. Some pleasures are necessary. This is why Jesus says, “man does not live by bread alone .” We need bread to live, our bod...

  “This split between the faith which many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age” (GS 43). Our faith cannot be severed from our daily lives. Our worship cannot be separated from our regular affairs. Today’s readings remind us of the intrinsic connection between our relationship with God and our relationship with our neighbour. 1. People may get accustomed to worship without thinking about the state of their soul. “Oh father, what happens outside the church remains outside the church. Here we come to worship, the world has nothing to do with church.” But the Lord says, “So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift” ( Matthew 5:23-24). You may say, “My problem is with my brother, not with You, Lord!” He could respond, “And did...

  We are the salt of the earth, the light of the world (cf. Matthew 5:13-16). This means that we have a mission that goes beyond the limits of this church. What is that mission? 1. Salt does not restore to life something that has already gone bad. The only One who was able to restore to life our humanity rotten by sin was Jesus. But once Jesus rose our humanity from the dead, we can, with His grace, preserve humanity from corruption. [1] Our good works, our good example, our being Christians not only in name but also in words and in deeds, preserves human culture from complete corruption. However, does it not appear, sometimes, as if salt had lost its taste? When we do not give witness, we let everyone around us slide more and more down the hill of sin. Sometimes Christians do worse: not only they do not give witness but, even more, with their own sins they scandalize the non-Christians. In this case, instead of being agents of preservation we become agents of corruption. The ...

  “ Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many [ of you] were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth” (Cf. 1 Corinthians 1:26-31). According to St. Thomas, St. Paul is not saying that not many of the Corinthians were wise, but that not many of those who initially preached the Gospel and called them to the faith were wise. Matthew was a learned man, most probably, as St. Paul himself, but the rest were most likely fishermen. This is why St. Paul continues by saying that “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise,” that is, God chose for preaching His own truth mostly people who were foolish regarding worldly wisdom, and weak, and low, etc. so that it may be clear to all that human glory does not come from anything humanly possible but from God alone. St. Paul proceeds in three steps. 1. “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.” Human wisdom is confused by the foolishness of preaching. “Greeks l...

Christmas Homily 2024 “Come to me,” said once the Messiah, “Come to me, all of you who are wearied and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” ( Matthew 11:28). Jesus calls us all, on this holy night, to gather around the manger: “Come to me.” If Jesus had known that, besides the Shepherds, so many other people were coming, he would have been born in a bigger place, a bigger barn perhaps, the size of this church. He would have been right here, where the altar is. And “ all we like sheep ,” would have come to the center, to the front. Perhaps there were no sheep in the stall of Bethlehem, but let’s pretend there were a few. They were probably sleeping, but let’s imagine that a sheep woke up with the noise and decided to get a midnight snack. She went to the manger and, behold, food was gone and there was a human baby. The sheep was coming to the manger looking for some comfort, but all she found was a little baby, sobbing with cold. “Come to me, all of you who are weari...

  Baptism of the Lord Today, we celebrate what could be considered the beginning of Jesus’ public mission. Jesus comes to establish a Kingdom, He comes to bring forth justice. It is not about an earthly kingdom, but the Kingdom of God; it is not about legal, political justice, but about holiness, a spiritual justification. Let us reflect upon each of today’s readings. 1.   We enter Jesus’ kingdom not by natural birth but by baptism, a spiritual rebirth. As St. Peter says (cf. Acts 10:34-38), “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Jesus’ message is not one that puts nations against each other, but a message that unites all nations under one King and Lord, God: “You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ — he is Lord of all.” Today’s readings and today’s feast of the Lord’s Baptism, allow us to reflect upon the liberation that Jesus ca...