Category: Homily

Homily

Stir into Flame the Gift of God: Homily for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

It’s a beautiful October day today, and I have to admit that October is my favorite month. I love the colors of the leaves as they change, the foggy mornings that we often get, and the pumpkin spice food and beverages that show up in the stores and coffee shops. But I also love the feast days that come one after another in October: St. Teresa the Little Flower, the Guardian Angels, St. Francis of Assisi, and Our Lady of the Rosary. The month of October is also...

Homily

The Mysterious Package: Homily for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C

Back around 1995 or 1996, I was teaching my 8th grade class about vocations and the different religious orders. Their assignment was to research a particular religious order and write a report to share with the class. Now this was around 1996 B.G. Before Google. There was no Internet, no search engines, no Wikipedia, no email, and so I had given them a magazine that listed addresses for all the different religious orders in the United States. They got into groups, chose a religious community, did some encyclopedia...

Ralphie from A Christmas Story

Homily

The Persistence of Ralphie: Homily for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C

Being a parent or grandparent can be really strange. And one of the strangest things about it is when the kids start to imitate you. At first its kind of funny and cute, the way you make faces at them and they try to make faces back. They dress up as mommy or daddy, pretending to do grown up things. But it’s not so funny when they start imitating your bad habits or repeating certain words. As they get older they begin to admire other people and try...

Indiana Jones Banner

Homily

The Cup of a Carpenter: Homily for Corpus Christi

I read recently that filming is going to begin next year on the fifth Indiana Jones movie. I guess everybody knows who Indiana Jones is, the swashbuckling archaeologist, who goes in search of artifacts like the Ark of the Covenant. Well there’s a scene in the third Indiana Jones movie, The Last Crusade, that can speak to us today as we celebrate Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Christ. In The Last Crusade, Indiana Jones has spent the entire movie searching for the Holy Grail, the chalice...

Icon of Council of Jerusalem

Homily

Love over Fear: Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Easter Year C

It’s nearly June, which means the wedding season is almost upon us and couples everywhere are preparing for their special day. There are lots of things to get ready: invitations, fittings for dresses and suits, lodging for guests, planning the ceremony itself, getting decorations for the reception, flowers, checking off all the final details. But as crazy and chaotic as it can be, all that preparation is done out of love. And once again we find love at the heart of today’s gospel. Jesus is preparing for something,...

Notre Dame Burning

Homily

Presence, Peace, and Purpose: Homily for the Second Sunday of Easter

In my study at home where I do most of my homily preparation, there’s a bookshelf where I keep all my books for preaching. and on that same shelf there’s also a photograph, a 5×7 glossy of Fr. George Haspedis. Some of you have probably seen the picture. He’s on a golf green in his shorts and windbreaker, standing just behind the pin with a club in his right hand. A finger of his left hand is pointing up to the sky, and he’s looking directly at the...

Google Maps Rome

Homily

Navigation Apps and Repentance: Homily for the Third Sunday of Lent – Year C

One of the most useful apps on a smart phone is the Maps app. You type in an address of the place you want to go and you’re instantly given not only written directions for how to get there, but you also get a map that shows a path for how to get to your destination. You don’t even have to know the name or even the address of a place you’re trying to get to. You can simply type in “food near me” or “shopping near me.”...

Pietro da Cortona - Calling of St. Peter and St. Andrew

Homily

The Rhythm of the Spiritual Life – Homily for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C

All three readings today speak of the rhythm of the spiritual life. We see it at work in the lives of Isaiah, Paul, and Peter, each in a different context, but it’s the same rhythm. It’s a rhythm of dialogue, of back and forth, like a conversation. And it begins as all things spiritual begin, with God’s initiative. God is always seeking us out, God is always trying to engage us in his divine life, and God always meets us where we are. God comes to Isaiah as...

The Annunciation by Fra Angelico

Homily

A Thrill of Hope: Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent – Year C

Once upon a time, in the early ages of the world, people believed that storms and droughts and sickness were sent by angry gods and goddesses. To the ancient people, the universe was a fearful place, a place of chaos, a place of danger, and the only way to stay safe was to offer sacrifices to try and please the gods. Ancient peoples would sacrifice a portion of the crops, they would sacrifice animals, and in some cases, they even sacrificed humans. But then came a people who...

Christ the King

Homily

Bumper Stickers and Masters: Homily for the Solemnity of Christ the King – Year B

The other day I was driving home from work, coming up Freya hill, and I noticed a bumper sticker on the car in front of me. People put bumper stickers on their cars for all kinds of reasons, but mostly because they have something to say to the world. “Vote for this or that candidate.” “Work for world peace.” “Support my kid’s school.” Well, this particular driver had a different message. It was a big, red rectangular sticker, and in white letters it read, “No Gods. No Masters.”...

Jesus and the Rich Young Man by Mironov

Homily

One of the Saddest Stories – Homily for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B

The gospel reading today has got to be one of the saddest stories in the gospels. This is the only story in Mark’s gospel in which a person called by Jesus responds not by following but by going away, by leaving Jesus. And of all the people Jesus calls, this young man seems so promising. First of all, he seeks out Jesus. And he doesn’t just walk up to Jesus, he runs up to Jesus as Jesus is about go on a journey. Jesus is leaving town, and...