Homilies and Other Writings

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...

  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. ...