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Fr. Imo’s Homilies A place to find Catholic Homilies, for Sundays and other Holy Days.

10/11/2026

THE WEDDING FEAST OF THE LORD

This weekend's readings show that God’s invitation to salvation is free but not cheap. The invitation demands a response (a proper wedding garment), which opens the way to eternal life. The text from Isaiah in the First Reading celebrates what could happen when people set aside their selfishness and worldly perspectives and do things God’s way. Using the image of a sumptuous feast, Isaiah speaks about the bounteous blessings available when we let go of our ways and accept God’s way. When we do, we discover that God offers his bounteous blessings freely and generously, but not without our response. We must first accept what he offers before it becomes our own.

In the Gospel, Jesus uses the parable of the wedding feast to offer another invitation to a banquet: a king sends invitations to people he believes will accept and come to celebrate his son’s wedding feast. But instead of accepting, the first group refused to come, and the second invitees not only refused but also killed the king’s servants. The king became angry. At last, it took the “good and bad” found along the roads to honor the invitation to the feast.

The king who invites his son to his wedding feast in the parable depicts God, who invites us to the banquet of his son, Jesus Christ. Notably, the parable includes a twist: the king enters the feast and finds someone without a wedding garment. The wedding garment refers to the outward expression of the inward spiritual preparation of those invited to the Lord's banquet.

The important message this parable calls attention to is that we are the guests God invites to the feast of his Son. As the guests recruited from the main roads, “bad and good alike,” we are still expected to prepare ourselves and respond with repentance. How, then, are we to prepare ourselves for the heavenly banquet? From this parable, we learn that getting in does not necessarily mean staying in at the kingdom’s wedding feast. In fact, being let in is not all that matters since everyone else, “bad and good alike,” got in, too. What matters is putting on the wedding garment of righteousness (Is 6:10). We can fill the Church on Sunday as baptised, but we can be worthy of the feast only if we bear fruit that befits repentance (Mt. 3:8).

The Good News today is that the Lord is calling each of us to a banquet of love and salvation. Responding to the invitation does not just mean bodily presence. It means responding from a converted heart. As an exercise of the heart, repentance is a condition to come to the feast. In other words, repentance allows us to fulfil the invitation's demands and fully enjoy the banquet offered. For Paul, having a wedding garment means to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14). Then, to come to the feast without repentance is to answer as a believer in Christ and attend Mass regularly without putting on Jesus as Saviour and Lord.

The Holy Eucharist assures each of us of our salvation as long as we receive this priceless sacrament in a state of grace. To those of us who have accepted the invitation to come in, this parable warns us not to take God’s grace for granted but to clean ourselves up and become the most beautiful persons we can be in God’s sight. The important thing here is that God gives sinners a second chance, but the warning for all is that we must take the kingdom and our participation in it very seriously.

10/04/2026

THE REBELLIOUS VINEYARD WORKERS

Today’s readings center on the image of a vineyard; an image Scripture often uses to describe God’s relationship with his people. In the first reading, Isaiah uses a “love song” to describe how God chose Israel from among all nations, surrounded them with his protection, made them a light to the nations, and granted them victory over their enemies. Yet despite this divine care, the vineyard (people of God) produced wild grapes and not the sweet fruit God expected. The problem here is with the people themselves. They were chosen, blessed, and equipped, but they failed to live lives of goodness, purity, justice, and faithfulness. Their fruit did not match God’s investment.

In the Gospel, Jesus tells another vineyard parable. A landowner leases his vineyard to tenant farmers and expects them to render an account of stewardship. Instead, they beat, stoned, and killed the servants sent to collect the owner’s share. When the owner finally sends his son, they kill him as well. Here, the problem is not the vineyard but the leaders who are the tenants entrusted with God’s people. God sent prophets to remind Israel of covenant fidelity; many were rejected, abused, or killed. Finally, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, and He too was rejected and crucified.
These parables are not simply history lessons but reveal the human tendency to resist God’s call. Like Israel and its leaders, we too can respond negatively to the demands of the Kingdom. Today, priests, deacons, catechists, and teachers invest time and effort in our faith-life, yet we often respond with indifference. When we fail to cooperate with grace, we produce the wild grapes of sin; not because God has failed us, but because we have failed to respond.
Sometimes this failure is a sin of omission: choosing not to do the good we ought to do. At other times, it is a sin of commission: deliberately choosing what is evil. God has given us life, nourishes us through His Word, and entrusts us with gifts and talents. Life is not a right but a privilege, and privileges come with responsibility. We are expected to cultivate our lives in such a way that they bear fruit worthy of God.

How do we produce a good harvest? In the second reading, Paul gives us two essential attitudes: gratitude and positive thinking. Positive thoughts lead to good actions while negative thoughts lead to evil. A positive thinker always focuses on what is true and uses his gifts to do what is honorable, pure, pleasing, commendable, and worthy of praise. In contrast, a negative thinker spends time thinking about failures, how to take revenge or take advantage of the weak and how to have fun without responsibility. If we truly appreciate God’s gifts, we will show it through gratitude, commitment, and care. Appreciation always leads to good action.
The message today is that it is not enough to be a child of God. We must be functional, progressive, and fruitful children.

Relationship with God abhors redundancy and unfruitfulness. As Jesus told the Jews, “You shall bear good fruits as evidence of your repentance” (Matt 3:8). These fruits are visible in how we treat one another, how we live our faith, and how we respond to God’s grace.
Ultimately, it is the fruits of a good Christian life we bear that distinguish us as saints or sinners, as practising or non-practising Christians, both in this world and on the day of reckoning. Let us therefore cultivate our lives with care, respond to God with gratitude, and bear fruits that honor the One who planted us.

09/27/2026

BE DOERS OF THE WORD AND NOT HEARERS

Today the Word of God invites us to look honestly at our hearts and our actions. The Gospel parable of the two sons is closely connected to the preceding passage in Matthew 21:23–27, where Jesus is confronted in the temple by chief priests and elders who question his authority. These religious leaders considered themselves the true interpreters of the law and the privileged children of God. In response, Jesus tells the parable of the two sons to expose their spiritual blindness and to reveal God’s impartial love for all people: saints and sinners.

In the parable, a father asks his two sons to work in the vineyard. The first son refuses but later repents and goes. The second son agrees politely but never follows through. Both sons disobey initially, but only one repents and acts. Jesus uses this contrast to teach that good intentions and pious words are meaningless without corresponding action. Promises do not count unless they are lived out. Accepting an idea is not the same as doing what it requires.

Jesus applies the parable directly to his challengers. The tax collectors and prostitutes, publicly seen as sinners, are like the first son who said “no” but later repented and obeyed. The religious leaders, admired for their holiness, are like the second son who said “yes” but failed to act. The sinners responded to Jesus’ preaching and changed their lives, while the religious leaders remained unmoved, satisfied with questioning and debating rather than repenting. This message echoes Ezekiel’s teaching that the person who turns away from sin and turns toward God will find life.

What exactly can be the reasons why we hear the word of God and fail to put it into practice? Some of the things that have been advanced as reasons for the gap between faith and practice are: lukewarm attitudes to the Gospel, lack of intimate relationship with God, treating what is heard with doubts, when we merely admire the words or are fascinated by its promises without a good understanding of them and their implications. We often assume that people will accept the Good News if only they could understand, but the reverse is also true: people cannot really understand God’s word until they first accept God in their lives. A firm resolve to do God’s will in our lives is the best disposition for hearing and understanding God’s word.

The Good News this weekend is that the readings offer us the challenging story of conversion of heart. When we experience this conversion of heart, the words of God spoken through the prophet Ezekiel in our first reading come alive: “If a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed, does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life”. This is the heart of today’s message. God is not primarily interested in our words; he is interested in our actions. Faith is not simply knowing the right things to say, but knowing the right things to do, and then doing them.

So, this parable of the two sons invites each of us to examine our own hearts. Are we more like the first son, quick to say “yes,” eager to appear obedient, but slow to act? Or are we like the second son: imperfect, hesitant, sometimes resistant, yet capable of repentance and willing to change direction when God’s word touches our hearts?

But the deeper point of the parable is this: even if one son seems preferable to the other, neither one is truly ideal. Both fall short. The genuinely good and faithful person is the one whose practice matches his profession, whose actions reflect the faith he claims to hold. In truth, the parable is the story of two flawed sons. Faithful and reliable sons and daughters are those who say “yes” and then set out to do what is required of them. James expresses this truth with unmistakable clarity: “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves…. Faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (James 1:22; 2:17).

09/20/2026

REWARD WITHOUT MEASURE

God is always near, and his goodness fills the whole earth. Yet, we do not always recognize this because we interpret life from a human point of view. The Scripture reminds us that God’s perspective is far different from ours. Peter says, “With the Lord one day is like a thousand years (2 Pt 3:8). In the first reading, Isaiah echoes the same truth to the exiled Jews who wondered whether God could ever forgive their sins: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways” (Is 55:8).

In today’s Gospel, Peter asks Jesus a very human question: “We have left everything and followed you. What will be our reward?” (Mt. 19:27). Jesus assures him that the reward is real, namely, eternal life and a place in the Kingdom. But to explain how God rewards, Jesus tells the parable of the laborers in the vineyard.
Some workers began at dawn, some from noon, some from the last hour. Yet at day’s end, each received the same wage. From a human standpoint, this seems unfair. But Jesus is teaching that God’s generosity is not measured by human fairness.

Why did Jesus pay the same amount? The landowner represents God. The vineyard symbolizes the Church. The workers represent the Jews and the Gentiles. The Jews, called first through Abraham, are like the early workers who “bore the burden of the day and the scorching heat” (Mt. 20:12). The Gentiles, called later, are the workers hired at the last hour. The question is: will the Jews receive a greater reward simply because they came first? Jesus answers: No. Salvation is not based on seniority. “The last will be first, and the first will be last” (Mt. 20:16).

The reward symbolizes God’s universal salvation. It is not given according to how long one has been in the Kingdom, but according to how faithfully one has lived. Salvation is salvation; there is no “big” or “small” salvation. As Peter later declares, “God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34-35).

We should stop comparing ourselves like the Jews and Gentiles about the time one comes to know God. Some come to faith early, some late. Some serve visibly, some quietly. Some struggle for years; others find conversion in a moment. But God’s generosity is constant, and he desires that everyone be gathered into His vineyard.

It does not mean that long service is a waste. The more a person is in relationship with the Lord, the more wisdom and transformation that make life better. The more acts of love and charity, the more goodness begets goodness. There is nothing we do – volunteering our time, talent and treasure, or even other goodwill acts that God does not take into record.

The yardstick God uses to measure it is based on how much we love him (Jn 14:23), which reflects itself in our obedience to the commandments (Jn 14:15). Each one obeyed when sent to the vineyard. The important lesson is that this reward is never given to the idle, the lazy, or the non-functional Christian. This is what Paul meant when he said to the Philippians: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil 2:13). So, let us flee idleness and inactivity and respond to the invitation of God, the owner of the Vineyard, with zeal (John 15:5).

So, nothing we do for God- our time, talent, treasure, or acts of goodwill- ever goes unnoticed. The only requirement is a willing heart that follows the Master’s voice and remains faithful at its duty post until the end of time. Let us then serve in God’s vineyard with humility, zeal, and trust, confident that his reward is generous, his justice perfect, and his mercy without measure.

09/12/2026

Forgiving our Offenders

We are created as brothers and sisters, meant to live in love and harmony. Yet the human person is not perfect. Even when we sincerely desire to love everyone, our human weakness often surfaces and strains our relationships. As a result, anger, misunderstandings, and disputes become common. When relationships are wounded, we must relearn how to love and forgive. In the first reading, Sirach urges his community to forgive one another and warns hat unforgiveness is a tangled web of destructive emotions. Jesus, fully aware of this human struggle, teaches in today’s Gospel how to confront offenses and resentments without placing limits on forgiveness.

From the readings we can infer that wrongdoing provokes anger, and anger contaminates the heart. In the first reading, Sirach says, “The sinner hugs wrath and anger tight,” refusing to let go of their visceral reaction to being wronged (Sir 27:30)? If then the sinner hugs rage, as Sirach says, it means that anger embraces us back. When anger overtakes its victim, it becomes a reason for unforgiveness. This is so because anger and unforgiveness are intertwined.

Anger, as an emotion, is a signal that we perceive something as unfair or unjust. It is fueled not only by what happened, but by what we think, feel, and believe about the offender - their indifference, lack of remorse, arrogance, lies, or malice. If we let these thoughts grow, they turn into resentment, and resentment eventually hardens into hostility.

The first truth we must understand about anger is that nothing good comes from holding onto it. Jesus teaches that unresolved anger places us in spiritual danger, because it turns the heat against others and even against God (Matt 5:21–22). Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting someone else to die. The one who suffers most is the one who refuses to let go. Anger traps us, blinds us, and slowly hardens the heart.

Regarding how many times we must forgive our neighbor, the Old Testament rabbinic tradition taught that a sinner could be forgiven up to three times. Peter extends this generosity by suggesting forgiveness seven times. Jesus responds, “Not seven times, but seventy times seven,” meaning forgiveness must be limitless. Peter’s question was not only about numbers but about when his anger would be justified. Jesus rejects any attempt to quantify grace.

Like Peter, we often want to limit forgiveness; either by number or by type of sin. We wonder whether grave sins such as homicide, infidelity, kidnapping, or abuse deserve forgiveness. Yet Jesus gives no distinction between sins to forgive and sins not to forgive. He simply commands us to forgive as God forgives us (Mt 6:12). Even when the offender does not deserve forgiveness, God deserves our obedience. We forgive for God’s sake.

Forgiveness is not condoning wrongdoing or minimizing its gravity. It does not depend on the offender’s repentance, as Jesus forgave His executioners (Lk 23:34). Forgiveness is strength, not weakness; courage, not cowardice. Peace is impossible without reconciliation.
Jesus illustrates limitless forgiveness with a parable of two debts. One man owes an impossible sum - greater than a province’s revenue- yet is forgiven. He then refuses to forgive a neighbor a tiny debt, one hundred thousandth of his own. The contrast exposes the absurdity of withholding forgiveness when God has forgiven us so much.

The message is clear: if God has shown mercy to us, we must show mercy to others. Forgiveness is difficult but not impossible. Time is the remedy that allows wounds to fade. Jesus’ command to forgive “seventy seven times” invites us to give time room to heal and let offenses disappear from memory. In this way, forgiveness becomes the path to peace, freedom, and restored relationships.

09/06/2026

HOW OFTEN MUST I FORGIVE MY OFFENDER

Human beings are created to live as brothers and sisters in love and harmony, yet our fallen nature often disrupts relationships. Though we desire to love, weakness leads to anger, disputes, and offenses. Because relationships become strained, we must learn both love and forgiveness. Sirach teaches that forgiveness is necessary, and that unforgiveness is a tangled web of emotions. Jesus, in the Gospel, teaches His disciples how to resolve offenses without placing limits on forgiveness.

Wrongdoing provokes anger, and anger contaminates the heart. In the first reading, Sirach says, “The sinner hugs wrath and anger tight,” showing how anger clings to us and blinds us. Anger and unforgiveness are intertwined: forgiveness gives up resentment, while anger stores it. Understanding forgiveness requires understanding anger. Anger signals that we believe we are treated unfairly. It grows from what we think or feel about the offender—arrogance, lies, malice, or lack of remorse. These inflame resentment and lead to hostility. Anger is not automatic; it is a choice. We can choose to let go, but the angry person rarely admits he is angry.

Holding onto anger is destructive to health and relationships. Jesus warns that anger can make us killers in spirit (Matt 5:21–22). Holding a grudge is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to suffer. The only remedy for anger is forgiveness. Scripture urges us not to let the sun set on our anger, lest the devil gain a foothold in our hearts (Eph 4:27).

In the Old Testament, rabbis taught that a sinner could be forgiven up to three times—a generous standard. Peter extends this generosity by suggesting forgiveness seven times. Jesus responds, “Not seven times, but seventy times seven,” meaning forgiveness must be limitless. Peter’s question was not only about numbers but about when his anger would be justified. Jesus rejects any attempt to quantify grace. Forgiveness is not merely an action but a disposition woven into Christian living.

Like Peter, we often want to limit forgiveness—either by number or by type of sin. We wonder whether grave sins such as homicide, infidelity, kidnapping, or abuse deserve forgiveness. Yet Jesus gives no distinction between sins to forgive and sins not to forgive. He simply commands us to forgive as God forgives us (Mt 6:12). Even when the offender does not deserve forgiveness, God deserves our obedience. We forgive for God’s sake.

Forgiveness is not condoning wrongdoing or minimizing its gravity. It does not depend on the offender’s repentance, as Jesus forgave His executioners (Lk 23:34). Forgiveness is strength, not weakness; courage, not cowardice. Delayed forgiveness often becomes denied forgiveness. Peace is impossible without reconciliation.

Jesus illustrates limitless forgiveness with a parable of two debts. One man owes an impossible sum—greater than a province’s revenue—yet is forgiven. He then refuses to forgive a neighbor a tiny debt, one hundred thousandth of his own. The contrast exposes the absurdity of withholding forgiveness when God has forgiven us so much. Jesus teaches us to break the unforgiving spirit that seeks limits.

The message is clear: if God has shown mercy to us, we must show mercy to others. Forgiveness is difficult but not impossible. Time is the remedy that allows wounds to fade. Jesus’ command to forgive “seventy seven times” invites us to give time room to heal and let offenses disappear from memory. In this way, forgiveness becomes the path to peace, freedom, and restored relationships.

08/30/2026

TAKE UP YOUR CROSS AND FOLLOW ME

Last Sunday, Peter shone brilliantly when he proclaimed, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16). It was a moment of grace, insight, and revelation. But today, Peter stumbles. He fails to grasp what it truly means for Jesus to be the Messiah. His confession was correct — but incomplete. Professing the faith is only the beginning; living it is the real test. If Peter could “talk the talk,” Jesus now teaches him what it means to “walk the walk.”

The Jews of Jesus’ time expected a Messiah who would bring instant glory — military victory, national pride, prosperity, and power. So when Jesus spoke of suffering, rejection, and death, the disciples were shocked. This was not the Messiah they imagined. Peter, unable to hide his dismay, pulls Jesus aside and rebukes Him: “Heaven preserve you, Lord! This must never happen to you!” (Mt 16:22). But Jesus responds sharply: “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Many people have wondered why Jesus used the word “Satan” when he addressed Peter? Does he mean that Peter is Satan? The word “Satan” in Hebrew literally means “adversary” or “opponent,” not the devil himself. It refers to anyone who stands in opposition. When Jesus went into the wilderness to prepare for His public ministry, Satan tempted Him to follow a path different from the one chosen by the Father, acting as an adversary.

Later, when Peter opposed Jesus’ teaching about the cross, Jesus recognized in Peter’s reaction another temptation and rebuked him as an adversary. Jesus calls Peter “Satan” because Peter, out of love and fear, tries to stop Him from embracing the cross — and thus becomes an adversary to God’s saving plan, echoing the same temptation Satan had already tried: avoid the cross, choose comfort, abandon the mission.

Jesus speaks this way because He sees the cross not as defeat but as the salvation of the world. He does not focus on the weight of the cross but on the victory it will accomplish. He looks beyond suffering to the purpose for which He came — to save humanity through sacrificial love. Jesus wants His disciples, and all of us, to understand something essential: to live in this world is to carry a cross. No one is exempt. Sometimes suffering comes from our choices; sometimes from the choices of others; sometimes from circumstances beyond our control. Many explanations have been offered for human suffering, yet none fully solves the mystery. What Jesus teaches is simple and honest: life in this world will always involve some measure of pain.

Therefore, when Jesus instructs us to take up our cross and follow Him, He is calling us to more than wearing a crucifix or hanging one in our car. He is inviting us to embrace self denial and sacrifice as part of daily life. He is asking us to believe that God can bring good even from the crosses that come our way. Often, these crosses keep us close to God or teach us obedience through discipline. In this way, the cross becomes a sacrifice offered for something of value: for God’s glory and for the good of our neighbor.

The message today is simple and unavoidable: we cannot live in this world without experiencing some form of the cross. Jesus had His own share of it. The world is the place for the cross; heaven is the place for the crown. Here we taste a bit of both. Hence the invitation: “Take up your cross and follow me.” Each of us must ask: What shift of values, what reordering of priorities, what refocusing of vision must take place in my heart so that I may carry my cross according to the mind of Christ? And may every sign of the cross we make remind us of the sacrifice we are called to embrace — the sacrifice that leads, through dying, to life.

08/23/2026

“WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?”

In this Sunday’s first reading, the key to the authority of the house of David was taken from Shebna, who served only himself, and entrusted to Eliakim, who served God and ruled with fairness and integrity. By this authority, Eliakim becomes the chief steward of the Davidic kingdom. This matters because this authority foreshadows the role Jesus gives to Peter in today’s Gospel.

The Gospel scene unfolds in Caesarea Philippi, a region filled with shrines to false gods and a cave believed to be the entrance to the “gates of Hades.” In this place of competing gods and rival claims, Jesus asks His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They answer with public opinion: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.

But Jesus is not satisfied with borrowed answers. He asks the deeper question: “But who do you say that I am?” The disciples fall silent until Peter speaks with conviction: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus chooses this location intentionally. Peter’s confession becomes a public renunciation of every false god worshipped in that region. It is a turning point; a moment of clarity that reveals who Jesus truly is and what the disciples’ mission must become.

Jesus stands in the prophetic tradition of Elijah, Jeremiah, and John the Baptist, but He is not merely “one of the prophets.” He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. God does not simply send Him; He is God’s presence among us. He does not merely point to salvation; He is our Savior. Recognizing this, Jesus entrusts Peter with a mission that mirrors Eliakim’s: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”

But the heart of this passage is not only authority but openness to revelation. God entrusts responsibility to those who are willing to listen. Peter is impulsive, often mistaken, and sometimes fearful, yet he is open to God’s revelation, open to being taught, open to letting God reshape his understanding. He returns to Jesus again and again. This openness allows him to see Jesus clearly, even in a place filled with confusion.

Today, like the people of Caesarea Philippi, many of us live in confusion about what is right, true, moral, human, sacred, family, love, and even who God is. Countless voices tell us who we should be, what we should believe, and where we should place our trust. We may serve God faithfully, attend Mass, pray novenas, volunteer in ministry, yet still not truly know who God is or how He responds to the concrete realities of our lives. This confusion makes faith fragile and leads many to ask, “Where is God in all this?”

So how do we gain the knowledge Peter had? We gain it by reading Scripture not as information but as revelation. Often we read the Bible the way we read a newspaper for facts, stories, or inspiration. Revelation, on the other hand, teaches us how God thinks, acts, and how God responds to human struggles. Only when Scripture becomes revelation does it become formation.

We achieve this knowledge that lets God reshape our lives through obedience. The deepest knowledge of God does not come from study; it comes from doing what He says. Obedience teaches God’s faithfulness, timing, protection, and wisdom. When we obey God in small things, we begin to understand Him in big things. This is why Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Obedience opens the door to revelation.

We can also gain the kind of knowledge of God that changes our lives through trials. It is in trials that we learn God’s comfort, strength, silence, surprises, and faithfulness. Trials reveal God in ways success never can. This is why faith that survives suffering becomes faith that can guide others.

If at the end of this Mass we go home and become more intentional in our resolve to know God more intimately and experientially, then when Jesus asks us, “Who do you say that I am?” our answer will not come from the world, but from revelation. He can then entrust us, like Peter, with responsibilities in our families, community and parish, and by that make us, in our own small ways, “a peg in a sure spot” that people can rely on.

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