HOMILY ADVENT WEEK 03 02 – Year II God as Divine Dance (Zeph 3:1-13; Ps 34; Mt 21:28-32) **************************************** The Trappist monk and spiritual writer Thomas Merton taught that some people live “for” God; some people live “with” God, and some live “in” God. The readings today invite us above all to live “in” God. […]

HOMILY ADVENT WEEK 03 01 – Year II Responding to Prophecy with Authority: Memorial of St. John of the Cross (Num 24:2-27; Ps 25; Mt 21:23-27) ********************************************* How much authority do you exercise? Today’s readings invite us to speak out with faith and exercise our authority as baptized believers in Jesus. In the first reading […]

HOMILY ADVENT SUNDAY 3-B Be Light and Joy to a Dark World (Isaiah 61:1-2a, 10-11; Luke 1; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28) **************************************************************** When the British took over Ireland in the 17th century, Catholicism was suppressed and priests had to minister on the run. British soldiers began persecuting the “Roman faith,” as they put […]

HOMILY ADVENT WEEK 02 06 – Year I Coming Back to the Father, Through Jesus, in the Holy Spirit, With Mary our Mother Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe – National Day of Prayer in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples (Rev 11:19, 12:1-10; Judith 13; Lk 1:39-47) ******************************************************* There are two options for the first reading […]

WEEKDAY HOMILY ADVENT 02 05 – Year I The Light of God’s Word: Optional Memorial of St. Damasus I (Is 48:17-19; Ps 1; Mt 11:16-19) ******************************************************* Fr. René Fumoleau OMI recounts the story of an elder who commented to him that having faith in God was like driving a car at night. One journeyed without […]

HOMILY ADVENT WEEK 02 04 – Year I Purgatory – the Pain of Entering Heaven: Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Loretto (Isaiah 41:13-20; Ps 145; Mt 11:11-15) ********************************************************** “Since John the Baptist, the violent take heaven by force.” These are strange words. What are we to make of them? The readings today invite us […]

HOMILY ADVENT WEEK 02 03 – Year I Yoked with Jesus: Optional Memorial of St Juan Deigo Cuauhtlatoatzin (Is 40:25-31; Ps 103; Mt 11:28-30) *************************************************** In the gospel today, Jesus reassures us that his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. We are not to avoid suffering, but to turn to him for the […]

SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Balancing Devotion with Imitation (Gen 3:9-20; Ps 98; Eph 1:3-12; Lk 1:26-38) ********************************************************** A husband asked his wife why she had purchased an expensive dress after she had told him she was only going window shopping. She replied that she did go window shopping and when she saw that beautiful […]

WEEKDAY ADVENT WEEK 02 01 Redeemed and Ransomed by the Lord (Is 35:1-10; Ps 85; Lk 4:17-26) ****************************************** The movie Argo depicts the liberation of American hostages from their captivity in Iran with the help of Canada. Imagine the feelings of those hostages as their feet touched freedom for the first time in months. The […]

HOMILY ADVENT SUNDAY 2 – B Repentance – Key to the Kingdom (Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11; Psalm 85; 2 Peter 3:6-15; Mark 1:1-8) **************************************************************** A dishonest painter thinned paint with water and painted a church. As long as it didn’t rain right away he would be okay, he thought. That night there was a big storm. […]