Homily for Monday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time (Year C - 11/3/2025)

Good morning. One of the things that I struggled with growing up was my mom’s idea of “you scratch my back, I scratch your back.” For example, when we first moved to Houston in 1990, my aunt and her family let us stay with them at their house until my parents were able to buy and fix up our house. For many years after that, she would often remind us of this when she wanted us to do something for my aunt or her family. In other words, it is our turn to “scratch their backs” because they “scratched our back” when our family needed help.

You see, in my own mind, I believed that my aunt helped our family out of the goodness of her heart and because we were family, not because she was expecting anything back in return from us. I believe that is the message that our Lord Jesus Christ is teaching us in today’s Gospel when he said to the Pharisee: “When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, [and here is the key] in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.” What does Jesus tell us to do instead: “Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

This was how Saint Martin de Porres lived his life in service of God and his people. From Franciscan Media: “When Martin de Porres was 12, his mother apprenticed him to a barber-surgeon. Martin learned how to cut hair and also how to draw blood - a standard medical treatment then - care for wounds, and prepare and administer medicines. . . After a few years in this medical apostolate, Martin de Porres applied to the Dominicans to be a “lay helper,” not feeling himself worthy to be a religious brother. After nine years, the example of his prayer and penance, charity and humility, led the community to request him to make full religious profession. Many of his nights were spent in prayer and penitential practices; his days were filled with nursing the sick and caring for the poor. It was particularly impressive that he treated all people regardless of their color, race, or status. He was instrumental in founding an orphanage, took care of slaves brought from Africa, and managed the daily alms of the priory with practicality, as well as generosity.”

My sisters and brothers in Christ, we are stewards of everything that we have - our time, talent, and treasure, including our very lives. We can never repay God’s generosity, yet our Lord and our God, who is loving and merciful, continuously pours out abundant blessings upon us without expecting anything in return, except for us to be in a relationship with Him. Let us take to heart Jesus’ lessons in “humility and charitable generosity. . . seek neither honor nor reward” for our reward will be at the “resurrection of the righteous” in the kingdom of heaven.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110325.cfm

Homily for Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time (Year C - 10/27/2025)

Good morning. At the start of Jesus’ public ministry, he “came to Nazareth. . . into the synagogue on the sabbath day. . . He unrolled the scroll [of the prophet Isaiah] and found the passage where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He sent me 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.’ Rolling up the scroll he handed it back to the attendant and sat down and. . . said to them, ‘Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing’” (Luke 4:16-21).

This brings us to today’s Gospel and Jesus’ healing of the woman who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. Jesus keeps his promises. He “proclaimed liberty to captives” and “let the oppressed go free” when he said to her: “Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.” You see, she was so burdened by a spirit speaking lies to her for eighteen years that she “was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.” How many times in our lives have we been burdened by the lies of the Evil One, the Prince of Lies and Deception, that we are not able to see ourselves with the dignity of being a beloved sons and daughters of our Father in heaven, of God who created us in his loving image and after his likeness?

This is not God’s loving plan for us as Saint Paul tells us in today’s first reading: “. . .you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’” For God so loved us that He sent his only Begotten Son (John 3:16) to “proclaim liberty” to us who are held captive by temptations and oppressed by sin and let us go free. Jesus comes to us in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in his Presence in the Eucharist, and sends his Spirit to us to bear witness to us that “we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs of Christ.”

That is our dignity as a Christian, as a follower of Christ, as beloved sons and daughters of our Father in heaven. This dignity gives our suffering meaning because if “we suffer with [Christ]. . . we may also be glorified with him,” and be able to “at once [stand] up straight and [glorify] God” by our lives, just like the woman did after Jesus freed her. As so, my sisters and brothers in Christ, when we receive our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, in a few moments from now, let us ask our Lord and our God to set us free of our “infirmity” so that we no longer bent over but “stand up straight,” glorying the Lord by our lives.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102725.cfm

Homily for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C - 10/26/2025)

A few years ago, at a General Audience, Pope Francis encouraged busy Catholics to say the “Jesus Prayer” throughout the day. This prayer of the heart is repeated with faith, saying: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” As you may have noticed, the “words of the Jesus Prayer are themselves based on Scriptural texts, one verse of which we just heard proclaimed in today’s Gospel: “the cry for mercy of the [tax collector, 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner']” (Luke 18:14).

It is suggested that “[we] can work on saying this prayer with each breath: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,” as we breathe in, “have mercy on me, a sinner,” as we breathe out.  We can say this aloud, silently with the words on our lips, or silently in our hearts. . . [concentrating] on Jesus, forgetting all else, both joys and sorrows” (The Jesus Prayer, 10/24/2025). The “Jesus Prayer” is a daily reminder for us to “[rejoice] always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will for God for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). 

This prayer of the heart is also a reminder that we are sinners in need of a savior: “God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love he had for us, even when were were dead in our transgressions [and sins], brought us to life with Christ, raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:1,4-6). And, as we heard in today’s second reading from Saint Paul to Timothy: “the Lord stood by me and gave me strength. . . And I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

When we repeat the “Jesus Prayer” with faith, it gives us hope because we know in our hearts that the “Lord is not deaf to the wail of the orphan, nor to the widow when she pours out her complaint. The one who serves God willingly is heard; his petition reaches the heavens,” precisely because God is merciful and calls us into a relationship with Him. Our Catholic faith is an encounter with God who not only died on the Cross for our salvation but is present with us here and now in the Eucharist because He loves us. That is our story! It is a story that we must share with others so they too can encounter love and have hope of eternal life because, when we walk together in faith and shine forth the light of Christ, we bring hope to others.

I am a convert to the Catholic faith and, since my Ordination to the Permanent Diaconate, my wife and I have been preparing young couples for the Sacrament of Marriage. I share my conversion story in our CALLED TO BE ONE Marriage Class. Recently, one of the young men that we prepared for marriage shared this good news with me: “Hi Deacon! Earlier this year, on Easter, I was baptized into the Church after finishing OCIA. Your conversion story has always stuck with me and served as an inspiration. Has brought wonderful joy and peace into my life that I’m eternally grateful for” (E.H., 10/21/2025).

My sisters and brothers in Christ, if the story of my life in Christ can touch the life of this young man, just imagine what we can do together through the Catholic Services Appeal? Imagine how many children we can help to grow in their love for God through their Catholic education? Imagine how many young men we can help to answer God’s call to them to become priests of our Lord Jesus Christ? Imagine how many young men and women we can help to become devoted and faithful consecrated, religious sisters and brothers for Holy Mother Church? “Together we bring hope.” It starts with our families and, through our participation in this year’s Catholic Services Appeal, we can bring hope to our parish community and beyond and “set the world of fire” (Saint Catherine of Siena) with God’s love. Remember this as you listen to Father speak and discern how God is calling you to participate in the Catholic Services Appeal.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102625.cfm

Click to listen: https://phucphan.podbean.com/e/homily-for-the-thirtieth-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-c-10262025/

Deacons Retreat (October 17-19, 2025)

I look forward to my annual deacon retreat every October at Cedarbrake Catholic Retreat Center. The facilities are topnotch and the meals are superb.

It was wonderful to pray Morning and Evening Prayers, attend Mass in the beautiful Adoration Chapel, and spend a Holy Hour in Adoration of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.

We also had a lot of time to rest and relax from our toil. I explored the grounds of the retreat center while praying the mysteries of the Holy Rosary. After all, October is the month dedicated to the Holy Rosary.

Thank you, Dcn. Barry, for another great retreat and, especially, for our wonderful speaker - Dr. Roland Millare, from the St. John Paul II Foundation. It was a beautiful message on the Eucharist and our marriage and diakonia.

Previous reflections:

Deacon Retreat 2022 (Part 1)

Deacon Retreat 2022 (Part 2)

Deacon Retreat 2022 (Part 3)

Reflecting on the Deacons Retreat (Oct. 20-22, 2023)

Faith, the Path that Leads to Jesus Christ

Deacons Retreat (October 17-19, 2025)

Homily for Monday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time (Year C - 10/20/2025)

Good morning. We plan for many things in our lives - college and post-graduate education, careers, businesses, and even marriage and family. These are all good things but, as Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel, even more important than all these is for us to be “rich in what matters to God.” And what is it that matters to God? Saint Paul gives us the answer to this question in his First Letter to the Corinthians when he wrote these words: “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (2:2).

Pope Leo XIV, in his recent General Audience, said that Jesus is “the destination of our journey. Without his love, the voyage of life would become wandering without a goal, a tragic mistake with a missed destination. We are fragile creatures. Mistakes are part of our humanity; it is the wound of sin that makes us fall, give up, despair. To rise again instead means to get up and stand on our feet. The Risen One guarantees our arrival, leading us home, where we are awaited, loved, saved.” The Holy Father’s words echo those of Saint Paul, in today’s first reading, when he wrote to the Romans, saying: “Abraham did not doubt God's promise in unbelief; rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God and was fully convinced that what God had promised he was also able to do.” Our relationship with God, our trust in His promises in our Lord Jesus Christ, and our desire to follow His will for our lives with the grace of the Holy Spirit, these are ways in which we become “rich in what matters to God,”

Saint Paul of the Cross, whose memorial we celebrate today, is an example for us to follow. “After much waiting and prayer, Paul discerned his vocation: God was calling him to start a new religious order dedicated to Jesus’ passion. He spent 6 more years studying for the priesthood as preparation, during which time he still had doubts. He wrote in one of his letters: ‘I experienced interior desolation, depression, and doubts. It seemed to me that I would never be able to persevere in my vocation. . . Everyone seemed happy except me.’ Despite his doubts, Paul persevered and kept his faith” (Dynamic Catholic). “God called him to form a group of men dedicated to preaching parish missions. These men, called Passionists, would preach the mystery of Christ crucified—the mystery of the Father’s love—in hopes that Christians would turn from their sins and rededicate their lives to Christ” (Loyola Press). “Paul of the Cross died in 1775, and was canonized in 1867” (Franciscan Media).

Like Saint Paul of the Cross, Jesus calls us to live our lives in a way that we “store up treasures in heaven. . . For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Matthew 6:20-21). And so, my sisters and brothers in Christ, let us go forth from Mass, having received our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, and be strengthened to be “rich is what matters to God” and, in doing so, glorify God by our lives.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102025.cfm

Homily for Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time (Year C - 10/13/2025)

Good morning. The Catechism states that “‘by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence, they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed” (1285). In other words, when we were anointed with the Sacred Chrism at Confirmation, we received the “grace of apostleship: and were “set apart for the Gospel of God” to boldly proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world by “word and deed.”

We are called to “belong to Jesus Christ” and “to be holy” in the “obedience of faith.” Jesus tells us to “be holy because I [am] holy” (1 Peter 1: 16). So how do we grow in holiness in life? Saint Peter instructs to be “like obedient children” by not acting with the “desires of your former ignorance but, as [Jesus] who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct” (1:14-15). Moreover, in the Vatican II document, titled “Lumen Gentium,” the Church fathers wrote on this universal call to holiness in the Church, saying: “In order that the faithful may reach this perfection, they must use their strength accordingly as they have received it, as a gift from Christ” (40). In other words, we are called to discern how God is calling us to use the gift of our time, talent, and treasure that He has given us to fulfill the great commandment to love God and love our neighbor.

In the same way that Jonah was a sign to the Ninevite and Jesus was a sign to God’s people during his time on earth, Christ continues to be a sign for our generation and beyond. Therefore, as the Vatican II fathers instruct us: “they must follow in His footsteps and conform themselves to His image seeking the will of the Father in all things. They must devote themselves with all their being to the glory of God and the service of their neighbor. In this way, the holiness of the People of God will grow into an abundant harvest of good, as is admirably shown by the life of so many saints in Church history” (40). Not only do we look at Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as signs of holiness to strive for in our own lives, we also have the saints to model our lives after to grow in holiness.

And so, my sisters and brothers in Christ, let us “follow the poor Christ, the humble and cross-bearing Christ in order to be worthy of being sharers in His glory. Every person must walk unhesitatingly according to his own personal gifts and duties in the path of living faith, which arouses hope and works through charity.” (40). Therefore, let us receive our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the Eucharist worthily and go in peace from Mass, glorifying the Lord by our lives, so that we can return to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and receive the Lord worthily in the Eucharist. Amen.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101325.cfm

Homily for Eric & Catherine's Wedding (10/11/2025)

Good afternoon and welcome! It is a joyous occasion for all of us today as we come together to witness Eric and Catherine stand before our Lord Jesus Christ, in the midst of his Church, and enter into a covenant of  love with God and each other, receive the graces that flow from the Sacrament of Marriage, and embark on a lifelong journey as husband and wife, guided by the Holy Spirit. As Jesus tells us in the Gospel passage, Eric and Catherine “are no longer two but one flesh.”

Eric and Catherine, Christ speaks these words of encouragement to you both, saying: “what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” At this moment, I invite you both to turn around and look at your family and friends, in particular your parents and sponsors. Let their witness of marital love inspire you to be the best version of yourselves for each other. Family and friends, thank you for your care and kindness toward Eric & Catherine. I ask you all to always speak words of encouragement to this beautiful couple and to always let your actions toward them be ones of loving support.

More importantly, Eric and Catherine, God joins you together today, you must not separate. Marriage is a sacrament of service because, as husband and wife, you are called to love each other by serving one another selflessly and sacrificially, to will the good for one another, to wake up every morning committing yourselves to your marriage and family come what may. Some days will be more challenging than others, no doubt about it. However, God permits you to experience not only the joys of married and family life but also go through the challenges of marriage to expand the capacity of your hearts to love each other even more. In those challenging times, I encourage you to hold each other close to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary and know in your hearts that God is always close to you, cheering you on in your marriage. Remember also that precious moment on your wedding day when you held each other’s hands, looked into each other’s eyes, and exchanged your vows of love and fidelity for one another.

Eric and Catherine, in a few moments from now, you will exchange wedding rings that symbolize the endless love that you have for each other in the unbreakable bond of marriage. Every time you look at your wedding ring, as I do every day, hold on to this truth in your hearts. Eric, know that you are a worthy husband and you found in Catherine a worthy wife whose “value is far beyond pearls.” Same with you, Catherine, every time you look at your wedding ring, know that you are a worthy wife and you found in Eric a worthy husband whose “value is far beyond pearls.” Entrust your hearts to each other. Above all, entrust your hearts to God and you will come to realize that you both are worthy husband and wife for each other precisely because of your fear of the Lord.

In marriage class, I challenge you both to go to Mass together and to pray together and pray for each other. I am proud of you because you are doing all these things on your wedding day. Keep it up in your married life together because, when you keep our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at the center of your marriage, he will help you to be “one flesh.” God will teach you to be patient and kind with each other. He will help you not be jealous nor pompous, not be inflated nor rude, not to seek your own interests nor be quick-tempered, not to brood over injury nor rejoice over wrongdoing, but rejoice in the truth of His love for you and your love for Him and for each other. God will help you bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things in your marriage. God will never fail you and, if you cooperate with Him, as I know in my heart that you both will, He will never let you fail each other. Amen.