Father Weerackoon’s Homilies and Talks

All Souls Day

We’re all going to die. But have you thought about your death? And do you pray for those who have died, those souls in purgatory most like you, those souls who struggled with the same sins you struggle with? Because if we each take a few moments each day to pray for the faithful departed, they will pray for us when they get to heaven so that we never have to go to purgatory, so that we can be saints here on earth, and ultimately, so that we can be saints in heaven.

30th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Unlike the Pharisee who never realized he needs God, the tax collector humbly recognizes his dependance on God, because prayer is not about what we do. Prayer is recognizing what God does for us. Prayer is recognizing: I need God.

29th Sunday of Ordinary Time

What are we supposed to do while we’re waiting for God to answer our prayers? We grow strong. We build character.

28th Sunday of Ordinary Time

The Samaritan leper who came to return thanks to Jesus was the only one who heard Jesus say: "Go, your faith has saved you." If we return thanks to God, we'll realize that God wants to give us so much more.

27th Sunday of Ordinary Time

What is your mulberry tree? More than just confessing our sins, we need to get to the roots of what's leading us into sin. God call us to have faith in Him to uproot our mulberry tree and our sins and plant it in the sea of God's mercy, because God can do great things even with little faith.

26th Sunday of Ordinary Time

The rich man ignored Lazarus who lay outside His door. Christ often lies outside the door of our heart, and He identifies with the person we might ignore or not give our time and attention. But if we open wide the gate of our hearts to Jesus and that person, Christ will open wide the gates of heaven to us.

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The dishonest steward isn't commended for being dishonest and cheating and stealing from his master, but he's commended for his foresight in planning for his future. So what Jesus is ultimately trying to teach us is to invest our future, our lives, our eternal inheritance and that of our children in Him. On this weekend of the Bishop's Appeal for Vocations, we need to remember that we're not just meant to help our children know what to do, but to form them on who they are meant to be, so that you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

When you look at the cross, do you see your bridegroom who's gone to war for you? Because the reason why we exalt the cross is because it's Christ's sign to you that you are worth it, that He will crush the devil and every temptation for you if you send it to the foot of the cross, for by His holy cross, Christ has redeemed the world.

23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

We all have things we struggle with, because we all have those former places of slavery where we were once slaves and held by sin. But we also have Christ who offers us freedom and gives us the strength to accept that cross daily by following Him. And when we pick up and carry our cross, then Jesus will pick us up and carry us to heaven.

22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

God certainly loves when we share the beautiful things in our lives. But what the Lord really wants is to make our heart His home, and He invites us to bring the poor aspects in our lives, the areas crippled by sin, and the parts that are lowest so that it can be moved to a higher place where we can receive His mercy, because sin has no hold when you make your heart Jesus’s home.