HOMILY EASTER SEASON WEEK 05 03 – Year I The True Vine and Fruitful Branches (Acts 15:1-6; Ps 122; Jn 15:1-8) ******************************************** When I began my strawberry patch, I bought two kinds of strawberry plants with some berries on them and planted them with great expectation. The berries that were on the plants grew, matured, […]

HOMILY EASTER SEASON WEEK 05 02 – Year I Being Missionary Disciples (Acts 14.19-28; Ps 145; Jn 14.27-31) ************************************************ To announce the release of a new movie, a trailer is often produced giving the viewer an idea of what the movie will be like, enticing viewers to go see the movie. The readings today are […]

HOMILY EASTER SEASON WEEK 05 01 – Year I Experiencing God Through Intimacy: Optional Memorial of Blessed Catherine of St. Augustine (Acts 14.5-18; Ps 115; Jn 14.21-26) *********************************************** When someone is on their deathbed, and sharing their last thoughts and words with us – we pay attention. The gospel today asks us to pay attention […]

HOMILY EASTER SEASON WEEK 03 04 Be Proclaimers and Evangelizers: Memorial of St.  Francois de Laval (2 Tim 4.1-5; Ps 96; Jn 10.11-16) ****************************************** “Evangelizare pauperibus misit me – Pauperes evangelizantur.” This phrase (“He has sent me to evangelize the poor – the poor are evangelized”) is the motto of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, […]

HOMILY EASTER SEASON WEEK 04 05 – Year I A Home for Us All (Acts 13:26-33; Ps 2; Jn 14.1-6) *********************************************** The late Oblate missionary, René Fumoleau, recounts the story of a house that burned down to the ground in one of the Indigenous communities he served in the NWT. When someone tried to console […]

HOMILY EASTER SEASON WEEK 04 04 – Year I After God’s Own Heart – Living a 9th Beatitude: Optional Memorial of Blessed Marie-Léonie Paradis (Acts 13.13-25; Ps 89; Jn 13.16-20) ***************************************************** If you were invited to speak in a synagogue, what would be your message? The readings today provide us with one: have faith in […]

HOMILY EASTER SEASON WEEK 05 01 – Year I Living and Praying the Paschal Mystery: Feast of Saints Philip and James (1 Cor 15:1-8; Ps 19; Jn 14:6-14) ******************************************** Today’s first reading begins with St. Paul reminding his readers of the Good News that he proclaimed to them in which they were “standing,” and by […]

HOMILY EASTER SEASON WEEK 04 02 – Year I A Positive Faith: Memorial of St. Athanasius (Acts 11.19-26; Ps 87; Jn 10.22-30) ************************************** Fr. Bryan Massingdale, a black priest who in 2017 received an honorary doctorate from the Oblate School of Theology for his ministry in theology and social justice, delivered a passionate and inspiring […]

HOMILY EASTER SEASON WEEK 04 01 – Year I The Cross and Resurrection: Optional Memorial of St Joseph the Worker (Acts 11.1-18; Ps 42; Jn 10.11-18) ********************************************* Sr. Lùcia Silva’s nephew was walking home one night with a friend when he looked up and saw they were by a tall wooden cross bathed in bright […]

HOMILY SUNDAY EASTER 04 – A Jesus – Shepherd and Gate (Acts 2:14a, 36b-41; Psalm 23; 1 Peter 2:20-25; Jn 10:1-10) **********************************************************  Do you have a picture of Jesus hanging on the wall in your home? If so, and most do, what image is it? Many have the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate […]