Homilies

On August 15, Mother Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the fourth Glorious Mystery of the Holy Rosary. In some countries, the solemnity is transferred to the following Sunday to facilitate the participation of the faithful. This is a dogma of the Catholic Church, proclaimed by Pope Pius XII in 1950, declaring that the Mother of Jesus, at the end of her earthly life, was raised body and soul into Heaven. A dogma is a truth of faith taught by the Church, which must be embraced by the faithful. We begin the third week of the Month of Vocations, dedicated to Consecrated Religious Life. We pray for the perseverance of the religious men and women who follow Jesus through the radical practice of poverty, obedience, and chastity in the various institutes, orders, and congregations around the world; they enrich the Church with the charism and spirituality inherited from their founders, holding the Blessed Virgin Mary as their model and inspiration. To...

Continuing the Month of Vocations, we begin the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time with Mother Church, meditating on the vocation to Matrimony and praying for couples and families. Jesus confirmed to His disciples the Jewish teaching regarding the holiness and indissolubility of conjugal love, saying: "What God has joined together, let no one separate" (cf. Mark 10:9; Matthew 19:6; Genesis 2:24). The Church affirms the high dignity of the family, declaring it the domestic church and a sanctuary of life. Recalling the fourth commandment, the Church reaffirms parental authority over children and the children's duty to honor their parents, especially in sickness and old age. Addressing the sixth commandment, the Church teaches that the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and is called to chastity. And, delving into the ninth commandment, the Church upholds conjugal fidelity. As a model and source of intercession for families, the Church presents Jesus, Mary, and Joseph—the Hol...

Together with Mother Church, we begin the eighteenth week of Ordinary Time, deepening our knowledge and experience of Jesus Christ and His Church. We are in August, the month dedicated to vocations. Let us ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers for His harvest, for the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few (cf. Matthew 9.37-38). On this first weekend, we pray for vocations to the ordained ministry—bishops, priests, and deacons—as the liturgical feast of Saint John Vianney (the Curé d'Ars), patron of parish priests, approaches on August 4th. Today, the Evangelist Matthew tells us of the multiplication of the loaves and fish by Jesus to feed a great crowd of approximately five thousand men. Crowds set out on foot from their towns, bringing their sick to meet Jesus, who was in a remote, deserted place. Moved by compassion, Jesus healed the sick. Aware of the food shortage and the difficulty of obtaining provisions in that place, Jesus' disciples suggested that He dism...

Together with Mother Church, we begin the seventeenth week of Ordinary Time, growing in our experience and knowledge of Jesus Christ, of the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven, and of the mystery of the Church. As today is the fourth Sunday of July, we celebrate the 6th World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, instituted by Pope Francis, under the theme "I will never forget you" (cf. Isaiah 49.15). Let us pray for all the elderly, that they may be respected by their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. May grandparents and the elderly—bearing the mark of a long life and gray hair—be respected in their dignity. Today, the Evangelist Matthew speaks to us of the parables of the hidden treasure, the precious pearl, the net cast into the sea, and the treasure containing things both new and old. Jesus is the wise Teacher who uses the pedagogical tool of parables to address the complex and profound themes of the Kingdom of Heaven and the judgment at the end of time. ...

We begin the sixteenth week of Ordinary Time. The liturgy invites us to deepen our experience with Jesus Christ and His Word. Today, the Evangelist Matthew speaks to us of three parables—the weeds and the wheat, the mustard seed, and the yeast—which reveal the mystery of the Kingdom of God in our midst. Jesus presented us with the "weeds and the wheat." We live in a world marked by the presence of evil, but it is fundamental to understand: evil does not come from God. God is the source of all goodness and created us in His image and likeness. If evil exists, it is because human beings sometimes misuse their freedom—their free will—to distance themselves from the Creator. Yet, in His infinite mercy, God does not uproot the weeds immediately. He allows good and evil to coexist. Why this patience? Because God does not desire the death of the sinner, but rather their conversion. He gives us time to turn away from death and embrace life, right up until the day of final judgment. J...

We begin the fifteenth week of Ordinary Time with Mother Church, continuing our journey to deepen our experience of Jesus Christ and His teachings. Today, the Evangelist Matthew speaks to us of the famous Parable of the Sower. Jesus, who lived in a society deeply connected to nature and the simple lives of farmers and shepherds, used the realities of His time to proclaim the wonders of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. In this parable, Jesus is the Sower *par excellence*, scattering the seeds of the Good News. The seed is the Gospel—a word of life, transformation, and hope. However, the outcome depends on the "soil"—which represents us and the way we welcome this message of love. Some let the Word pass them by without it ever reaching their hearts. Others allow themselves to be distracted by the worries, responsibilities, and excessive ambitions of the world. Some face the challenge of breaking away from lifestyles contrary to the Gospel. We are invited to be "good soil...