HOMILY WEEK 05 05 – Year I Shame and Fear – Speak and Hear (Gen 3:1-8; Ps 32; Mk 7:31-37) **************************************** What would you entitle a homily based on these readings? Many possible titles came to my mind: “A Not-so Original Sin; Sin and Sinfulness; Forgiveness and Healing; The Solution to Sin,” etc. What I […]

HOMILY WEEK 05 04 – Year I The Two Dimensions of Faith and Love: Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes (Gen 2:18-25; Ps 128; Mk 7:24-30) ********************************************* What are the names of the two girlfriends that a priest or bishop can have? The answer is Karen and Sharon. Caring and Sharing! Those two names […]

HOMILY WEEK 05 03 – Year I The Reality of Sin: Memorial of St. Scholastica (Gen 2:4-17; Ps 104; Mk 7:14-23) ************************************** A French preacher told his congregation that he was going to preach about hell – what the hell it is, where the hell it is, and how the hell to get there! Understanding […]

HOMILY WEEK 05 02 – Year I A Spirituality of Human Incompleteness (Gen 1:20-2:4; Ps 8; Mk 7) ******************************************* A child was paging through a large family bible when he came across a large Maple leaf his mother was drying in its pages. He ran to her excitedly to proclaim that he had found Adam’s […]

HOMILY WEEK 05 01 – Year I Creation and Recreation: Optional Memorial of St. Josephine Bakhita (Gen 1:1-19; Ps 104; Mk 6:53-56) ************************************************** The readings for an optional memorial like St. Josephine Bakhita today vary from year to year, thus presenting a different challenge to a homilist each time. Within the context of this memorial, […]

HOMILY SUNDAY 05 – B Living a Balanced Life of Prayer and Action (Job 7:1-4, 6-7; 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23; Mark 1:29-39) *********************************************************** Have you ever felt a strong desire to do more for God, to be more like Jesus? A good place to begin would be with prayer. Today’s liturgy is a strong call […]

HOMILY WEEK 04 06 – Year I Doing the Will of God: Memorial of St. Paul Miki and Companions (Heb 13:15-17, 20-21; Ps 23; Mk 6:30-34) ********************************************** On Feb 28, 1944, a young Dutch woman named Corrie ten Boom and her family were arrested and sent to concentration camps for running a safe house for […]

HOMILY WEEK 04 05 – Year I Loved and Loving: Memorial of St. Agatha (Heb 13:1-8; Ps 27; Mk 6:14-29) ********************************************* Today’s readings remind us of how loved we are by God, and invite us to live out of that love in a multiplicity of ways. The author of the letter to the Hebrews lays […]

HOMILY WEEK 04 04 – Year I Emissaries of a New Covenant (Heb 12:18-24; Ps 48; Mk 6:7-13) ***************************************** Do you realize that you are, or can be, part of an exciting, life-giving and life-changing missionary venture? The liturgy today is meant to blow wide open our concept of God, church, and mission, and send […]

HOMILY WEEK 04 03 – Year I Cavalry in Slow Motion: Optional Memorial of St. Blaise (Heb 12:4-15; Ps 103; Mk 6:1-6) *************************************** Archbishop Emeritus Adam Exner OMI speaks about martyrdom for us as “Calvary in slow motion.” We probably won’t be physically martyred, but are still called to die to ourselves day by day. […]