HOMILY WEEK 14 04 – Year I Go and Announce the Good News of Reconciliation (Gen 44:18 – 45:5; Ps 105; Mt 10:7-15) ****************************************** David Wells, a well-known educator from England, spoke at the Los Angeles Religions Education Congress recently. His talk focused on the two words that begin today’s gospel: “Go” and “Announce.” His […]

HOMILY WEEK 14 03 – Year I Go to the Peripheries as Missionary Disciples (Gen 41:55-57; 42:5-24; Ps 33; Mt 10:1-7) ************************************************ “Go to the peripheries and to the marginalized.” “Reach out and touch the poor.” “Take on the smell of the sheep.” “I prefer a church that is messy.” Many people would recognize these […]

HOMILY WEEK 14 02 – Year I Wrestling with the Great Mystery: Optional Memorial of St. Maria Goretti (Gen 32:22-32; Ps 17; Mt 9:32-38) ************************************************************* Life is a mystery to be lived, not a problem to solved. Today’s readings invite us to wrestle with the mystery of our faith and to follow Jesus more closely. […]

HOMILY WEEK 14 01 – Year I Trust, Tithing, and Transformation: Optional Memorial of St. Anthony Zaccaria (Gen 28:10-22; Ps 91; Mt 9:18-26) **************************************** A hundred-dollar bill, a twenty-dollar bill and a Loony were having a serious conversation about life one day. The hundred-dollar bill said that it had a very good life – it […]

HOMILY SUNDAY 14 – B Called To Be Prophets (Ezk 2:2-5; Ps 122; 2 Cor 12:7-10; Mk 6:1-6) ******************************************* Have you ever thought of yourself as a prophet? To be baptized into Jesus Christ means that we are all called to be prophets. Our baptismal call is often taken for granted. We know that we […]

HOMILY WEEK 13 06 – Year I Feast of St. Thomas: Faith, Identity, Transformation and Mission (Eph 2:19-22; Ps 117; Jn 20:24-29) *********************************************************** A trip to Chenai, India, would not be complete without a visit to the tomb where tradition tells us St. Thomas is buried, after evangelizing and laying the foundations of the church […]

HOMILY WEEK 13 05 – Year I Following Jesus More Closely (Gen 23:1-24:62-67; Ps 106; Mt 9:9-13) ************************************** “Follow me” – two cryptic words spoken by Jesus that changed a troubled person’s life, and can change ours as well. Today’s liturgy invites us to follow Jesus into a more compassionate way of living. The next […]

HOMILY WEEK 13 04 – Year I Living in the Presence of the Lord – Canada Day (Gen 22:1-19; Ps 116; Mt 9:1-8) ************************************************* Today’s psalm response extends to us an important invitation to “Walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.” That raises the question – how does one […]

HOMILY WEEK 13 03 – Year I Be the First Fruits of God’s Creation: Optional Memorial of the First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church (Gen 21:5-20; Ps 34; Mt 8:28-34) ********************************************************* “That we might be as the first fruits of God’s creation.” That interesting quote from the gospel acclamation today becomes for us both […]

HOMILY – SOLEMNITY of SAINTS PETER AND PAUL Apostles of Forgiveness and Evangelization (Acts 12:1-11; Ps 34; 2 Tim 4:6-8;17-18; Mt 16:13-19) *************************************************** Today’s solemnity invites us to reflect on two foundational figures of the early Church, to be inspired by them and to learn from them. St. Peter and St. Paul met only a […]