FRIDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY Towards More Mature Fasting (Is 58:1-9; Ps 51; Mt 9:14-15) *********************************************** Does it strike you as rather curious that on this Friday after Ash Wednesday, when the gospel was all about the three disciplines of Lent – prayer, almsgiving and fasting – Matthew has Jesus explaining to the Pharisees why he […]
Faith-the Cross-Redemptive suffering
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 […]
Prayer-Almsgiving-Fasting-Ash Wednesday
HOMILY ASH WEDNESDAY – Year A Ambassadors of Reconciliation (Joel 2:12-18; Psalm 51; 2Cor 5:20-6:2; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18) ********************************************************* When former premier of Manitoba, Gary Doer, retired from provincial politics, he had another more prestigious role waiting for him. He accepted to become the Canadian ambassador to the United States. He moved from being a […]
Faith-Humility-Childlikeness
HOMILY WEEK 07 02 – Year II Humble, Childlike, Trusting Faith (James 4:1-10; Ps 55; Mk 9:30-37) ************************************** “Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” This admonition from St. James in the first reading is the key to understanding the readings of today’s liturgy, and a strong invitation for us to pray […]
Faith-Prayer-Fasting-Healing
HOMILY WEEK 07 01 – Year II The Healing Power of Faith, Prayer and Fasting (James 3:13-18; Ps 19: Mk 9:14-29) ********************************************** “This kind can be driven out only through prayer and fasting.” This comment, and today’s readings, invite us to deepen our faith through prayer, and consider making fasting part of following Jesus as […]
Faith-Holiness-Compassion
HOMILY SUNDAY 7 – A Be Holy as God is Holy (Lev 19:1-2, 17-18; Ps 103; 1 Cor 3:16-23; Mt 5:38-48) ******************************************************** A priest and a cowboy were riding along. The cowboy was not only talking incessantly, he did not listen to a thing the priest was trying to say. Finally, in desperation the priest […]
Faith-Papacy-St John Lateran
HOMILY WEEK 06 06 – Year II The Chair of St. Peter (1 Pt 5:1-4; Ps 23; Mt 16:13-19) ********************************** In 1988, on a trip to Edmonton, a lay couple and I were able to sit on the bed and chair used by Pope JP II at the then Grey Nun’s Center in Edmonton, where […]
Faith-The Cross-Suffering-St Peter Damian
HOMILY WEEK 06 05 – Year II Taking up Our Cross: Radical Discipleship and Redemptive Suffering Optional Memorial of St. Peter Damian (James 2:14-24, 46; Ps 112; Mk 8:34-9:1) *********************************************** A man, tired of the cross he was given to carry, went into a cross shop to get another one. All the ones he tried […]
Faith-Jesus Christ-Suffering
HOMILY WEEK 06 04 – Year II Faith in a Revolutionary Messiah (James 2:1-9; Ps 34; Mark 8:27-33) *************************************** A woman who promised her husband she was just going window shopping and would not buy anything, returned with a very expensive dress. Quite upset, he asked her why she did that when she had promised […]
Faith-Word of God-Healing
HOMILY WEEKDAY 06 03 – Year II The Word of God: A Healing Power and a Power to be Lived (Jm 1:19-27; Ps 15; Mk 8:22-26) ****************************************************** “Be doers of the Word” and “he saw everything clearly.” These two sentences capture the essence of the message from today’s readings – we are to live the […]
