St. Thomas the Apostle Parish

Homily for Monday of the 8th Week in Ordinary Time

Sometimes when we ask a question, we find the answer isn't exactly what we had hoped for. This was the case for the rich man who asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” When Jesus instructed him to go beyond the traditional standards he had been following—specifically, to sell all that he owned and follow Him—the man could not accept this request and walked away sad.

While Jesus did not ask everyone to sell everything and journey with Him, He made this request of this particular young man. Like him, we may find ourselves called to do something that seems overwhelming. The temptation might be to walk away from such a calling, even though saying “yes” would be the better choice. Initially, we may feel unprepared for our calling. However, we must remember that “all things are possible for God.” 

Homily for the 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today's world, finding a moment of peace and quiet to connect with ourselves and God is difficult. The constant barrage of calls and messages makes it hard to escape daily life's worries and hurried pace. Finding the tranquility to enjoy God's presence can be challenging, even in our homes filled with television and digital media.

Have we forgotten the importance of pausing, interrupting our rush, and freeing our minds for a few moments? It is often enough to stand still and be silent briefly to calm our spirits and regain clarity and peace. We need to seek the silence that allows us to connect with our true selves, helping us recover our freedom and rediscover our inner energy.

Being used to noise and busyness, we may not realize the wellness that can come from solitude and silence. In our eagerness for news, images, and information, we can easily forget to nurture and enrich the deepest parts of our being.

We cannot hear God or recognize His divine presence without inner silence. This lack of silence hinders our growth as human beings and as believers. According to Jesus, people draw goodness from the abundance in their hearts, but goodness does not flourish without cultivation. We must nurture it to let it grow within us. Our lives will truly blossom if we take the time to notice what God is stirring in our hearts.

Let us pray that during this coming season of Lent, we may find times to slow down, be aware of God's presence around us and within us, and allow His love to transform our lives.

Homily for Saturday of the 7th Week in Ordinary Time

Parents who brought their children to Jesus are much like those who bring their children for baptism today. The contrast between the disciples’ harshness and Jesus’ response to this request is striking. While the disciples wanted to turn the children away, viewing them as a nuisance and distraction, Jesus welcomed them and encouraged His followers to do the same.

We must do all we can to nurture a relationship between children and Jesus. In addition to teaching children, we have much to learn from them. We need to learn to embrace the kingdom of God with the same openness that children do. Children are very receptive to positive things and gifts, including the gift of the kingdom of God and the Lord Himself. They are naturally open to these gifts, but as we grow older, we can easily lose that receptiveness and openness to the Lord. As adults, it’s important for us to continually recover that childlike spirit, so we can welcome the gift of the Lord with the same eagerness as children.

Homily for Friday of the 7th Week in Ordinary Time

The Book of Sirach offers beautiful insights about friendship, describing it as the elixir of life, emphasizing that those who fear the Lord will find true friends. When we cultivate a strong relationship with the Lord, we are better equipped to form meaningful human connections characterized by faithfulness and selflessness.

Jesus also speaks of a unique type of friendship found in a marriage relationship between a husband and wife. His vision of marriage aligns with Sirach’s understanding of friendship: a husband and wife, committed to each other for life, ultimately becoming one rather than two. Whether we are married or single, each of us is called to experience faithful friendships that enable us to witness the Lord’s unwavering love through others and, in turn, to reflect that faithful love to those around us.

Homily for Thursday of the 7th Week in Ordinary Time

We all experience moments of stumbling in life—physically and metaphorically. In the Gospel today, Jesus discusses stumbling blocks, expressing strong disapproval of those who hinder the faith of others and undermine their spiritual well-being. He warns against leading others away from God, emphasizing that part of our baptismal calling is to nurture each other's faith. Doing the opposite is a serious issue in Jesus' eyes.

Jesus then shifts the focus from how we can be a stumbling block to others in their relationship with God to how we can hinder our own spiritual journey. He points out that our hand, foot, or eye can become stumbling blocks to our relationship with the Lord. When Jesus says, "...if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out," He does not mean this literally. Instead, He uses a graphic image to underline the gravity of what he is saying. 

The positive message of the Gospel is that every aspect of our lives should be such that they strengthen our relationship with the Lord. We are called to offer our entire selves to God and align all facets of our lives with His will. While we may not consistently achieve this, it is a goal worth striving for. When we direct our whole being toward the Lord, we may experience the blessing of the Beatitude: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

Homily for Wednesday of the 7th Week in Ordinary Time

The disciples held a polarized, black-and-white view of others. They believed that only those who were one of them could be trusted to do the Lord's work. In contrast, Jesus had a different understanding. He believed that even those who had not been formally called to be His disciples could be a part of God's life-giving mission, saying, "whoever is not against us is for us."

This serves as an essential lesson for our times. Many people may not explicitly support the Church or practice their faith in a way that aligns with traditional beliefs. Still, they are also not against the Church. The spirit of today's Gospel encourages us to build bridges with those who, in some way, share the Church's mission of bringing life to where there is death, restoring wholeness where there is brokenness, and providing relief where there is suffering. We can partner in this mission with those who may not be considered "one of us" in the strictest sense. In these times, we need the broader vision that Jesus demonstrated in today's Gospel rather than the narrow viewpoint of His disciples.

Homily for Tuesday of the 7th Week in Ordinary time

With great care, the Church, usually after Baptism, prepares our youth for their First Communion and, a few years later, their Confirmation and future roles as teachers of the faith. Through the sacraments, we welcome them into the Church and embrace them as part of our family of faith. The importance of welcoming children is evident in today’s Gospel passage. In it, Jesus closely identifies with children, declaring, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”

Today’s Gospel suggests we can best encounter Jesus and His Father through children. Elsewhere, Jesus also identifies Himself with the most vulnerable — the sick, the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the stranger, and the imprisoned. Children, by their very nature, are among the most vulnerable; they depend on others for all aspects of life. This Gospel passage highlights that ministry to children and young people is a sacred and holy endeavor.

Homily for Monday of the 7th Week in Ordinary Time

The disciples tried to heal an extremely disturbed boy, but they failed, while Jesus succeeded. When they asked Him why they could not heal the boy, He replied, “This kind can only come out through prayer.” This implies that the disciples were attempting to heal the boy using their own power, but it was only through God’s power that real healing could happen. To become channels of God’s power and grace, they needed to pray more and establish a deeper communion with Him so that He could work through them in a life-giving way.

In His response, Jesus stressed the importance and necessity of praying to resolve certain difficulties. Some challenges in life are so overwhelming that only prayer can help us through them. Many of us can relate to this from our own experiences. When we face significant struggles, we often find that prayer sustains us when all other resources seem inadequate. The Lord keeps us going, and our connection with Him through prayer and worship strengthens us when all else fails.

Homily for the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today's Gospel passage, Jesus gives us a way to see if we live according to our Christian identity. It's not about having deep theological knowledge, charm, or great professional success. It's not about having intense prayer experiences or performing extreme acts of penance. The true sign of being a Christian is how we treat everyone, following the way God treats us.

God is kind and merciful, even to those who do not appreciate it and those who are sinful. We should also be kind and merciful if we are His children and followers. We should forgive quickly and avoid judging or condemning people. We should think well of others, speak positively about them, and treat them as the children of God that they indeed are.

Jesus tells us what we should do in life and why we should do it: We are made in God's image, and God is love; His nature focuses on giving to others. The more we grow our ability to love—true, selfless love—the closer we become to what God wants us to be.

Mother Teresa exemplified the importance of treating others as God treats us. While she was in Australia with her community of sisters, who were working with the Aborigines, she encountered an elderly man living in complete isolation, neglected by everyone around him. His home was disordered and dirty.

She approached him and said, "Please let me clean your house, wash your clothes, and make your bed." He replied, "I'm okay like this. Let it be." She insisted, "You will feel even better if you allow me to help." Eventually, he agreed, and she was able to tidy his home and wash his clothes.

While cleaning, she discovered a beautiful lamp covered in dust, which clearly hadn't been used in years. She asked him, "Don't you light that lamp? Don't you ever use it?" He replied, "No, there's no need. No one comes to see me. Who would I light it for?" 

Mother Teresa then inquired, "Would you light it every night if the sisters came to visit?" He responded eagerly, "Of course!" 

From that day on, the sisters committed themselves to visiting him every evening. After Mother Teresa left Australia, two years went by, and she completely forgot about the man. Then, she received a message from him: "Tell my friend that the light she lit in my life continues to shine."

This story illustrates what it means to be a true Christian: to give, to forgive, to bless, to stop judging, condemning, and complaining, and to start lighting lamps. In other words, it means to be like Christ, who is the Light of the World. It is this spirit of giving that brings happiness not only to our lives but also to the world.

Homily for the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

Today's Feast of the Chair of St. Peter does not refer to a piece of furniture but instead recognizes the authority that Jesus bestowed upon St. Peter and his successors. This authority is not St. Peter's own; rather, it is the authority of Christ. The Chair, also known as the Cathedra, symbolizes that authority. The term "Cathedral," which refers to the seat of authority in any diocese, is derived from this concept.

Jesus’ authority was never used for His own purposes but to carry out the will of His Father in heaven. He used His authority to heal the sick, comfort the brokenhearted, and give hope to the oppressed. Similarly, the authority given to St. Peter is less about power and more about responsibility—a responsibility grounded in faith, love, and compassion.

This idea is also reflected in Bernini's sculpture of the Chair of St. Peter, which is located under the dome of the Basilica in Rome. The inscription on it reads, "O Pastor Ecclesiae, tu omnes Christi pascis agnos et oves," meaning, "O pastor of the Church, you feed all of Christ's lambs and sheep."

On this special day, let us pray for our Holy Father and his health, that the Holy Spirit may always guide him as he continues to serve as the Vicar of Christ on earth. May his work, prayer, and life exemplify how to use the gifts we have received to spread God's love and grace to everyone we encounter.