HOMILY WEEK 01 04 – Year I Torah and Temple, or Partners of Christ: Memorial of St. Marguerite Bourgeoys (Heb 3:7-14; Ps 95; Mk 1:40-45) ************************************************* Have you ever felt guilty for not picking up a hitch-hiker? Or not reaching out to a person seemingly lost in a parking lot? Today’s liturgy invites us to […]

HOMILY WEEK 01 03 – Year I Faith in Jesus as One of Us (Heb 2:14-18; Ps 105; Mk 1:29-39) *********************************** Some students of human behaviour strive to follow the paradigm: Who, What, Where, Why, When and How? when writing on a certain topic. These questions pretty well assure that every aspect of a given […]

HOMILY WEEKDAY 01 02 – Year I Jesus: True God and True Man (Heb 2:5-12; Ps 8; Mk 1:21-28) ***************************************** Our Christian faith invites us to worship Jesus as divine, and relate to his humanity as a brother. The author of Hebrews in yesterday’s first reading seemed very intent on establishing the identity of Jesus, […]

HOMILY WEEK 34 06 – Year II On Being Alert and Ready through Prayer, Hope and Trust (Rev 22:1-7; Ps 95; Lk 21:34-36) ******************************************************* Stop, drop and roll! Over the years, children were taught these three words to help them remember what to do in the event of a fire. They were to stop running […]

HOMILY WEEK 34 05 – Year II Experiencing the Newness of the Kingdom of God: Optional Memorial of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr (Rev 20:1-21:2; Ps 84; Lk 21:29-33) ********************************************** There is a scene in Mel Gibson’s movie Passion of the Christ in which Jesus, bloodied and battered from his torture and carrying […]

HOMILY WEEK 34 04 – Year II Invited to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb: Memorial of Saint Andrew Dung-Lac, Priest and Companions (Rev 18:1-23, 19:1-3; Ps 100; Lk 21:20-28) *********************************************** On the last day of our stay in Jerusalem, our group of pilgrims went to the Western Wall. It happened to be a Thursday […]

HOMILY WEEK 34 03 – Year II Worship and Witness: Optional Memorial of St. Clement I, Pope and Martyr (Rev 15:1-4; Ps 98; Lk 21:12-19) ********************************************** During this last week of the liturgical year, the readings continue an apocalyptic theme, and present us with two scenes – a heavenly one and an earthly one and […]

HOMILY WEEK 34 02 – Year II Carpe Diem:  Memorial of St. Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr (Rev 14:14-19; Ps 96; Lk 21:5-11) **************************************************** A message offered us by the movie Dead Poet’s Society is Carpe Diem – to grasp the day, to make the most of our time each day. Our liturgy today in this […]

HOMILY WEEK 34 01 – Year II Giving All to Christ: The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Rev 14:1-5; Ps 24; Lk 21:1-4) ************************************** The message of the gospel today is to put our complete faith in Christ; to surrender to him totally. It is interesting that in one translation, Jesus looked up and […]

HOMILY SUNDAY 34 – C Christ – Another Kind of King (2 Samuel 5:1-3; Colossians 1:12-20; Luke 23:35-43) ****************************************************** Have you ever met a king or a queen? Believe, repent, and let Jesus be your Lord and King, the center of your life. When Cast C of the International Singing Group “Up With People” was […]