HOMILY LENT WEEK 04 02 – Year II Plunge into the Healing Waters of God’s Grace (Ezk 47:1-9, 12; Ps 46; Jn 5:1-6) *********************************************** Four times a week, I am in a swimming pool for a half-hour aquacize session. That practice not only provides health benefits for me, but also deepens my appreciation for the […]

HOMILY LENT WEEK 04 01 – Year II New Creation through Faith and Love (Isaiah 65:17-21; Ps 30; Jn 4:43-54) ******************************************** How strong is your faith? How deep is your love? Important questions, these, because today’s liturgy invites us to be part of God’s new creation through faith in Jesus, and love for one another […]

LENT SUNDAY 04 – C Act like God, Feel like God (Joshua 5:9, 10-12; Psalm 34; 2 Cor 5:17-21; Lk 15:1-3; 11-32) ************************************************************* Ron Rolheiser, Oblate theologian and spiritual writer, sometimes uses this saying in his presentations: Act like God, and you get to feel like God. Learn to forgive as God forgives, and you […]

HOMILY LENT WEEK 03 06 – Year II Letting Go of Living in Illusion (Hosea 6:1-6; Ps 51; Lk 18:9-14) ******************************************** Did you know that disillusionment is not necessarily a negative reality? It just means one was living an illusion, and has now become aware of it. Today’s readings invite us to let go of […]

SOLEMNITY OF THE ANNUNCIATION Birthing Jesus into the World in Imitation of Mary (Isaiah 7:10-14, 8:10d; Ps 40; Heb 10:4-10; Lk 1:26-28) ************************************************* Sr. Connie Piska UJ of Edmonton gave me a gift she made for my priestly ordination in 1974 that still hangs on a wall in the bathroom so that I see it […]

HOMILY LENT WEEK 03 04 – Year II Harden not Your Hearts (Jer 7:23-28; Ps 95; Lk 11:14-23) ***************************************** Healed people heal people; hurt people hurt people. Sin and sinfulness; stubbornness and disobedience seem to sum up the readings today, inviting us to be just the opposite – a people who are grounded in the […]

HOMILY WEEK 03 03 – Year II Loving Intimacy and Fulfilling the Law of Love: Optional Memorial of St. Turibius of Mogrovejo (Dt 4:1, 5-9; Ps 147; Mt 5:17-19) ********************************************* Two sentences sum up the message from today’s readings: “I have come, not to abolish but to fulfill” by Jesus in the gospel, and “What […]

HOMILY WEEK 03 02 – Year II Forgiveness and the Furnace of Resentment: (Dan 3:25-43; Ps 25; Mt 18:21-35) ********************************************* A lady confessed the sin of narcissism, of vanity to a priest. She claimed she was so beautiful that she was wasting countless hours admiring herself in the mirror, putting on make-up, neglecting her marriage […]

HOMILY LENT WEEK 03 01 – Year II The Healing Power of Humility (2 Kg 5:1-15a; Ps 42; Lk 4:24-30) ******************************************* What comes first – faith or healing? Ordinarily, we would automatically think the answer would be faith, as often in the scriptures, Jesus would say things like “Your faith has saved you” or ask, […]

LENT SUN 03- C Letters from the Desert (Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15; Psalm 103; 1 Cor 10:1-6, 10-12; Lk 13:1-9) ********************************************************* Many years ago, a well-known spiritual writer and mystic, Carlo Coretto, wrote a book entitled Letters from the Desert. It was quite popular when it came out, with its invitation to greater spiritual growth to […]