DAILY HOMILIES

Just as the people looked up at the serpent for healing, so also we look up at the Cross of Jesus for healing.

The Centurion wanted Jesus to simply utter a word. He knew that distance was not a barrier. Indeed, the centurion knew that Jesus is the commander in charge of the universe.

When we read in Jeremiah 29:11 that God has plans for us, we must bear in mind that part of that plan is that at some point, we would undergo some amount of suffering.

If we truly examine ourselves, we would arrive at the ugly truth – that we are not as good as think we are – that we are not different from the rest of men – that if given the same opportunities and circumstances, we would even do worse.

It is funny how we expect from others the very things we do not have. It is funny how we crucify others and ridicule them publicly for crimes that we do in secret.

What makes a Christian different from any other human being on earth? Jesus Christ says: ‘Love your enemies.’ You are not better than any sinner if you only love those who love you.

Mary is not a goddess, she is a woman whose life serves as an inspiration for anyone who wants to follow God. She is a human example of what it means to be a Christian. Say ‘Yes’ to God. Let God have His way in your life and generations to come will honour you.

For Jesus to have chosen these very persons after an all-night consultation shows that God’s ways are not our ways. In truth, even the “foolishness” of God is wiser than the highest human wisdom.

Hatred is deadly. The feeling of hatred makes you blind to the good in others. Hatred makes you criticize everything in everybody. Hatred takes away your happiness. The scribes and Pharisees could not rejoice at the healing of the man with a withered hand instead they started plotting to kill Jesus. Hatred literally turns us into little devils.

Each time we attend the Sacraments, do we hear Jesus asking us the question he asked the two blind men who were following him in Matthew 9:27-30; “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

Let us examine ourselves today by asking: Am I really worshiping God from my heart or am I only concerned about what others would say about me? Repentance is the key.

Christians who think that Jesus is less than God are confused, they are like new wine inside old wineskins. As Jesus put it: “no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.” (Luke 5:37)