Category: HOMILIES

SLEEPING ON THE JOB

This homily (on 2 Samuel 12:1-7A, 10-17 and Mark 4:35-41) was delivered on 01 February 2014.

Whenever I come across a Gospel story that’s recounted in several of the gospels, the biblical scholar wannabe in me sits up and pays more attention than usual. What we have just heard today, “the Storm at Sea,” is one such story. It is reported in all three synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Interestingly, all three versions include one apparently unnecessary detail–namely, the Lord sleeping in the boat at the height of the storm–although Mark, usually the least elaborate of the evangelists, adds a charming detail about Jesus asleep on a cushion.

Tags 10-17, 2 Samuel 12:1-7A, Mark 4:35-41, storm at sea

HOMILIES

THE FURTHER

This homily was delivered on 16 September 2013 based on Luke 7:1-10

I made the mistake the other night of watching a horror film. It was “Insidious (Part 1). ” As I expected, after the movie, my imagination ran wild every time I found myself in a long corridor or dark corner. The movie is about the souls of the dead who are desperately waiting to occupy the bodies of the living, and in the movie, they’re depicted as wandering lost in this heaven-forsaken dimension which the psychic in the film mysteriously calls the “Further.”

Tags albert einstein, centurion's servant, insidious, Luke 7:1-10

HOMILIES

WAILING AND WHINING

This homily, based on Numbers 11:4-5 and Matthew 14:13-21, was delivered on 05 August 2013.

Our First Reading is all about wailing and whining. First, we have the Israelites, fresh from their escape from Egypt, wailing and whining about their menu in the desert. “If only we had meat to eat!” they cried out, reciting a litany of the food they missed and singing the praises of Egyptian cuisine. Of course they grew sick of their daily diet of heaven-sent manna, which, we’re told by the way, tasted like “cakes baked with oil.”

But that’s not all: Even their prophet Moses, hearing their complaints, joined the bandwagon and did his own wailing and whining too, complaining to God about how the people burdened him so much. “I’m not their mother!” he basically told God. And he must have felt really bad because he ended by declaring: “If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once!”

Tags complaint, Job, Jonah, Matthew 14:13-21, Moses, Multiplication of Loaves, Numbers 11:4-5, Wailing Wall

HOMILIES QUOTES

GOD WITH SKIN ON (The Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola)

Post author By [email protected]
Post date July 31, 2013
No Comments on GOD WITH SKIN ON (The Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola)

This homily, based on Exodus 34:29-35 and Matthew 13:44-46, was delivered on the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola (July 31, 2013).

In today’s Gospel, our Lord likens the Kingdom of God to a hidden treasure and a pearl so valuable that it should make all the difference in one’s life. These two parables remind me of one of the most important lessons I’ve learned from St. Ignatius of Loyola, whose feast we celebrate today. This lesson is captured in a slogan that he’s known for: “Finding God in all things.”

I know, today it sounds almost like a cliché: We all believe God is present everywhere, don’t we? But we should note that Ignatius’ invitation is not simply to believe that God in all things, but to find Him and actually look for Him in all things. It’s like our Lord’s parables today telling us not just to believe that the Kingdom of God is here, but also to go and search for it, be it buried in some field or hidden in the deep seas.

Tags Exodus 34:29-35, Finding God in all things, Ignatian, Ignatian Spirituality, Ignatius of Loyola, Incarnation, Jesuit, love, Matthew 13:44-46

HOMILIES

WHAT IT TAKES TO TURN ASIDE

Post author By [email protected]
Post date July 18, 2013
2 Comments on WHAT IT TAKES TO TURN ASIDE

This homily was delivered on 17 July 2013 based on the readings for the day (Exodus 3:1-6, 9-12 and Matthew 11:25-27)

I think I had my first religious experience at the age of ten, and it came courtesy of Moses–or more precisely, Charlton Heston in the Cecil de Mille movie “The Ten Commandments.” I still remember the film’s most dramatic scene: Moses, towering over the Israelites, faces the Red Sea, spreads his arms before it, and as the most rousing soundtrack blares, the sky rushes into the waters and before you know it, the waters part, forming a wall on each side and a virtual highway for the fleeing Israelites. Remember this was before the era of Computer Generated Images.

Tags Exodus 3:1-12, Matthew 11:25-27