HOMILY WEEK 07 02 – Year II Humble, Childlike, Trusting Faith (James 4:1-10; Ps 55; Mk 9:30-37) ************************************** “Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” This admonition from St. James in the first reading is the key to understanding the readings of today’s liturgy, and a strong invitation for us to pray […]

HOMILY WEEK 07 01 – Year II The Healing Power of Faith, Prayer and Fasting (James 3:13-18; Ps 19: Mk 9:14-29) ********************************************** “This kind can be driven out only through prayer and fasting.” This comment, and today’s readings, invite us to deepen our faith through prayer, and consider making fasting part of following Jesus as […]

HOMILY SUNDAY 7 – A Be Holy as God is Holy (Lev 19:1-2, 17-18; Ps 103; 1 Cor 3:16-23; Mt 5:38-48) ******************************************************** A priest and a cowboy were riding along. The cowboy was not only talking incessantly, he did not listen to a thing the priest was trying to say. Finally, in desperation the priest […]

HOMILY WEEK 06 06 – Year II The Chair of St. Peter (1 Pt 5:1-4; Ps 23; Mt 16:13-19) ********************************** In 1988, on a trip to Edmonton, a lay couple and I were able to sit on the bed and chair used by Pope JP II at the then Grey Nun’s Center in Edmonton, where […]

HOMILY WEEK 06 05 – Year II Taking up Our Cross: Radical Discipleship and Redemptive Suffering Optional Memorial of St. Peter Damian (James 2:14-24, 46; Ps 112; Mk 8:34-9:1) *********************************************** A man, tired of the cross he was given to carry, went into a cross shop to get another one. All the ones he tried […]

HOMILY WEEK 06 04 – Year II Faith in a Revolutionary Messiah (James 2:1-9; Ps 34; Mark 8:27-33) *************************************** A woman who promised her husband she was just going window shopping and would not buy anything, returned with a very expensive dress. Quite upset, he asked her why she did that when she had promised […]

HOMILY WEEKDAY 06 03 – Year II The Word of God: A Healing Power and a Power to be Lived (Jm 1:19-27; Ps 15; Mk 8:22-26) ****************************************************** “Be doers of the Word” and “he saw everything clearly.” These two sentences capture the essence of the message from today’s readings – we are to live the […]

HOMILY WEEK 06 01 – Year II Humility, Wisdom and Joy: Optional Memorial of the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order (James 1:1-11; Ps 119; Mk 8:11-13) *********************************************************** Humility, Wisdom, Joy. Those three words can be a profound seven-syllable mantra for contemplative prayer emerging from today’s readings. They provide us with a compelling message: […]

HOMILY SUNDAY 06 – Year A Living and Loving Wisely (Sirach 15:15-20; Ps 119; 1 Cor 2:6-10; Mt 5:17-37) *************************************************** “It is part of spiritual wisdom to be able to see the eagle in the egg; butterfly in the caterpillar; saint in the sinner.” That quote from Sr. Joan Chittester, noted spiritual writer and speaker, […]

HOMILY WEEK 05 06 – Year II Jesus – Bread of Life: Faith Versus Faithlessness (1 Kg 12:26-34; Ps 106; Mk 8:1-10) ******************************************** A new waitress was told by a customer he wanted two headlights and four hubcaps, without any explanation. The kitchen staff, who knew the customer as a joker, told her he wanted […]