HOMILY WEEK 27 01 – Year I An Attitude of Faithful Obedience and Compassionate Caring: Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary (Jonah 1:1-2:1, 10; Jonah 2; Lk 10:25-37) ***************************************************************** Two priests in adjacent parishes, who were a bit competitive in their ministry, found themselves at a social gathering where they were expected to say […]

HOMILY SUN 27-C Faith that Hopes, Serves and Loves (Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4; Psalm 95; 2 Tim 1:6-8; 13-14; Luke 17:5-10) ************************************************************* A fellow was hiking in the mountains when he fell over a cliff. Halfway down the face of the mountain, he luckily managed to grab hold of a branch with both hands that stopped […]

HOMILY WEEK 26 06 – Year I Faith, Repent, Serve: a recipe for joy (Bar 4:5-29; Ps 69; Lk 10:17-24) ******************************************** When was the last time you felt a moment of pure joy? That probably doesn’t happen often, partly because as Henri Nouwen wrote, in this life there is no such thing as a clear-cut […]

HOMILY WEEK 26 05 –  Year I Listen and Repent: Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi (Bar 1:15-22; Ps 79; Lk 10:13-16) ************************************************** “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory” and “Admitted to God, ourselves and another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs” These two sentences are Step 4 and Step 5 of […]

WEEKDAY 26 04 – Year I A Six-Pack for Discipleship (Nehemiah 8:1-12; Ps 19; Lk 10:1-12) **************************************************** Was there ever a moment when a passage of scripture brought tears to your eyes? That was the experience of the exiles who returned to Jerusalem and assembled around the priest Ezra to hear the words of the […]

HOMILY WEEK 26 02 – Year I Believing in Angels: Memorial of the Guardian Angels (Exodus 23:20-23; Ps 91; Mt 18:1-5, 10) ****************************************** A young boy asked his parents to be alone with his newly born baby sister. The parents listened in and heard him say to his little sister, “Quick, tell me what God […]

HOMILY WEEKDAY 26 02 – Year I Attraction, Not Promotion: Memorial of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus – Virgin and Doctor of the Church (Zech 8:20-23; Ps 87; Lk 9:51-56) ****************************************** While I was in the Holy Land taking a course at Tantur Ecumenical Institute, we were privileged to visit a Samaritan community and […]

HOMILY WEEK 26 01 – Year I Loving and Living the Word with Humble Faith and Childlike Simplicity: Memorial of St. Jerome (Zech 8:1-8; Ps 102; Lk 9:46-50) ************************************************************** Have you ever heard God speaking to you? Would you like to have a more intimate relationship with God? Then love, and live the Word of […]

HOMILY SUNDAY 26 – C To Love is to Care (Amos 6:1, 4-7; Psalm 146; 1 Timothy 6:11-16; Luke 16:19-31) ************************************************************ “Alas for those who are at ease in Zion, who lie on beds of ivory, but are not grieved over the sin of Joseph.” “But are not grieved over the sin of Joseph.” This […]

HOMILY WEEK 25 06 – Year I The Paradox of Presence, Suffering and Persecution: Optional Memorial of St. Lorenzo Ruiz and Companions [Adapted from The Word Among Us] (Zech 2:1-11; Jer 31; Lk 9:43-45) *********************************************** Have you ever heard of a chancel lamp? It is that lantern or candle in a church that tells us […]