HOMILY EASTER SEASON WEEK 07 01 – Year II Firing Up Our Baptism: Optional Memorial of St. Maria Magdalene de’ Pazzi (Acts 19:1-8; Ps 68; Jn 16:29-33) ******************************************************* St. Thomas Aquinas once said, “God is sheer joy, and sheer joy demands company.” That saying is appropriate for us today. The readings today invite us to […]

ASCENSION OF THE LORD – YEAR A Witnesses Uniting Heaven and Earth (Acts 1:1-11; Ps 46; Eph 1:17-23; Mt 28:16-20) *************************************************** A woman died and went to heaven. St. Peter met her at the gate, and informed her that she had to spell a word to get in. “What is the word?” she asked. “Love,” […]

HOMILY EASTER SEASON WEEK 06 06 – Year II On Being Joyful Missionary Disciples (Acts 18:23-28; Ps 47; Jn 16:23-28) *************************************************** God is good – all the time! All the time – God is good! That saying, popular with some people, underlines the message from today’s readings: God is good, so believe in Him, love […]

HOMILY EASTER SEASON WEEK 06 05 – Year II Joyful Redemptive Suffering: Optional Memorial of St. Rita of Cassia (Acts 18:9-18; Ps 47; Jn 16:20-23) ************************************************** “You will have pain, but your pain will be turned into joy.” Today’s gospel invites us into a radical stance towards suffering and pain – to see it as […]

HOMILY EASTER SEASON WEEK 06 04 – Year II Singing A New Song: Optional Memorial of St. Eugene de Mazenod (Acts 18:1-8; Ps 98: Jn 16:16-20) *********************************************   Are you singing a new song? The readings today invite us to sing a new song, with a chorus that could be: “Jesus is risen, the Spirit […]

HOMILY EASTER SEASON WEEK 06 03 Year II Faith: Lived Out or Just Worn? (Acts 17:15, 22-18:1; Ps 148; Jn 16:12-15) ************************************************ Are we just wearing our faith, or truly living it? The readings today invite us to have a mature, genuine faith in God as Trinitarian relationship and Jesus as Risen Lord that will […]

HOMILY EASTER SEASON WEEKDAY 06 02 – Year II Servants of the Word (Acts 16:22-34; Ps 138: Jn 16:5-11) ******************************************************* “Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world, and to go to the Father.” This statement provides the background for the message from today’s readings: grounded in the love of Jesus […]

HOMILY EASTER SEASON WEEK 06 01 – Year II Knowing God and the Holy Spirit: Optional Memorial of St. Pope John 1 (Acts 16:11-15; Ps 149; Jn 15:26-16:4a) ********************************************** “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father…” That one sentence from Jesus suggests our complete faith in God as Trinitarian […]

HOMILY EASTER SUNDAY 06 – A Living in the Spirit (Acts 8:5-8; 14-17; 1 Pt 3:15-18; Jn 14:15-21) ******************************************** Although we are a few weeks away from the celebration of Pentecost, it is as if the liturgists who chose the readings could not wait. The reception of the Holy Spirit is front and center in […]

HOMILY EASTER SEASON WEEK EASTER 05 06 – Year II Steadfast Faith and Love (Acts 16:1-10; Psalm 100; Jn 15:18-21) ***************************************************** In the gospel, Jesus warns that just as he was misunderstood and persecuted, his followers will also be misunderstood and persecuted. We must pray for the faith to stay faithful in the light of […]