HOMILY ADVENT WEEK 03 01 – Year I Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and National Day of Prayer in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples (Rev 11:19, 12:1-10/Zech 2:10-13; Judith 13; Lk 1:39-47) ******************************************************* There are two options for the first reading on this Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The richness and appropriateness of the […]

HOMILY ADVENT WEEK 02 03 – Year II Faith, Forgiveness, Healing and Rest: Memorial of St. Damasus I (Is 40:25-31; Ps 103; Mt 11:28-30) ******************************************* How strong is your faith? The readings today invite us to have a strong faith in God experienced through forgiveness, healing and rest. The first reading from Isaiah and Psalm […]

HOMILY ADVENT WEEK 02 02 – Year II God as Loving Father and Good Shepherd: Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Loretto (Is 40:1-11; Ps 96; Mt 18:12-14) ************************************************ There’s nothing like a parable to illustrate a spiritual point in a new way, or to offer new insight to a familiar point. Jesus used these […]

SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Balancing Devotion to, with Imitation of, Mary (Gen 3:9-20; Ps 98; Eph 1:3-12; Lk 1:26-38) ********************************************************** In November – December of 2016 and again in 2018, I was chaplain for a group of pilgrims to the Holy Land and was privileged to preside at the Eucharist commemorating this feast of […]

HOMILY ADVENT SUN 2-C Repent, and Be a People of Hope (Baruch 5:1-9; Psalm 126; Phil 1:3-6, 8-11; Luke 3:1-6) ************************************************************* Joe was amazed at how his friend Bob treated his wife during a visit at their house. Bob hugged his wife when she came home from shopping, thanked her for all she did, complimented […]

HOMILY ADVENT WEEK 01 06 – Year II Isaiah’s Offering of Hope and Healing: Optional Memorial of St. Ambrose (Is 30:19-26; Ps 147; Mt 9:35 – 10:8) **************************************************** Are you shocked at the number of drug-related deaths due to the opioid crisis in our society today (2,500 in BC alone in 2023)? Could that be […]

HOMILY ADVENT WEEK 01 05 – Year II Seeing with the Eyes of Faith: Optional Memorial of St. Nicholas (Isaiah 29:17-24; Ps 27; Mt 9:27-31) *********************************************** “Do you see what I see?” This line from a familiar Christmas Carol, along with today’s readings, invites us to see Jesus with the eyes of faith, and come […]

HOMILY ADVENT WEEK 01 04 – Year II Humble and Obedient Faith in God (Isaiah 26:1-6; Ps 118; Mt 7:21, 24-27) *************************************************** “Only the ones who do the will of my Father in heaven will enter the kingdom of God.” Jesus could not be clearer or more direct than this teaching: “Not everyone who says […]

HOMILY ADVENT WEEK 01 03 – Year II Realized Eschatology and Abundant Grace: Optional Memorial of St. John Damascene (Is 25:6-10; Ps 23; Mt 15:29-37) ************************************************* Did you realize that we are to be immersed in realized eschatology? Christian life is all about both living in the graced reign of God here and now, while […]

HOMILY ADVENT WEEK 01 01- Year II Faith and Love (Is 2:1-5; Ps 122; Mt 8:5-11, 13) ********************************************** “Many will come from the east and the west and will recline … at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11). Today’s readings for this first weekday of Advent invite us to place our complete […]