Homilies and Other Writings

  Thomas the Twin.m4a

 (Reflection for the Third Sunday of Easter) There is a moment at Mass in which we begin to sing, “ Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. ” It is right before Communion, and it is meant to prepare us for receiving Jesus’ Body and Blood with humility. At that very moment, the priest breaks the Host, remembering the passion, the sufferings of Jesus’ body for our sins. Jesus is the Lamb sacrificed on the cross for our personal sins: for this reason, we ask Him to have mercy on us. We say it three times. The first time we ask mercy so that our sins may be forgiven. The second time we ask mercy so that we may grow in virtue and in the life of grace. The third time we ask, not for mercy, but for peace, the perfect peace of Heaven: “Grant us peace.” At about that moment, the priest breaks a little piece of the Host and lets it fall into the chalice. This is to remember Jesus’ resurrection, where the Body and Blood of Jesus were united again, after having ...

 (Divine Mercy Sunday homily) Thomas, called “the twin…” (cf. John 11:16, 20:24) Who was his twin brother? We will discover him today perhaps, as we meditate upon Thomas’ unbelief. 1.   Thomas seems to have been one of those people who usually sees the empty half of the glass. A good person, for sure, but more prone to discouragement than to, say, anger. There is another moment in John’s Gospel when we hear about Thomas. “On hearing that Lazarus was sick, [Jesus] stayed where He was for two days,  and then He said to the disciples, ‘Let us go back to Judea. ’ ‘Rabbi,’ they replied, ‘the Jews just tried to stone You, and You are going back there? ’” Jesus insisted “‘Let us go to [Lazarus]. ’ Then Thomas called Didymus said to his fellow disciples, ‘Let us also go, so that we may die with Him’” (cf. John 11:6-16). It seems as if he were saying, “ It’s all lost, there is no point, no favorable outcome on sight: we are all going to die with Jesus .” Thomas coul...

   For many people, even Christians sometimes, Easter is the celebration of something simply “positive.” It seems as if they were thinking, “We celebrate life. It is spring! Jesus is alive, rejoice!” And they do not realize that it makes no sense to celebrate Easter Sunday without a reference to Good Friday. I mean, this is not Christmas, it’s Easter. Today, Jesus does not come out from the womb, but from a tomb. Even more, He does not simply come back to this life, like Lazarus; rather, Jesus comes out of the tomb to an eternal, transformed, imperishable life. Lazarus also came out of a tomb but to die again; Jesus dies no more, He can die no more. He is risen to an eternal life. 1.   But this is my first point: Jesus’ resurrection presupposes His death. He could not be now enjoying this life without having passed through the pains of death. He had to die, He had to kill in Himself our sins and our death, so as to grant His and our human nature the gifts of eternal lif...

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  Singing is like speaking. It is not the same having to say something as having something to say. It is not the same singing something as having something to sing. I hope this song comes across as my desire to share something meaningful that cannot be expressed with simple words. 1.   Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble… You know how big were the nails they used to crucify Him? I brought a few that I found. They were just thicker, like a finger. They passed through his hand, that is, between the end of His palm and the beginning of His wrist. How could people do that to other people? How could something like that be done even to a criminal? How could they do that to Jesus? If I had been there…! Were you there…? Is that a reproach? How could I be there if I was not born? Were you perhaps there? Why are you singing this? Is there a way to be with Him at that moment? And if I were there, what would I do, if n...

  This holy week found me caught up with preparing homilies and liturgies. I was busy with priestly things but also stressed and anxious. I wanted to get out of that hole, so I asked someone to help me. And that person asked me a great question, “What does Holy Thursday mean for you?” I could have told him all the things that I usually preach about, but I realize it was not the point. I was preparing other people’s Holy Thursday, and I had forgotten my own… Now, the Church wants me to preach about the three gifts we receive today from Jesus, and I will do that; but the personal note will perhaps help to appreciate and celebrate these gifts. Some of you will probably resonate with my experience. 1.   I entered the church when I was 10 years old (I was baptized Catholic but we didn’t go to mass before that). For some reason, after a few months I started to go to mass every day. One day, the priest called me to serve mass and, since that day, I never again sat in the pew. I w...