HOMILY WEEK 20 01- Year I Our Journey into Deeper Healing: Memorial of St. Pius X (Judges 2:11-19; Ps 106; Mt 19:16-22) ************************************************* Where are we at on our healing journey? The readings today fit the two stages of spiritual growth described by St. John of the Cross – the Dark Night of the Senses, […]

HOMILY SUNDAY 20 – A Great Faith and Joyful Salvation (Isaiah 56:1, 6-7; Psalm 67; Romans 11:13-15; 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28) ************************************************************* “For soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed.” The readings today invite us to pray for a great faith that will lead us to experience more deeply the salvation and deliverance […]

HOMILY WEEK 19 06 – Year I The Power of Covenant Love: Optional Memorial of St. John Eudes (Jos 24:14-29; Ps 16; Mt 19:13-15) *************************************** Joshua made a covenant with the people. (Joshua 24:25)  What appeals most to you – living a contract, or a covenant? There is an important difference between a biblical covenant […]

HOMILY WEEKDAY 19 05 – Year I Eunuchs on a Healing Journey for the Kingdom of God (Jos 24:1-13; Ps 136; Mt 19:3-12) *********************************************** The first reading today seems to miss a few other groups the Israelites had to face upon entering the promised land: the Gigabytes and the Terrabytes! Each reading today holds a […]

HOMILY WEEKDAY 19 – 04 Our Own Exodus Journey and Paschal Mystery Experience (Jos 3:7-17; Ps 114; Mt 18:21-19:1) **************************************************** One day, Ronnie, a tall Cree recovering alcoholic, came into my office and shared his story with me: a drunk for years; sobriety; joining AA; a dry drunk for four years, organizing Round-ups and chairing […]

HOMILY WEEK 19 03 – Year I The Power of Forgiveness: Optional Memorial of St. Stephen of Hungary (Dt 34:1-12; Ps 66; Mt 18:15-20) *************************************** Ken Yasinski from St. Walburg, Sask., developed a Face-to-Face retreat for youth in response to Pope JP II’s challenge at WYD in Toronto. It is a dynamic retreat of music, […]

HOMILY WEEK 19 04 – Year I  The Assumption of Mary – A Call to Greater Justice (Rev 11:19, 12:1-6, 10; Ps 45; 1 Cor 15:20-26; Lk 1:39-56) **************************************************** The feast of the Assumption we are celebrating today comes to us, not from scripture as such, but from the lived tradition of the Church, the […]

HOMILY WEEK 19 01 – Year I A Religion of the Heart: Memorial of St Maximilian Kolbe (Dt 10:12-22; Ps 147; Mt 17:22-27) ************************************************ “Act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with our God.” That quote, taken from the prophet Micah, aptly summarizes the message of today’s readings – to walk humbly with our God […]

HOMILY SUNDAY 19 – A The Sound of Sheer Silence (1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a; Psalm 85; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:22-33) *********************************************************** A group of friends and I took the tram up the mountain in Jasper one summer. We then climbed up and over the nearest peak, and found ourselves in Marmot Basin where the ski […]

HOMILY WEEK 18 06 – Year I Our Mustard Seed Faith: Optional Memorial of St. Jane Frances de Chantal (Dt 6:4-13; Ps 18:2-51; Mt 17:14-20) **************************************** On a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, I noticed a Jewish man wrap a coil of leather around his arm and proceed to pray in a corner of the […]