We Are True & Living Temples of God | Reflection on the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome

We Are True & Living Temples of God

To read the texts, click on the texts: Ez 47:1-2, 8-9,12; 1 Cor 3: 9-11,16-17; Jn 2:13-22

Today’s feast celebrates not just a building, but a profound truth — that God chooses to dwell among His people and within them. The Lateran Basilica, the cathedral of the Pope as Bishop of Rome, is the “mother and head of all churches.” Its dedication reminds us that every sacred space, from the grandest basilica to the humblest chapel, points to an even more sacred reality: We ourselves are the living temples of God. The readings of the day beautifully trace this divine presence from the temple in Ezekiel’s vision, where life-giving water flows from the sanctuary, to St. Paul’s bold proclamation that “you are God’s temple,” and finally to Jesus’ revelation of His body as the true temple of God. These are not separate truths but a movement: from the physical temple to the human heart, from structure to spirit.

It is in this light that we should understand the Gospel event in which Jesus cleanses the temple. In him, there is more zeal than anger— zeal for the holiness of God’s dwelling. Jesus’s action reveals that worship is not about commerce or convenience; it is about communion. The Feast of the Lateran Basilica, therefore, calls us to the truth that we are not just visitors to the temple; we ourselves are the temple. The real dedication celebrated today is not of stones and marbles, but of hearts ready to welcome the Divine. 

Our task, then, is to let the living water of God’s grace flow from us — into our relationships, communities, and the wounded world around us. When we live as God’s dwelling, our words heal, our actions nourish, and our presence brings peace. Hence, today’s feast is a timely reminder for us to examine the “marketplaces” within ourselves— the distractions, inordinate or disordered attachments, addictions, and compromises—that turn our sacred spaces, both physical and spiritual, into places of transaction rather than transformation. The same Christ who overturned tables in Jerusalem wants to overturn whatever clutters the inner temple of our lives today, so that the Spirit can dwell freely in us, and our communion with God becomes fuller. 

Introspective Questions:

1.     How can I allow God’s living water to flow through me and bring life and healing to me and to others through me?

2.     What “moneychangers” or “distractions” need to be driven out from the temple of my heart to make room for God’s true and free presence within it?

3.     In what ways can I honor and care for the true and living “temple” that is both my body and my community, recognizing that God’s Spirit dwells within?

Healing is Wide, But Salvation is Personal | Sunday Reflection

Healing is Wide, But Salvation is Personal

To read the texts, click on the texts: 2 Kgs 5:14-17; 2 Tim 2:8-13; Lk 17:11-19

The readings for this Sunday bring us face-to-face with a profound distinction and truth: healing is poured out broadly to those who call upon the Lord, while salvation is for those who seek him through faith, perseverance, and personal relationship. 

In the first reading, Naaman the Syrian, a foreigner, plunges into the Jordan and is cleansed of his leprosy. His healing is immediate, but what follows is even more important—his recognition of the God of Israel as the one true God. Healing opened the door, but it was gratitude and conversion of heart that drew him toward salvation.

The Gospel account of the ten lepers echoes this truth. All ten are healed by the merciful word of Jesus, yet only one—the Samaritan, a foreigner—returns in thanksgiving. His healing was not merely of the body but of the heart. To him alone Jesus says, “Your faith has saved you.” While ten were healed, only one was saved. This distinction is striking: all who cry out in their need can experience God’s healing touch, but salvation requires the deeper response of gratitude, faith, and the turning of one’s life toward God. Healing can restore us, but salvation transforms us.

Paul’s words to Timothy remind us that salvation is bound up with suffering, fidelity, and enduring in Christ. Healing can be a moment, but salvation is a lifelong journey of faith. While we may falter or be unfaithful, Christ remains faithful—ever inviting us back into communion with him. Yet salvation is not automatic; it requires our yes, our perseverance, and our willingness to acknowledge the Lord as Savior.

Today, in a world plagued by crises of care, where many seek healing—whether physical, emotional, or spiritual— these readings challenge us to look beyond the gift to the Giver. Healing may restore us to health, but salvation offers eternal life. Healing may bring relief for a season, but salvation brings communion with God forever. Gratitude, faith, and the willingness to follow Christ are what bridge the gap between receiving a gift and embracing the fullness of salvation. Thus, we are reminded: God’s mercy is wide, his healing is abundant, but salvation is personal. It requires the grateful heart that returns, the faithful heart that endures, and the surrendered heart that proclaims: “Jesus is Lord.” 

Hence, let us introspect: 

1. When have I received healing or blessings from God without returning in gratitude?
2. Do I seek only the gifts of God, or am I truly seeking God himself?
3. How can I deepen my response of faith so that healing moments in my life lead me closer to salvation?

Omaha, Farewell!

With deep gratitude, I give thanks to the Jesuit Community and the Ed.D. Department at Creighton University, Omaha, and the wider community of God’s people in Omaha, especially at Sacred Heart Parish, St. Benedict the Moor Parish, and the Sri Lankan Community. Over these past years, they have gifted me with friendship, faith, and a generous spirit.

Fr. Dave Korth, summing up my life-work in Omaha during the Sunday Mass at the Sacred Heart Parish, Omaha: https://youtu.be/n7nPrgG2TVI?si=Iy6q5JYjLwcbkpY5

The Sacred Heart Parish Choir, singing 'The Summons' for me during the Sunday Mass: https://youtu.be/FyCI9Q7QZyw?si=0qygimRY66zsac9J 

The final send-off and the blessing at the Sunday Mass at the Sacred Heart Parish, Omaha: https://youtu.be/c8xjeD-5jx0?si=437eUWyLqrJNiWbB

The farewell bid was not only a goodbye but also a reminder of the bonds that remain strong in Christ’s love. As I move into the next chapter of my journey at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California, I carry each and every one of them and the cherished memories so close to my heart.

Adios! Until we meet again!

Unless You Hate Your Father and Mother | Sunday Homily

Here is the link for my valledictory homily on the Gospel text of the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time at St. Benedict the Moor Parish, Omaha, NE, USA: Unless you hate your father and mother

To read the texts click on the texts: Wis 9:13-18; Pslm 9b,10, 12-17; Lk 14:25-33

Authority Through Availability | Daily Reflection

Authority Through Availability

To read the texts, click on the texts: 1 Thess 5:1-6, 9-11; Lk 4:31-37

Today’s readings remind us that true authority does not come from titles, power, or human recognition, but from being open and available to the call of the Lord.

In the Gospel, the people are astonished because Jesus teaches with authority. Unlike the scribes and religious leaders of His time, His words carry power—not because He imposed Himself, but because His life was fully aligned with the will of the Father. His authority came from His availability to God’s mission. It is the authority of love, rooted in His complete openness to God.

St. Paul, in the first reading, urges the Thessalonians to remain alert and sober, living as children of the light. Authority, in this sense, is not about controlling others but about encouraging, building up, and guiding one another toward salvation. This readiness—living in the light, staying awake to God’s presence—is itself a form of spiritual authority, because it speaks louder than words and transforms others.

Psalm 27 reminds us where this availability comes from: “One thing I ask of the Lord; this I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.” True authority flows from a heart rooted in prayer, in constant communion with God. When we gaze upon the loveliness of the Lord, our lives become grounded in His presence. We no longer act out of fear or self-preservation, but out of trust and courage, knowing that the Lord is our light and salvation.

Authority without availability becomes empty—mere control, influence, or fear. But authority born from availability to God becomes life-giving. It builds up, heals, and sets people free, just as Christ did in the synagogue. Hence, let’s introspect:

1. Am I truly available to the Lord’s call?

2. Do I create space in my life to listen to His voice in prayer, in Scripture, in the needs of my brothers and sisters?

3. Or do I allow myself to be distracted, caught in the illusion of “peace and security,” as St. Paul warns, forgetting that the day of the Lord comes unexpectedly?

 

Ordination Anniversary

Eight years ago today, I laid my life at the altar, not fully knowing where the journey would lead. Looking back now, I see how much has changed in me, how much I’ve been stretched, challenged, and blessed along the way.

I’ve learned that the priesthood is less about what I do and more about who I am becoming in Christ. Some days I’ve carried the ministry with joy and energy; other days, I’ve felt tired, inadequate, even uncertain. Yet in all of it, God has been faithful. He has met me in my weakness, lifted me in prayer, and reminded me that this call is His gift, not my achievement.

I think of the faces I have encountered, the names that nourished my vocation, and the events and stories that have shaped these years—the Civil war in Sri Lanka since my birth in 1983; the Tsunami in 2004, the year of my joing the Jesuit Order; the loss of my grandma on the first day of my theological studies in Paris in 2014; the death of my priesthood companion, Fr. Nilan Prasanga Fernando, S.J., in 2018; the Easter Bombings in my parish church at Katuwapitiya, Negombo, Sri Lanka in 2019; the Covid-19 lockdown in 2021; the recession and people's struggle (Aragalaya) in Sri Lanka; the loss of my dad in July 2025 as I was defending my doctoral dissertation in the USA—and the people who welcomed me into their lives, who allowed me to stand with them in grief and in celebration. They’ve been living reminders that my priesthood is not my own but belongs to the people of God. Each Mass celebrated, each homily preached, each hand I have held in moments of sorrow or joy has reminded me that the priesthood is not my achievement, but God’s work through me.

Tonight, I feel both humbled and grateful. I know I still have so much to learn, so many places in my heart that need softening, so many ways I need to grow in love. But I also know the Lord has never stopped walking with me.

Eight years in, I want to keep saying yes with more honesty, more availability, and more trust. May I never lose the sense of wonder at this vocation.

Thank you, Lord, for calling me, for staying with me, and for making my imperfect offering pleasing enough.

How Pleasing Am I to God Today? | Reflection on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

To read the texts, click on the texts: Rev 11:19; 12:1-6,10;1 Cor 15:20-26; Lk 1:39-56

On the 1st of November 1950, the Holy Catholic Church, together with then Pope Venerable Pius XII, took a significant leap in its catholic doctrines, and with that, the entire humanity was elevated or raised to a level that no created being had ever achieved before. And that is what we celebrate today.

Today, we celebrate the assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the feast of Mary taken into heaven with her entire body and soul following the end of her life on earth.

This is our feast. This is the pride of humanity. It is because this human woman, who lived a flesh and blood life like any one of us on earth, was given that highest honor, which is second to nobody but Christ, the son of God, the new Adam, who was taken up to heaven with his entire body and soul after his death and resurrection.

We go to celebrate with Mary because, humanity, which has been created after the image and likeness of God, yet fallen due to its own pride, was forgiven and restored back to its original state through this human woman, this new Eve, whose name was Mary, a Canaanite woman, who was raised up like any other girl-child in Judea, who went about attending to the daily chores perhaps with her bear feet, who fetched water like any other woman at a common well, who was faithful to her promise or ‘yes’ to the Lord come what may, and as a result who was so chosen by God to mother and nurture his own son, the savior, our Lord Jesus Christ.

On this feast day, as we hail Mama Mary for living a life so dignified, so exemplary, so chosen, so wanted, and so honored as a creature by the creator, we ask a few questions:

What is it that God saw in her so much that he was so bent on not only choosing her but also glorifying her in his economy or plan of salvation?

Despite all the qualities and attributes, names, praises, and honor that we could ever give to Mary, our mother, if we fail to realize that one thing that God was so attracted to in her, I think we are going to miss the point here.

It is nothing but her lowliness. And she sings it well in the Magnificat as follows:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant….

He has mercy for those who fear him in every generation…

He has scattered the proud in their conceit, he has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly….

When it comes to Mary, while she gives all glory, pride, honor, and greatness to God, her greatness was found in her humility…her humble faithfulness to the Lord…

You see, my dear sisters and brothers, while it is pride that was the reason for the fall of not only humanity but also the angels, as it is believed in the tradition of Christianity, it is lowliness/humility which is the point of salvation…

This applies to us today as well…In my personal life, in my life with the family, in my marital vows, how humble and how faithful I am to God, to myself, to one another…Or has my pride taken me over, bogged me down, and constrained me into my earthly living in conceit, lies, deceit, false image and likeness, and putting up an altered self or ego before me and before others, finally leading into sin, pain, disharmony, and destruction with myself, with one another, and with the entire creation?

How “heavy” am I today so that even God finds it difficult to lift me up like Mary our Mother?

If God is to choose one of us today, how humble, how lowly, how ready, how simple, and how pleasing would he find me today that he would not be able to pass me by without choosing me just as he chose Mama Mary?