HOMILY WEEK 30 05 – Year II Checking our Attitudes: Legalistic or Loving? (Phil 1:1-11; Ps 111; Lk 14:1-6) ******************************************** “How we do anything is how we do everything!” That intriguing statement by Fr. Richard Rohr OFM touches on the message from today’s readings inviting us to check our attitudes around the way we live […]

HOMILY WEEK 30 04 – Year II Putting on the Armour of God (Eph 6:10-21; Ps 144; Lk 13:31-35) ************************************ “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you!” According to the New Interpreter’s Bible, these are fateful words. Even though Luke here puzzlingly paints a more positive picture of the Pharisees than the […]

HOMILY WEEK 30 03 – Year II Our Identity and Life in Christ: Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude (Eph 2:19-22; Ps 19; Lk 6:12-19) ***************************************** A bartender told two strings who went into a bar for a drink the bar did not serve strings and kicked them out. One of the strings asked […]

HOMILY WEEK 30 02 – Year II Marriage and the Kingdom of God (Eph 5:21-33; Ps 128; Lk 13:18-21) ******************************************* It has been said that the marriage bed is comparable to an altar for a married couple. That statement, and the readings today, present us with the message that marital commitment and achieving intimacy are […]

HOMILY WEEK 30 01 – Year II Living as Children of Light (Eph 4:32-5:8; Ps 1; Lk 13:10-17) *************************************** “… but now in the Lord you are light.” That sentence by St Paul leads right into the message of today’s liturgy – an invitation to live as children of light. In his letter to the […]

HOMILY SUNDAY 30 – A The Bible in One Sentence (Exodus 22:21-27; Psalm 18; 1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10; Matthew 22:34-40) *************************************************************** How would you summarize the whole Bible in just a few sentences? Jesus does just that in the Gospel today, with his teaching to love God with our whole being, and to love our neighbours […]

HOMILY WEEK 29 06 – Year II Balancing Faith and Repentance: Optional Memorial of St. Anthony Mary Claret (Eph 4:7-16; Ps 122; k 13:1-9) ****************************************** “Repent and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15) are the first words Jesus preached as he began his public ministry. The readings today continue that double message of faith […]

HOMILY WEEK 29 05 – Year II Truth, Beauty and Goodness: Attributes of God (Eph 4:1-6; Ps 24; Lk 12:54-59) ********************************************** “Truth, Beauty and Goodness” – these are the classical three pillars of believing in God and living in Christ. The readings today, within the context of these three pillars, carry powerful messages for us: […]

HOMILY WEEK 29 04 – Year II Awakening to God’s Power Within Us: Optional Memorial of St. Pope John Paul II (Eph 3:13-21; Ps 33; Lk 12:49-53) ******************************************* During a retreat I was conducting for the priests of the Diocese of Corner Brook-Labrador in Cow Head, Newfoundland in October, 2019, I enjoyed walking the beach […]