https://www.facebook.com/100149604964949/

Fr. Imo’s Homilies, Fontana, CA (2026)

05/31/2026

WHY GOD IS A TRINITY

Holy Trinity Sunday often presents a challenge for both preachers and congregations. Many sermons become overly focused on explaining how God can be three Persons in one God, sometimes leaving listeners more confused than enlightened. A humorous story tells of a young priest who preached his first Trinity Sunday homily using all the theology he had learned in seminary. After listening to his complex explanation, an elderly woman remarked, “I always believed in the Trinity – until right now.” This story reminds us that the Trinity is not meant to be reduced to a difficult intellectual puzzle.

The doctrine of the Trinity is not primarily about solving a theological mystery but about understanding why God reveals Himself in this way. God does not seek to satisfy our curiosity about how He is Trinity; rather, He reveals why He is Trinity. The Scriptures of today point us toward this deeper meaning.

In the First Reading, God reveals Himself to Moses on Mount Sinai as compassionate, merciful, faithful, and forgiving. This covenant with Israel shows a God whose nature is love and mercy. In the Second Reading, St. Paul speaks of grace, love, and fellowship as gifts flowing from the Triune God. In the Gospel, Jesus proclaims the greatest sign of divine love: God sent His Son not to condemn the world but to save it. These readings reveal that the Trinity is God’s loving self-disclosure. God is Trinity because He is a loving God who delights in communion and relationship.

As we can see in these three readings, God's true character is love. Though God acts through three distinct Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit share one and the same divine Substance and one Divinity. Because the Persons live in perfect communion and total self giving, whatever belongs to one Person is fully shared by the others (cf. Jn 16:14–15). From all eternity, the Father loves the Son, and the Son receives, and returns that love, and the Holy Spirit is the living bond of that love. This illustrates the key message: God is a Trinity because God is eternal love: love that is shared, given, received, and poured out.

As Love that is shared, God teaches us that He is a “Relationship”. We learn from God that love is giving, and great love is giving greatly. In this way, the Father tells us He is a God who cherishes communion, who wants to be reached and to reach others. In doing so, He reveals that love is the secret to every good relationship.

If God is a communion of love, then we who are made in His image are created for relationship, community, forgiveness, and self-giving love. We are not made for isolation or for self-protection. We are made to reflect the life of the Trinity. The gifts, blessings, and graces we have are meant to be shared with one another. Thus, the doctrine of the Trinity is not an abstract idea reserved for theologians, but a statement about us - an invitation to share in God’s own life and to build a community of love modeled on the very life of God Himself. With this foundation, we can see how our calling is rooted in God's own character

As we leave this Mass today, we are invited to live the Mystery and not just try to explain it. The Good News is this: only a God who is love, relationship, and communion can save the world. So rather than exhausting ourselves trying to reason our way through the Trinity, we would do far better to let the Trinity shape how we love, guide how we forgive, inspire how we serve, strengthen our relationships, and let the Trinity remind us of our dignity as children of the Father, redeemed by the Son, filled with the Holy Spirit.
So, the Trinity is not just a concept to understand, but a life to live, a relationship to embrace, and a love to imitate. Instead of leaving this mystery in our minds, let it transform our hearts and direct how we love, forgive, serve, and live as children of the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

05/24/2026

THE POWER OF THE PENTECOST

Today’s Gospel for Pentecost Sunday comes from John and is often called the “Johannine Pentecost.” It is quite different from the familiar Pentecost story of Acts 2:1-13. While the Acts of the Apostles describe the experience of the Early Church on the day of Pentecost, the Gospel passage teaches about the commission of the Apostles, confirmed by the gift of the Holy Spirit. In both moments, the same Holy Spirit empowers us with different manifestations. In one, the Spirit is breathed into the Apostles for interior renewal; in another, the Spirit is poured out for outward mission.

In the Gospel, the Spirit is given with power to respond to the needs of the Church. You will recall that after the resurrection, the Apostles were afraid and lacked the courage to carry out Christ’s mission. The Spirit is given to them with the gifts for founding and building missions. They received the power to give witness and reconcile sinners to God.

To receive the Holy Spirit, then, is to have the ability to manifest its power in what a person does. He can never be received without a realization of the power of his presence, a power which enables the human person to do extraordinary things. When Mary, the mother of Jesus, questioned how she would conceive without any knowledge of man, the Angel said it would be possible by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). When this power of the Spirit of God came upon the Apostles, they spoke in tongues and preached the Good news without fear. In the second reading, Paul noted that no one could testify to the truth of Jesus' Lordship without the power of the Holy Spirit. It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that Paul carried out his numerous missionary works.
Like the Apostles, at our baptism, when the priest laid hands on us, and the Bishop confirmed us by laying hands on us and anointing us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we received the Holy Spirit, who equipped us to do good works. We not only receive the Holy Spirit but are sent out to exercise the power of the Holy Spirit. As my father sent me with power, so I send you with power to transform the world (John 20:21). Our life is no longer to be one of “business as usual,” but a life of public witness to the truth of the Gospel of salvation.

Unfortunately, for the most part, the power lies dormant within us. Though all of us have the Spirit, some of us lack the power. Several reasons explain our inability to realize this power. We may receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit to enjoy, set aside, or use. There are varied ways of responding to what we receive from God. We might respond with ignorance of the person of the Holy Spirit (Jn 4:10) or ignorance of his operation and mission. We might live a sinful life, devoid of the holiness by which the Spirit of God is defined (Rom 1:4). We might lack the prayer life that fans the gifts into flame (2 Tim 1:6), lack earnest desire for the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:31), or possess but not believe in the power of our gift's manifestation.

Today, Jesus is reminding us that we are gifted for a mission with gifts that need to be exercised. It is a mission meant to transform our personal lives and is exercised in our family, jobs, meetings, fellowship, and contact with friends through an exemplary witness of life. When this mission of the presence of the Holy Spirit is understood, and we are ready to engage him, you will realize that there is a power within you that wants to be recognized – the power to live a good life, pray, love, forgive sins, and spread the good news. The power to make a good home, be a good husband, or be a good wife. It is the power to apply your time, talent, and treasure to make a difference in the Church and Society.

So, today we are not celebrating the feast to receive the Holy Spirit anew; we already have him. We are doing what Paul tells Timothy: “I wish to remind you, timothy, to fan into flame the gifts in you, which you received on the day I laid my hands on you” (2 Tim 1:6). Let the message of this Mass help us to fan our spiritual gifts into flame by asking God to renew and rekindle the Spirit within us so that in his power and inspiration, we will avoid sin, witness the Good News and serve him in our neighbor faithfully. Happy Feast of Pentecost!

05/18/2026

The Kingdom We Want and the Kingdom Christ Gives

One of the enduring challenges of Christian faith is our human tendency to listen to God while hearing only our own desires. We pray for God’s will, yet we quietly hope it will align with our personal expectations. We ask for God’s kingdom, but we imagine a kingdom shaped by our own ideas of comfort, power, and success. The readings for this Feast of the Ascension remind us that this tension is not new. The early disciples struggled with the same weakness.

In the Gospel, the risen Jesus meets His disciples on the mountain. He has conquered death, defeated sin, and inaugurated the Kingdom of God. Yet Matthew notes that “they worshipped, but some doubted.” In the first reading from Acts, the disciples ask, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Even while standing before the risen Lord, they still imagined a political kingdom—a restoration of national power, a return to the glory days of Israel. They had been given a kingdom, but their idea of “kingdom” was very different from God’s.

This is the heart of the problem. Jesus founded a kingdom where the King reigns through service, humility, and self-giving love. But the human heart often prefers a kingdom where leaders dominate, where authority means control, and where success is measured by power. The Kingdom of God calls for discipline, obedience, and conversion. The kingdom of the world calls for authority, dominance, and self-assertion. The disciples struggled to understand this difference—and so do we.

Through His ministry, death, and resurrection, Jesus has already established a kingdom built on love, care, peace, forgiveness, humility, justice, healing, and selfless service. He has done the heavy lifting. He has fought the battle. He has opened the way. Now He sends His disciples to continue the mission. But instead of moving forward, they stand there gazing into the sky as He ascends. The angels gently correct them: “Why are you standing there looking at the sky?” In other words, the time for staring is over; the time for witnessing has begun.

Our modern world reflects the same tension. We want a kingdom too—but often without the cost. We want a peaceful home, yet we resist converting our attitudes. We want a great nation, but we avoid the responsibilities of citizenship. We want success in education and good jobs, but we shy away from sacrifice and discipline. We want to be loved and affirmed, but we resist commandments and commitment. We want God to fix everything, but we do not want to change anything. We desire the kingdom, but not the conversion that builds it.

Ascension invites us to see that we are the continuation of Christ’s mission. The Acts of the Apostles ends abruptly because the story is still being written—by us. Every parish, every family, every Christian is part of the ongoing work of building God’s kingdom. There is no room for passive Christianity. Faith is not about watching Jesus ascend; it is about bringing His reign into the world through our compassion, courage, and witness.

Jesus also sends us to the “nations” of our own neighborhoods. To “make disciples” does not mean arguing people into faith. It means living in such a way that Christ becomes visible in our patience, forgiveness, integrity, and joy. The nations we are sent to are not far away—they are in our homes, workplaces, and communities.
Finally, Jesus assures us of His abiding presence: “I am with you always.” This promise means that we do not build the kingdom by our own strength. Christ remains present among us—through the Holy Spirit, through the Church, through the sacraments, and through the mission entrusted to every believer. The Ascension is not Jesus leaving; it is Jesus expanding His presence so that He can be with every disciple, everywhere.

As we celebrate the Ascension, may we stop looking at the sky and start looking at the world with the eyes of disciples sent on mission. The Kingdom is already established. The mission is already given. The power is already promised. And Christ is already with us.

05/10/2026

MAKE THE PARACLETE YOUR COACH

In the first reading, Philip goes to Samaria, where the word of God had not yet been preached, and begins to proclaim the good news about Jesus. The people responded, were baptized and confirmed, and received the Holy Spirit. Luke tells us that the town was bursting with joy, and that a fever of joy seized everyone. They were filled with the Spirit, reflecting the promise Jesus made to them: "I will give you another Paraclete." In the second reading, Peter tells us how we must live as baptized and confirmed disciples of Jesus. In the Gospel passage, filled with concern for the disciples that he would leave behind, Jesus promised: "I will not leave you an orphan. I will give you another Advocate" (John 14:16-18).

In this fourteenth chapter of John, Jesus tells his disciples that God will send the Paraclete to them. The Paraclete means everything Jesus meant for them while he was with them. Parakleton, meaning "Paraclete," is a Greek legal term for a defense attorney. Many words have been used to translate it into English. It can also mean a spokesperson, advocate, mediator, intercessor, comforter, or consoler. The English word that most nearly captures Paraclete's meaning is "coach." The Paraclete is our coach, who is always by our side. In short, the Paraclete means someone who stands alongside to protect and sustain the one assisted.

In actual fact, Jesus is saying that he would send the Paraclete, the "One who will be with you always at your side." With this, he assures the Apostles that they would not remain alone: the Holy Spirit would be with them and sustain them in their great mission of announcing the Gospel to the whole world. When Jesus promised his disciples an Advocate, who dreaded his imminent departure, he told them he would be with them in this Spirit, just as he had been with them in Palestine.

Everything Jesus says in this passage reveals God’s desire to keep us in living union with Himself through the Holy Spirit. When Jesus speaks of the One who “dwells with you and will be in you,” He is describing a relationship—an intimate friendship with God living inside us. And the readings make us ask an important question: Do we still need the Holy Spirit today? Absolutely we do. We are weak, limited, and easily confused. Left on our own—without a coach—we cannot go far. In a world full of noise, pressure, conflict, and moral confusion, we need the Holy Spirit beside us: to enlighten our ignorance, to correct us when we wander, to encourage us when we feel discouraged, to challenge us to grow, to inspire us to be our best selves, to defend us when evil threatens, and to strengthen us when life becomes overwhelming.

So, how do we receive this all-important Spirit Helper? We have already received the Holy Spirit in our baptism and the seal in our Confirmation. What we need now is to renew and rekindle the gifts of the Spirit within us. The Church gives us a model. After the Ascension, the disciples, together with the women and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, gathered in the upper room and devoted themselves to prayer (Acts 1:14). Next Sunday, we celebrate the Ascension. Between Ascension and Pentecost, the Church invites all her children into a sacred time of prayerful waiting for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Let us enter this period with the same devotion as the early disciples. We need the Holy Spirit today just as urgently as they did two thousand years ago. In the second reading, Peter calls us to repentance and a clear conscience. Jesus calls us to love expressed in obedience to His commandments. This is what St. Paul calls the rekindling of the gift of God within us (2 Tim 1:6).

05/02/2026

IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE

The main point of this Gospel passage is the "mansions" to which he would take the disciples into the Father's house. Believers have wondered how God's house can be full of "big houses." The Greek word for mansion translates to "staying" or "abode." While abode is the past tense of the verb abides, the noun form of abode means a dwelling place. So, in this passage, Jesus was not necessarily referring to a specific place, as Thomas thought, but to the Lord's abode. Just as Jesus made his abode with us through his incarnation, he will prepare an abode for us so that we may one day abide with him and the Father. Part of that preparation was realized on Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit bound man to God in a special union. So, Jesus is talking about a relationship, a connection with the Father.
Why is Jesus so concerned about this? This speech took place during the Last Supper, when Jesus spoke to his disciples about his impending departure (Matt 17:22-23). This Gospel passage is one of Jesus's efforts to strengthen his disciples. Jesus knew that his departure would cause the disciples much anxiety. He also knew that life's uncertainty and confusion would threaten the disciples' commitment to him.
In this passage, Jesus drew the disciples' attention to the dangers of anxiety when bereavement is not received with faith. He placed this potential emotional state within the human heart (Jn 14:1). When the heart is troubled by the loss of a beloved, the mind is affected, and the entire life becomes disoriented. When this happens, grief, guilt, anger, anxiety, depression, confusion, fear, and doubt will take center stage. All these are the enemies of faith and hope. If left unchecked, these can weaken faith and obscure hope. That is why Jesus speaks directly to the heart: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” He calls His disciples—and us—not to deny our struggles, but to face them with faith.
What is the relevance of this teaching to us? Like the disciples, we, too, have our own troubles. Our hearts are troubled when we lose our job, lack what to eat, experience injustice and persecution; when we marry a bad husband or wife; when we have a breakdown in our relationship; when we are sick or have lost a family member; or experience a pandemic. These and other challenges and trials shake our confidence and trust in God.
What is the way out? The way out of this life's uncertainties is faith. Faith is the only tool we can use to counter uncertainty. This is why Jesus wants his disciples to replace emotion with faith. Faith gives us the certainty and courage to face the future. Even now, faith gives us the certainty that the prevailing bad economy will end because it has a beginning. We have faith that if we cooperate and are patient, the grace of God will save us.
Again, Jesus wants us to have faith in the union between him and the Father to which he invites us, a union that will make us feel God's ever-present presence, helping us know we are not alone. Faith is a sacred union from which flows the never-ending love and mercy of God (Lam 3:22-23)
When a union is thus formed with the Lord, we do not need to ask Jesus to show us the Father. Instead, we begin, like Jesus, to do the works that will reveal God to the world. Today, our God is revealed by the tireless corporal works of mercy some of us are doing to help the suffering masses, or by volunteers who use their time, talent, and treasure to serve the Church.
So, the Good News today is that this exhortation of Jesus to his disciples, has given us the confidence that whenever we apply his Truth to whatever we do, we can never be wrong but count on it to shape our lives; whenever we live according to his Life, we will never regret; and whenever we walk in his Way, we will never stumble until at last we get to live with him in eternity.

04/27/2026

WHAT YOU LISTEN FOR, YOU HEAR

My brothers and sisters, today on Good Shepherd Sunday, Jesus gives us one of the most beautiful and challenging lines in the Gospel: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” Right there, Jesus describes the whole spiritual life. God knows us… we listen… and we follow. In this shepherd-sheep relationship, we see two distinct points: God’s responsibility to his people and the people's responsibility to him.

As Shepherd who As a Shepherd who takes care of his flock, God has absolute knowledge of his people: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…” (Jer. 1:5); and …..“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; …..; you are mine” (Is 43:1). There is nothing that motivates faith and trust as to know that God knows each one of us individually – our names, story, plights, wounds, hopes, cravings, labor and joy. Because if He knows me, then He also knows what I need, where I’m hurting, and where He wants to lead me.

But then comes our part: hearing His voice. And this is where the theme of today’s homily comes in: What you listen for, you hear. We don’t just hear sounds—we hear according to the disposition of our hearts. Two people can hear the same message and walk away with completely different reactions. This is exactly what unfolds in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles. The same message is preached, yet the responses are completely different. Some reject it; others receive it with joy. The difference is not in the message, but in the listeners. One group is closed, the other open. One listens with resistance, the other with desire.

And it’s the same with us. If you listen for criticism, you’ll hear it everywhere. If you listen for reasons to be afraid, they’ll multiply. If you listen for anger, revenge, or voice of moral confusion, those voices will surround you. And if you listen to those voices long enough, you will start believing they are the truth. This reminds us that faith is not automatic but a choice. Every day, we decide whose voice we will follow.

Meanwhile, we trust the weather forecaster, the economist, the doctor, the historian… but when God speaks in Scripture or through the Church, we often treat it as optional. We quote politicians and historians more than we quote the Gospel. We follow cultural voices more eagerly than the Shepherd.

Jesus brings this truth home in the Gospel: “my sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” His sheep are those who are attuned to Him, those who listen with faith, those who are inclined to his lifestyle, those who see his words as message of life, those who seek the truth, who like the voice of mercy, the voice of peace, etc. They recognize his voice not because it is louder, but because their hearts are disposed to receive it.

And tuning your heart to Jesus takes time. It takes prayer. It takes familiarity with His Word. It takes confronting the ego inside us that wants to hear only what is comfortable. Because your desires determine which voices appeal to you. If you desire peace, you’ll understand the language of peace. If you desire holiness, the Gospel will speak clearly. If you desire truth, you’ll recognize the Shepherd’s voice even when it challenges you. But Jesus doesn’t stop at “hearing.” He adds, “They follow me.”

And that’s where many Christians struggle. On Sunday, we come to Mass and listen to God’s voice. But once we leave, we often follow our own opinions, our own habits, our own ways of living. No one who believes in God does things his own way but follows the way of the Lord. To believe in God but not follow Him is to live like a sheep without a shepherd.

Following Jesus means letting His voice—not our impulses—shape our decisions, our relationships, our priorities, our moral choices, our daily life. Today, the Good Shepherd calls us to follow Him in good times and bad, in sickness and health, in abundance and scarcity, in clarity and confusion. He leads us not just to green pastures, but through the valleys too. The outcome is always good and beneficial.

So, let me leave you with the question Jesus places before us today: What are you listening for? Because what you listen for, you will hear. And what you hear, you will follow. May we tune our hearts to the voice of the Good Shepherd— the voice of mercy, the voice of peace, the voice of truth— and may we follow Him all the days of our life.

04/12/2026

THE CALL TO SHARE DIVINE MERCY

On this final day of the Octave of Easter - the eight day celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection - the Church celebrates Divine Mercy Sunday. In today’s Gospel, the Risen Jesus commissions his disciples, sending them forth just as the Father sent him. The first reading shows us the early Christian community gathered in prayer Jesus’ resurrection, sharing their possessions, and supporting one another in love.

When the first reports of the Resurrection reached the disciples, they were filled with joy, yet soon fear and guilt crept in. A week later, Jesus appeared again—not to condemn them, but to strengthen them. Notice what He did not do. He did not revisit the pain of Good Friday. He did not rebuke them for abandoning him. He did not shame them for their doubts. Instead, his first words were: “Peace be with you.” It was the greeting they needed most.
You will recall how the disciples left him alone and fled his presence on Good Friday. If God had built his kingdom on the standards of tit-for-tat, Jesus would have confronted them with anger and reproach. But in the Upper Room, he offered peace as a sign of reconciliation to those who had turned away from him. He forgave them without demanding apologies.

In this encounter, Jesus did something only love and trust can do. Despite their failures, He gave them shalom, not recrimination; mercy, not retribution. He refused to define them by their mistakes because he knew the human person is always more than his or her failures. And as if this were not enough, he breathed the Holy Spirit upon them and sent them out to bring God’s merciful forgiveness to the world. What a love. What a mercy.

In all this, we see that God’s mercy is God’s heart bending toward us in love, even when we do not deserve it. It is his steadfast willingness to forgive, to heal, and to restore us whenever we fall short. Mercy is the light that enters our darkness and the love that refuses to give up on us.

Today’s Gospel also shows how Jesus wanted the story of Good Friday’s mercy to be told alongside the message of his Resurrection. We see this not only in how he forgave the disciples, but also in how he handled Thomas’s unbelief. Thomas’s attitude invited judgment, yet Jesus corrected him with gentleness, treating his doubt with understanding and compassion.

Therefore, the message behind the Upper Room appearance is clear: the Church is founded on Mercy and sent to bring forgiveness and peace to the world. This mission is urgent. That is why, on February 22, 1931, Jesus appeared to St. Faustina as the “King of Divine Mercy,” clothed in a white garment. He asked her to seek God’s mercy, to trust in His abundant compassion, and to become a channel of mercy to others.

Guided by the Holy Spirit, Pope John Paul II, after 69 years of the Lord’s appearance to sister Faustina, designated the Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday on April 30, 2000. Since then, the message and practice of Divine Mercy have renewed countless lives and inspired works of charity across the world.

Yet our world today is wounded because it lacks true love, true mercy, and true forgiveness. Leaders fail in their peace plans because peace cannot be built on revenge or resentment. We see the consequences everywhere: racial discrimination, terrorism, gang violence in schools and communities, kidnappings, broken families, and the rising rate of divorce. Hatred and unforgiveness have become the language of our age.

Jesus reminds us that the human person is weak and prone to error. If we measure everything strictly by justice, we will never know peace. Justice alone cannot save us. Mercy completes what justice begins. Justice makes us good citizens; mercy makes us Christians. If God judged us only by justice, none of us would stand (cf. Lk 5:32). In Christ, God reconciled the world to Himself, not counting our trespasses against us, and entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18).

This is why the message given to St. Faustina is so vital. It reminds us that Jesus is not only the God of justice but the God of mercy (Lam 3:21–23). He does not treat us as our sins deserve but tempers justice with compassion. He invites us to learn from Him how to forgive without counting the cost.

Mercy matters in daily life because it shapes how we live and relate to one another. It forms how families forgive, how communities reconcile, how we approach God in prayer, and how we treat the poor, the struggling, and the difficult. Mercy becomes the soil where healing, unity, and holiness take root.

Is it any wonder St. Paul urges us in Romans 12 to “Bless those who persecute you… Repay no one evil for evil… Never avenge yourselves… Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (12:14,16,19,21). Therefore, let us open our hearts to receive Christ’s peace, open our minds to His instruction, and open our lives to share the Divine Mercy of Good Friday and the new life of Easter with all who encounter us - through the way we live, speak, forgive, and love.

03/29/2026

OUR HUMAN RESPONSE TO THE PASSION OF CHRIST

Today’s celebration presents us with two movements and two Gospels: one of triumph and one of tragedy. In the first Gospel, Jesus sets out on a journey—a triumphal entry marked by pomp, pageantry, and a whole city stirred to its depths. The crowds cheer wildly as He enters Jerusalem. But in the second Gospel, Jesus is betrayed, handed over to brutal men, and completes His kingly entry into Jerusalem clothed in a robe of mockery and crowned with thorns. He begins His journey like a hero and ends as an object of ridicule. Before we can fully absorb the contrast, the reading concludes starkly: “Jesus gave a loud cry and gave up his spirit.”

This dramatic shift—from being welcomed with joy to being abandoned in disgrace—reveals the duality of humanity’s response to God throughout history. At times, we welcome Him; at other times, we push Him away. Some days we burn with zeal for Jesus and His Church; on others, we are lukewarm, indifferent, or even resistant. One of the central lessons of the Passion is not only that Jesus was unjustly crucified, but that we continue to treat Him similarly through our choices today.

We can find ourselves reflected in the characters of the Passion narrative. At times, we are like Judas—betraying Jesus and later regretting it. At other times, we resemble Peter—boldly promising fidelity, yet denying Him when it becomes inconvenient or uncomfortable. We may be like the disciples who fall asleep during Jesus’ darkest hour, failing to pray as He instructed, only to awaken when temptation has already overtaken us.

Often, we are like Simon of Cyrene, pressed into service to help Jesus carry His cross by being forced to go to confession, pushed to volunteer for ministry, or reluctantly giving charity or attending Mass. Sometimes we mirror the leaders of the Jews, who feared Jesus but lacked the love and courage to follow Him. Or we imitate Pontius Pilate, who washed his hands of responsibility out of fear—just as some today stand at a distance from the Church, observing like visitors rather than participants. Instead of blaming the Jews of Jesus’ time, we should examine our own responses.

Another essential lesson is that the Passion is not primarily about how much Jesus suffered, but about how much He loved. He did suffer, of course, and his suffering was real and intense, but suffering alone is not redemptive. What transforms His suffering into salvation is the extravagant love that motivated it. The Passion is the story of God’s deepest love for humanity—a love so profound that it embraces death to bring us life.

The Gospel narratives we read make this clear: Jesus is not a political liberator or a worldly king, but a compassionate Messiah whose love leads Him to the cross so that we, freed from the selfishness of sin, might learn the transforming power of self-giving love. God loves the world so completely that He does not count what it costs Him to save it and the people in it.

Today, the crucified Lord lives in each of us, growing or diminishing through our choices. In our suffering, he suffers with us; in death, he dies with us and lives on in glory with us after our death. Jesus continues to suffer in those unjustly imprisoned, in victims of oppression and war, in refugees facing hunger and disease, and in all who are falsely accused. He is welcomed today when we allow faith in His Passion to shape how we carry our daily crosses and make our decisions. In doing so, we allow Jesus to continue sharing His love with the world through us.

Fr. Imo’s Homilies

05/31/2026

05/24/2026

05/18/2026

05/10/2026

05/02/2026

04/27/2026

04/12/2026

03/29/2026

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category