Monday, April 7, 2025

Homily for Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent (Year C - 4/7/2025)


Good morning. In today’s Gospel, Jesus spoke to [the Pharisees], saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Each and everyone of us received the light of Christ at our Baptism when the priest or deacon lit the Baptismal candle from the Easter candle and said, “Receive the light of Christ. . . Parents and godparents, this light is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly, so that your child, enlightened by Christ, may walk always as a child of the light and, persevering in the faith, may run to meet the Lord when he comes with all the Saints in the heavenly court.” In the Gospel of Matthew, our Lord Jesus Christ said, “YOU are the LIGHT of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father” (5:15-16).

Now, in today’s first reading, we see what happens when we allow our light to be hidden by sin and temptation. We hear that the two elders of the people “began to lust for [a very beautiful and God-fearing woman, Susanna. . .]” What did they do next? They “SUPPRESSED their consciences; they would NOT allow their eyes to look to heaven, and did NOT keep in mind just judgments.” They threaten her, saying, “. .. give in to OUR desire, and lie with us. If you refuse, we will testify against you that you dismissed your maids because a young man was here with you.”

In stark contrast to the two elders of the people, Susanna did not let the darkness of the world snuff out the light that God put in her heart, even in the face of extreme challenges and difficulties perpetrated against her by the two elders. She weighed her options, thinking to herself, “If I yield, it will be my death; if I refuse, I cannot escape your power.” However, being faithful to God, she knew that she had only one choice and said to two old men: “. . .it is better for me to fall into your power without guilt than to sin before the Lord.” And as she was wrongly accused by them and prosecuted by the assembly of the people, “[through] tears she looked up to heaven, for she TRUSTED in the Lord wholeheartedly. . . [and the] Lord HEARD her prayer.”

And so, when the darkness of the world tries to drag us down through sin and temptations, let us not be like the two elders, who would NOT allow their eyes to look to heaven. Rather, let us be like Susana, who did look up to heaven and recall what Jesus said: “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” May our Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving keep the light of Christ burning brightly in our souls and give us the courage to shine the light of Christ into the darkness that exists in the world around us through our words and actions.

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Saturday, April 5, 2025

Ngon Quá Foodie Blog: K Ramyun (Cedar Park)

Hello, friends! It's been a while since my last Ngon Quá Foodie Blog entry so here we go!

Theresa knows I love ramen noodles and our favorite ramen place is JINYA Ramen (see below) in the Doman North. We have also tried other ramen places but nothing quite compare to JINYA Ramen in broth, flavor, and toppings. Recently, we decided to try a ramen bar - K Ramyn - where you cook your own ramen noodles and add the toppings you want. We tried it mostly for the experience because, well, it is package ramen noodles that we can buy at your local H Mart, MT Supermarket, or Ranch 99 grocery store (for a much cheaper bowl of ramen noodles). It was a fun experience, though! (Bonus. . . the ROSÉ and Bruno Mars song - APT. . .  LOL!)

Here is how it works. Step 1, choose your packaged ramen from their ramen wall. As you go from left to right, the spicier the ramen packages are. Interesting enough, I got the kimchi flavored one and it was not as spicy as the ramen flavored that Theresa picked, which was the Roasting Seoul Ramen.


Step 2, we choose our toppings, which included pickled radish, kimchi, cilantro, green onions, onions, shrimp, rice cakes, hard-boiled eggs, bean sprouts, etc., all in small to-go condiment cups with lids. After you picked your toppings you go pay and get your bowl, utensils, chopsticks, etc. Then comes the fun part. . .

Step 3, we get to cook our ramen in this unique kitchen appliance that we see on YouTube channels on food from countries like Japan and Korean. We start by putting the noodles and seasoning into the bowl. We then add our toppings, which the clerk guides you. She told me to add everything into my bowl except for my pickled radish and kimchi. Then the clerk tells us to hit the "M1" button and then the "yellow" button. This starts the timer and hot water pours into the bowl. We then stirred our noodles and the toppings for 3 minutes.



After the timer goes off, we find a table and enjoy our ramen noodle bowl! Yum!



Like I said, it was a fun experience but certainly a meal we could have easily made at home. :) We had a good time and, best of all, it was quality time spent together. Yay! for date night!

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Friday, April 4, 2025

Gospel Reflections for the Fourth Week of Lent (3/31-4/5/2025)


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Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent (4/5/2025)

Sisters and brothers in Christ, in the first reading, we hear how the Prophet Jeremiah "entrusted [his] cause" to the Lord completely because our Lord and God is a "just Judge, searcher of mind and heart." How about us? Do we entrust our cause to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, trusting in him completely with our lives, our very being?

This certainly can be a challenge for us because we do not want to lose control of our lives. We are not ready to say to Jesus: "Jesus, take the wheel" (like in the Carrie Underwood song). There is a deeper spiritual question for us here. Do we trust in God? Do we trust that Jesus is who he says he is, the Son God and the Son of Man? "C.S. Lewis rightly observed: Jesus is either liar, lunatic, or Lord "(https://www.wordonfire.org/articles/barron/what-precisely-is-the-gospel/).

We hear in today's Gospel that the chief priests and Pharisees did not trust Jesus. They did not believe that he is the Christ, and they sought to convince others of the same, saying, "Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?" Trust entails a personal relationship and, so for us, as we continue with our Lenten journey, as we pray, fast, and give alms, let us pray for the gift of faith to trust in God and believe in Jesus Christ our Lord. It is as Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me" (John 14:1).

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040525.cfm
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Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent (4/4/2025)

Sisters and brothers in Christ, in his homily on today's Gospel, Fr. Doug reflected that nothing happened to our Lord Jesus Christ that he did not allow to happen to him. For instance, "they tried to arrest him, but no one laid a hand upon him, because his hour had not yet come." They were able to arrest him in the Garden because he allowed it to happen. They were able to nail him to the Cross because he allowed it to happen.

Jesus endured his Passion out of obedience to his Father (Philippians 2:8). His Father allowed his Son die on the Cross out of love for us (John 3:16). For these reasons, our path to salvation is through the Cross of Christ who, as he hung of the Cross, as the Father to forgive us, gives his Mother Mary to us as our Mother, and his Blood and water came forth from his side to purify us.

As we move ever closer to Holy Week and Jesus' Passion, may our continued practice of the Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving give us the courage to follow God's will for us in our lives, even if it means temporal suffering. May we walk the way of the Cross with Christ in faith, not fear, because our salvation awaits us at the end of our journey.

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Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent (4/3/2025)

Sisters and brothers in Christ, for a year and a half, I helped Fr. Charlie lead the Knights of Columbus Council with our Cor meetings on the "Into the Breach" series, which is based on an Apostolic Exhortation written by Bishop Olmsted (Diocese of Phoenix). Essentially, Bishop Olmsted called men to have courage and conviction of faith to go into the breach to stand up for the family and be the men, husbands, fathers, and models of authentic masculinity that God has called them to be.

In today's first reading, we hear that Moses went into the breach on behalf of the people of God "to turn back His destructive wrath." The Israelites had "become depraved. . . making for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it," and so God threatened that his wrath "blaze up against them to consume them." Our Jesus Christ also stood in the breach for us on the Cross and said to God, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).

We are indeed "stiff-necked" people. Thankfully, we have powerful intercessors in heaven and prayerful ones on earth to stand in the breach for us. At the same time, our Lord Jesus Christ calls us to conversion every day, to turn away from our destructive path and return to God. As we continue with our Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, let us give praise to God for relenting in His wrath (as justify as He is), give thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ for interceding for us, and ask for the courage to go into the breach for our loved ones. Jesus, I trust in you.

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Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent (4/2/2025)

Sisters and brothers in Christ, as Fr. Doug reflected this morning in his homily, today's Gospel is a reminder to us that it was God who prayed for us in the garden of Gethsemane. It was God who was betrayed by His own people. It was God who was scourged that the pillar. It was God who reserved the crown of thorns on His head. It was God who carried the Cross to Calvary. It was God who was nailed to the Cross. It was God who died on the Cross. It was the Blood of God that was spilled on the Cross for our salvation because He loves us.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the Way to the Father. He is the Word of God sent to speak the Truth of God to us. Jesus is the path to abundant Life, here and now and in eternal life. Jesus teaches us  prayer, humility, and obedience to our Father in heaven. From Saint Paul's Letter to the Philippians (2:6-8):

"[Jesus], 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 death, even death on a cross."

As we continue on our Lenten journey, may our practice of the disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving help us to believe even more deeply what we profess at Mass - "I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father." - as we move ever closer to Holy Week and the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent (4/1/2025)

Sisters and brothers in Christ, in today’s Gospel, we hear the story of a man who has been ill for 38 years. He tries to get into the pool of Bethesda when the water is stirred up but others always beat him to it. However, he never lost faith or hope and kept trying and trying every day for 38 years.

From the man, we learn the power of perseverance in faith when our hope is in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, especially in our prayer and spiritual life. God will answer our prayers but on His time and according to His divine will, not ours. This is hard for us to accept and it oftentimes leads us to say to God: " If you're not going to hear my prayers and answer me, then I am not going to listen to you anymore." And so we turn our backs on God.

We can learn from the man with the illness for 38 years. He never lost faith. He never lost hope. Which means that, he has a deep love for God and trust in Him. His prayer was answered because Jesus came and asked him, "Do you want to be well?" As we continue through Lent with our practice of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, let us ask God for the strength and devotion to persevere in faith, never lose hope, and love God above all.

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Homily for Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent (Year C - 3/31/2025), preached at the 6:30 Daily Mass:

Good morning. In the Letter to the Hebrews, we get this insight into what faith is. The author writes: “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. . .” And, then, the author gives examples of people who responded in faith: “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go. . . By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son. . . By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; he chose to be ill-treated along with the people of God rather than enjoy the fleeting pleasure of sin.” (Hebrews 11:1, 14, 17, 24-25).

In today’s Gospel, we witness the faith of “the royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. Jesus said to him, ‘You may go; your son will live.’” By faith, the royal official “believed what Jesus said to him and left.” Jesus healed his son and, as a result, not only did he believe but “his whole household came to believe.” He had faith the size of a mustard seed that could move a mountain (Matthew 17:20). The question for us is, how is our faith? When we pray “Jesus, I trust in you,” do we truly believe that we can trust God with all our heart, mind, and soul? Or how about this prayer: “O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!”? The royal official certainly surrendered himself to our Lord Jesus Christ and trusted that Jesus would take care of his son. 

What about us? How is our faith? Do we trust that God desires what is best for us in our lives? This is what the Lord God said, in today’s first reading from the Prophet Isaiah: “The things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind. Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness. . .” God does not want us to dwell on our past hurts and wounds and be bound by them. Rather, He desires that we turn to Him in faith so that He can pour His grace into our hearts and help us overcome the challenges and difficulties in our lives. He wants to wipe away our tears and heal us of our afflictions because he created us to be a joy and a delight. And so, as we continue with our practice of the Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving but, more importantly, as we approach the Altar of the Lord and receive Him in the Most Holy Eucharist, let us beg God for the gift of faith so that we can believe in Jesus as the royal official believed in him. God is trustworthy and He is certainly worthy of our faith, belief, and trust.

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Below is my homily for Fourth Sunday of Lent (Year C - 3/30/2025), preached at the 12:00:


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Homily for Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent (Year C - 4/7/2025)

Good morning. In today’s Gospel, Jesus spoke to [the Pharisees], saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk...