HOMILY LENT WEEK 01 01 – Year I (Lev 191-18; 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 two surprising […]

HOMILY SUNDAY 08 – C (Sir 27:4-7; Ps 92; 1 Cor 15:54-58; Lk 6:39-45) ************************************************** The readings today invite us to bear fruit in the kingdom of God through greater self-awareness and living out what I call Teepee Spirituality. The wisdom sayings of Sirach in the first reading, surely distilled over the ages, pack a […]

 HOMILY – SATURDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY Optional Memorial of St. John of 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 […]

HOMILY – FRIDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY Optional Memorial of Saints Perpetua and Felicity (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 during the recessional hymn for […]

HOMILY – THURSDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY (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 believing their way of […]

ASH WEDNESDAY – Year C (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, then to […]

HOMILY WEEK 08 02 – Year I Optional Memorial of St. Casimir (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 […]

WEEK 08 01 – Year I (Sir 17:24-29; Ps 32; Mk 10:17-27) ********************************************** Today’s readings encourage us to pray for faith strong enough to practice a spirituality of letting go. Two of my mentors, Ron Rolheiser OMI and Richard Rohr OFM, share comments pertinent to these readings. Rohr posits that good spirituality is all about […]

HOMILY SUNDAY 08 – C (Sir 27:4-7; Ps 92; 1 Cor 15:54-58; Lk 6:39-45) ************************************************** The readings today invite us to bear fruit in the kingdom of God through greater self-awareness and living out what I call Teepee Spirituality. The wisdom sayings of Sirach in the first reading, surely distilled over the ages, pack a […]

WEEKDAY 07 06 – Year I (Sir 17:1-15; Ps 103; Mk 10:13-16) **************************************** 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 the door and said, “My mom told me to […]