St. Thomas the Apostle Parish

Homily for Saturday of the 2nd Week of Lent

Forgiveness and reconciliation are central to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Being a true disciple of Jesus means dedicating ourselves to achieving unity of spirit, even in the face of differences and disagreements.

The work of reconciliation is not confined to a specific time or place, nor is it dependent on particular circumstances. It is offered to everyone and is not limited to any particular group.

 

Forgiveness requires us to confront our responsibility for hurting others, just as the Prodigal Son did. This often means setting aside our agendas, desires, and need for control. Sometimes, it requires putting aside our own pain to focus on reconciliation and actively work for it. The journey isn’t easy, but it’s what the Gospel calls us to pursue. We’re urged to prioritize reconciliation and healing over seeking revenge and punishment, much like the father in today’s Gospel reading as he navigates between his two sons.

 

Let us all commit ourselves to reconciliation: forgiving without seeking revenge, asking for forgiveness to heal those we’ve hurt, and restoring hope and dignity to those who have suffered because of our words or actions.

 

Homily for Friday of the 2nd Week of Lent

In today’s Gospel, Jesus shares the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, warning that those who reject God’s messengers—and ultimately His Son—will lose their place in His Kingdom. Instead, the Kingdom will be given to those who are faithful stewards, responsible with the gifts entrusted to them, and who bear fruit. We are the new tenants Jesus addresses, entrusted with the vineyard—the deposit of faith and the Church—called to bring God’s love, compassion, justice, peace, and mercy to others through our actions.

 

Jesus begins the parable by describing a landowner who provides everything needed for a thriving vineyard: a fence, a wine press, and a tower. In the same way, God has given us the vineyard of our lives—the Church and the gift of faith—entrusting us with stewardship rather than ownership.

 

The tenants’ rejection of the landowner's servants and, ultimately, his son highlights a refusal to accept God’s authority. Jesus, the Son, is the "stone the builders rejected." Yet God transforms this rejection into triumph, making Jesus the cornerstone of a new spiritual foundation.

 

The Kingdom is entrusted to those who produce its fruits. This compels us to reflect: How are we using the gifts we have received? Are we bearing fruit for the Kingdom through love, service, and sharing our faith, or are we, like the tenants in the parable, keeping the "produce" for ourselves?

 

We are called to be faithful stewards, not simply recipients of God’s grace. We must allow God to work through us so that our lives yield the fruits of the Gospel.

Homily for Thursday of the 2nd Week of Lent

Today’s parable is not intended to criticize wealth itself. Instead, it encourages those with more than enough to consider whether they should share more with those in need. It encourages us to ask: “Am I doing my part to help close the gap between those with plenty and those with very little?

 

While our possessions are not inherently evil, they should not distract us from the difficulties faced by those in the world who have little or nothing. In this parable, the rich man is criticized for using his wealth solely for his own benefit, which reflects his indifference toward others.

 

Let us pray that we will be more aware of those in need, and that, in recognizing that all that we have and all that we are comes from God, we will gladly help them, thus answering the call to be channels of God’s love and providence in our world.

 

Homily for Wednesday of the 2nd Week of Lent

In today’s Gospel, Jesus encourages His disciples to become leaders who embrace humble servanthood rather than power, stressing that true greatness in His Father’s kingdom comes from serving others, not being served. As He journeys to Jerusalem toward His Passion and Death, He defines His mission (and thus, ours) as one of sacrificial love.

 

Today’s Gospel begins with Jesus predicting His Passion and Death. Immediately, the mother of James and John asks that her sons have places of honor in heaven. Jesus asks if they can drink His "chalice" of suffering. In doing so, He reveals that suffering and sacrifice always precede the glory of His kingdom. To be first is to be a servant, and to be great is to be a slave. "The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." He is the model for all Christian discipleship AND leadership.

 

As we move through this Lenten season, let us ask God for the graces we need to refrain from seeking personal aspirations and glory, and the guidance we need to follow the path of the Suffering Servant.

Homily for Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Lent

In our Gospel passage today, Jesus speaks against hypocrisy, calling us to embrace humility rather than honor. While recognizing the authority of religious leaders, He condemns those who fail to practice what they preach while laying heavy burdens on others’ shoulders. True greatness is found in serving others, especially those considered lowly: "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

 

The practice of our faith is not just about outward appearance or religious symbols that capture others' attention. Our words and actions must be in line with each other, proclaiming the Gospel not only with our words but with our actions and our deepest selves. We teach by example. The true teacher and proclaimer of the faith is one who serves with humility, recognizing and proclaiming God as the source of all goodness, love, and mercy.

Homily for Monday of the 2nd Week of Lent

In today’s Gospel passage from St. Luke, Jesus calls His believers to mirror the unbounded mercy of God, urging us to stop condemning others and to forgive freely, just as God forgives us. This profound mercy—offered to others without conditions—rests at the center of Christian life and is rewarded with a "good measure" of divine grace, transforming our hearts from stone into instruments of love.

 

When Jesus tells us to be merciful like His Father, He isn’t merely making a suggestion; instead, He is making a command that springs forth from our baptismal calling. It means taking on God's perspective, which looks past faults to offer compassion, understanding, and mercy. This is how Jesus dealt with people, and we are called to be like Him in every aspect of our lives.

 

Jesus tells us to stop our propensity toward judgment and condemnation. Genuine forgiveness demands that we give up the desire for revenge and let go of anger. This means refusing to dismiss people. While there are situations in which it may not be healthy or even safe to continue a relationship, forgiveness from the heart is still something to which we are called, even if we must do so from a distance.

 

To avoid becoming judgmental, we must recognize our own need for mercy from God and from others. This requires letting go of pride and replacing it with love.

May this season of Lent be a time when we recognize our own need for mercy and forgiveness, helping us to offer the same to others.

Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent

In St. Matthew’s Gospel, God the Father speaks from heaven only twice: in today’s Transfiguration passage and at Jesus’ Baptism. Both times, the message is the same: Jesus is His beloved Son, and we must listen to Him, which means knowing Him and following His teachings and example. This allows us to be guided by Jesus, the incarnate Lord, toward our true purpose and fulfillment in God’s kingdom.

 

In theory, this sounds easy, but as flawed humans, we face temptation, doubt, and weakness. Listening to God and following His voice isn’t always easy.

 

Abraham learned this firsthand. While living comfortably in Mesopotamia, God called him to leave behind his family, business, home, security, and friends—everything he knew. God didn’t even tell him where he was going, only saying, "Go to a land I will show you." But God had a plan to bless Abraham and others through him. Abraham listened and trusted God, stepping out of his comfort zone. His decision likely caused tension at home and was hard to explain to others.

 

St. Paul also experienced this. He was rising in the Jewish establishment when Jesus appeared on the road to Damascus and invited him to take a different, harder path. That’s why he tells Timothy in today’s second reading, "Bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God."

 

Paul endured shipwrecks, imprisonment, slander, beatings, whippings, and was ultimately martyred by beheading. Listening to Jesus and heeding His call means accepting hardship for the sake of the Gospel. But it’s worth it—otherwise, why would the Father have told us to do it?

 

Most of us have a sense of what Jesus is asking of us right now. He always calls us to follow him more closely.

 

Maybe He’s asking some of us to go to confession so He can help us break a sinful habit holding back our spiritual growth.

 

Maybe He’s asking us to reconcile with someone we haven’t spoken to in years—to forgive someone who doesn’t really deserve it.

 

Maybe He’s asking us to live more for others and less for ourselves.

He may even call some of us to leave everything and follow Him in the priesthood or consecrated life, like Abraham and St. Paul.

 

When God invites us to change, we’re often torn—part of us wants to say yes, but another part is afraid. God’s nearness, even His voice in our hearts, is awe-inspiring. Like Peter, James, and John, we can be "very much afraid." But Jesus knows this. When His disciples lay face down on the mountaintop, trembling, "Jesus came and touched them, saying, 'Rise, and do not be afraid.'"

 

Today, He does the same for us. He comes to us in the Liturgy of the Word and in the Eucharist and says in our hearts: "Rise, and do not be afraid."

 

When He does, let’s respond: "OK, Lord. I believe in you. I want to listen to you.” Or, in the words of the Lord’s Prayer,  “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done."

Homily for Saturday of the 1st Week of Lent

When Jesus says, "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect," He is not calling for a rigid form of perfectionism. In Luke's Gospel, the corresponding passage is nearly identical to today's passage from Matthew, with one key difference: instead of the word "perfect," Luke uses the word "merciful." This choice highlights that, in Jesus’ teaching, true perfection is about showing mercy and compassion rather than obsessing over flawlessness.

 

To be perfect, as Jesus intended, means to love others as God loves us—not with harsh judgment, but with patience and forgiveness. This theme is central to Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount: we are called to love one another with a selfless love that expects nothing in return.

 

Jesus encourages us to love as God loves, suggesting that this command is not impossible to fulfill. While we may struggle to love in such a divine manner on our own, we can achieve it with God's help. This promise offers hope and reassurance: as Jesus later tells His disciples in Matthew's Gospel, "For God, all things are possible."

Homily for Friday of the 1st Week of Lent

In today’s Gospel, Jesus calls His followers to adopt virtues and standards that go beyond those of the scribes and Pharisees, for whom the paramount commandment was "You shall not kill." Jesus’ message goes beyond this basic commandment, focusing on the underlying feelings and passions that can lead people to harm or endanger others. Addressing these deep-seated attitudes and emotions is crucial for preventing harmful actions and renewing our minds and souls.

 

The profound transformation that Jesus calls for cannot be achieved solely through our own efforts; we need the power and grace of the Holy Spirit to begin this deep change within us.

 

So, let us pray that the Holy Spirit will instill within us a deep, God-like love so that the roots of this higher virtue and standard may grow in our hearts and minds, guiding us to become who God truly wants us to be.

Homily for Thursday of the 1st Week of Lent

Jesus encourages us to be seekers: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” So, what are we supposed to seek, and what should we ask for? The simple answer is that we should seek the Lord and His will for our lives. The Gospels mention many seekers, and Zacchaeus is a notable example. His story reminds us that the Lord we seek is always seeking us, too. While dining with Zacchaeus, Jesus described Himself as the Son of Man, who came to seek out and save the lost.

 

Because we can never fully find the Lord in this life, we will always be seeking Him as long as we are on this earth. Our journey toward the Lord is ongoing, and we never completely reach our destination. Like Abraham, we are continually setting out on a journey in response to the Lord’s call. As Saint Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians, we must strain “forward to what lies ahead” and press on toward our ultimate goal: the Lord.

 

Jesus assures us in the Gospel that if we remain faithful in our search for the Lord and in the journey it brings, we will receive good things from God. By seeking the Lord, we open ourselves to His many gifts and blessings.