HOMILY WEEK 17 06 – Year I Jubilee, Justice and Hope (Lev 25:1-17; Ps 67; Mt 14:1-12) ********************************* Have you walked through a Holy Door during the Jubilee Year of Mercy? Although that Jubilee Year ended in November of 2016, we are invited, as followers of Jesus, to live in rejoicing and gladness every day […]

HOMILY WEEKDAY 17 05 – Year I The Power of Ritual and Faith – Optional Memorial: St Peter Julian Eymard (Lev 23:1-37; Ps 81; Mt 13:54-58) ********************************************** It is common to think love supports marriage. Often, however, it is the other way around – marital commitment will support love, especially in tough times. The readings […]

HOMILY WEEK 17 04 – Year I Living Tabernacles and Mutual Indwelling – Memorial: St. Alphonsus Liguori (Ex 40:16-38; Ps 84; Mt 13:47-52) ********************************************* Over the years, Oblate retreat centres have learned the importance of titles for the programs that are offered. Often participants will come because a title caught their attention, created interest, and […]

HOMILY WEEK 17 03 – Year I Priceless Transformation – Memorial: St Ignatius of Loyola (Exodus 34:29-35; Ps 99; Mt 13:44-46) ************************************* The pearl is a very interesting analogy for life in the kingdom. Fred Sherrer, in a commentary on this gospel in an earlier Living with Christissue, explains: “Unlike other precious stones, the pearl […]

HOMILY WEEK 17 02 – Year I Living in the Kingdom (Ex 33:7-11; 34;4-9, 28; Ps 103; Mt 13:36-43) ********************************************* After Word Youth Days in Toronto in 2003, Ken Yasinski, a gifted young man from St. Walburg, Sask. was inspired to begin offering a series of youth retreats he called Face to Face. These retreats, […]

HOMILY SUNDAY 17 – C Lord, Teach Us to Pray (Genesis 18:20-21, 23-32; Psalm 138; Col 2:6-14; Luke 11:1-13) ************************************************************* Liturgists who choose the readings for each Sunday try to arrange a connection between the Gospel and the first reading. The second reading may also have an obvious connection, but that usually is secondary. Today’s […]

HOMILY WEEK 16 06 – Year I People of a New Covenant: Praise, Gratitude and Forgiveness (Ex 24:3-8; Ps 50; Mt 13:24-30) ****************************************************** Are you married? Committed to a life-long friendship? You are in a covenant relationship. The readings today designate us as a people of a new covenant comprised of praise, gratitude and forgiveness. […]

HOMILY – FEAST of ST JOACHIM AND ANNE (Sir 44:1, 8, 10-15; Ps 132; Mt 13:16-17) ********************************************** Today we celebrate the feast of St. Joachim and St. Anne, the parents of our mother Mary, and the grandparents of Jesus. The gospels are bereft of details regarding them – not even offering their names. What we […]

HOMILY – FEAST OF ST JAMES Life of Christ Within – Loving Service Without (2 Cor 4:7-15; Ps 126; Mt 20:20-28) ************************************** “We make living by what we get; we make a life by what we give away.” Those words by Sir Winston Churchill accompany the message of the readings today on this feast of […]

HOMILY WEEK 16 03 – Year I Life as a Wilderness Journey of Faith – Optional Memorial: St. Sharbel Makhluf (Ex 16:1-15; Ps 78; Mt 13:1-9) ******************************************* The longest journey in the world is often from our heads to our hearts. Today’s readings lead us into a wilderness journey to deeper faith and more mature […]