HOMILY ADVENT DEC 17th The Blessing of Our Genealogies (Gen 49:8-10; Ps 72; Mt 1:1-17) *************************************** Are there any skeletons in your family’s closet? Today’s readings can help us relax and trust that God can work marvels even with a less than holy family tree. Today we read the opening lines of Matthew’s Gospel—the first […]

HOMILY ADVENT WEEK 03 03 – Year II Meeting Our Expectations (Is 45:6-25; Ps 85; Lk 7:19-23) *********************************************** In the movie The Priest, a young priest knows of incest in a girl’s family but can’t break the seal of confession and can’t get her to talk to anyone about it. In desperation he leaves a […]

HOMILY ADVENT WEEK 03 02 – Year II God as Divine Dance (Zeph 3:1-13; Ps 34; Mt 21:28-32) **************************************** The Trappist monk and spiritual writer Thomas Merton taught that some people live “for” God; some people live “with” God, and some live “in” God. The readings today invite us above all to live “in” God. […]

HOMILY ADVENT WEEK 03 01 – Year II Responding to Prophecy with Authority: Memorial of St. John of the Cross (Num 24:2-27; Ps 25; Mt 21:23-27) ********************************************* How much authority do you exercise? Today’s readings invite us to speak out with faith and exercise our authority as baptized believers in Jesus. In the first reading […]

HOMILY ADVENT SUNDAY 3-B Be Light and Joy to a Dark World (Isaiah 61:1-2a, 10-11; Luke 1; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28) **************************************************************** When the British took over Ireland in the 17th century, Catholicism was suppressed and priests had to minister on the run. British soldiers began persecuting the “Roman faith,” as they put […]

HOMILY ADVENT WEEK 02 06 – Year I Coming Back to the Father, Through Jesus, in the Holy Spirit, With Mary our Mother Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe – National Day of Prayer in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples (Rev 11:19, 12:1-10; Judith 13; Lk 1:39-47) ******************************************************* There are two options for the first reading […]

WEEKDAY HOMILY ADVENT 02 05 – Year I The Light of God’s Word: Optional Memorial of St. Damasus I (Is 48:17-19; Ps 1; Mt 11:16-19) ******************************************************* Fr. René Fumoleau OMI recounts the story of an elder who commented to him that having faith in God was like driving a car at night. One journeyed without […]

HOMILY ADVENT WEEK 02 04 – Year I Purgatory – the Pain of Entering Heaven: Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Loretto (Isaiah 41:13-20; Ps 145; Mt 11:11-15) ********************************************************** “Since John the Baptist, the violent take heaven by force.” These are strange words. What are we to make of them? The readings today invite us […]

HOMILY ADVENT WEEK 02 03 – Year I Yoked with Jesus: Optional Memorial of St Juan Deigo Cuauhtlatoatzin (Is 40:25-31; Ps 103; Mt 11:28-30) *************************************************** In the gospel today, Jesus reassures us that his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. We are not to avoid suffering, but to turn to him for the […]

SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Balancing Devotion with Imitation (Gen 3:9-20; Ps 98; Eph 1:3-12; Lk 1:26-38) ********************************************************** A husband asked his wife why she had purchased an expensive dress after she had told him she was only going window shopping. She replied that she did go window shopping and when she saw that beautiful […]