Father Weerackoon’s Homilies and Talks

8th Sunday of Ordinary Time

How do we allow Jesus to take the wooden beam out of our own eye so that we can see better? Ask yourself: when was the last time you thought your opinion was wrong? We probably don’t remember. We always think we’re correct. But if we recognize that Jesus is always right, then we give Him permission to take the wooden beam out of our eye, and through the wooden beam of the cross, He will lift us up to heaven.

7th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Our human instinct is to get back at our enemies and those who hurt us. But Jesus gives us three concrete ways to love our enemies - to do good with our actions, to bless them with our words, and to pray for them with our thoughts so that we transform, change, and inspire our enemies.

6th Sunday of Ordinary Time

We need to learn to weep and be vulnerable with Jesus, because He can hold our pain and because He gives us His shoulder to cry on. And when we do so, we will hear Jesus tell us: "Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh."

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Isaiah, Peter, and Paul all had their sins - but that's not what God saw. God saw in them a treasure because they acknowledged their sins and He called them to be saints. We too are called to be in God's family, to be vulnerable, loving, forgiving, and to share a communal life so that we too may be saints.

The Presentation of the Lord

Jesus is the Lord, the mighty in battle, who is presented in the Temple as our true high priest to free us from sin, death, and the devil. So we can take confidence that we are not alone in this battle because we are equipped with what we need for battle by the Lord, strong and mighty, mighty in battle, the king of glory.

3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

In proclaiming a year acceptable to the Lord, Jesus is proclaiming a year of Jubilee, because Jesus has come to liberate captives and freeing people from the worst type of slavery – the slavery to sin and the power of the devil. And so let's take advantage to have all our debts cleared by our merciful Savior by returning to Confession and obtaining two plenary indulgences a day for the poor souls in purgatory in this year acceptable to the Lord, in this year of Jubilee.

2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Jesus is our bridegroom who fills us with the new wine. When we’re exhausted, He fills us with His strength. When we’re dejected, He fills us with hope. When we’re anxious, He fills us with peace. When we’re sad, He fills us with joy. And most of all, He wants to fill us with a deep sense of His love so that we live in a true spousal relationship with our bridegroom.

The Baptism of the Lord

Jesus's Baptism is a twofold reminder to us that: (1) Jesus identifies with us even in our sinfulness, and (2) that our identity lies not in our sins or our shame, nor in our progress and productivity or our failures, but in being a beloved child of God in whom the Father is well pleased. 

Holy Family Sunday

The Holy Family certainly dealt with problems and anxiety, and because of that, they show our families how to deal with problems and overcome anxiety, because it’s not about the problems we face in life. It’s about who you are with. And when we learn to pray and forgive within our family, the our family too will become a holy family.

Christmas Vigil Mass

The family of Jesus, as recounted in the genealogy, is filled with sins and failings, but the great revelation of Christ becoming man is that He comes to redeem us in our brokenness, because God uses every family in His plan for salvation. Because names are important. Families are important. You are important.