Homilies about love

A Priest's Story: How God Loved Me as a Sinner and a Loser

Father David

The homily, delivered by a new parochial vicar, Father David, focuses on God's immense patience and unconditional love for sinners, drawing parallels with the Gospel parable of the weeds and the wheat. Father David shares a deeply personal testimony of his youth, marked by a struggle for acceptance, alcoholism, promiscuity, and resentment towards his parents, culminating in a suicidal crisis. He recounts how a simple question from a friend on a pilgrimage, "Don't you know there is a God who loves you as you are?", transformed his life, leading him to believe in God's mercy and eventually to the priesthood.

El Miedo No Es Respeto: Sanando Heridas Familiares en el Día del Padre

Padre Vicente Agila

The homily, delivered on Father's Day, explores the nature of fear, distinguishing between healthy and pathological fear. The priest shares a personal story of childhood trauma and his father's assassination, emphasizing that true faith means trusting in God's love rather than relying on external objects or superstitions. He encourages parishioners, especially spouses and children, to value and appreciate their fathers, recognizing their efforts and healing past wounds through love and understanding, rather than criticism or judgment.

Cómo Ser Oveja Entre Lobos: Valentía y Confianza en un Mundo Hostil

The homily emphasizes God's infinite and unconditional love, urging listeners to embrace reconciliation. It then addresses the challenges of being a Christian in a hostile world, highlighting the need for prudence and simplicity, and the comforting presence of the Holy Spirit. The priest shares personal anecdotes about facing conflict and persecution, encouraging perseverance and courage in defending one's faith.

Father's Day Homily: The Unseen Love of Fathers

Padre Nicolau

This homily, delivered on Father's Day, emphasizes the profound and often unacknowledged love of fathers. The priest shares personal anecdotes about his own father's wisdom and sacrifice, urging the congregation to express gratitude and seek forgiveness from their fathers, whether living or deceased. He highlights the unique role of fathers in giving life and providing guidance, contrasting it with the more openly expressed appreciation for mothers.

The Weeds Among the Wheat: How God's Patient Love Transforms Us

The homily emphasizes God's patient and merciful love, using the parable of the weeds among the wheat to illustrate how God allows good and evil to coexist, giving sinners a chance to repent. It highlights the Church's growth from humble beginnings despite persecutions and 'weeds' within, guided by God's hand. A personal story of an older brother's sacrificial love for his wayward younger brother, leading to the younger brother's conversion and vocation, underscores the transformative power of love and faith.

The Three Pillars of a Stable Marriage: Lessons from St. Benedict and Particle Physics

The homily for Jonathan and Mila's wedding focuses on the concept of 'stability' in marriage, drawing parallels from St. Benedict's monastic vows and a scientist's observation of subatomic particles that are stable only in threes. The priest emphasizes that a stable marriage requires the couple and Christ, forming a 'Trinity' of love and support, and encourages them to see and serve Christ in one another.

The Transforming Power of God's Word: A Murderer's Story

Phô Nguyễn Tất Hải

The homily emphasizes the power and generosity of God's word, which is sown everywhere, even in seemingly infertile ground. It highlights that God's word is not a word of force but of love and forgiveness, capable of transforming even the hardest hearts, as illustrated by the story of a Japanese murderer who converted in prison. The priest encourages listeners to open their hearts to God's word daily, allowing it to guide and illuminate their lives amidst the distractions and falsehoods of the modern world.

El Irremplazable Rol del Padre en la Familia: Abre las Puertas del Cielo para tus Hijos

The homily, delivered on Father's Day, emphasizes the crucial and irreplaceable role of fathers in the domestic church. It encourages fathers to embrace their ministry with love and courage, reminding them that their sacrifices are not forgotten by God and that their words and actions leave a lasting impact on their children, either opening or closing the doors of heaven for them.

How Suffering Gives Birth to a New Humanity

Father Henry

The homily explores how suffering and affliction, like the labor pains of childbirth, can lead to the birth of a 'new humanity' grounded in obedience, humility, and love. Drawing parallels between Jesus' temptations on the cross and our daily struggles, the priest emphasizes that these challenges, when faced with Christ-like disposition, produce character, endurance, and hope. A poignant story of an 11-year-old boy burying his stillborn sister illustrates how profound love and dignity can emerge from tragic circumstances.

¿Cómo la relación con tu padre terrenal afecta tu fe en Dios Padre?

Padre Noé Guerrero

The homily emphasizes that God is not just 'God' but our loving Father, who is always on our side and cares for us in every detail. It highlights that our earthly relationship with our fathers can influence how we perceive God as Father, urging parents to be affectionate and present to help their children develop a strong filial relationship with God. The core message is to abandon fears into the hands of this loving Father, who, like a parent, sees beyond our faults and loves us unconditionally.

Why God Allows Evil: Finding Strength and Love in Suffering

Father Michael

The homily challenges the common misconception of good and evil as equally matched forces, emphasizing that God has already triumphed. It encourages vigilance against negative influences and proactive confrontation of evil through charity, drawing parallels to the parables of the wheat and weeds, mustard seed, and yeast. The priest concludes by highlighting that suffering, when embraced with love for God, can lead to deeper faith and hope in the resurrection, rather than despair.

Why Jesus Says 'Let the Weeds and Wheat Grow Together'

Father Joe

The homily explores Jesus' parable of the weeds and the wheat, emphasizing that every person is a mixture of good and bad, and we are loved by God despite our imperfections. It warns against the dangerous temptation to divide people into 'weeds' and 'wheat' in the world, highlighting how this leads to hate and prevents us from recognizing our shared humanity and belonging to one another.

The Sacred Vocation of Fatherhood: Lessons from St. Joseph and a Father's Love

Father Benji

This homily, delivered on Father's Day, explores the vocation of fatherhood, emphasizing that being a dad is a sacred calling that mirrors God's love. It addresses common challenges fathers face and encourages them to be spiritual leaders, drawing inspiration from St. Joseph and Pope Francis's teaching that fathers are made through responsibility and care. The homily concludes with a poignant story about an elderly father and his son, highlighting the importance of showing love and gratitude to fathers.

Why God Lets 'Weeds' Grow: The Path to Patience and Love

Father Mark

The homily uses the parable of the weeds among the wheat to illustrate God's immense patience and mercy, contrasting it with human impatience. The priest shares personal anecdotes about his German Catholic father's strictness and his own struggles with patience, emphasizing that God teaches us patience and tolerance through difficult people and situations in our lives, which he calls "saint makers." He concludes by encouraging listeners to offer their daily struggles with impatience as a form of suffering to grow in love and humility.

The Power of Stubborn Faith: Lessons from Mustard Seeds, Weeds, and Yeast

The homily explores three parables—the mustard seed, the wheat and weeds, and the yeast—to illustrate the nature of the Catholic Church and Christian living. It emphasizes the virtues of stubbornness in faith, non-judgment toward others, and invisible, transformative influence, drawing parallels with historical figures and personal anecdotes.

¿Por Qué Seguimos Mendigando Amor Cuando Dios Ya Nos Ha Puesto Un Lugar En Su Mesa?

Padre Juan Diego

The homily explores the nature of God's heart, emphasizing that despite human infidelity and disappointment, God's love remains constant and unwavering. It challenges the belief that God abandons us due to our sins and urges listeners not to confuse human failures with God's faithfulness, encouraging them to seek fulfillment in God alone rather than in human approval.

Lucy's 'Five More Minutes': A Life Lived in Love and Gratitude

This homily, delivered as a eulogy, celebrates the life of Lucy Labonite Gaida Maram, a Filipino immigrant who embodied kindness, generosity, and deep family love. It highlights her unique personality, her 'Filipino time' approach to life, and her selfless devotion to her family both in America and the Philippines, emphasizing how she savored every moment and lived a life that was a 'sermon' of selfless love.

Finding Hope in Loss: Maria del Refugio Padilla's Legacy of Faith and Love

This homily, delivered at a funeral mass, emphasizes that despite the pain of death, believers find hope and consolation in Jesus' resurrection. The priest highlights that God is not distant from human suffering, but experienced it through Christ, and that living a life united with God gives meaning to suffering and ensures resurrection. The homily also includes heartfelt eulogies from the deceased's grandson and daughter, who share personal anecdotes and reflect on her deep faith, love for family, and gratitude, portraying her life as a testament to sowing good seeds and reaping a rich harvest of love and unity.

A Father's Day Homily: Lessons from 'Blackie' on Faith, Family, and God's Protection

This homily, delivered on Father's Day, uses the priest's deceased father, 'Blackie,' as a central figure to illustrate God's presence and the profound influence of fathers. It weaves together personal anecdotes about his father's military service, love for mountains, and unique parenting wisdom, connecting these experiences to themes of faith, divine protection, and the nature of God as a loving creator. The homily emphasizes that God, like a father, watches over and defends us, encouraging listeners not to be afraid.

Stop Judging: Why Love Requires Us to See Beyond Sin

Father Dominic

The homily emphasizes the Gospel's teaching to stop judging others, illustrating this with a personal story of a young woman who resorted to prostitution to support her sick parents, yet later found success. The priest also shares his own experience of being wrongly judged and having false stories spread about him, urging listeners to speak good things about others and to approach those they perceive as doing wrong with an invitation to change, rather than judgment.