HOMILY WEEK 20 04 – Year I Stop Sinning and Start Loving: Memorial of the Queenship of Mary (Judges 11:29-39; Ps 40; Mt 22:1-14) ********************************************** The readings for today’s memorial of the Queenship of Mary (there are optional readings from the Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary) provide us with a challenge: how are we […]

HOMILY WEEK 20 03 – Year I Playing Ball in the Kingdom of God: Memorial of St Pius X (Judges 9:6-15; Ps 21; Mt 20:1-16) ***************************************** Have you ever resented someone else’s good fortune? The gospel today invites us to look at reality from a deeper, broader faith perspective. As a young scholastic, I once […]

HOMILY WEEK 20 02 – Year I Humble Faith and Spiritual Warfare: Memorial of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (Judges 6:11-24; Ps 85; Mt 19:23-30) *************************************************** August 21, 2017, was a memorable day for millions of people in North America as they witnessed a solar eclipse – total for some and partial for many more. That […]

HOMILY WEEK 20 01- Year I Our Journey into Deeper Healing: Memorial of St John Eudes (Judges 2:11-19; Ps 106; Mt 19:16-22) ************************************************* Where are we at on our healing journey? The readings today fit the two stages of spiritual growth described by St. John of the Cross – the Dark Night of the Senses, […]

HOMILY SUNDAY 20 – C Treaty Making and Covenant Living (Jeremiah 38:1-2, 4-6, 8-10; Psalm 40; Hebrews 12:1-4; Luke 12:49-53) **************************************************************** On the anniversary of Treaty # 10, there was a large gathering in Brochet, Manitoba, to celebrate the occasion. That occasion raises the questions, “What is the greatest treaty of all?” Our celebration today […]

HOMILY WEEK 19 06 – Year I Faith – Beyond Happiness to Joy (Jos 24:14-29; Ps 16; Mt 19:13-15) *************************************** Some time ago I learned of the book The Happiness Trap, a title that intrigued me, as I am contemplating writing a book on the theme of joy as a follow-up to my latest book […]

HOMILY WEEKDAY 19 05 – Year I Eunuchs on a Healing Journey for the Kingdom of God – Optional Memorial: St. Stephen of Hungary (Jos 24:1-13; Ps 136; Mt 19:3-12) *********************************************** The first reading today seems to miss a few other groups the Israelis had to face upon entering the promised land: the Gigabytes and […]

HOMILY WEEK 19 04 – Year I  The Assumption of Mary –A Call to Greater Justice (Rev 11:19, 12:1-6, 10; Ps 45; 1 Cor 15:20-26; Lk 1:39-56) ***************************************************** The feast of the Assumption we are celebrating today comes to us, not from scripture as such, but from the lived tradition of the Church, the lived […]

HOMILY WEEK 19 02 – Week I Childlike Humility – Key to the Kingdom of God Optional Memorial: Saints Pontian and Hippolytus (Dt 31:1-8; Dt 32; Mt 18:1-14) ************************************************* Veteran missionary priest and former Oblate René Fumoleau died recently in Yellowknife on his 93rdbirthday, shortly after sharing with those at his bedside he had lived […]

HOMILY WEEK 19 01 – Year I A Religion of the Heart – Optional Memorial: St Jeanne Frances de Chantal (Dt 10:12-22; Ps 147; Mt 17:22-27) ************************************************ “Act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with our God.” That quote, taken from the prophet Micah, aptly summarizes the message of today’s readings – to walk humbly […]