HOMILY WEEK 22 02 – Year II Living Out Our Trinitarian Faith: World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (1 Cor 2:10-16; Ps 145; Lk 4:31-37) ******************************************************* Step 3 of the A.A. program reads, “Made a decision to surrender our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood […]

HOMILY WEEK 22 01 – Year II The Dark Side of Belief (1 Cor 2:1-5; Ps 119; Lk 4:16-30) ********************************************************* Today’s gospel ends in a brutal, shocking manner, as the religious townsfolk of Nazareth are suddenly enraged and want to kill Jesus! What are we to make of this? The readings today challenge us to […]

HOMILY SUNDAY 22 – A The Cross is a Blessing (Jeremiah 20:7-9; Psalm 63; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27) ********************************************************** “If anyone wants to become my follower, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” The message to us from today’s Gospel is crystal clear: being a believer, a follower of Jesus, […]

HOMILY WEEK 21 06 – Year II The Passion of John the Baptist: Prophetic Consolation and Desolation (Jer 1:17-19; Ps 71; Mk 6:17-29) *********************************************** The late Fr. Andrew Britz OSB, former editor of the Prairie Messenger newspaper, was noted for his courageous editorials that addressed rather fearlessly and directly the key and often controversial issues […]

HOMILY WEEK 21 05 – Year II Faith expressed through Love: Memorial of St. Augustine (1 Cor 1:17-25; Ps 33; Mt 25:1-13) ********************************************* For St. Paul, in the first reading, what is more important than even baptism? The answer is proclaiming the Gospel. He says he was not sent to baptize but to preach the […]

HOMILY WEEK 21 04 – Year II Called to be Saints: Memorial of St. Monica (1 Cor 1:1-9; Ps 145; ****************************************** Ovide Charlebois, first bishop of the Archdiocese of Keewatin-The Pas, taught his people that one’s life would be wasted if it was not spent trying to be a saint. St. Paul, in today’s first […]

HOMILY WEEK 21 03 – Year II Attitudes of Genuine Faith and Sincere Love (2 Th 3:6-10, 16-18; Ps 128; Mt 23:27-32) ****************************************** “The last act is the greatest treason. To do the right deed for the wrong reason.” That statement, by T.S. Eliot, in his play Murder in the Cathedral, relates to the readings today, […]

HOMILY WEEK 21 02 – Year II Standing Firm and Holding Fast: Optional Memorial of St. Joseph Calasanz (2 Thes 2:1-3,14-17; Ps 96; Mt 23:23-26) **************************************** There is a legend about St. Francis who claimed he would keep on hoeing in the garden if Jesus was coming that day. In the readings today, St Paul […]

HOMILY WEEK 20 06 – Year II Called to Unite Heaven and Earth: Feast of St. Bartholomew (Rev 21:9b-14; Ps 145; Jn 1:45-51) ******************************************** A somewhat forgetful preacher at a wedding was an ardent fisherman.  He asked the groom, “Do you promise to love, honor, and cherish this woman?” “I do,” said the groom meekly. […]

HOMILY SUNDAY 21 – A Who Do You Say I Am? (Isaiah 22:15, 19-23; Psalm 138; Romans 11:33-36; Matthew 16:13-20) ************************************************************* Do you remember the answer to the old catechism question “Why were we created?” The answer, of course, is to know, love and serve God in this life and to be happy with him […]