Too many books and too many homilies have presented love as an experience of joy and joy alone.  This must stop.  Love is from God, because God is love.  We must learn what love is from God, and when we do we will realize that it must include pain and suffering. 

Everything that Jesus did, from the incarnation to his miracles, from the choosing of the apostles to his passion, death and resurrection; it all reveals one foundational attitude which made it all possible: HUMILITY. In the person of Jesus we find the path to holiness, and it is all rooted in this one simple virtue/attitude: humility.

Many things we do in life do not belong to the area of generosity but to the area of justice.  Things like: faithfulness to God, kindness to other people, love for one's spouse, etc., these are all things that we ought to do.  Mercy is an act of offering more than what is owed, going beyond justice.  We are called to live mercy!

The commandment of love is one of the most misinterpreted teachings in our Christian tradition.  Are we called to practice "tough love" that challenges a sinner or "gentle love" that respects one's personal freedom? Here is my attempt at finding the balance.

The greatest gifts can cause most amount of damage when they are misused.  This is certainly true when it comes to the gift of freedom. Just as St. Peter forgets who his limitations and begins to rebuke Jesus, so can we.  

The fulness of truth of Jesus Christ can only be found in the Catholic Church! This dogmatic teaching of the Church is not discussed too often these days.  Is it too sensitive a topic for our present day homily? Maybe, but I'll give it a go anyway.

Our understanding of faith is very important, as faith is essential for salvation. In this homily we reflect on faith as a gift freely given to us, but not just for our own benefit, but also for the purpose of sharing it with others.  The universality of our faith is essential to the preaching of Jesus and must be taken very seriously. 

It seems that we are all surrounded by difficult situations and sources of frustrations.  How should we deal with it?  The answer is rooted in God's response to these situations.  We should pray for the grace to feel what God feels, and to see with God's perspective.  St. Paul helps us in how he reacts to the rejection of Jesus by many of his brothers and sisters in Rome. 

There were many struggles in the life of the Prophet Elijah, and most of them hand to do with the wife of King Ahab, namely Jezebel. All of Elijah's problems would have been solved if the king feared God more than his wife.  

It's amazing that even though we have not been given many visions of heaven in Sacred Scripture or in personal experiences of the saints, the reaction to those visions that we have had has been very similar: WE DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO EARTH. There is no one on this earth, and nothing in this world, that can give me what I was made for.