St. Thomas the Apostle Parish

Homily for Saturday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time

The Sabbath greeting among Jewish people is "Shabbat Shalom!" It holds a profound significance. Literally, it means "a peaceful Sabbath!" but it implies a prayer for the fullness of life, which cannot be accomplished solely by following fixed rules.

When Jesus' disciples were accused of breaking the Sabbath, Jesus, in his wisdom, provided a reassuring, common-sense answer supported by Scriptural proof.

His followers were plucking ears of grain and eating them, an action allowed on weekdays but not on the Sabbath. Jesus showed that this action may also be done on the Sabbath, recalling when David and his men received special permission to eat the Temple bread customarily reserved for priests. Authentic observance of the Law allowed for doing whatever was necessary to do the work of the Lord.

Homily for Friday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus used wonderful imagery to describe what is essential in life. He compared His ministry to new wine, stating that this new wine required new wineskins. Essentially, the traditional way of doing things would no longer be enough. However, Jesus also respected His own Jewish tradition and the Scriptures of His people, which nourished and inspired Him.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declared that He came not to abolish the Law and the prophets, but to complete them. He did not pretend to be starting from scratch. He valued Jewish tradition greatly, but He wanted to bring it to a greater richness and fullness; He came to renew Israel’s tradition, not to discard it. His attitude suggests that we shouldn’t discard our religious tradition or idolize it as a set of static rules and practices.

The Church always needs reform and renewal; the new wine of the Holy Spirit will always require new wineskins. Renewal will always involve honoring what is best in our tradition by allowing its rich potential to be fully realized.

Homily for the Memorial of St. Teresa of Calcutta

In today's Gospel, Peter and his companions labored all night but caught nothing. Their work had failed. They had done everything possible, but more was needed; something was missing.

Then Jesus came, and everything changed. Peter and his companions discovered the answer to their problems. They had been missing the most essential ingredient: the help and the power of God and the help and the power of His Son, Jesus.

This story of Peter and his companions contains an essential lesson for us: We all need God in our lives. While our human efforts are necessary, more is required to solve our problems. We need God's power and help in our lives and facing our problems.

When we turn to God in times of struggle, we discover God wishes to bless us beyond our wildest dreams. God desires to give our lives a power and a fullness that exceeds anything we can imagine. All we have to do is open our hearts to God's love, let God's light shine on us, and lower our nets to be filled. God will do the rest.

Homily for Wednesday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time

The first part of today's Gospel provides essential insights. Jesus learns that Simon Peter's mother-in-law is seriously ill with a high fever. This event has been recounted numerous times, and Luke has summarized it as follows: First, Peter's mother-in-law falls seriously sick. Second, friends ask Jesus to bless her. Third, He commands the fever to leave her. Finally, she gets up and starts serving them, likely with food.

After her miraculous recovery, the woman got up immediately and waited on them. This act of service within a caring community enriches the family setting. The people around Jesus interceded with him for her in a beautiful display of unity. Their actions radiate a sense of belonging and unity that is truly heartwarming.

St. Paul's followers often experienced discord and divided into factions, following different leaders. Their envy led to absurd quarreling. St. Paul referred to them as "infants," not ready for solid food, and compared their behavior to that of children clashing over trivial matters. These quarrels were contrary to true faith in Jesus. St. Paul reminded them that every Church leader is God's coworker and that we are all "God's garden." He believed that many Church tribulations would dissolve if everyone embraced a sense of belonging to God.

Homily for the Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church

In today's Gospel, a man "with a spirit of an unclean demon" asked Jesus loudly, "What have you come to do with us…? Have you come to destroy us?" Jesus neither shrank in the face of this aggression nor reacted in kind. Instead, He only addressed the demon and brought the man healing and peace.

So often, in the Gospels, Jesus does not respond in kind to those who oppose Him, but neither does He back down from them. The LORD does not relate to us as we often relate to Him. His approach is always more generous, more loving, and more merciful than our approach to Him and to one another.

When the people in the synagogue saw Jesus' encounter with the disturbed man, they were amazed at His authority and the power He had over unclean spirits. Jesus exercises His authority by showing love and kindness to those with no claim on it except for their need. In that way, He shows us what genuine authority looks like.

Let us pray that Jesus's example may guide us in approaching one another in a spirit of love and mercy and with a desire for understanding and peace.

Homily for Monday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time

When Jesus read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and then sat down, He made a commentary on what He had read, identifying Himself as the prophet who was sent to “bring glad tidings to the poor… to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” He also identified Himself with two other prophets, Elijah and Elisha, who ministered to non-Israelites, a hungry widow from Zarephath, and a leper from Syria who had been cured of his affliction. Jesus was saying to the people at Nazareth that He had come for all, especially those in the greatest need; it didn’t matter who they were or from where they came.

When Jesus claimed this vision of generosity as His own mission, the people of Nazareth became outraged. They thought that since Jesus was one of their own, they would receive special treatment from Him, but Jesus came to save all those in need. If He had any partiality, it was towards those broken in body, mind, or spirit.

The Lord continuously reaches out to us in our need and pain; all He asks is that we receive Him as He is, on His own terms, which the people of Nazareth were unable to do. The Lord is always close to all of us; it is our need, our suffering, whatever form it takes, that can bring us close to Him.

Homily for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Many of us are creatures of habit to some extent. We have consistently followed habits and traditions that can be beneficial but may also hold us back. When this happens, it can take time and effort to change. Similarly, communal traditions, which are traditional ways of doing things as a society or within a Church, can be beneficial but can also become restrictive.

In the Gospel, Jesus clashed with the Pharisees, who held the tradition of the elders in high regard. This tradition was passed down orally for hundreds of years and involved applying the Jewish Law to every detail of daily life. While not written in the Scriptures, these traditions had gained authority equal to that of the Scriptures.

During His ministry, Jesus challenged the emphasis that the Pharisees and other religious leaders placed on their human-made spiritual traditions. Jesus suggested that the religious leaders had undermined God's commandment in their zeal to uphold these traditions. Jesus emphasized that ritualistic traditions did not hold importance to God and taught that what truly matters is the condition of our hearts and intentions.

Gardeners know that pruning bushes and shrubs is essential to maintain health and quality. Similarly, Jesus acted as a pruner, cutting back traditions that had become overly important and emphasizing what truly mattered to God. Jesus did not wholly abandon Jewish tradition but instead critiqued it to reveal God's true desires. By doing so, he aimed to allow the best aspects of the tradition to thrive while removing elements that obscured God's presence.

Our religious traditions, personal and within the community of the Church, need to be constantly re-evaluated because what we think is important may not align with what is important to God. It's crucial to revisit the New Testament, especially the Gospels, to understand what Jesus emphasizes as important. St. James urges us to accept and submit to the Word planted within us through Baptism. This involves not just listening but also acting upon it. Caring for the sick, the oppressed, and all those in need and keeping oneself uncontaminated by the world is the genuine expression of religion in the eyes of God.

God's primary focus is how we interact with each other, especially with the most vulnerable among us. Jesus didn't hesitate to heal the sick on the Sabbath, even though it was considered work and unlawful by the elders' tradition. Jesus' actions and teachings are the best guide to understanding the actual value of our religious tradition and what we need to reconsider.

Homily for Saturday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time

In the parable, one of the servants saw his master in a negative light. He believed him to be a demanding man who reaped where he had not sown. In his perspective and fear, the servant did nothing with what he had been given. However, the other two servants had a much more charitable view of their master. As a result, they were free to take initiative and even take risks with what they had been given.

Jesus revealed God as being infinitely generous. He demonstrated that God's goodness leaves us amazed and that God remains faithful even when we are not. Jesus did not reveal a god waiting for us to fail, as the third servant viewed his master. Instead, Jesus showed us that God wants us to take risks and that we remain in His love whether or not we succeed.

God's unfailing love should encourage us to take risks with the gifts we have received from Him. The first letter of John tells us that perfect love casts out fear. We should not be paralyzed by fear like the third servant in the parable. God, who has blessed us abundantly, expects us to share our blessings generously and trust Him with the rest.

Homily for Friday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time

In today's parable, the bridegroom arrived quite late and would have been thrilled to discover that some bridesmaids were there to meet him. Despite his late arrival and their long wait, their perseverance was a testament to their unwavering faithfulness.

Immediately after relating this parable, Jesus told His disciples, "Stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour." He wanted them to remain faithful, particularly when He seemed absent, and their expectations of Him were unmet.

Jesus wants us to keep our light burning right to the end, through good and bad times. This constant commitment to faithfulness shows our devotion to the Lord and trust in His love.

Earlier, Jesus referred to His disciples as the light of the world and encouraged them to allow their light to shine so that others could see their good deeds and give glory to God. Continuously keeping our lamps burning and allowing our light to shine until the end involves carrying out the good works that the Lord asks of us for as long as we can.

Homily for the Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist

As we know, John the Baptist was a significant figure predestined to herald the coming of the Messiah. In his late teens he was guided by the Spirit to live an abstemious and reflective life in the desert. At the age of thirty, he appeared as a preacher of reform and regeneration. He called the people to repent and be baptized, washing away their sins, while proclaiming the coming of the Messiah. He was looked upon as a genuine prophet of God, and his voice resounded with a clear call to faith and virtuous reform.

John’s message infuriated Herod and Herodias, the wife of Herod’s brother Philip, with whom he lived in defiance of the law. John boldly criticized them for the scandal and was imprisoned.

At a lavish birthday banquet in the royal palace, Salome, the daughter of Philip and Herodias, so enchanted the guests with her dancing that Herod pledged to grant her whatever she asked. Provoked by her mother, the girl asked for the head of John the Baptist. Acting on her wishes, Herod reluctantly had John beheaded. 

Today's memorial honors the great herald of Jesus, who gave his life for the truth about a year before the Passion of Jesus. He foresaw Jesus' death on the Cross, referring to him as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world."