FR REMI HOMILIES/REFLECTIONS AND SERMONS

Homily for Saturday of the 12th week in ordinary time  Genesis 18:1-15; Lk.1; Matthew 8:5-17 An Impressive Faith For every examination, the extent to which a student will pass is dependent on the extent to which he/she is able to impress the examiner. Ordinarily, the examiner has expectations from the students. The closer a student is to the examiner’s expectation, the more marks the student will get. Should it happen that a student beats the examiner’s expectation, that student definitely will attract a very high mark and commendation. We can picture the gospel reading of today with the lens of the above scenario. A centurion came to Jesus with a matter of urgency. His coming to Jesus was a sign of faith; he believed that Jesus could heal the servant. However, Jesus wanted to test the strength of the centurion’s faith. To say to the centurion “I will come and heal him”, means that Jesus was not going to give an immediate response to the centurion. As an examiner, Jesus was testing...

Homily for Friday of the 13th week in ordinary time  Genesis 17:1,9-10,15-22. Psalm 128:1-2,3,4-5. Matthew 8:1-4. In the first reading, God made a promise to Abraham that Sarah, his wife, would give birth to a son. God is ever faithful. He fulfils his word in his own time, and according to his plan. With God, nothing is impossible. He will fulfil his promises.  Like Abraham, no one would believe that Sarah would still  give birqth at the age of ninety. God works in a mysterious way. Age, time, or place are no barriers to him in fulfilling our utmost desire. In today's Gospel, Jesus grants the deepest desire of the leper to be healed and cleansed of leprosy. In this miracle, we see the leper's acknowledgement of our Lord Jesus Christ as Lord, and he made his request, saying, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean" (Matt.8:2). Jesus did not just heal him by pronouncing the word but went the extra mile by stretching out his hand and touched him. Like the leper, we mus...

HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE TWELFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Genesis 15:1-12.17-18; Ps.105; Matthew 7:15-20 Be grateful still The first reading of today opened with a conversation between God and Abram. Every conversation between God and man can be properly called prayer. So, in today’s first reading, Abram was in prayer. It is interesting to note that despite the fact that Abram had been so blessed by God, he still maintained and respected a good prayer life. The wealth of Abram did not make him too busy to have time for God. Abram represents those who seek God not just for their prayers to be answered but because they want to enter into and tarry in a loving relationship with God. For Abram, the joy and satisfaction from his wealth was never a substitute for the joy of being in God’s presence. When we also consider the content of Abram’s prayer, we realize that he remained humble in his interaction with God. God has blessed him with so much wealth but without a child. Surely Abram desir...

HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE TWELFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Genesis 13:2.5-18; Ps.15; Matthew 7:6.12-14 Blessings and Responsibility From the first reading of today, we learn that it is one thing to be blessed by God and another thing to have the wisdom to handle God’s blessings. Every blessing, answered prayer or miracle comes with some level of responsibilities. Sometimes we are so overwhelmed with joy that we either ignore or do not recognize the responsibility inherent in the source of our joy. Without this responsibility, that which is a blessing, may no longer seem like it in the long run. Abram and Lot where individually blessed by God in cattle, silver, gold, tents and so on. It was clear that the hand of the Lord was on them. But this blessing became a source of strife for the herdsmen of Abram and Lot. Maybe they were quarrelling over grazing space or competing for costumers, or any other thing. Abram was wise enough to notice and admit that this strife can gravitate into a quarr...

HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE TWELFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME JUNE 2023. Readings: Genesis 12:1-9; Psalm 33; Matthew 7:1-5 Theme: The essence of Fraternal Correction In today's Gospel, Christ cautions us against the standards we employ in assessing others. His directive to refrain from judgment does not equate to ignoring the deeds or misdeeds of our brethren. It is a common misinterpretation to equate correction with judgment, leading some to dismiss well-intentioned guidance as intrusive criticism. Today's Gospel should not serve as a justification for rejecting constructive feedback. True fraternal correction is distinct from judgment; neglecting to offer it may lead us to face the same inquiry posed to Cain in the Scriptures: "Where is your brother?" A lack of accountability in this regard invites divine scrutiny. Christ's instruction to first address our own faults before attending to those of our neighbors is often misconstrued. If we interpret this to mean that we...

HOMILY FOR THE 12TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Jeremiah 20:10-13; Ps.69; Rom.5:12-15; Matthew 10:26-33 “ _Have no fear of men” (Matt.10:26)_  Our Victory over Wickedness The readings of today rest on the premise that there is wickedness in this world. This wickedness is not as a result of natural evils but it is being perpetuated by men and women. God created everyone to be good but some persons continue to derail from how they were created and are becoming increasing wicked. But the focus of the readings is not the wickedness in the world per se but the children of God who continue to be targets of wickedness. In the first reading, Jeremiah cried out as a result of the plot against his life. In the gospel, Jesus prepared the minds of his disciples that will be confronted with wickedness. St. Paul, in the second reading, noted that sin entered the world through one man and this resulted to death. However, the three readings reveal that evil has been conquered by the one who destroyed ...

Homily for the Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist. Isaiah 49:1-6. Psalm 139:1-3,13-14,15. Acts 13:22-26. Luke 1:57-66,80. Theme: John Prepares the Ways of the Lord. Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the birth of St. John the Baptist. Firstly, the date chosen for this birth was inspired by the prior choice of the date of Christmas six months' interval between the two births. Secondly, besides the birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, this is the only feast of the birth the Catholic Church celebrates. For the Catholic Church, the birthday of the saint is the day of his death. It is the birth into heaven. Since we have proofs from the Scripture that John the Baptist was born in the grace of God, we celebrate his birth into this world. St. Luke tells us: "And when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leapt in my womb. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit" (Luke 1:41). Even the archangel Gabriel foretold of this to Zechari...