My dear parishioners, the scriptures proclaim, “In the beginning . . . the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.” And again, “God separated the light from the darkness.” [Gen 1:1-2,4] If you contemplate each day the sovereignty of God and the power of God’s grace, you will advance far on the road of your spiritual life. You will discover how your loving God helps you to conquer adversity and suffering, trials and disappointments, unfairness and wrongdoing in such a way that his divine perfection and purpose are ever before you magnified, not diminished...

My dear parishioners, Jesus Christ, in whose divine personhood resides the fullness of incomparable beauty and majesty, was faithful in all things throughout his earthly ministry so that many would choose salvation in his name. In Jesus, our loving heavenly father was pleased to bestow grace upon grace, raise him from the dead on the third day and receive him at his right hand in glory. More cherished than a multitude of good works is a priest’s solemn love of God, indeed his heartfelt love for God in ministry to others. When serving others exacts a high price, and it will, only God’s divine mercy can protect and sustain the priest and his ministry. Fortitude, the virtue that enables one to bear up when good things and good people are taken away, presupposes that a human being will experience grave difficulties in this world.  Indeed, some situations are marked by great suffering...

My dear parishioners, the expression in the ages of ages refers to the manifestation of divine mysteries beyond human understanding and impossibly beyond the vocabulary of time. Human beings, because we are mortal, perceive “ages” fundamentally in terms of past, present and future. Not so with God. Whether in the form of a thunder shaking the eternal cosmos or as a whisper in a moment of human time, God’s truth will forge the heavens’ stars and arrange the planets, summoning fire and ice to carve out valleys and fill the oceans...

My dear parishioners, in these difficult and trying days, many persons need encouragement for the sake of goodness. From Jesus, you “have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, (and) were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” [Eph 1:13] Do not despair of becoming holy. Do not think that holiness is yesterday’s relic or today’s smartphone app...

My dear parishioners, I have meditated often about the story of Our Lord’s feeding of the multitude as told in John’s gospel chapter 6. This miracle story of loaves and fishes is like the human soul, fully known by God but an infinite and compelling mystery to the human mind. Surely, we need the help of the Paraclete, God’s Spirit, to understand it...