One Catholic Life Blog

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...

Jesus and Twitter

Homily

Is Jesus Part of Our Social Network? – Homily for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C

Our youngest daughter is playing in her very first Hoopfest this weekend, so I went online to find out when she was playing and what bracket she was in, and I noticed there was a place where you could follow particular teams. You register with your email address, type in the name of the team, click the follow button, and you’ll get updates about how well the team is doing in the tournament. Technology has made following other people very easy but it might also cause a bit...

Kissing Jesus' Feet

Homily

Do You See This Woman? Homily for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C

First let me wish a happy Father’s Day to all the dads here today; we remember in our prayers those fathers who are deployed overseas, and we also remember and pray for the souls of those fathers who have passed away, especially in the last year. For those that are here, I hope that you and your families have a great weekend and really get to celebrate. That’s one thing that St. Peter Parish is really good at–celebrating. Just a few days ago, an amazing team of parishioners,...

We Didn't Start the Fire - Billy Joel

Homily

We Didn’t Start the Fire: Homily for Pentecost Sunday

[Note: I gave this homily about five years ago but didn’t realize I hadn’t posted it to my blog until a friend brought it up in a conversation today after Mass. When I went to find it I realized it was missing and decided to finally post it.] On this Solemnity of Pentecost the red vestments are reminiscent of the fire that descended on the disciples. We see this color more and more in our own lives as the weather heats up and the fire season begins. Last...

The Voice Logo

Homily / Music

The Voice – Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter – Year C

Some of you might be familiar with a reality TV show called The Voice that’s been on for a few seasons. Contestants come on stage one at a time and sing to three [actually four] judges whose backs are turned. Based solely on the sound quality of the singing voices and their potential, the judges try to choose the most promising contestants to continue on in the competition. There’s something compelling about a distinctive voice. The music industry is filled with great voices from many different genres and...