HOMILY WEEK 16 04 – Year I Missing the Mystery (Ex 19:1-20; Dan 3; Mt 13:10-17) ********************************** “Life is a mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved.” Today’s gospel invites us to stop missing the mystery; to connect faith with our lives, and to deepen our understanding of the gift of faith […]

HOMILY – FEAST of ST JOACHIM AND ANNE The Family as an Icon of the Trinity (Sir 44:1, 8, 10-15; Ps 132; Mt 13:16-17) ********************************************** Today we celebrate the feast of St. Joachim and St. Anne, the parents of our mother Mary, and the grandparents of Jesus. The gospels are bereft of details regarding them […]

HOMILY WEEK 16 05 – Year I Feast of St. James: Life of Christ Within – Loving Service Without (2 Cor 4:7-15; Ps 126; Mt 20:20-28) ****************************************** “We make living by what we get; we make a life by what we give away.” Those words by Sir Winston Churchill accompany the message of the readings […]

HOMILY WEEK 16 01 – Year I Trusting Contemplative Faith: Optional Memorial of St. Sharbel  Maklūf (Ex 14:5-18; Ex 15; Mt 12:38-42) ************************************** “The Lord will fight for you; you have only to keep still.” Those striking words from Moses open up a vista of transformative, contemplative faith and prayer. Pharoah in this first reading […]

HOMILY – SUNDAY 16 A Living In The Reign (Wisdom 12:13, 16-19; Psalm 86; Romans 8:24-27; Matthew 13:24-43) ************************************************************ Years ago, musician Carey Landry wrote a hymn called Seek Ye First. The hymn tells us that if we seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and his righteousness, then all the other things that […]

FEAST OF MARY MAGDALENE Becoming a New Creation (Song of Songs 3:1-4a (or) 2 Cor 5:14-17; Ps 63; Jn 20:1-18) ****************************************************** The first mission to which I was assigned as a young Oblate priest was St. Mary Magdalene in Beauval, on the picturesque banks of the Beaver River. When we built a new church in […]

HOMILY WEEKDAY 15 05 – Year I Living the Law of Love: Optional Memorial of St. Lawrence of Brindisi (Ex 11:10-12:14; Ps 116; Mt 12:1-8) ***************************************************** A nervous priest was performing a wedding ceremony, and accidently began the nuptial blessing with the words, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do!” The critical words […]

HOMILY WEEK 15 04 – Year I Jesus’ Cross and Yoke: Memorial of St. Apollinaris (Ex 3:13-20; Ps 105; Mt 11:28-30) *************************************** Fr. Bertrand OMI was a veteran missionary at La Loche First Nations community in northern Saskatchewan. He had been a boxer as a youth, was a barber, ran a dog team and spoke […]

HOMILY WEEK 15 03 – Year I All is Given to the Simple: (Ex 3:1-6, 9-12; Ps 103; Mt 11:25-27) ********************************************* What do the burning bush of Moses and a retreat have in common? May I suggest that both involve encountering God through fearless, humble faith? A retreat centre can be our mountain and our […]

HOMILY WEEK 15 02 – Year I Repent and Believe in the Good News (Exodus 2:1-15; Psalm 69; Matthew 11:20-24) ********************************************* A dishonest painter cheated by thinning paint with water to paint a church. As long as it didn’t rain right away, he thought, he would be okay. That night there was a big rainstorm. […]