HOMILY – FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY (Sir 3:2-14; Ps 128; Mt 2:13-23) *********************************************** The International Marian Centre, near the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, is built over the ruins of a 1st century home, one our guide pointed out could have been a home the young Jesus may have run in and out. […]
Category: Homilies
Faith-Metanoia-Holy Innocents
HOMILY – FEAST OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS Light in the Darkness (1 Jn 1:2-2:2; Ps 124; Mt 2:13-18) ********************************************** St. John, whose feast we celebrated yesterday, begins the readings today with the proclamation that God is light and in him there is no darkness. Those who repent and receive the forgiveness of Jesus will have […]
Faith-Joy-Communion-St John
HOMILY – FEAST OF ST. JOHN Joyful Faith and Communion with the Lord (1 Jn 1:1-4; Ps 97; Jn 20:2-8) ***************************************** When a bishop is named, the tradition is to have the ordination on a feast day. So strong is that tradition that I, at the insistence of Luigi Venturi, papal nuncio at that time, […]
Faith-Martyrdom-St. Stephen
HOMILY FEAST OF ST STEPHEN Witnessing to Our Trinitarian Faith (Acts 6:8-10; Ps 31; Mt 10:17-22) **************************************** If it were against the law to be a Catholic Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you, and what would be the evidence? Today’s feast of St. Stephen and its readings invite us into a deeper […]
Faith-Light-Change-Christmas
HOMILY CHRISTMAS DAY YEAR A You Change the World (Isaiah 5:7-10; Psalm 98; Hebrews 1:1-6; John 1:1-18) ******************************************************* The theme song for the Christopher Leadership Course Instructors’ Seminar in The Pas years ago was Today I’m Gonna Try to Change the World by Johnny Reid. He sang it in Ottawa on Canada Day where it […]
Faith-Ordinary-Poverty-Christmas
HOMILY CHRISTMAS EVE YEAR A Christmas as Nothing Out of the Ordinary (Isaiah 9:2-4, 6-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-16) ************************************************************ What words best describe Christmas? Humble faith? Immense hope? Great joy? Endless Peace? Perhaps all of these? We could add two other perhaps shocking words: Ordinariness and Poverty. These two words convey, at […]
Faith-Forgiveness-Healing
HOMILY ADVENT DECEMBER 23 An Infinite Horizon of Faith, Forgiveness and Healing (Mal 3:1-4; 4:5-6; Ps 25; Lk 1:57-66) ************************************************** Bishop Olivier Tremblay, an Oblate who previously worked with university students in Eastern Canada, spoke at an Oblate symposium once. He noted that youth today lack hope, because they don’t have an infinite horizon of […]
Faith-Openness-Identity-St. Joseph’s dream
HOMILY SUNDAY ADVENT 4 A Opening up to Newness and Our True Identity (Isaiah 7:10-14; Psalm 24; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-24) ************************************************************** Are you afraid of the unknown? Today, the Word of God invites us to have faith of St. Joseph, let go of sin and open ourselves to the newness of life with God. […]
Faith-Forgiveness-Healing-Joy-St Peter Canisius
HOMILY ADVENT DECEMBER 21 Faith, Forgiveness, Healing and Joy: Optional Memorial of St. Peter Canisius (Zeph 3:14-18; Ps 33; Lk 1:39-45) ******************************************* “The Lord has taken away the judgements against you, he has turned away your enemies.” Those words, a repeat of the first reading from the third Sunday of Advent, along with the gospel […]
Faith-Prophecy-Mary
ADVENT HOMILY DECEMBER 20 Prophecy Fulfilled – Mary’s Fiat – God is With Us (Is 7:10-8:10; Ps 24; Lk 1:26-38) ************************************************ How accurate do you think you would be in predicting events seven hundred years into the future? The readings today, about prophecy fulfilled in Mary, encourage us to be like her and let the […]
