HOMILY WEEK 28 03 – Year II Claiming our Inheritance and Called to Conversion  (Gal 5:18-22; Ps 1; Luke 11:42-46) ****************************************************** Have you heard the expression “The spiritual life is more a journey than a destination?” There is some truth to that statement. Today’s readings call us to conversion, and to claim our inheritance of […]

HOMILY WEEK 28 02 – Year II Genuine Faith Expressed Through Selfless Love: Optional Memorial of St. Pope John XXIII (Gal 5:1-6; Ps 119; Lk 11:37-41) *************************************************** “For freedom Christ has set us free” and “Give for alms those things that are within.” These two quotes from the readings today focus our attention on this […]

HOMILY WEEK 28 01 -Year II Confident Prayer and Grateful Praise Optional Mass – Thanksgiving Day 2020 (Col 3:12-17; Ps 113; Mt 7:7-12) **************************************** “If the only prayer you say in your entire life is ‘thank you’, that would suffice.” That statement, written by Meister Eckhart, a 14th century mystic, and the readings provided for […]

HOMILY SUNDAY 28-C Gratitude, Praise and Serving the Poor (2 Kings 5:14-17; Psalm 98; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Luke 17:11-19) ************************************************************ A general principle of the Liturgy of the Word is to make a relevant connection especially between the first reading and the Gospel. The psalm seeks to underline any possible common theme between the two. […]

HOMILY WEEK 27 06 – Year II Free to Live the Word of God (Ga 3:22-29; Ps 105; Lk 11:27-28) ********************************************** You have probably heard the somewhat cynical saying that was used years ago to describe the life of a church-goer – pay, pray and obey! In the gospel today, Jesus urges us to go […]

HOMILY WEEK 27 05 – Year II Holding Nothing Back: Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary (Gal 3:6-14; Ps 111; Lk 11:15-26) ******************************************* “After Jesus had cast out a demon…” This Gospel passage seems to refer to Mary Magdalene, out of whom Jesus had cast seven demons. Visionary Ann Catherine Emerich claims after Jesus […]

HOMILY WEEK 27 04 – Year II Faith Expressed Through Prayer: Optional Memorial of Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher (Ga 3:1-5; Lk 1:69-75; Lk 11:5-13) ********************************************* There is a saying, “Pray as if everything depended on God; work as if everything depended on you.” That saying resonates with the readings today, inviting us to place our faith […]

HOMILY WEEK 27 03 – Year II The Freshness of Our Faith: Optional Memorial of St. Faustina Kowalska (Ga 2:1-2,7-14; Ps 117; Lk 11:1-4) ***************************************** The movie Risen imparts to the viewer a glimpse of the freshness and hopeful newness the resurrection of Jesus brought to the early disciples, and to the whole world eventually. […]

HOMILY WEEK 27 02 – Year II Respect for Life, Conversion and Contemplation: Memorial of St Francis of Asissi (Gal 1:13-34; Ps 139; Lk 10:38-42) ******************************************** Today’s liturgy provides us with a triple-header, much like in the world of baseball. Three major themes emerge from the readings that invite us to respect all life, enter […]

HOMILY WEEK 27 01 – Year II A Church of Good Samaritans – Loving as Jesus Loved (Gal 1:6-12; Ps 11; Lk 10:25-37) *************************************************** As participants in a course at the Tantur Ecumenical Centre in Jerusalem, we attended a Sabbath service, then we were invited to share a Sabbath meal in the home of a […]