BAPTISM OF THE LORD – A Called to a Heart-felt Faith (Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7; Psalm 28; Acts 10:34-38; Matthew 3:13-17) **************************************************** When Jesus anonymously joined the disciples on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection, he proceeded to explain to them all the prophecies in the scriptures that were about him. The first reading […]

HOMILY CHRISTMAS SEASON JANUARY 11th Children of God – Wisdom from John and John (1 Jn 5:14-21; Ps 149; Jn 3:22-30) *********************************************** Welcome to the second last day of the Christmas season, which officially ends tomorrow with the celebration of the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan. The readings today cover a broad stretch of […]

HOMILY CHRISTMAS SEASON – JANUARY 10th Faith, Eternal Life and Healing (1 Jn 5:5-13; Ps 147; Lk 5:12-16) ********************************************* Have you ever met a leper? Faith in Jesus can heal our modern leprosy and lead us to experience eternal life here and now. In the gospel, a man covered with leprosy appears before Jesus “in […]

HOMILY CHRISTMAS SEASON – JANUARY 9th Faith Expressed Through Love (1 Jn 4:19-5:4; Ps 71; Lk 4:14-22) ******************************************* The liturgy today invites us to deepen our faith in Jesus as the Messiah, revealing a God who is love, and then express that faith by living his commandment to love. In the first reading, John gives […]

HOMILY CHRISTMAS SEASON – JANUARY 8th Becoming Icons of God’s Love on Earth: Optional Memorial of St. Raymond of Penyfort (1 Jn 4:11-18; Ps 72; Mk 6:45-52) ************************************************* “… because as he is, so are we in this world.” For some reason, this sentence stood out for me as a focal point for this homily, […]

HOMILY WEEKDAYS OF CHRISTMAS – JANUARY 7th A God Who is Love, and Loving Like God: Memorial of St André Bessette (1 Jn 4:7-10; Ps 72; Mk 6:34-44) ******************************************** The readings today challenge us in two ways: how well do we really know God, and are we learning God’s language of love? John in the […]

HOMILY WEEKDAY OF CHRISTMAS – JANUARY 6th Living in the Kingdom through Faith and Love: (1 Jn 3:22-4:6; Ps 2; Mt 4:12-25) ************************************************* According to The Word Among Us, researchers interviewed American Christian youth, both Catholic and non-Catholic, for a recent study. The data indicated although they called themselves Christians, many of the young people […]

HOMILY FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY – YEAR A Living the Gifts of the Magi (Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72; Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6; Matthew 2:1-12) **************************************************************** Lay theologian Gerry Kelly of Ottawa has a theory that the authors of the bible wrote with the intention that each word was important and significant. This was partly because of […]

HOMILY CHRISTMAS SEASON – Jan 04 Singing A New Song (1 Jn 3:7-10; Ps 98; Jn 1:35-43) **************************************** “O sing to the Lord a new song.” That first sentence of the first stanza of the psalm today captures the spirit of the readings: We are to live a new life in Christ, the Lamb of […]

HOMILY CHRISTMAS SEASON – January 3rd Growing into Christ-likeness – The Holy Name of Jesus (1 Jn 2:29-3:6; Ps 98; Jn 1:29-34) *********************************************** One of the delights of returning to northern Saskatchewan for seasonal ministry is seeing the children of couples I knew as children, and guessing who their parents are. Often, it is obvious […]