Author: Deacon Nick

Homeless in Rome

Homily

Fear, Trust, and the Worthy Wife: Homily for the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

The first reading and the gospel can be summarized like this: “Do not be afraid to use what has been entrusted to you.” In both readings something precious is entrusted to someone, and in both readings fear plays an important role. The master entrusts his possessions to his three servants. And the husband entrusts his heart to his wife. The third servant is afraid of the master. And the worthy wife has the Fear of the Lord. To entrust is to put something precious into another’s care. The...

Crescent City, California

Homily

Redwoods, Oceans, and Big Skies: Homily for the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

If you drive to northern California through central Oregon, you cross the state line on US 199, also known as the Redwood Highway. As you continue into California, you reach a certain point where it feels like you’ve entered a fairytale. It feels like your car has shrunk, and now you’re driving a Hot Wheel, because there are these massive, massive trees stretching above you, over your head, these ancient redwoods. And if you get out of your car and walk around the groves of redwoods you feel...

torch

Family

The Church Is a Torch Not a Lighthouse: Metaphors from the Synod

Some powerful images for the Church are emerging from the Extraordinary Synod on the Family this week, according to Catholic News Service: …one bishop Oct. 7 told the assembly that the light the church brings to its members is not fixed like a lighthouse on the shore but is a torch that accompanies the pilgrimage of those seeking to live the truth Speaking about the challenge of transmitting church teaching on sexuality and married life to modern men and women, the bishop reportedly said the torch of faith...

wedding

Family

Another Married Couple Gives Testimony to the Synod of Bishops

George and Cynthia Campos of the Philippines spoke before the bishops gathered for the Extraordinary Synod on the Family. Here is their full testimony: Your Holiness, Your Eminences, Your Excellencies, Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Our Call to Vocation: Cynthia and I were married in 1987, blessed with four children. In 1990, we became members of Couples for Christ, a Private Lay Association of the Faithful of Pontifical Right. We have committed ourselves to be a living catechesis of our vision to live as “Families in the Holy...

Rosary

Prayer

Feeling Out of Sorts? This Might Help

When life starts to weigh me down and feels off-center, I find that what helps me most is returning to contemplating the life of Jesus. But sometimes I get overwhelmed thinking about all the different events in his life, and I get paralyzed deciding where to begin reading the gospels. When that happens, I often simply pick up a rosary and begin praying the mysteries of Jesus’ life. The rosary is simple. The rosary is peaceful. The rosary is soothing. The rosary puts me in touch with Jesus....

married couple

Family

A Married Couple Gives Testimony to the Synod of Bishops

Here is the complete testimony of Ron and Mavis Pirola, married for 55 years and invited to speak before the bishops today at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family. As Deacon Greg Kandra writes, “I can’t imagine this kind of commentary being welcomed, or even heard, at the Vatican just a few years ago.” Fifty-seven years ago, I looked across a room and saw a beautiful young woman. We came to know each other over time and eventually took the huge step of committing ourselves to each other...

Pope Francis

Theology

“…someone with whom to weave and to share the story of life…” – Homily by Pope Francis on the Eve of the Synod on the Family

Here is the text of Pope Francis’ homily from the prayer vigil on the eve of the Extraordinary Synod on the Family that begins on Monday: Dear families, good evening! The evening falls on our assembly. It is the hour in which one willingly returns home to the same meal, in the thick of affections, of the good that has been done and received, of the encounters which warm the heart and make it grow, good wine which anticipates in the days of man the feast without end....

Vineyard in Burgundy

Homily

Why Teach in a Catholic School? – Homily for Catechetical Sunday

Today is Catechetical Sunday, a day we pray for and bless those who instruct our children in the faith. Some of them do this for a living, as teachers at our parish school. Some of them do this as volunteers in the religious education program, giving up hours of their personal time each week. We might ask ourselves, why would someone choose to do this? Why do the school teachers work for less than they could make in a public school? Why do the volunteers spend their own...

Paul Harvey

Homily

The Last Case of Henri Latour – Homily for the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Some of you might remember radio personality Paul Harvey who used to come on in the evenings and tell The Rest of the Story. He once told the story of the last case of the great French detective Henri Latour. Latour was the Sherlock Holmes of France, but unlike the famous English detective, Latour was a real person, an actual police detective. And he was a living legend when it came to tracking down criminals. In his last case, a terrible crime had been committed: an elderly couple...

Catholic School Classroom Desks

Humor / Spirituality / Teaching

Genesis of the Catholic School Year

This year I was asked to lead our school’s retreat. This was the opening I wrote for it. Genesis of the Catholic School Year In the beginning God created the school year. The school year was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the classroom; and the Spirit of God was moving over the summer vacation. And God said, “Let there be fluorescent lights”; and there were fluorescent lights. And God saw that the light was good. And there was evening and there was...

Syrian Refugee

Homily

Boxed and Labeled: Homily for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A

This summer Brenda and I did a lot of cleaning and reorganizing around the house. Our two older boys have moved out, we’ve done a shuffle of the girls’ bedrooms, and we’re trying to get rid of all the unnecessary stuff that we’ve accumulated over the years. One thing that helps us to organize is to put things into boxes and label them. It makes it easier to remember where you’ve put things. We’ve got boxes with the boys’ names on them, we’ve got boxes labeled “Christmas,” and...