One Catholic Life Blog

Forming Intentional Disciples

Books and Reading

My Favorite Reads of 2013

I barely reached my goal of reading forty books this year, and though some of the books were very short (like the eleven Doctor Who books), some of them were very long (like Quo Vadis, Les Miserables, and The Count of Monte Cristo). Of the books I read, these were my favorites (in the order I read them): Les Miserables (unabridged): I read an abridged version with my students every year, but it had been a while since I read the full novel. I really appreciated this translation,...

Spirituality

The Lord of the Gifts: A Brief Meditation on Tolkien and PEZ

My family held a white elephant gift exchange this past Christmas–you know, where people bring gifts anonymously, exchange them, and get a chance to steal them from others. We fought over battery operated massagers, remote control cars, coffee mugs, and Hot Wheels. I was fortunate enough to get a set of PEZ dispensers in the shape of The Lord of the Rings characters, but the process made me think about other gifts we’ve received: our talents, life experiences, and environment. I wonder how many times we look at other...

Homily

Let Him Enter: Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent – Year A

We are at the end of Advent season and as we make our final preparations for Christmas we may wonder how we should spend these last three days preparing our hearts. A few minutes ago we sung together the antiphon from today’s responsorial psalm:  “Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.” What better way to make our final preparations for Christmas, then by meditating on that antiphon? If we take some time over the next few days to repeat it to ourselves and reflect on...

Paint Roller

General

A Fresh Coat of Paint

It’s about time I put a fresh coat of paint on this site and try to get back into the habit of blogging. I don’t know if there are many people out there still reading this blog or listening to the homilies that I post each month–I never have learned how to accurately interpret subscriber stats; but for those of you still subscribed and reading, thanks for sticking with me. If you’re reading this in a blog reader or your email app, then I encourage you to click...

Vatican Museums Spiral Staircase

Homily

Running in Circles or Climbing the Circular Staircase? – Homily for the First Sunday of Advent – Year A

Today marks the beginning of another liturgical year. It’s Advent, that time of joyful preparation. But so often, rather than marking a period of peaceful preparation, Advent marks the beginning of the season of stress and worry. Will I survive Black Friday? Will the gift arrive in time? Where do we spend Christmas? Will the flight be delayed? Will the pass be snowed in? Will I get what I want? What do I wear to the Christmas party? At the very time of year we are invited to...

Winter Trees

Homily

#EndoftheWorld – Homily for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C

The days are getting shorter and shorter. The leaves are abandoning the trees, winter is on the horizon. The liturgical year, our Church year, is coming to an end. And always at the end of the Church year, the readings are chosen to remind us that just as the year ends, so there will be an end of all days. It’s not that the Church is morbid and wants us to think about our death and the end of the world. We already think about it, as humans...

Baptism Homework from Pope Francis

Spirituality

A Strange and Wonderful Thing Happened to Me Today

But first a little background: Back in September, I read about some homework that Pope Francis gave to his audience: look up the date of your Baptism. He was making the connection that the Church is our mother: “The day of our Baptism is the day of our birth in Church, the day our Mother Church gives us birth, how beautiful.” I have to admit that I didn’t know the date of my own Baptism, so I made it a point to dig out my Baptismal certificate and...

Global War on Christianity

Homily

The Haunting Question: Homily for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C

“When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” That is the haunting question that Jesus poses to his disciples at the end of today’s parable, and it’s the haunting question that Luke posed to an early Church that was struggling with persecution and conflict. That early Church is featured in Quo Vadis?, the novel the eighth graders and I are currently studying. Quo Vadis? is the story of a young Roman military tribune and the Christian woman he falls in love with. It takes...

Give Us This Day

Homily

Homily for the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C

The power of a parable lies in its ability to shock us, or to suddenly flip things upside down. Parables make us sit up and pay attention because they challenge our view of the world. For example, the Parable of the Sower puzzles us because the farmer throws seeds everywhere, on the path, on rocky ground, among thorns. The Parable of the Good Samaritan shocks us because the Samaritan passer-by takes care of the Jew who’s been robbed. But today’s Parable of the Dishonest Steward may be the...

Empty Classroom

Homily / Teaching

Where Do I Sit? Homily for the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C

Here we are on the brink of another school year. What an exciting time! So many new things to celebrate. Jefferson Elementary has a brand new building, the Ferris campus is looking fantastic, and Gonzaga Prep students are getting their new iPads ready. Here at All Saints we’ve got some new teachers, some new families, and I’m excited to meet my new eighth graders. When I was in college to learning how to be a teacher, we were taught that on the first day of school students want...

Lodgepole Pine Cone

Homily

Of Pinecones and Fire: Homily for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

Twenty-five years ago this weekend was one of the blackest days in the history of one our our national treasures. On Saturday, August 20, 1988, 150,000 acres of forest land burned in Yellowstone National Park. They called it Black Saturday. Wildfires had been raging in the park all summer. 9,000 firefighters and 4,000 military personnel worked tirelessly to keep the fires from destroying visitor centers and other valuable property. The wildfires continued to rage for the rest of the summer, and by the end of the fire season...

Bill Cosby

Homily / Prayer

Bill Cosby and Prayer: Homily for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today’s readings deal with prayer, and as I’ve been following the events of World Youth Day this past week, I came across a video by one of my favorite authors, Jesuit Fr. Jim Martin, editor-at-large for America Magazine on the topic of prayer. The U.S. Bishops asked Fr. Martin to make a few short videos to show to the pilgrims at World Youth Day this past week, and one of them happened to be about prayer. In this video, Fr. Martin says that whenever he gives a talk...