HOMILY WEEK 27 03 – Year I An Extreme Faith Makeover: Optional Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII (Jonah 4:1-11; Ps 86; Lk 11:1-4) ************************************************* “Extreme Makeover” shows on TV that involve the transformation of plain looking persons or run-down houses into a stunning display of poise and beauty all end with a “big reveal” […]

HOMILY WEEK 27 02 – Year I Genuine Repentance and Mature Prayer: (Jonah 3:1-10; Ps 129; Lk 10:38-42) ************************************************ Usually, the liturgists who choose the readings for the Eucharist try to find a link or connection between the reading and the gospel. Not so today – the readings provide us with two very distinct messages […]

HOMILY WEEK 27 01 – Year I An Attitude of Faithful Obedience and Compassionate Caring: Optional Memorial of St. John Leonardi (Jonah 1:1-2:1, 10; Jonah 2; Lk 10:25-37) ************************************************************* The readings today, for this optional memorial of St. John Leonardi, invites us to check out attitude towards God’s infinite mercy and how well we live […]

HOMILY SUNDAY 27-A The Vineyard Given to Others (Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80; Philippians 4:6-9; Matthew 21:33-43 ***************************************************** How are you responding to God’s call to build up his kingdom here on earth? Cherish the greatest gift of all – the Kingdom of God. Live in it and never lose it. I once began a garden […]

  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 […]

HOMILY WEEK 26 05 – Year I Listen and Repent: Optional Memorial of Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher (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: Optional Memorial of St. Faustina Kowalska (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 […]

WEEK 26 03 – Year I Lessons Learned on the Way: Memorial – St Francis of Assisi (Neh 2:1-8; Ps 137; Lk 9:57-62) ****************************************** Have you ever been on a pilgrimage, or walked the El Camino de Santiago trail in France and Spain? If so, you will find it easy to identify with today’s gospel. […]

HOMILY WEEKDAY 26 02 – Year I Attraction, Not Promotion (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 a Samaritan priest. He was adamant they were the real Jews; that Abraham had come […]

HOMILY WEEK 26 01 – Year I Believing in Angels: Memorial of the Holy 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 […]