Category: homilies

Trinity Sunday is a difficult day for preachers. We start by saying “the Holy Trinity is a mystery.” Then we take the next 10 or 15 minutes minutes trying to explain that mystery. And as hard as that is for us, it is even harder for you, who have to sit through that long and […]

Let’s take a moment to enter into the Gospel and readings on this Ascension Sunday – We see the scene painted in the words of Acts and of our Gospel …. Jesus ascends in a cloud into the sky.  And the eleven are standing, looking up in wonder and amazement. Then Angels appear – messengers […]

John 4.5-42 How true it is of our human nature that we so often define ourselves by our failures, especially when others know that we have stumbled and treat us poorly as a result.  How often we hear our inner voice telling us that we do not measure up to whatever illusion of perfection we […]

We have now left the Christmas season, and have come back into Ordinary Time.  Just like in Advent when we heard a lot about John the Baptist, so too – we start off this Ordinary time hearing about John again in todays Gospel. And, no surprise here, our Gospel reading today is layered with deeper and deeper […]

As much as I enjoy the Gospel of Luke (Luke kind of tells you what’s going on and always tells you how Jesus is feeling about things. And if you want to know what happened with the women, Luke will tell you), John though, John is always filled with so many layers. Whenever you read […]

There is a fundamental problem with the way society treats this time of the year.  And nowhere is it more obvious than on this Gaudete Sunday …..  This “Rejoice” Sunday. The day when we celebrate JOY And the problem, simply put, is this ….. The message that surrounds us at this time of year is that to find […]

In a few short weeks, I will turn 70,  and enter into a whole new decade of my life.  It seems as if these decades are coming along faster and faster.  I wouldn’t be surprised if I turn 80 by next Thursday. And so, as is likely typical for many of you as you approach […]

When we hear the words of Luke in todays Gospel, telling of the 10 lepers that were healed ….. and the one (and only one) who came back to thank God for the healing, we can easily dismiss the other 9 lepers as being insensitive, ungrateful. And maybe just a product of the society that […]

What a powerful and disturbing message the Gospel of Luke and the reading from Amos presents to us this 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time! In our first reading, Amos is speaking to his world in the 8th century B. C. And like in our Old Testament reading last week, Amos powerfully comments on how indifferent […]

We live in a world that is made up of pyramids.   We are surrounded by structures and relationships that seem to focus on one entity at the top, with more and more entities spread out below.   It is how we organize ourselves to do things, and it seems to be the way the […]

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)  [Ecclesiastes 1,2]  Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher,
 vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
 Sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill
must leave all to be enjoyed by another
 who did not toil for it.
 What does a person get from all their toil and strain, […]

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.  All of them […]

My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, in regard to what he has given me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and […]

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace […]

One of the questions I asked myself a lot in my early days of searching for God was Why did Jesus have to die?  Why was today, which marks Jesus’ crucifixion, called Good Friday? It is a mystery that I believe we continually wrestle with as we journey in our spiritual life.  And each year on Good Friday, confronted again […]

Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was […]

Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he […]

[C] OT4 A few weeks ago we were reflecting on the power of Scripture in our lives. In fact, the Pope had set aside a particular weekend for us to be able to focus on Scripture. You know, so many of us will have lots of books on our Kindles and our Kobos. We’ll have […]

There is something about Christmas that kids get, almost without explanation, and that we as adults can perhaps – overthink. As adults, we ask ourselves questions like … “why would God come to earth as a poor baby?”  I mean, it makes for a cute story, but … really –  Not with power?  Not like a cosmic miracle? […]

In life, we need to prepare for anything that is important. Advent is no different. Last week, the first Sunday of Advent, our Gospel told us about scary, ominous things. Signs in the skies. Roaring of thunder. Perplexity of nations.  Surreal.  Almost so surreal that we could miss the most important message, which was “beware that your hearts don’t […]