Four minute homilies

Parable of the weeds             These Sundays the parables in the Gospel try to explain the kingdom of heaven: it is impossible. To do so we need an infinite number of parables. We should be very keen to know more about our homeland. The more we know about our goal the more we quicken our pace. It is important for us to fix our eyes on heaven, to look forward to our destination. Jesus has prepare...

Parable of the sower             Today Jesus talks to us with a parable. Why? Because we find difficult to understand his message. He needs to use images, comparisons, material things for us to reach the spiritual ones. We are body and soul, and through our body we reach the soul. The kingdom of heaven is so rich that Jesus needs to use different earthly images for us to understand things better,...

To become like children             “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones.” God loves children. Jesus complains to his apostles: “Let the children come to me.” It is easy for children to believe in miracles and angels. When we grow up we lose our capacity for the spiritu...

Love of God              “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” It is a very strong statement. Why is Jesus saying this? Because we have been created to love God above everything. This is our inner make up, our only way to be happy in the long run. We have to put God first, we need to centre ourselves a...

Body and Soul             “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” “Be not afraid” is the verse in the Bible most googled by people. We are afraid of the future, of the unknown, of whatever could happen to us. These are the first words that came out of the mouth of John Paul II when he was el...

The harvest is plentiful             Today in the Gospel we read that “at the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus is moved by compassion and he feels the need to help us when we are anxious and depressed. It is great to see that Jesus knows our troubles and he is ready to find a way to solve...

Corpus Christi             Today we are going to take Jesus to the streets. We are going to walk with him, to take a stroll with him, to accompany him around the streets of the church. And we are going to play music, use incense and bring him flowers. We wish to bring the flowers of our good deeds. During the day we gather little flowers that we find along the way and we manage to put together a n...

Holy Trinity             We are talking today about the summit of our Christian faith, the mystery of the Holy Trinity. When we walk through other mysteries, we need to walk on tiptoe; now we need to postrate ourselves in front of the majesty of God, touch the floor with our forehead and keep silence. This is holy ground. We cannot see God and live. But God has opened his intimate life to us. He h...

Pentecost             With Pentecost we come to the end of Easter. We have been preparing ourselves for a while to receive the Holy Spirit. Once a year we have the opportunity to get to know the third person of the Holy Trinity better, who Saint Josemaria calls the Great Unknown. He is still unknown and we would like to become closer to him. It is easy for us to see God as a Father. Easier to see...

Ascension             Saint Bernardine of Siena tells the story of a young fellow who went to the Holy Land and tried to follow Jesus’ footsteps. He began in Nazareth, then Bethlehem, Cana of Galilee, Caparnaum and Jerusalem. He followed Jesus’ life from the beginning till the end. He arrived eventually to the place of the ascension. There is now a circular church that used to have an open roof to...

The Will of God             Today we hear in the Gospel: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” How much do I love God? How much am I ready to do anything for him? It is as simple as that. Love is not feelings but uniting our will to the will of God. Marriage is to become one, in body and soul, in will and spirit. You love somebody when you are ready to do his or her will. When two peopl...

Way, Truth and Life             Jesus was telling his disciples: I have to go and prepare a place for you, then I’ll come back and take you to myself; and you know the way. Thomas, a down to earth man, complained: Master, we do not know where you are going, how can we know the way? Thanks to Thomas’ logic, we have these beautiful words from Our Lord: “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Jesus i...

The Good Shepherd             Every fourth Sunday of Easter we have the Gospel of the good shepherd. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, who leads his flock to good pastures, who knows his sheep one by one and calls us by our name. It gives us a lot of confidence to know that we have a great shepherd to lead us to heaven. All we need to do is to follow him. The early Christians loved this depiction of Jes...

Emmaus             The road to Emmaus resembles our own journey. We are pilgrims. We can identify ourselves with these two disciples, who went back to their village, after Jesus’ death. It was all over. In fact, we only know the name of one of them, Cleophas; we can easily be the other one. We had placed our desires and ideals on that man whom we thought was the Messiah. We followed him for three...

Thomas             When Jesus came to meet the apostles after the resurrection Thomas was not there. Where was he? We don’t know. Did he go shopping? Did he go fishing? Maybe he was still running away. All we know is that he wasn’t there. We need to be there when Jesus comes. No excuses. We cannot miss our Lord. We need Him. He comes when he likes and we need to be ready, waiting.             When...

Easter Sunday             Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early on Sunday morning and found it empty. She was the first one to discover the empty tomb. It is very important for us the empty tomb. It shows that Jesus rose from the dead. It is empty because Jesus overcame death. It is an icon of the resurrection. Mary ran back and told Peter and John about the tomb. Both ran to the tomb to check it...

Good Friday             After the homily we are going to bring the crucifix veiled, Jesus crucified hiding behind a purple cloth. Purple used to be a royal colour, because it was the most expensive colorant to produce. Herod covered Jesus with a purple robe, to mock him. This is why we use this colour. We cover the crucifix because we don’t know if he is still alive; we don’t want to see him dying...

Palm Sunday             Why did Jesus enter in Jerusalem on a donkey? He could have come on a horse or on a camel, more elegant animals, sitting higher to be able to be seen and have a better view. But he wanted to fulfill the Scriptures. They said that the Messiah had to come riding on a donkey. Why did the Scriptures prophesied on a donkey and not another animal? Because the donkey is a humble,...

Lent 5 A Lazarus              “Lord, him whom you love is ill.” The same can be said of us. We are sick to death by sin, and we need Jesus to either cure us or resurrect us from death. He loves us with divine love and he is ready to come to help us at very short notice. But, can it be said the other way around? Can others say to Jesus: your friend, the one who thinks about you, who wants to spend...

Lent 4 A The blind man              Last Sunday we looked at one of the four natural elements, water, indispensable for human life. It is very much part of the beginning of our Christian life, when we are baptised. Without water there can be neither natural nor supernatural life. This Sunday we consider another crucial element, light, without which life cannot grow either. It is part of the rite o...

Lent 3 A Samaritan woman             Today we meet a different Jesus, less attractive, more human, more like us. After two days journey from Jerusalem, he is tired, dirty and thirsty. He is all alone, sitting at the edge of Jacob’s well. His disciples had gone to the nearby village to get some food and water. Nobody stayed with him; they were too hungry or too thirsty to keep him company. Jesus co...

Lent 2 The Transfiguration of Jesus              Last Sunday we went with Jesus down to the desert. This week he is asking us to accompany him up Mount Thabor. We went down through penance and repentance; now, purified and cleansed, we climb up to the heights of the spiritual life, with the new wings sacrifice and mortification have given to us. Even though it is only 300 metres above the plain, i...

Lent 1 Temptations Jesus goes to the desert led by the spirit to be tempted. He allows himself to be tested, to share our normal ordinary existence. By doing this, Jesus has entered the drama of human experience. We accompany him, to learn from him, to share his strength. Jesus fought and defended himself as a man, with the same weapons we have. We go to the desert with Jesus, like the desert fath...

Ash Wednesday             “Return to me”, the Lord is telling us on the first reading of today’s Mass. It means that we have been wandering off, we have lost our direction and we need to stop and come back. We have been going rather in the opposite direction, towards our own ego, our selfishness and our pride. Return to me, turn around, do a “u” turn. It is hard to do it; it demands a small conver...

Love your enemies              An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. This was the old law. It is a bit harsh for us: if you steal something, you loose your hand; if you kill, you are killed. It was good then, to stop successive acts of revenge. Justice was made, the deed repaid; no need to further action. They say that an eye for an eye eventually would leave the whole world blind. But Jesus...