HOMILY SUNDAY 12 – C Solemnity: The Birth of John the Baptist (Isaiah 49:1-6; Psalm 139; Acts 13:22-26; Luke 1:57-66; 80) ************************************************************ Have you answered the call of God in your life? Today’s solemnity of the birth of John the Baptist invites us to respond to God’s call by being a disciple, taking up our […]

HOMILY WEEK 12 04 – Year II Covenantal Love: Optional Memorial of St. Thomas More (2 Kg 22.8-13; 23:1-3; Ps119; Mt 7:15-20) ***************************************** A couple reminded me I had married them 36 years earlier and shared all was going well with their marriage covenant. This stirred up in me pleasant memories of the emotions connected […]

HOMILY WEEK 12 02 – Year II Three Lessons Toward Eternal Life: Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga (2 Kg 19:9-36; Ps 48; Mt 7:6-14) *************************************** “Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction.” The readings today offer us three crucial lessons or teachings we […]

HOMILY WEEK 12 01 – Year II Befriending our Shadow and Not Judging: (2 Kg 17:5-18; Ps 60; Mt 7:1-5) *************************************************** The readings today offer us two related messages: Do not judge and the importance of self-awareness. The first, do not judge, is one passage from scripture we would do well to take literally, like […]

THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST – C (Gen 14:18-20; Ps 110; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Lk 9:11-17) **************************************************** Noted spiritual theologian Ron Rolheiser OMI recounts how a distraught young man accosted him in the sacristy after mass one Sunday. He had preached on the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan; how the Father had blessed […]

HOMILY WEEK 11 06 – Year II Marriage Encounter and the Reign of God (2 Chron 24:17-25; Ps 89; Mt 6:24-34) ************************************************ Human beings have a rather unique characteristic – a desire to build a better mousetrap. The birds Jesus mentions in the gospel build their nests the same way year after year. Human beings, […]

HOMILY WEEK 11 05 – Year II Priority and Perception (2 Kg 11:1-4, 9-18, 20; Ps 132; Mt 6:19-23) ********************************************* Two words summarize the gospel today: priority and perspective. The two sentences expressing these two words are: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” and “The eye is the lamp of the […]

HOMILY WEEK 11 04 – Year II Redemptive Suffering and the Test (Sir 48:1-14; Ps 97; Mt 6:7-15) ****************************************** Elijah continues to be the focus of the first reading in today’s liturgy. In this passage, we hear about him as an epic hero from the point of view of another Old Testament author – Sirach, […]

HOMILY WEEKDAY 11 03 – Year II Three Ascetical Practices (2 Kg 2:1,6-14; Ps 31; Mt 6:1-6; 16-18 ********************************************* Does the word “asceticism” sound attractive to you? The gospel today invites us to practice three ascetical traditions in the Church as a way of humbly living out our faith and the Great Commandment of Jesus, […]

HOMILY WEEK 11 01 – Year II Living the Law of Love: Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua (1 Kg 21:1-16; Ps 5; Mt 5:38-42) ************************************* “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” Retaliation is one of the world’s oldest and most contagious sins. Did you know that the Old Testament […]