HOMILY WEEK 24 04 – Year I Love, Faith, Purity, Repentance and Forgiveness: Memorial of Saints Cornelius and Cyprian (1 Tm 4:12-16; Ps 111; Lk 7:36-50) ********************************************* Five key words describe and sum up the readings today: love, faith, purity, repentance and forgiveness. In the first reading, St. Paul provides interesting advice to a young […]

HOMILY WEEK 24 03 – Year I Memorial: Our Lady of Sorrows Mary – Model of Compassion and Redemptive Suffering (Heb 5:7-9; Ps 31; Lk 2:33-35 or Jn 19:25-27) ************************************************** A lady at a table in front of me in an airport restaurant noticed my cross and starting apologizing profusely for her coarse language. I […]

EXULTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS Look, Love and Live (Numbers 21:4-9/ Philippians 2:6-11; Psalm 78; John 3:13-17) ******************************************************* Do you know the origin of the symbol on a medical alert bracelet? The readings today provide the answer. A message provided by these readings is very simple and clear: Look to Jesus; love as he did, […]

HOMILY WEEK 24 01 – Year I Humble Faith Expressed through Prayer and Caring: Memorial of St. John Chrysostom (1 Tm 2:1-7; Ps 18; Lk 7:1-10) ********************************************** Can you imagine Jesus saying, “Not even in the Catholic Church have I found such faith!” Would that shock you, or would you find it thought provoking? The […]

HOMILY SUNDAY 24 – B The Cross as Redemptive Suffering (Isaiah 50:5-9; James 2:114-18; Mark 8:27-35) *************************************************** A woman back from shopping was showing her husband an expensive dress she had purchased. When he asked her why she bought a dress she did not really need, she replied that she couldn’t resist the temptation. Her […]

HOMILY WEEK 23 06 – Year I The Word of God as a Foundation (1 Tim 1:15-17; Ps 113; Lk 6:43-49) ******************************************* Recently, a young couple gave me a gift of a plaque that read, “Sometimes you just have to bow your head, say a prayer and weather the storm.” That saying fits the gospel […]

WEEKDAY HOMILY WEEK 23 05 – Year I Living The Great Commandment through Self-awareness (1 Tim 1:1-14; Ps 16; Lk 6:39-42) *************************************************** The readings today remind me of one of the most basic teachings of the bible: the Great Commandment given to us by Jesus. That is, to love God with our whole being, then […]

HOMILY WEEK 23 04 – Year I God’s Chosen Ones – Mandate and Methodology: Optional Memorial of St. Peter Claver (Col 3:12-17; Ps 150; Lk 6:27-38) *************************************************** Do you belong to an organization, business or club? If you do, chances are your organization has a mission statement articulating its “raison-d’être”, its purpose, along with a […]

FEAST of the NATIVITY OF MARY – WEEK 23 03 – Year I Trust and Transformation (Rm 8:28-30/Micah 5:2-5; Ps 13; Mt 1:1-23) ********************************************* Have you had to make a difficult decision lately and felt very alone? Have you ever wondered where was God in a particular painful situation? The readings on this feast of […]

HOMILY WEEK 23 02 – Year I Staying Rooted in Jesus Christ (Col 2:6-16; Ps 145; Lk 6:12-19) ************************************************************ One of the many scenes of destruction portrayed on television during the wrath of Hurricane Irma was that of a homeowner watching and videoing the uprooting of a huge tree in her backyard. As the tree […]