Homilies

To many, the Passion of Jesus Christ is a lesson in history where we sympathize with Christ for the sufferings he went through before he died. We find it hard to believe how the people can be so cruel as to inflict the most severe form of pain on a man we know was innocent.

For Christians, the Passion should be more than a lesson in history. It should become a lesson in life. After all, Christ hung upon the cross for us to give what we need: forgiveness, which is the greatest affection of the Father’s love for us and to ultimately attain the gift of everlasting life with him in the heavenly kingdom. The lesson is truth through love.

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Good FridayRead More »

Each year during Holy Week, we journey with Jesus amid the crowds that shout, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” The day is filled with jubilation and praise. The King of peace is welcomed but a few days later, the people will demand his death on the cross.

The gospel narratives of the Passion recount how the sins of the people and their leaders at the time conspired to bring about the Passion and death of Jesus, implying that we are all to blame. Their sins and ours bring Christ to the cross and he bears them willingly. As Paul told us in this letter, Jesus emptied himself totally, becoming obedient to the point of death. He subjected himself to such torture and pain so that he could then take on the fullness of humanity.

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Palm SundayRead More »

As I sat down to begin work on this homily I was torn between Jesus’ weeping and the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Like everything I prepare to talk about, something else seems to come into play-the last three weeks where we have heard the Gospel of John. They are the longest gospels that we will hear all year, yet they reveal to us a great deal about the true nature of Jesus and his mission and sacrifice.

Two weeks ago the Samaritan woman at the well was transformed by the encounter with Christ who revealed that he was the one who will quench our thirst through the life giving spring of the Father’s Spirit. Then last week Jesus reals that he is the Light of the World who will open our eyes as he did the blind man’s, in order to see the truth of the Father’s love.

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5th Sunday of LentRead More »

With all the rain lately, we take water for granted. With the turn of the tap, we have clean safe water for drinking, washing, and bathing. Many people in third world countries are not so fortunate. Like the Samaritan woman, they still go to the well with buckets and jugs to carry water back home and so would we if we didn’t have running water.

In May of 1976 when Guam was hit by a powerful typhoon, we were left without power and no power meant no water. The day after the storm, my roommate and I drove to a nearby hotel with a brand new plastic garbage can to obtain drinking water. Imagine the look on the cop’s face when we drove by very slowly with the container full of water carefully balanced on the hood of our car. …

3rd Sunday of LentRead More »

I can’t help but reflect back on my life to see those experiences that have changed my life. Of course, the most dramatic experience was my marriage to the love of my life almost forty three years ago. But there were more experiences that took me a long time to understand.

I would not be surprised that if each of us takes a good look, to reflect on our lives up to the present, we will find times that bewildered us, which challenged us in trying to understand what just happened. The story of the Transfiguration takes us into the bewildered state of mind.

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2nd Sunday of LentRead More »