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 […]
Cross and Blessing
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 […]
Ash Wednesday
ASH WEDNESDAY 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 to God first, […]
Temptations
HOMILY WEEK 06 02 – Year II Resist Temptation through Faith and Experience Joy (James 1:12-18; Ps 94; Mk 8:14-21) **************************************************** A lady who had promised her husband she was going window shopping and would not buy anything came back with an expensive dress. When he asked why she broke her promise, she replied the […]
Humility, Wisdom and Joy
HOMILY WEEK 06 01 – Year II Humility, Wisdom and Joy (James 1:1-11; Ps 119; Mk 8:11-13) *********************************************************** Humility, Wisdom, Joy. Those three words can be a profound seven-syllable mantra for contemplative prayer emerging from today’s readings. They provide us with a compelling message: Be humble, pray for wisdom and we will experience joy. Psalm […]
Holistic Healing
HOMILY SUNDAY 06 – B Holistic Healing (Leviticus 13:1-2, 45-46; Psalm 32; 1 Cor 10:23-11.1; Mark 1:40-45) **************************************************************** Fr. Lucien Larré, founder of Bosco homes for delinquent teenagers and well-known speaker and presenter of parish missions, shares an experience he had of a healing. A sister who had worked for him developed MS to the […]
St. Scholastica
HOMILY WEEK 05 06 – Year II Jesus – Bread of Life: Faith Versus Faithlessness Memorial of St. Scholastica (1 Kg 12:26-34; Ps 106; Mk 8:1-10) ******************************************** A new waitress was told by a customer he wanted two headlights and four hubcaps, without any explanation. The kitchen staff, who knew the customer as a joker, […]
Healing
HOMILY WEEK 05 05 – Year II Healing Touch and Joyful Proclamation: (1 Kg 11:4-13; Ps 106; Mk 7:24-30) ********************************************** “We are not punished for our sins – we are punished by them.” This cryptic saying, coming out of the 12 Step program of A.A., invites us to believe in Jesus as Son of God, […]
St. Josephine Bakhita
HOMILY WEEK 05 04 – Year II Humble Faith in Action: Memorial of St. Josephine Bakhita (1 Kg 11:4-13; Ps 106; Mk 7:24-30) ************************************************* In today’s first reading, the famous King Solomon lost his mind in old age and fell into idolatry in an attempt to please his wives, even though God had appeared to […]
HOMILY WEEK 05 03 – Year II (1Kg 10:1-10; Ps 37; Mk 7:14-23) ************************************** “May the Lord let his light shine on the dark areas of your life.” Those were the words on a card a grade eleven student gave me once. I was taken aback by them at first, surprised they were coming from […]
