Note: This homily was delivered on the Feast of the Archangels during the Fiesta Mass of the Ateneo Grade School on 29 September 2016. You may opt to watch the video first.
Today we celebrate not only the feast of the guardian angels, but also the feast of three archangels: Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael.
These three are the only angels named in the Bible. Can you tell which is which?
Michael is the warrior archangel, best known for fighting the evil forces, as we heard today.
This homily is based on Luke 16:19-31.
There’s something curious about today’s parable of the rich man and Lazarus. If you read it literally, its message would seem to say: If you’re rich and comfortable in this life, you’ll be tormented in the next, as in the case of the rich man. On the other hand, if like Lazarus, you’re poor and miserable here and now, you’ll be comforted in the next life.
In fact, Abraham’s words to the rich man seem exactly to imply this: “You received what was good in your lifetime and Lazarus received what was bad; but now he is comforted here whereas you’re tormented.”
This reflection is based on Luke 16:10-13.
Today’s Gospel warns us against leading a double life. We’re accustomed to the term “double life” as referring to people with secret lives: The nerdy newspaper photographer with the alter ego and superhero costume underneath his shirt; the well-respected public servant engaged in an extra-marital affair; the closeted anti-gay activist; or the beautiful celebrity who is secretly plagued by a deep and destructive addiction.
This homily is based on Luke 15:1-32.
Today’s Gospel is about the one that got away.
We all have such a person in our life: Somebody we used to care for deeply, someone somehow entrusted once to our care, someone who inhabited our universe once upon a time and–for just that brief fairy tale moment–made all the difference .
This reflection is based on Luke 14:25-33 on the day of the canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
In today’s Gospel the Lord Jesus utters a word that we don’t expect to hear from him: “Hate.”
He tells us, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”
