HOMILY WEEK 18 06 – Year I Our Mustard Seed Faith (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 airport, as his wife and children waited. Then […]

FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD Being Attentive to the Mystery (Dan 7:9-10/2 Pt 1:16-19, 13-14; Ps 97; Mt 17:1-9) ********************************************** “You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place.” Those words in the optional reading from St. Peter, a witness to the transfiguration, invite […]

HOMILY WEEK 18 04 – Year I Faith Like a Rock – Key to the Kingdom: Memorial of Blessed Frédéric Janssoone (Num 20:1-13; Ps 95; Mt 16;13-23) ************************************** Powerful archetypal readings today invite us to deeper faith in Jesus that will unlock the key to the kingdom of God. The delicate yet deliberate connection between […]

HOMILY WEEK 18 03 – Year I Strong Faith and Persistent Prayer (Num 13:1-33, 14:1-35; Ps 106; Mt 15:21-28) ******************************************* Today’s readings focus our attention on the titles of Jesus as Lord and Son of David. We are invited to place our faith in Jesus precisely as Lord and Son of David, and turn to […]

HOMILY WEEK 18 02 Growing in Faith (Num 12:1-13; Ps 51; Mt 15:1-14) ************************************** Ron, who hailed from a French-Canadian family, married a Protestant English woman. His staunch French-Canadian aunt in Quebec was shocked and very upset, not because she was Protestant, but because she was English – the first English person in that particular […]

HOMILY WEEK 18 01 – Year I Faith in Jesus as the Bread of Life: Optional Memorial of St Peter Julian Eymard (Num 11:4-15; Ps 81; Mt 14:13-21) ******************************************** “Moses said to the Lord” and “Jesus withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself.” Those two quotes from the readings today encourage us […]

SUNDAY 18 – B Change, Conversion and Transformation (Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15, 31a; Psalm 78; Ephesians 4:17, 20-24; John 6:24-35) ************************************************************* A saying attributed to Cardinal John Henry Newman fits the readings today: “To live is to change; to live well is to have changed much.” St. Paul, in the second reading to the Ephesians, puts […]

HOMILY WEEK 17 06 – Year I Jubilee, Justice and Hope: Memorial of St Ignatius of Loyola (Lev 25:1-17; Ps 67; Mt 14:1-12) ************************************** Have you walked through a Holy Door during the Jubilee Year of Mercy? Although that Jubilee Year ended in November of 2016, we are invited, as followers of Jesus, to live […]

HOMILY WEEKDAY 17 05 – Year I The Power of Ritual and Faith – Optional Memorial: St. Peter Chrysologus (Lev 23:1-37; Ps 81; Mt 13:54-58) ********************************************** It is common to think love supports marriage. Often, however, it is the other way around – marital commitment will support love, especially in tough times. The readings today […]

HOMILY WEEK 17 04 – Year I Living Tabernacles and Mutual Indwelling – Memorial: St. Martha (Ex 40:16-38; Ps 84; Mt 13:47-52) ********************************************* The readings invite us to be tabernacles of God’s presence in the world as we dwell with God and God with us in Christ. When our pilgrim group was in the Holy […]