SOLEMNITY: ALL SAINTS DAY 2023 Living In the Reign as Saintly Servants and Children of God (Rev 7:2-4, 9-14; Ps 24; 1 Jn 3:1-3; Mt 5:1-12) ******************************************************** “It is heaven all the way to heaven.” This statement from St. Catherine of Sienna, and the All Saints Liturgy today, invite us to live in the reign […]

HOMILY WEEK 30 02 – Year I Groaning with Transformative Hope (Rm 8:18-25; Ps 126; Lk 13:18-21) ************************************ A woman, who had lost her wedding ring while gardening, found it decades later encircling a carrot that she pulled up. Apparently, the tiny carrot seed that she planted grew through the ring that fit snugly around […]

HOMILY WEEK 30 01 – Year I Live in the Spirit and Loving Like Jesus (Rm 8:11-17; Ps 68; Lk 13:10-17) ********************************************** Which rings true for you: Law over love, or love over law? As adopted children of God, we are to die to sin, live in the Spirit, and make loving others our highest […]

HOMILY SUNDAY 30 – A The Bible in a Sentence (Exodus 22:21-27; Psalm 18; 1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10; Matthew 22:34-40) *************************************************************** How would you summarize the whole Bible in just a few sentences? Jesus does just that in the Gospel today, with his teaching to love God with our whole being, and to love our neighbours […]

HOMILY WEEK 29 06 – Year I Our Identity and Life in Christ: Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude (Eph 2:19-22; Ps 19; Lk 6:12-19) ***************************************** Today’s readings, and this feast, firmly establish our identity in Christ, and what it means to live in Christ. The late motivational speaker Serge LeClerc claimed throughout his […]

HOMILY WEEK 29 05 – Year I Gratitude for Salvation (Rm 7:18-25a; Ps 119; Lk 12:54-59) ********************************** Have you ever wished you were further along your spiritual path than you are, still struggling with some sin and sinfulness in your life? If so, you are in good company. St. Paul in his letter to the […]

HOMILY WEEK 29 04 – Year I Living in Freedom as Children of God (Rm 6:19-23; Ps 1; Lk 12:49-53) ********************************************* “You were slaves of sin… and have become slaves of God.” Slavery is not a word we like to hear. It brings to mind some of the worst abuses of humanity, including within our […]

HOMILY WEEK 29 03 – Year I Instruments of Righteousness (Rm 6:12-18; Ps 124; Lk 12:39-48) ********************************************* “Present yourselves to God as instruments of righteousness.” That sentence from the first reading to the Romans, the reading itself and the gospel combine to offer us a clear two-pronged message: let go of sin and do the […]

HOMILY WEEK 29 02 – Year I On Being Good and Ready: Optional Memorial of St. Anthony Mary Claret (Rm 5:12-21; Ps 40; Lk 12:35-38) *************************************** According to Bishop Robert Barron, in today’s Gospel Jesus urges us to be ready for his second coming, similar to John the Baptist preparing us: “Make ready the way […]

HOMILY WEEK 29 01 – Year I On Being Rich Towards God: Optional Memorial of St. John of Capistrano (Rm 4:20-25; Lk 1:69-75; Lk 12:13-21) ************************************* A hundred-dollar bill, a twenty-dollar bill and a Looney were having a serious conversation about live one day. The hundred-dollar bill boasted he had a very good life, as […]