HOMILY LENT SUNDAY 1- C Let Go and Let God (Dt 26:4-10; Psalm 91; Rm 10:8-13; Lk 4:1-13) ***************************************************** A woman back from shopping was showing her husband the expensive dress she had purchased. When he asked her why she bought a dress she did not really need, she replied that she couldn’t resist the […]
Acting like God-Following Jesus-Matthew
HOMILY – SATURDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY Acting and Feeling Like God (Is 58:9b-14; Ps 86; Lk 5:27-32) ********************************************* “When we act like God, we get to feel like God.” That is one of Ron Rolheiser’s favorite expressions, which is not only cute, but also very true. When we act as God does, we do get […]
Genuine faith-Fasting-Lent
HOMILY – FRIDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY Genuine Faith and Sincere Fasting – Optional Memorial: St. John of God (Is 58:1-9; Ps 51; Mt 9:14-15) ********************************************** At a particular Eucharistic celebration, I could not help but notice that the members of one family very seriously knelt during the communion hymn for private devotion, and also knelt […]
Lent-Paradigm shift-Taking up our Cross
HOMILY THURSDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY Making a Divine Paradigm Shift (Dt 30:15-20; Ps 1; Lk 9:22-25) ***************************************************** Sr. Elaine Biollo, in a class on Culture & Spirituality, spoke about the reality of a paradigm shift in our lives. When digital technology was developed, apparently it was offered first to the Swiss watchmakers, who refused it […]
Lent-Prayer-Almsgiving-Fasting-Reconciliation
ASH WEDNESDAY – Year C Be the Righteousness of God (Joel 2:12-18; Psalm 51; 2 Cor 5:20-6:2; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18) ************************************************************* The message that emerges from the readings for today’s Ash Wednesday celebration leaps out at us from the second reading, Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. St. Paul urges his readers to be reconciled […]
Commandment to love-Forgiveness-Tent of the Nations
WEEK 08 – 02 Keep My Commandments (Sir 35:1-15; Ps 50; Mk 10:28-31) *************************************** Yesterday’s gospel was about the attachment of the rich young man to his wealth, and the need for detachment, leaving all to follow Christ. Today the Gospel presents us with the disciples who have left everything, and wonder what their reward […]
Humility-Self-awareness-Healing-Eucharist
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) ************************************************** “O, wad some Power the giftie gie us, to see oursels as others see us! It wad frae monie a blunder free us, an’ foolish notion.” “The stronger the sun, the sharper we see our shadow.” […]
Childlike faith in Jesus-Trust
HOMILY WEEKDAY 07 – 06 Childlike Faith in Jesus (Sir 17:1-15; Ps 103; Mk 10:13-16) [Adapted from The Word Among Us] **************************************** A mother, not wanting to be bothered with a salesman coming to the house, instructed her 5-year old to answer the door and tell him she was not home. The boy obediently opened […]
Marriage-Friendship-Commitment
HOMILY WEEK 7 05 Marriage and Friendship (Sirach 6:5-17; Mk 10:1-12) ********************************* The readings today speak to us of marriage and friendship and the connection between the two. In so doing, they invite us to strive to be faithful friends to the Lord and to one another. In the Gospel, Jesus is confronted with the […]
Contemplative Prayer-Genuine Love-Trees- Sexual abuse
HOMILY WEEK 07 04 Contemplative Prayer and Genuine Love (Sir 5:1-8; Ps 1; Mk 9:41-50) ****************************************** “I think I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree.” That opening line from a famous poem by Joyce Kilmer serves as an inspiration to see a tree as a metaphor for the message of today’s readings: […]
