HOMILY WEEK 23 05 – Year II Journeying into Greater Self-Awareness (1 Cor 9:16-27; Ps 83; Lk 6:39-42) *************************************** “You are who you are – what are you afraid of?” Franciscan Father Richard Rohr started a retreat for our Oblate community years ago with the startling statement, which along with the gospel today, invites us […]

HOMILY WEEKDAY 23 04 – Year II The Heart of Christian Living (1 Cor 8:1b-7, 11-13; Ps 139; Lk 6:27-38) ************************************************************ A woman died and arrived at the Gates of Heaven.  Saint Peter told her she had to spell a word to get in. “Which word?” the woman asked. “Love,” he replied. The woman spelled […]

HOMILY WEEK 23 03 – Year II Living the Beatitudes: Optional Memorial of St. Peter Claver (1 Cor 7; Ps 45; Lk 6:20-26) ********************************************* The Beatitudes are the Magna Carta of Jesus’ teaching. Part of the Sermon on the Mount in both Matthew and Luke, they present Christ as the new Moses, building on the […]

FEAST – THE NATIVITY OF MARY Week 22 03 – Year II Trust and Transformation (Rm 8:28-30/Michah 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 the […]

HOMILY WEEK 23 01 – Year II Attitudinal Healing (1 Cor 5:1-8; Ps 5; Lk 6:6-11) ******************************* Has the cryptic statement, “Check that attitude” ever applied to you? The liturgy today invites us to be aware of and open to a transformation of attitudes, so we can help others heal in a similar way. The […]

HOMILY SUNDAY 23 – A Forgiveness and Love – Heart of the Church (Ezekiel 33:7-9; Psalm 95; Romans 13:8-10; Mt 18:15-20) ************************************************************* Can you sum up the Bible in one sentence? St. Paul, in the second reading, does it for us. The commandments, he tells us, are summed up in this one word: “Love your […]

HOMILY WEEK 23 A – Year II What Would Jesus Do? (1 Cor 4:6-15; Ps 145; Lk 6:1-5) ***************************************** “Think of us as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries.” That line, from St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians, provides us with a strong message and mandate: we are to be servants […]

HOMILY WEEK 22 05 – Year II New Wine, New Wineskins: Optional Memorial of Blessed Dina Bélanger (1 Cor 4:1-5; Ps 37; Lk 5:33-39) *********************************************** “The new wine will burst the skins.” In ancient Israel, the juice from pressed grapes immediately went into a container to ferment into wine. If the wine was going to […]

HOMILY WEEK 22 04 – Year II An Invasion of Grace: Memorial of St. Gregory the Great (1 Cor 3:18-23; Ps 24; Lk 5:1-11) ************************************* Did you know that all wise people come from the East? And that the wiser they are, sooner they come! The liturgy today encourages us to be wise, put our […]

HOMILY WEEK 22 03 – Year II Co-workers Building the Kingdom of God: Optional Memorial of Blessed André Grasset (1 Cor 3:1-9; Ps 33; Lk 4:38-44) ******************************************* A key feature of my first year of ministry in northern Saskatchewan was introducing the Christopher Leadership Course to the north, which in turn convinced me of the […]