St. Thomas the Apostle Parish

Homily for the Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul

As we just heard, Jesus sent His Apostles on a mission, and He told them to travel light. He wanted them to trust the hospitality of those to whom they would preach the Gospel. Instead of being self-reliant, He wanted them to rely on others and trust in the LORD, who would actively help them through the service of others.

Most of us like to be self-sufficient; we must be to some extent. But we are only partially self-sufficient. In our early lives, we depended on our parents and others; when we move toward the end of our lives, we will again need others to care for us. Between these two periods of total dependence, we still depend on others for things we do not have within ourselves, and others rely on us for what they do not have. So, we are interdependent.

The LORD wants us to welcome others' generous service and offer what we have. Each of us has much to give and much to receive. The LORD, who uses us to serve others, also wants us to avail of others' help and to recognize the presence and work of the LORD in this mutual reliance upon one another.

Homily for Tuesday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time

Responding to those informing Him that family members were looking for Him, Jesus said that His real family "are those who hear the Word of God and act on it." Jesus wants to relate to us as His family. He calls us His brothers and sisters and wants us to belong to His spiritual family. The way to become His family is straightforward: we need to hear the Word of God and put it into practice in our everyday lives.

Throughout His life and ministry, Jesus focused on the Word of God and the will of God. He heard that Word so thoroughly that it shaped everything He said and did. John's Gospel even calls Jesus the Word made flesh. (John 1:14)

As Christians, we are called to hear God's Word and act on it in everything we say and do. Like the seed that fell on rich soil, we must take the Word to our deepest selves and yield an abundant harvest. (Matthew 13:18) If we listen to God's Word and let it shape us and our lives, then we are brothers and sisters to Jesus, our LORD. +

Homily for Monday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus' words in today's Gospel passage are a continuation of the theme of receiving and responding to the Word of God as described in His Parable of the Sower that we heard in this past Saturday's Gospel.

Those who hear the Word well, like the seed planted in rich soil, must respond in a manner that their hearing becomes fruitful and is spread to others.

In today's Gospel, Jesus uses the metaphor of light; those who hear the Word are called to act on it and become a light to others, sharing it in speech and action so that they, too, may be enlightened and thus open themselves to transformation.

To those who hear and respond to the Word well, even more graces will be given. Those who ignore the Word have much to lose.

We pray for receptive minds and hearts so that God's Word may permeate our entire being, and we pray that our response will bring others closer to God.

Homily for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The lives of the saints stand out because they are radiant reflections of God's unimaginable generosity. Like the landowner in the parable, like our Lord, they give without calculating the cost. They reflect God's goodness in their words and deeds because they are constantly filled with that same goodness.

St. Teresa of Calcutta was a great example of this. When she would visit the Missionaries of Charity convents she founded, she would rise early on the last day of her visit and clean all the bathrooms before the rest of the sisters woke up.

Fr. Sebastian Vazhakala, a priest connected to the Missionaries of Charity, describes how he learned Christian generosity from her. He said that one day, he was working at the home for the dying in Kalighat, Calcutta. An ambulance brought in a man whom Fr. Sebastian recognized immediately; he had been to the home several times. He told Mother Teresa there was no reason to take him in again, as he would leave as soon he felt better. He said the man wasn't dying and was taking advantage of their generosity.

Mother Teresa looked at him and said, "Does this man need your help now or not? It does not matter that he was here yesterday or not, or that he is going to come back again tomorrow. We do not have yesterday anymore, nor do we have tomorrow yet; all that we have is today to love God and serve the poor."[1]

That's just a tiny peek at the generosity that constantly abounds from God's heart towards all of us. God's generosity is incredible. However, one of its most amazing expressions is often missed:

The landowner in today's parable gave the workers real work to perform in his vineyard, even if the pay far outweighed the exact amount of work each did.

Jesus does the same thing with us. He lets us make a real contribution to our eternal joy and that of others by loving him, serving others, and building up the Body of Christ on earth. In Jesus, our words, actions, and attitudes toward others have meaning. We are members of his Mystical Body; we are his hands, feet, eyes, and mouth.

In serving others, especially those most in need, we serve Christ and store an eternal treasure in heaven. When we remain faithful to Jesus' teachings even under pressure, humiliation, and the threat of persecution, we glorify God and add to our reward in heaven.

When we help others come closer to Jesus through our words, example, and prayer, we expand the everlasting joys of heaven for them and us. This is the privilege Jesus has generously given us by making us his fellow workers in God's Kingdom.

May we be grateful for this gift and responsibility, and may we seek to fulfill this calling each and every day of our lives.

 

[1] Vazhakala, Sebastian, Life With Mother Teresa: My Thirty-year Friendship With The Mother Of The Poor, Servant Books, 2004.

 

Homily for the Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio)

The Parable of the Sower challenges us to comprehend the ways of God and human nature and urges us to look deep into ourselves to know how we must live to grow closer to God and His kingdom. The Parable of the Sower invites us to ask ourselves what soil we are like.

Some would say that we are like all of them. Perhaps there are different areas of our lives where we have opened ourselves to the movement and grace of God more than in other areas.

Let us pray that we may open our minds, hearts, and souls to become like that fertile soil where the seed of God’s grace may take root and thrive and produce great fruit in our lives and in the life of heaven.

Homily for Friday of the 24th Week in Ordinary Time

During His ministry, Jesus made it clear that He came not to be served but to serve. While He lived on earth as both God and human, He still needed the help of others to accomplish His mission; He wanted people to be a part of the mission.

In today’s Gospel, St. Luke tells us that as Jesus made His way preaching throughout many towns and villages, some women provided for Him from their own resources. Their service to Him enabled Him to serve others.

If Jesus needed the help of others to complete His mission, then we also need such help. As Christians, we are called to serve others and accept the service of others because we need their help; we cannot answer God’s call simply by using our own resources.

Serving others calls for a spirit of benevolence and humility, wanting to do for others while recognizing our need for interdependence. St. Paul taught us that we are all interdependent within the Church, the Body of Christ on earth. The Spirit is at work in all our lives in many ways. We need others, and others need us. We all have something worthwhile to give and something worthwhile to receive.

Let us recognize our need for, and be grateful for, those who journey with us and help us through life.

Homily for the Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist

In Jesus' day, tax collectors were not popular people, as many of them at the time were presumed to be horrible sinners. Such was Matthew's situation when he encountered Jesus. 

As did other sinners, Matthew followed Jesus and ate with Him. The Pharisees objected to this because it disobeyed their laws about ritual purity.

In His response to them, Jesus recalled the prophet Hosea when He said, "Go and learn the meaning of the words, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'" Jesus was referring to the acts of Temple sacrifice. If mercy is above these sacrifices, how much more is it above the laws of ritual purity?

The Pharisees knew Scripture and the law quite well; they saw fidelity to these strict laws in every aspect of life as doing God's will. But Jesus put mercy and love above these laws and traditions.

St. Paul confirmed this saying, "If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind." (1 Corinthians 13:1-4a)

Mercy finds its source in love, not righteousness. Mercy is the voice of God's love for us and His wish that we have life in full measure on earth and in the kingdom to come. Exclusion and denigration of sinners – of those whom Jesus came to save – is not a response that reflects mercy.

Recall the words of Pope Francis: “None of us should look down at others from above. The only time we can look at a person in this way is when we are helping them to stand up."

As we seek to answer the call to spread the Good News, let us pray that the mercy and love of God may be the source of all our actions, words, and attitudes toward and on behalf of the people we are called to serve.

Homily for the Memorial of Saints Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, and their Companions

Today's memorial of Saints Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, and their Companions commemorates 103 courageous Korean Christian martyrs canonized in 1984 by Pope John Paul II. Among them were Andrew, a 25-year-old priest, Paul, a 44-year-old seminarian, young adult sisters Columba and Agnes Kim, and Peter Ryau, a 13-year-old boy. In all, about 10,000 Korean Catholics were martyred before Korea allowed religious freedom. Today, in Korea, there are about 6 million Catholics, and that number is growing.

In 1592, during Japan's invasion, a few Koreans were baptized. Soon, Korea stopped relations with other nations. Toward the end of the 18th century, some Confucian scholars read books on Christ brought from China and converted to Christianity.

A few years later, a Chinese priest secretly traveled to Korea and discovered that there were 4,000 Catholics there, and they had never seen a priest. Between 1839 and 1867, there were violent persecutions, with the martyrdom of at least 3 bishops and 7 priests.

Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn was the first native Korean priest. His parents had converted to Christianity, and his father, a farmer, was martyred as well. Andrew was baptized when he was 15. He studied at the seminary in Macao, China. Six years later, back in Korea, he began secretly bringing missionaries into the country. Very soon afterward, he was arrested, tortured, and beheaded.

In a letter to his fellow Christians, Andrew stated, "We have received baptism, entrance into the Church, and the honor of being called Christians. Yet what good will this do us if we are Christians in name only and not in fact?"

By their example and intercession, may the martyrs guide us through the challenges we encounter in the living out of our faith.

 

Homily for Tuesday of the 24th Week in Ordinary Time

In today's Gospel reading, we heard about a widow mourning the death of her only son. In that time and place, a widow would have no way to provide for herself; she would have to rely on her son. In this case, her only son had died. So, she may have been mourning for her son and the life of poverty and deprivation she saw as her future. 

So, Jesus' bringing her son back from the dead was not only a miracle of life after death. It was another example of Jesus' compassion for the poor, the suffering, and those who mourn. A compassion that many find lacking in our world today.

As followers of Jesus, we are called to be His comforting presence to those in need. Through our words, actions, and attitudes, those suffering in any way, can experience the compassionate presence of Christ. May we always be open to God's presence within us so He can work through us whenever He needs to use us as His instruments.

Homily for Monday of the 24th Week in Ordinary Time

In today's Gospel passage, the people knew they should be thoughtful of one another. Since the centurion had built the synagogue at Capernaum, the Jewish people told Jesus to perform the miracle of curing the centurion's servant. They were saying that, in a sense, He owed it to him. Likewise, as Jesus attained redemption for us by offering His life on the Cross, we owe kindness and compassion to those he loves and redeems.

The story about the centurion also shows the humility of both Jesus and the centurion. By his authority, the centurion could do whatever he desired. However, he realized that Jesus was holier and closer to God than he was; he saw himself as subordinate to Jesus, and rather than summoning Jesus and, seeing himself as unfit to approach Jesus, sent messengers to Him with his request; he did not want Jesus to go out of His way for him.

Jesus saw the faith and humility of the centurion and recognized his closeness to God. So, while there was no obligation, Jesus cured the centurion's servant.

Humility is at the core of faith, and faith is the foundation of all other virtues.