HOMILY LENT WEEK 02 03 Lessons from the Word (Jer 18:18-20; Ps 31; Mt 20:17-28) ************************************** The Word of God today offers us four lessons for life, two from the Old Testament, and two from the Gospel: Forgive, trust, accept suffering like Jesus, and serve. In the first reading, people are planning evil against Jeremiah, […]

  HOMILY – SOLEMNITY OF ST. JOSEPH (2 Sam 7:4-16; Ps 89; Rm 4:13-22; Mt 1:16-24/Lk 2:41-51)) ********************************************************** We are all familiar with Mariology. How familiar are we with Josephology? Today’s solemnity of St. Joseph is an occasion to explore some of that Josephology, with its message for men especially – to be humble, obedient, […]

HOMILY LENT WEEK 02 01 Seeing the Light (Dan 9:3-10; Ps 79; Lk 6:36-38) **************************************** We do not see light – we see by light. The closest we come to actually seeing light is through a prism or a rainbow that displays the beauty of light. Today, I can’t resist looking at the readings once […]

HOMILY LENT SUNDAY 02 – C Citizens of Heaven (Gen 15:5-12, 17-18; Ps 26:1-14; Phil 3:17-4:1; Lk 9:28-36) ******************************************************** For those who succeed in obtaining Canadian citizenship, it is a joyous occasion. It takes place at Rideau Hall in the presence of the governor general and usually makes the CBC National News that night. According […]

HOMILY LENT WEEK 01 06 Following the Way of the Lord (Dt 26:16-19; Ps 119; Mt 5:43-48) ******************************************* A tourist stopped by a roadside café as he was travelling through an Indigenous community. He asked an elder sitting outside, smoking a pipe, “Where does this road go?” The elder calmly replied, “Road stays; you go.” […]

HOMILY LENT WEEK 01 05 The Prism of AA (Ezk 18:21-28; Ps 130; Mt 5:20-26) **************************************** As I was about to enter into my monthly retreat or poustinia, Robert, a friend who teaches at the University of Saskatchewan, asked me on Facebook what I would recommend to him in the area of community development. I […]

HOMILY LENT WEEK 01 04 Balancing Prayer and Work (Esther 14:1-14; Ps 138; Mt 7:7-12) *************************************** Many years ago, Franciscan priest Richard Rohr was inspired to open a Centre for Action and Contemplation. While he has been prophetic throughout his long career beginning with the charismatic renewal (he founded the New Jerusalem Community in Cleveland), […]

HOMILY LENT WEEK 01 03 A Pattern for Transformation (Jonah 3:1-10; Ps 51; Luke 11:29-32) *************************************** “No sign will be given to this generation except the sign of Jonah.” These are the enigmatic words of Jesus in the gospel today. What are we to make of them? What is this sign of Jonah? What relevance […]

HOMILY LENT WEEK 01 02 The Word That Transforms (Is 55:10-11; Ps 34; Mt 6:7-15) *********************************** “My word shall not return empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” This phrase spoken to the world by God through the prophet Isaiah raises two questions […]

HOMILY LENT WEEK 01 01 Jesus, Justice, Love and Morality (Lev 19:1-18; Ps 19; Mt 25:31-46) ****************************************** Why is it impossible to starve in a desert? Because you can always eat the “sand-which-is” under your feet! The readings today are like a sandwich calling us to make justice our highest moral priority. They also reveal […]