Deacon Sunday - Homily for the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A - 10/11/2026)

Over the past seven years serving as a Catholic deacon, I have presided at many funeral vigils for deceased loved ones from our parish. One of the readings that is an option for the funeral rite truly embodies what eternal life will be like for all of us. At the Last Supper, Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where [I] am going you know the way” (John 14:1-4). Jesus’ words give us hope that what we believe in faith will be fulfilled in the presence of God for all eternity.

Similarly, today’s readings give us a  glimpse of the beatific vision that awaits us at the heavenly banquet of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let us allow these words from the Prophet Isaiah to permeate every fiber of our being: “. . .the Lord of hosts will provide for all people a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.” As well as these words from Jesus’ parable: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready. . .” The King invites all of us to “come to the feast!” This is the wedding feast that the angel revealed to John, saying: “Alleluia! The Lord has established his reign, [our] God, the almighty. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory. For the wedding day of the Lamb has come. . . Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb. . . These words are true; they come from God” (Revelations 19:6-7, 9).

The Good News of Jesus Christ is that we experience the heavenly banquet in this life every time we participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Jesus promises to be with us “always, until the end of the age”; and he keeps this promise to us in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is Jesus’ Body given for us and his Blood shed for us (Luke 22:19-20). This is the heavenly feast that the Prophet Isaiah wrote about and that Jesus talked about in his parable. It is the heavenly feast that the King of kings and the Lord of lords has prepared for us at every Mass. So why then do many professed Catholics, many of whom are our family members or someone we know, choose not to come to the Eucharistic celebration, just like those invited guests in today’s Gospel parable, who ignore the invitation or even flat-out refuse to come to the king’s “wedding feast for his son”?

Whatever their reasons may be for choosing the temporal things of this world over the things of God that are eternal, perhaps we can share with them these effects on their souls when they come to Mass. For us who participate in Mass regularly, we know and have experienced the graces that flow from the Mass. When we come to Mass, the “Lord God [wipes] away the tears from every face; the reproach of his people he will remove from the whole earth. . .” At the Mass, we encounter our Lord and our God “to whom we looked to save us!” and we praise him above all because “[this] is the Lord for whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!” Moreover, the Eucharist is the “source and summit” of our Christian life and when we receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Christ at Holy Communion, God nourishes us and “fully [supplies] us whatever we need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” He then sends us forth into mission territory to “go in peace, glorifying the Lord by our lives.” We go forth from the Mass filled with purpose and courage because we know that we “can do all things in him who strengthens [us].”

Pope Leo XIV recently shared this beautiful message: "There exists a martyrdom of those who offer their lives in a single moment, and the more hidden martyrdom of those who give their lives day after day. This is exactly what all Christians are called to do: to give our lives with love, every day. Our age needs men and women who have the courage to do good even when it comes at a cost. Draw close to those who are alone, support those who are weary, and seek out those who have drifted away. Have the courage to forgive, to begin again, and to engage in dialogue. Doing good does not always receive recognition and often requires effort, but this is the daily courage of charity. Friendship with Jesus Christ gives us the strength to live this way."

The “hidden martyrdom” that Pope Leo XIV wrote about could describe the life of a priest, who dedicates his life to serving the people of God, or the life of a husband and his wife, who sacrifice every moment of every day for their marriage and family. As a deacon and with it being Deacon Sunday today, I want to share with you the “hidden martyrdom” of a permanent deacon. A deacon stands at the threshold of the secular world and the Church, the clergy and the laity, a professional career and the diaconate ministry. He gives his life with love every day for his spouse, family, and the people of God, whom he is called to serve, even when it comes at a cost. A deacon draws close to those who are alone, supports those who are weary, and seeks out those who have drifted away. Through his own friendship with Jesus Christ, the deacon finds the daily courage of charity to forgive, to begin again, and to engage in dialogue.

As a deacon, I get to be a part of so many blessed moments in the sacramental life of God's people. I prepare young couples for marriage and parents and godparents for the Baptism of their children and godchildren. I get to celebrate the Baptism of children and welcome them as beloved sons and daughters of the Father and members of the Catholic Church. I get to witness the marriages between a man and a woman, two lovers who exchange vows with each other before God and his Church. I have the tremendous privilege of being present with families in their pain and suffering, to be an instrument of God's love and mercy to them and their families when they look to the Church in faith for hope and to feel God's loving closeness.

The truth of the matter is, like with vocations to the priesthood and religious / consecrated life, “[many] are invited, but few are chosen.” However, and I want to say this to all the men sitting in the pews, whether you are living a chaste life as a single man or you are married to your beautiful bride and have children, do not let the fear of not being chosen stop you from accepting the invitation from the Lord to discern if he is calling you to serve the Catholic Church as a priest, deacon, or religious brother.  If I had allowed fear to grip me, then I would not have said “yes” to God when He called me to come home to Rome almost twenty (20) years ago. If I had allowed fear to overcome me, then I would not have said “yes” to God’s call to me to discern the diaconate almost thirteen (13) years ago. If fear of not being ordained a deacon after years of diaconal formation consumed me, then I would have discerned myself out of formation many times. Rather than be afraid, I trust God and continue to entrust my diakonia to His providential love, and my trust in God frees me to say “yes” to his invitation to come to his wedding feast and serve Him and His people as a deacon of Jesus Christ.

I encourage you all to do the same, to trust God and have the courage to accept His invitation and come to the heavenly banquet. God calls us to various vocations in life, each unique to the gifts that we received from the Holy Spirit through the Sacraments of the Catholic Church. God invites all of us to his heavenly banquet, here on earth at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and at the wedding feast of the Lamb for all eternity in the loving presence of our Father in heaven. Let us pray for the courage to accept the Lord’s invitation every time. [And, last of all, to all wives, if you feel that God is calling your husband to become a deacon, then pray for him, pray with him, and encourage him to come talk with me or any of the deacons.]

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101126.cfm

My vocation story:

My Vocation Story (Part 1) - St. Brendan

My Vocation Story (Part 2) - Call to Conversion

My Vocation Story (Part 3) - Growing in Faith

My Vocation Story (Part 4) - Call to the Diaconate (UPDATED: 11/11/2025)

My Vocation Story (Part 5) - Servant of the Suffering Servant born of a Lowly Servant

Homily for Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time (Year A - 10/12/2026)

In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks to the crowd and calls them to repentance. Christ reminds them of what happened to Jonah and how the Ninevites responded to him.  God came to Jonah and told him to set out for the city of Nineveh and “preached against them; for their wickedness has come before” Him. However, Jonah disobeyed God and “made ready to flee to Tarshish, away from the Lord” (Jonah 1:1-3). As we all know, the “Lord sent a great fish to swallow Jonah, and he remained in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (2:1). It was during this time of distress in the belly of the fish that Jonah prayed to the Lord, his God. The Lord God heard Jonah’s cry for help and answered him (2:3). The “Lord commanded the fish to vomit Jonah upon dry land” (2:11).

Jonah repented for being disobedient to God and the Lord delivered him from the belly of the fish. After his repentance, God called him a second time: “Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you” (Jonah 3:1-2). This time, Jonah obeyed God and announced to the Ninevites: “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown” (3:4). Jonah had gone only a single day’s walk when “the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth. . .the king of Nineveh. . . rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes” (3:5-6). The Ninevites repented. “When God saw their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out” (3:10).

Jesus said to the crowd: “Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. . . at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.” In other words, Jonah prefigures Christ and calls us to repentance. Similarly, John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ and calls us to repentance. But there is something greater than Jonah and John the Baptist here - our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Christ came and preached repentance, saying: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17) and, again, “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:16-18).

Let us therefore listen to our Lord and God and repent and believe in the Gospel. “For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.”

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101226.cfm

Homily for Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time (Year A - 10/8/2026)

In yesterday’s Gospel, Jesus reveals to us the heart of the Father in the Lord’s Prayer (or the Our Father). In today’s Gospel, Christ encourages us to be persistent in our prayer life and to pray without ceasing. He promises that our prayers will be answered, saying: “I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Pope Francis once suggested that we reflect on our own prayer. The Holy Father had this to say: “How do we pray? Do we pray piously and calmly out of habit or do we place ourselves courageously before the Lord to ask for grace, to ask for what we are praying for?”. Our attitude is so important, he explained, for “prayer that is not courageous is not real prayer”. When we pray, we need “the courage to trust that the Lord is listening to us, we need the courage to knock at the door. . . The Lord himself says: ‘everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened’”. Pope Francis asked: “Do we get involved in prayer? Do we know how to knock at the door of God's heart When we pray courageously the Lord not only gives us grace; he gives us his very self. . .”

I want to share a personal story. Before I became Catholic, I struck a bargain with God. At the time, someone dear to me was very ill. I told God that if He healed this person, then I would dedicate my life to serving Him. I prayed every day for weeks. God answered my prayers and brought healing to this person. I started R.C.I.A. that fall and came into full Communion with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil that following spring. At the time, for someone who was not Catholic, what I did, bargaining with God, was in a way superstitious (and, perhaps, even a heresy). I did not know any better then; however, God used my persistence in prayer to guide me home to Rome. Jesus used my persistence in prayer as a means for me to encounter the Father’s love and mercy. I realized that I could turn to God in prayer and, more importantly, trust him unconditionally to entrust to Him all of my burdens, knowing that He will answer my prayers, according to His divine will.

My sisters and brothers in Christ, the most important effect of prayer is a close, intimate relationship with God who loves us and wants to be at the center of our lives, not for His sake but for our sake. Prayer helps us to grow in the virtues of faith, hope, and love. I want to share this reflection, by Father James Swanson, LC, that I read recently. He wrote: “One reason why God has arranged things this way is because if our needs were automatically provided for, a great number of us would not even realize there is a God, or we would easily forget him. . . When we ask God to provide for our needs, we implicitly recognize his existence and authority in our lives. God wants us to do this. It is in asking that our faith grows. The more I ask, the more I come into a personal relationship with God. If I never had to turn to him for my needs, I would never realize how much he wants to be a part of my life. . . Don’t be afraid to ask. Develop your faith by doing so. Certainly God is generous and loving, willing to give us everything that is good for us; but he is still God, and he deserves our respect, adoration, and especially our gratitude” (October 8, 2015).

And so, let us listen to Saint Paul who tells us to “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100826.cfm

Homily for the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary (Year A - 10/7/2026)

Throughout the Gospels, we hear that Jesus often goes off to a quiet place and prays to his Father in heaven. In today’s Gospel, in response to one of the disciples asking Jesus to teach them how to pray, Christ reveals to them (and us) the heart of the Father with a prayer that perhaps he himself prays to his Father in heaven. It is the Lord’s Prayer (or the Our Father). The version of the Lord’s Prayer in the Gospel of Luke is much shorter than the one in the Gospel of Matthew. The latter is similar to the Lord’s Prayer that we pray at Mass and when we pray the Rosary.

In the Our Father Prayer, Jesus teaches us about the virtues of faith, hope, and love in a God who desires an intimate and personal relationship with each of us, his beloved sons and daughters. After all, our Catholic faith is not just theology and moral teachings, as important as those are. Our Catholic faith above all is a personal relationship, our relationship, with God who loves us because we are the “apple of his eyes.”.

“Father, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come. . .” teaches us to have faith in God in all the circumstances of our lives - the joys and the sufferings. It is faith in “Abba”, God the Father, who is always close to us and never abandons us because knows us, formed us in our mother’s womb, dedicated us in Baptism, and appointed us to be his disciples in the world. It is faith in Christ’s promises to send us an Advocate - the Holy Spirit - and to be with us until the “end of the age” in the Eucharist - his Body and Blood given up for us on the Cross. It is faith in the coming of the kingdom of heaven that Jesus and John the Baptist proclaimed, saying: “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” Jesus is Emmanuel - God with us - and his name means “God saves.”

“Give us each day our daily bread” teaches us to never lose hope because our hope is in God. Jesus is the reason for our hope (1 Peter 3:15). It is hope in God who cares for us because we are more important to him than the “birds in the sky” (Matthew 6:26). Hope compels us to share the Good News of Jesus Christ to others so that they, too, may have a reason for hope. It is hope that leads to peace, “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding [and] will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). Hope frees us to be at peace and gives us the strength and courage to follow Jesus’ commandment to love God and love our neighbor.

“[Forgive] us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us” reminds us that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3:16). It reminds us that “[it] was not [us] who chose [God], but {God] who chose [us] and appointed [us] to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever [we] ask the Father in [Jesus’] name he may give [us]. This I command you: love one another” (John 15:16-17). Finally, this line in the Lord’s Prayer reminds us to “[be] merciful, just as [also] your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). The virtue of love gives us the strength to be compassionate and find it in our hearts to forgive others and Jesus forgives us on the Cross: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

Finally, today is the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. When we pray the first three Hail Mary beads, after the Creed and the Our Father prayer, of the Holy Rosary, we are asking Mother Mary to intercede for us to her Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to increase in us the virtues of faith, hope, and love.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100726.cfm

Homily for Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time (Year A - 10/5/2026)

I had a "Come, Holy Spirit, Come" moment at Mass this morning. I serve and preach at Mass on Monday mornings at Saint Mary Cathedral and this morning was no different. However, because of several changes before Mass, my homily was left on the counter in the sacristy instead of on the shelf in the ambo.

After I proclaimed the Gospel and put away the lectionary, I went to grab by homily and realized that it was not there. I did not panic but said a quick prayer (I am pretty sure it was "Come, Holy Spirit, Come" or "Jesus, I trust in you") and gave a short homily off-the-cuff without any notes.

In my homily on parable of the Good Samaritan, I talked about God's compassion and mercy. That, like the parable of the shepherd who left the 99 sheep to go after the 1 sheep that was lost, God does not abandon us in our times of need, pain, and suffering, but He stops to help us, guide us, heal us, and lead us back to our Father in heaven.

I mentioned what a blessing it is for me as a deacon to share blessed moments in the sacramental life of God's people. Celebrating the Baptism of their children. Witnessing the marriages of their sons and daughters. But I also have the privilege of being present to them in their pain and suffering, to be an instrument of God's love and mercy to them and their families when they look to the Church in faith for hope and to feel God's loving closeness.

Finally, I reflected that as disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, by our Baptism, we are called to witness God's love and mercy to the world through our words but, most especially, in our actions. To live Jesus' commandments to love God and love our neighbor. In other words, to listen to Jesus when he tells us to “Go and do likewise,” to show others mercy and love.

Come, Holy Spirit, Come! Jesus, I trust in you.

. . .

Here is the homily that I prepared:

In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan that is truly about the Father’s loving and merciful compassion for His people. Today is also the Memorial of Saint Faustina Kowalska, Virgin, to whom Jesus revealed his mercy, saying: “I do not want to punish aching mankind but I desire to heal it, pressing it to my merciful heart.” The two rays emanating from Christ’s heart, she said, represent the blood and water poured out after Jesus’ death (Franciscan Media), like we recite in the Chaplet of Divine Mercy: “You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.”

I want to share what four popes have reflected on the parable of the Good Samaritan”

Saint John Paul II said, “Christ, the Son of God, is the Good Samaritan par excellence,” he said. “He is the Savior who finds humanity half-dead by the roadside and stops to heal our wounds. By his death on the Cross, he revealed ‘the tender mercy of our God,’ who desires that all men be saved. By his Resurrection, he restored us to life, to spiritual health. And in return he invites us to love others as he himself has loved us.”

Pope Benedict XVI said, “At the end of the parable, Jesus said: ‘Go and do likewise.’ With these words he is also addressing us. Jesus exhorts us to bend over the physical and mental wounds of so many of our brothers and sisters whom we meet on the highways of the world. He helps us to understand that with God’s grace, accepted and lived out in our daily life, the experience of sickness and suffering can become a school of hope.”

Pope Francis said, “The Church’s ministers must be merciful, take responsibility for the people and accompany them like the Good Samaritan, who washes, cleans and raises up his neighbor. . . This is pure Gospel. … The ministers of the Gospel must be people who can warm the hearts of the people, who walk through the dark night with them, who know how to dialogue and to descend themselves into their people’s night, into the darkness, but without getting lost.”

Finally, Pope Leo XIV said, “The parable speaks to us first about God’s way of seeing us, so that we, in turn, can learn how to see situations and people with his eyes, so full of love and compassion. . . It means learning to have a heart that is moved, eyes that see and do not look away, hands that help others and soothe their wounds, shoulders that bear the burden of those in need. . . Looking without walking by, halting the frantic pace of our lives, allowing the lives of others, whoever they may be, with their needs and troubles, to touch our heart. That is what makes us neighbors to one another, what generates true fraternity and breaks down walls and barriers. In the end, love prevails, and proves more powerful than evil and death” (July 13, 2025).

At the end of the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus asked the scholar of the law this question: “Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?” He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Then, Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” Jesus tells us to do the same, to go and treat others with the loving, merciful compassion that Jesus treats each of us.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100526.cfm

Homily for Monday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time (Year A - 9/28/2026)

In today’s Gospel, Jesus reveals his desire for us to have childlike faith that is dependent completely on our Father in heaven. The disciples argued among themselves about who “was the greatest.” Jesus realized the intention of their hearts; we ask ourselves, what was their “intention”? Perhaps, Jesus realized that they were starting to think like the Pharisees and scribes who wanted to be seated in the place of honor. Christ wanted to nip it in the bud and “took a child and placed it by his side and said to them, ‘Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.’"

As Catholics, we understand that faith is “a gift from God, a supernatural virtue infused by him. ‘Before this faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he must have the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and ‘makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth’” (CCC 153). Faith is our dependence on God, trusting in Christ’s promises, and obedience to the “command of the will moved by God through grace” (CCC 155). In other words, faith is saying with confidence, “Jesus, I trust in you.”

We see this childlike dependence and trust in God illustrated most vividly in today’s first reading from the Book of Job. Satan appeared to God and the Lord said this to him about Job: “Have you noticed my servant Job, and that there is no one on earth like him, blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil?” Satan countered, saying: “It is nothing that Job is God-fearing? Have you not surrounded him and his family and all that he has with your protection? You have blessed the work of his hands. . .” Then Satan dared to challenge God and told Him to “put forth your hand and touch anything that he has, and surely blaspheme you to your face.” In other words, allow Job to face adversity in life and see what happens. Test Job’s faith and see how he responds to God.

God permits this and we see calamities after calamities struck Job. When it rains, it pours for Job. His oxen and asses were carried off in a raid. Lightning struck and killed his shepherds and their sheep. The Chaldeans seized his camels and put those tending them to the sword. And, as if these calamities were not enough, Job’s sons and daughters were killed after a “great wind came across the desert and smote the four corners of the house” of his eldest son where they were eating and drinking. What would we do if we were in Job’s shoes and faced these calamities in our lives? How would we react? Would we blaspheme God to his face? Would we lose faith and hope and turn our backs on God who loves us?

Fr. Mike Schmitz said that “faith that has not been tested is faith that cannot be trusted.” Job’s faith was certainly tested and yet he did not respond in the way that Satan had hoped he would respond. Job did not blaspheme God to his face. Rather, he responded in an upright and God-fearing way that avoided evil; he “did not sin, nor did he say anything disrespectful of God.” Job responded with even deeper faith and trust in God’s will and plan, and blessed God, saying:  "Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked shall I go back again. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!" God permitted the evil of Satan to befall Job and, through his trust in God, his faith is purified and he remains “blameless and upright” in the eyes of God. Therefore, my sisters and brothers in Christ, let us pray for the gift of faith and the grace to remain faithful to God, even in times when our faith is tested. Jesus, I trust in you.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092826.cfm

Homily for the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A - 9/27/2026)

In the Book of  Ecclesiastes, we hear that “[there] is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every thing under the heavens. A time to be born, and a time to die. . . A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. . .  a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. . . a time to be silent, and a time to speak. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace” (3:1-8). And I love this verse in particular: “[God] has made everything appropriate to its time, and has put the timeless into their hearts, without man’s ever discovering, from beginning to end, the work which God has done” (3:11).

This “timeless” that God puts into our hearts is why “our hearts are restless till they find rest in [the Lord]” (Saint Augustine, Confessions 1,1.5) because, as Saint Paul tells us: “we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). The things of this world are transitory, while the things of God are eternal. Back in high school, I was a huge fan of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Who did not want to “be like Mike”?! During basketball season, I was glued to the T.V. I would watch basketball games all weekend. I remember one Saturday afternoon, my mom wanted to take two younger brothers and I to visit my dad at work. I told her that I wanted to stay home to watch basketball. Just when my mom was about to pull out of our driveway, I rushed out of the house and hopped into the car. I realized that there was time to watch basketball and time to spend with my family. At that moment, I chose to spend time with my family. Sure, I would have enjoyed staying home to watch the basketball games but my heart would have felt restless and empty.

In a way, I suppose you can say that I was like the first son from Jesus’ parable who initially said to his father, “I will not,” but “afterwards changed his mind” and went “out and [worked] in the vineyard.” Unlike the second son, who did not keep the promise that he made to his father, the first son repented. The first son turned away from things that are not of his father and surrendered to his father’s will. The Prophet Ezekiel put it so beautifully when he wrote that “if [man] turns from the wickedness he has committed, and does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life; since he has turned away from all the sins that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.” We must learn from the first son because this movement away from the things not of God and to the things of God is so important when it comes to our spiritual and prayer life and our relationship with Jesus. After all, Jesus came and preached repentance, saying: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17) and “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

More importantly for us to understand is, in the parable of the two sons, Jesus proffers this advice to us: if we believe that God’s will for us is the best course of action, then let us not merely promise to fulfill God’s will but we must truly discern what is God’s will for our lives and do what we can to fulfill His will for us. In other words, let us not be like the second son, in Jesus’ parable, and pay God “lip service” but then we make no change in our lives to fulfill His will for us. We know that Jesus despises hypocrisy because we hear in the Gospels Christ say “Woe to you. . . you hypocrites” (Matthew 23), and warns us against hypocrisy when he tells us that “[not] everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).

Repentance and the fulfillment of God's will for our lives require obedience and surrender on our part. It takes humility for us to do both so as to become “good and faithful servant[s]” (Matthew 25:21, 23). Throughout the Gospels, Jesus teaches us about the virtue of humility and how to live it in our lives. In the Beatitudes, Jesus teaches that happy or “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land” (Matthew 5:5). Furthermore, Christ said that “[whoever] humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (18:4). Moreover, he said, “The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (23:11-12). It was humility that led the tax collectors and prostitutes to believe John the Baptist, who proclaimed to the people: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Jesus pointed out that it was their humility that “the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before” the chief priests and elders who “did not later change your minds and believe [John the Baptist]." It takes humility for us to say, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!”

It should not come as a surprise to us then to hear Saint Paul, in his plea to the Christian community in Philippi for unity and humility, tell them (and us) to be imitators of Jesus. Our Lord is the model of humility par excellence and worthy of us imitating. Christ surrendered to the will of his Father in heaven and was obedient to God’s will to the end. In his letter to the Philippians, Saint Paul urged them (and us) to “[have] in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” And here is the hinge and how we ought to respond to God’s will for our lives with humility: “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others.”

Repentance and fulfillment of God’s will for our lives, that is the purpose and meaning of our lives, which is “at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength” (CCC 7). We live out this purpose with humility by being obedient to Jesus’ commandment to  love God and love our neighbor. I participated in the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Friends of the Poor Walk this morning and was inspired by the testimonials that I heard. A woman gave thanks to God for her cancer because, in her battle with cancer, she returned to Mass and deepened her relationship with God. We heard from a man, who after having received help from SVDP, wanted to pay it forward and is now volunteering to help others facing the same dire situations that he once found himself in just a few years ago. He is now Christ to others because someone was Christ to him when he needed it the most. And so, my sisters and brothers in Christ, let us be encouraged by these words of Saint Peter, who encourages us with this advice: “let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). Let us repent and fulfill God’s will for our lives through humility and obedience to Jesus’ commandments.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092726.cfm

Listen to my homily here: https://phucphan.podbean.com/e/homily-for-the-twenty-sixth-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-a-9272026/ or https://saintalbert.podbean.com/e/deacon-phuc-phan-saturday-500-pm-vigil-mass-homily-english/