Homilies and Other Writings

  The once rich man wants Lazarus to go back to life to warn his brothers, but Abraham replies, “ If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.” It may seem a little extreme. But Jesus’ parable became a reality when a real man, also named Lazarus, rose from the dead… and the Chief priests, instead of believing in Jesus because of the miracle, “made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were deserting them and believing in Jesus.” ( John 12:10-11). How is it possible that a miracle like that would not make the Chief priests re-think their attitude toward Jesus? What can be more powerful than a miracle to convince someone of their mistake? Another question may lead us to the answer: who enjoys being found wrong? Who likes to recognize his or her own error before people? Is it not one of the most difficult things to do, acknowledging our own faults? The problem is pride. Pri...

  1.  There is nothing more beautiful than a truly humble person. False humility disconnects you from people: false humility hides your true gifts to people who could benefit from them. True humility, instead, gives to others what you really have, not what you don’t have. True humility, because it comes from a true awareness of yourself, does not promise things that you cannot do or things that you cannot give. There are some who look humble because they want to stay away from work, or because they want to stay away from people. “I am not good for this or that, leave me alone.” Contrarywise, there are some who look generous because they want to be needed, but they promise more than they can actually give. Humility is a moderate estimation of ourselves coming from truly knowing ourselves. It is not opposed to self-esteem but is the only true self-esteem. When you are truly humble, you know what you have, and how much of it you have. And, if you are generous, you will offer ...

  (Homily for XXIII Sunday in Ordinary Time) [1] First week of September… Some of you may be back to work, some of you back to school... Time of questions. What are your priorities now? More importantly, whose advice are you taking to decide what you should do with your time, what you should “build” in this new year of activities, to what you should devote yourself? Who can know God’s counsel, or who can conceive what the LORD intends?  ( Wisdom 9:13) What are the criteria for discerning when I am hearing God’s “counsel” and when I am hearing either my own, or even the devil’s counsel? How do we find out what is God’s will for us? Unfortunately, for some people, this is not even a question: they think that whatever comes to their minds producing pleasant emotions must come from God. Today the Lord says tough things and very difficult to understand, so that we may realize that the voice of the Lord is not always so sweet. Today the Lord invites us to calculate the cos...