THURSDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY Seeing the Cross as a Blessing (Dt 30:15-20; Ps 1; Lk 9:22-25) ****************************************** The late Fr. Mathieu OMI, a veteran missionary who spoke Dené fluently, was a boxer in his youth, ran a dog team, and ingeniously extracted a caterpillar half-submerged on a frozen lake with a winch and horses, used […]
Ash Wednesday- Metanoia
ASH WEDNESDAY – ABC Lent – a Time of Repentance and Healing (Joel 2:12-18; Psalm 51; 2Cor 5:20-6:2; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18) ********************************************************* A dishonest painter hired to paint a church building thinned his paint with water. As long as it didn’t rain, he would be okay he thought. That night there was a rainstorm. He […]
Faith-Hope-Jesus Christ
HOMILY WEEK 08 02 – Year II Setting All Our Hope on the Grace of Christ (1 Pt 1:10-16; Ps 98; Mk 10:28-31) ********************************************** One Sunday at the scholasticate at Battleford where I began the study of theology, Fr. Kedl, one of our professors, gave an eloquent homily. Fr. Huber, one of the elder Oblate […]
Faith-H0pe-Joy
HOMILY WEEK 08 01 – Year II Humble Faith, Living Hope and Eternal Joy (1 Pt 1:3-9; Ps 111; Mk 10:17-27) ********************************************** Have you ever seen yourself as the rich young man in today’s gospel? The readings today invite us to grow in humble faith leading us to greater hope and the enjoyment of eternal […]
Faith-Fellowship-Self-awareness
HOMILY SUNDAY 08 – C The Importance of Humble Self-Awareness (Sir 27:4-7; Ps 92; 1 Cor 15:54-58; Lk 6:39-45) ************************************************** The readings today invite us to bear fruit in the kingdom of God through greater self-awareness and living out what I call Teepee Spirituality. The wisdom sayings of Sirach in the first reading, surely distilled […]
Childlikeness
HOMILY WEEK 07 06 – Year II The Virtue of Childlikeness (Jm 5:13-20; Ps 141; Mk 10:13-16) ***************************************************** A set of parents finally managed to convince their precocious son that Jesus was really risen from the dead. As that truth settled on him, a gleam appeared in his eye and he headed straight for the […]
Intimacy-Commitment
HOMILY WEEK 07 05 – Year II Faith, Healing and Intimacy (James 5:9-12; Ps 103; Mk 10:1-12) ******************************** A Sunday school teacher said to her children, “We have been learning how powerful kings and queens were in Bible times. But there is a higher power. Can anybody tell me what it is?” A small hand […]
Faith-Love-Justice
HOMILY WEEK 07 04 – Year II Faith, Love and Justice (James 5:1-6; Ps 49; Mk 9:41-50) *********************************** Today’s readings present a challenge to us with their harsh language, both by James in the first reading and Jesus in the gospel. Combined with the psalm, however, they invite us to be grounded in God’s forgiveness […]
God’s Will-St. Polycarp
HOMILY WEEK 07 03 – Week II Being Open to God’s Will – Adapted from The Word Among Us Memorial of St. Polycarp (James 4:13-17; Ps 49; Mk 9:38-40) **************************************************** We can all vividly remember how quickly our lives changed two years ago at the onset of the global pandemic. As we lived through months […]
HOMILY – FEAST OF THE CHAIR OF ST PETER
Peter’s Amazing Faith (1 Pt 5:1-4; Ps 23; Mt 16:13-19) ****************************************** This feast invites us to emulate Peter’s faith, fidelity and ministry. According to the Living With Christ commentary on this feast, early Roman Christians celebrated a feast in honour of their departed loved ones on this day, including their predecessors in the faith, Peter […]
