St. Thomas the Apostle Parish

Homily for the Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions

Today's Scripture readings convey some "famous last words" from St. Paul and Jesus. Each expresses the idea that most of their work has been completed. St. Paul prepares to go to Jerusalem, praying that he will travel to Rome and Spain if he emerges from the city alive. Jesus, on the other hand, declares that He has fulfilled the work assigned to Him by His Father and prays, "Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your Son." St. Paul offers guidance regarding the responsibilities of pastors and religious leaders, while Jesus prays for them and all those who will join the ministry throughout future generations.

St. Paul's address and Jesus' prayer emphasize a hopeful future grounded in faith; they openly acknowledge that they have given their best in their endeavors. St. Paul reflects, "You know how I lived among you the whole time from the day I first came here. I served the Lord with all humility and with the tears and trials that came to me." Jesus affirms the identity of His followers, saying to His Father, "I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word." 

St. Paul faces an uncertain future, with possible imprisonment awaiting him in Jerusalem. Jesus does not predict the exact challenges ahead; instead, He prays that His disciples will remain faithful to Him and His teachings.

Our situation today is no different as priests, religious, and committed laypeople. We, too, should confront the uncertain future with faith and peace, knowing that when we complete the work given to us by the Father, God will welcome us to Himself.

Homily for Monday of the 7th Week of Easter

Jesus invites us to turn away from sin and believe in the Good News. Doing this means continually renewing our repentance and commitment to Jesus throughout our lives. John the Baptist baptized people as a sign of repentance, while Jesus offered hope and redemption through His baptism. Saint Paul said that John's baptism was for those who wanted to turn back to God. In contrast, Jesus' baptism gives the Holy Spirit and the promise of eternal life.

If we want to overcome the world and find authentic life, we must go through Jesus, guided by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is not just a teacher but also our source of strength and hope. Only through Him can we find true redemption and life. So, let us work on building our relationship with Him, for He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Homily for the 7th Sunday of Easter

The Gospel passage we just heard tells of the final segment of Jesus' prayer to His Father. He prays for the oneness of all believers—those from the past, present, and future. He longs for us to be united in the same way He and the Father are united so that we may understand that the Father sent Him and loves us just as He loves His Son.

Jesus prays for His closest disciples and all who will come to believe in Him through their teachings. He wants us all to be united, mirroring the oneness shared between Him and the Father.

He believes that people worldwide will recognize the reality of God's love and His mission through the unity of His believers. This unity is a strong witness to others that the Father has sent the Son to us and deeply cares for and loves us.

Indeed, Tertullian, a 3rd-century Christian writer, said that many non-believers noted the early Christians' love and unity, saying, "Behold how these Christians love one another, and how they are ready to die for one another."

Jesus stresses that the unity He seeks finds its source in God's love for His Son and His affection for us. Jesus wants this love to dwell within us and for Him to be within us, mirroring the close bond between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Jesus’ prayer encourages us to contemplate how to live out the unity that He desires. It should compel us to pursue unity in our homes, communities, schools, workplaces, and our Church, to love one another as Christ loves us, and to be a visible expression of God's love in the world, thus drawing others into that same love.

Homily for the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Part of Elizabeth's greeting to Mary, which we hear in today's Gospel passage, has become a part of the Hail Mary: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb." Elizabeth proclaims Mary blessed because she recognizes that she is the mother of the Lord. 

She also calls Mary blessed because of her faith, saying, "Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled." Because of Mary's faith in God, she became the mother of God's Son. Her faithful response to God's call confirmed her role as the mother of the Lord. 

We are called to imitate Mary's faith not only in our prayers and worship but also in our daily lives. In his letter to the Galatians, St. Paul speaks of faith that is expressed through love. Mary's life and influence guide us toward such a faith, a faith that should shape our interactions with others, influence our decisions, and inform our priorities as we journey together toward God.

Homily for Friday of the 6th Week of Easter

In today's Gospel passage, Jesus, knowing the grief and sadness His disciples would experience after His departure, offered them a promise of lasting joy. He assured them that their current sorrow would not be permanent. His resurrection and the promise of His return would transform their grief into an everlasting joy.

When we place our trust in Jesus, we can find comfort in the assurance that our sorrows are temporary. He is not a distant figure; rather, He is a present reality in our lives, and His risen life empowers us. This transformation from sorrow to joy is not just a hope for the future; it is a present reality in our journey through life.

Homily for the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

As we celebrate today, the Solemnity of our Lord’s Ascension into Heaven, we might wonder why this event ever took place. Would it not have been better for Jesus to stay around, continue to preach, work wonders, and heal the brokenhearted? Would it not have been better for us if He had stayed, led the Church, and conducted all the business of saving souls?

We might think things would be better if Jesus had stayed around, but this was not a part of God’s plan. Part of that plan was to give us the freedom to follow Him. Part of God’s plan was that we might become the presence of Jesus on earth as we continue His work and help one another to experience God's love and presence in our lives. Were Jesus to remain, the dignity of our mission would have been diminished. And we must remember that Jesus’ ministry was primarily tasked with preparing us to take up our crosses and follow in His footsteps.

For whatever reason, God wants our cooperation; God wants us to play an active and free role in bringing His Kingdom to earth. Our contribution to God’s plan is not some nice addition; it is indispensable, and it is something that God planned from the beginning of time.

And so, while we might question why the Ascension happened, we celebrate it because it completes the Resurrection. Jesus rose from the dead and has now entered upon His eternal glory. He has returned to God the Father and yet remains with us in God’s Spirit, in our celebration of the Eucharist — He is in our midst whenever we gather to pray together or whenever we reach out to others in charity, compassion, and love.

We also celebrate this Solemnity for what it says about ourselves — that ours is a great dignity and responsibility: to carry on the work of Jesus Christ. God depends on us. The Solemnity of the Ascension reminds us that we have work to do; the work Jesus started and left to us to complete.

Homily for Wednesday of the 6th Week of Easter

Learning life’s profound truths is a gradual process. Faith is not an instant revelation; rather, it is a journey that unfolds over time. In today’s Gospel, Jesus acknowledges He has many things He wants to share, but the disciples are not yet ready to receive them.

The Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth, will be sent to them in the future to reveal these truths and guide them toward complete understanding. The Holy Spirit, our divine guide, will lead us to a deeper understanding of Jesus, His Father, our world, and ourselves.

This journey is lifelong and requires humility. We will never attain complete truth in this life; we are always in the process of learning. We can never honestly say, “I know it all.” Instead, we must remain open to being guided by the Spirit as we move closer to the complete truth — towards the One who proclaimed, “I am the truth.”

Homily for Tuesday of the 6th Week of Easter

Authentic openness to the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, reveals misunderstandings about sin and judgment. Those in favor of Jesus' crucifixion believed that He must have been a sinner to suffer and die in such a manner, thinking that this type of death indicated that God had judged Him. They believed it was justifiable to execute Him because they felt He was leading the Israelites away from the Law.

However, their judgments were mistaken. Jesus was not a sinner, nor was He judged by God. This highlights a contrast between God's view and human perspectives. While God cherished Jesus as His beloved Son, many others saw Him as a sinner. The One sent by God was viewed by many as condemned by Him—a perspective that was entirely mistaken.

Human judgments often miss the mark, so we must continually seek God's perspective and see others as He sees them. The Holy Spirit provides us with this divine insight. He enables us to see as God sees, to know as God knows, and to be wise as God is wise.

Homily for Memorial Day

For many, Memorial Day Weekend is more than just a three-day break; it marks the unofficial start of summer and serves as a time for solemn commemoration. For those who have lost family members in our nation's wars or military efforts, this day holds even greater significance.

My first visit to the National Mall in Washington, DC, and Arlington National Cemetery occurred in the mid-1980s, shortly after the Vietnam War Memorial, a monument dedicated to the American soldiers who died or went missing in the Vietnam War, was erected. I was deeply moved by the seemingly endless rows of grave markers at Arlington and the nearly 60,000 names inscribed on this powerful memorial.

It's essential to remember that behind every marker and name lies a real person who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation and the hope of peace in the world. We owe a debt of gratitude to these brave individuals. Each death altered the course of history for individual families and their communities, who stood in grief with them and continue to remember them today.

This day also serves as a time to honor all our beloved deceased. Many people will visit cemeteries across the nation today, bringing a physical presence as they remember their loved ones. It's a time for personal reflection, a moment to contemplate the impact of loss on our lives and the hope that sustains us.

Let us pray today for all of our beloved deceased and for ourselves, as this day reminds us of both our mortality on earth and our hope for immortality in heaven. This hope, this belief in heaven, is what uplifts us and gives us the strength to carry on.

Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter

Fr. Stephen Verbest tells a story about a four-year-old girl who heard that Jesus lives in the hearts of those who love Him. Struggling to grasp what this could mean, she climbed into her mother's lap one day and pressed her ear tightly against her side. "What are you doing?" her mother asked. The child placed her index finger across her lips and whispered, "I'm listening for Jesus inside you." Enjoying her closeness, she let her daughter listen for a while and then said, "Well, did you hear Jesus within me?" "Yes, I did," she replied, "it sounds like he's making coffee." 

What a wonderful way to contemplate this remarkable mystery. While Jesus is not making coffee, this little girl has the right idea. His presence in our hearts is as natural as sharing a cup of coffee with someone we love or sharing a hug with them. The Book of Revelation expresses it this way: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, [then] I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me." Whether you liken intimacy with Jesus to sharing a cup of coffee, a hug, or a meal together, the reality is the true presence of Christ in the hearts of those who love Him.

Jesus made a profound promise to His disciples during the Last Supper in the large Upper Room: "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him." This intimate gathering is a powerful symbol of Jesus' loving presence within our hearts. Similar to the Last Supper, our relationship with Jesus is intrinsically communal. At its core, it is a communion with the Trinity, as Jesus brings the Father and the Holy Spirit with Him, inviting us to partake in their divine love.

There is a second reason intimacy with Jesus is always communal, like the Last Supper: All who receive the Body and Blood of Jesus become one body with Him and with each other by the power of His Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwelling within us teaches us all things, especially to grow in greater and greater love for everyone. When God dwells in the upper room of our hearts, we become tabernacles for the world, bringing the loving presence of God wherever we go.