Faith, Repent, Serve: a recipe for joy (Bar 4:5-29; Ps 69; Lk 10:17-24) **************************************** When was the last time you felt a moment of pure joy? That probably doesn’t happen that often, partly because as Henri Nouwen wrote, in this life there is no such thing as a clear-cut pure joy, and as theologian Karl […]
HOMILY WEEK 26 05 – Yr I
Listen and Repent: Blessed Rose-Marie Durocher (Bar 1:15-22; Ps 79; Lk 10:13-16) ************************************************** “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory” and “Admitted to God, ourselves and another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs” These two sentences are Step 4 and Step 5 of the 12 Step program of Alcoholics Anonymous, and together with […]
HOMILY WEEKDAY 26 04 – Yr I
A Six-Pack for Discipleship (Nehemiah 8:1-12; Ps 19; Lk 10:1-12) **************************************************** Was there ever a moment when a passage of scripture brought tears to your eyes? That was the experience of the exiles who returned to Jerusalem and assembled around the priest Ezra to hear the words of the Law proclaimed. That reading from Nehemiah, […]
HOMILY WEEK 26 03 – Yr I
Lessons Learned on the Way: Memorial – St Francis of Assisi (Neh 2:1-8; Ps 137; Lk 9:57-62) ****************************************** Have you ever been on a pilgrimage, or walked the El Camino de Santiago trail in France and Spain? If so, you will find it easy to identify with today’s gospel. Whereas the other Synoptic gospels of […]
HOMILY WEEKDAY 26 – 02 Yr I
Attraction, Not Promotion (Zech 8:20-23; Ps 87; Lk 9:51-56) *********************************** While I was in the Holy Land taking a course held at Tantur Ecumenical Institute, we were privileged to visit a Samaritan community and a Samaritan priest. He was adamant that they were the real Jews; that Abraham had come to Mt. Gerazim and […]
HOMILY Week 26 01 – Yr I
Memorial of the Guardian Angels (Exodus 23:20-23; Ps 91; Mt 18:1-5, 10) ****************************************** A young boy asked his parents to be alone with his newly born baby sister. The parents listened in and heard him say to his little sister, “Quick, tell me what God is really like. I’m starting to forget.” That little story, […]
HOMILY SUNDAY 26 – A
Kenosis and Doing the Will of the Father (Ezekiel 18:25-28; Psalm 25; Philippians 2:1-11; Matthew 21:28-32) A young, newly ordained missionary priest, full of energy and zeal and eager to begin ministry, was assigned to a small parish. Being by nature a “Mr. Fix-it’”, he got very involved from the start, using every idea he […]
HOMILY WEEK 25 04 – YR I
Learning to Love Ourselves (Haggai 1:1-8; Ps 149; Lk 9:7-9) ********************************* “The Lord takes delight in God’s people.” What a wonderful responsorial psalm antiphon! But do we really believe that God takes delight in us? There is an invitation here to live the third part of the Great Command that Jesus gave us – to […]
HOMILY WEEK 25 02 – Yr I (North American Martyrs)
Taking up the Cross and Living Calvary in Slow Motion (Rev 7:9-17; Ps 124; 2 Cor 4:7-15; Lk 9:23-26) ********************************************************* The feast we celebrate today is a significant feast for the Canadian Church, evidenced by the fact that there are two readings plus the Gospel. We are honoring the eight martyrs of North America who […]
HOMILY WEEK 25 01 – YEAR A
Paying Attention and Listening (Ezra 1:1-6; Ps 126; Lk 8:16-18) ************************************** “To those who have, more will be given; and from those who do not have, even what they seem to have will be taken away.” Those paradoxical words of Jesus from the gospel today can be rather puzzling to us and seem rather unfair. […]
