Homilies
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year BIsaiah 50:5-9aPsalm 116:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9 (9)James 2:14-18Mark 8:27-35September 15, 2024 Generally speaking, people want things to be easy. We think that if we “walk before the LORD,” it should be easy to be…
Read MoreThe Lord speaks “to those whose hearts are frightened.” Are you one whose heart is frightened? I am. My heart is not frightened in the sense of being scared of the Lord. I know that the Lord loves me. My…
Read More22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year BDeuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8Psalm 15:2-3, 3-4, 4-5 (1a)James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23September 1, 2024 Some of the Pharisees and the scribes saw that Jesus’ disciples “ate their meals with unclean, that is unwashed…
Read MoreJoshua said to the people, “If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today whom you will serve” (today’s first reading) We each have a choice to make. Do we want to serve God or not? It…
Read More20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year BProverbs 9:1-6 Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7 (9a)Ephesians 5:15-20John 6:51-58August 18, 2024 Jesus says, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you…
Read MoreDo you hold bitterness or anger in your heart? How about fury, shouting, reviling, and malice? The Holy Spirit grieves when we hold such things in our heart (19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B). We need these things removed…
Read MoreEnslaved in Egypt the Israelites cried out to God for help. God heard their cry and sent Moses to lead them out from Egypt to the Promised Land. One would think they would be grateful but instead they “grumbled against…
Read MoreDo you believe in miracles? There are people today who reject even the possibility of miracles. If something happens that they can’t explain, to them it just means that science hasn’t figured it out yet. They say someday science will…
Read More16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year BJeremiah 23:1-6Psalm 23:1-3, 3-4 5, 6, (1)Ephesians 2:13-18Mark 6:30-34July 21, 2024 When Jesus “saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd, and…
Read MoreThe work of sharing the gospel is not easy. That’s because it is not easy to live according to what Jesus says. So, people often don’t want to hear it. The resistance may come from religious leaders, as it does…
Read More14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year BEzekiel 2:2-5Psalm 123:1-2, 2, 3-4 (2cd)2 Corinthians 12:7-10Mark 6:1-6July 5, 2024 Ezekiel was trained to be a priest in Jerusalem but when Jerusalem fell, Ezekiel was among those taken away in Exile. Away from…
Read MoreWhat did God create us for? Wisdom tells us “God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.” God does not want us to die in our sin. He did not create us to…
Read More12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year BJob 38:1, 8-11Psalm 107:23-24, 25-26, 28-29, 30-31 (1b)2 Corinthians 5:14-17Mark 4:35-41June 23, 2024 The disciples were afraid. They were crossing the sea when a “violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the…
Read MoreDo we always understand how things happen? No, and we don’t have to. In today’s gospel, “Jesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter…
Read More10th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year BGenesis 3:9-15Psalm 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 (7bc)2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1Mark 3:20-35June 9, 2024 When Jesus returned home, his relatives were surprised to hear what He was saying and doing. They knew him as the little…
Read MoreThe Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Year BExodus 24:3-8Psalm 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18 (13)Hebrews 9:11-15Mark 14:12-16, 22-26June 2, 2024 When God rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, He did not simply pull them out of Egypt and then…
Read MoreIn today’s gospel (second option), Jesus speaks of the Advocate whom He will send to us from the Father. This advocate is “the Spirit of Truth that proceeds from the Father.” The Advocate of whom Jesus speaks is the Holy…
Read More7th Sunday of Easter Year BActs 1:15-17, 20a, 20c-26Psalm 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20 (19a)1 John 4:11-16John 17:11b-19May 12, 2024 Throughout the season of Easter our first reading at Mass comes from the Acts of the Apostles. Acts tells us the story…
Read MoreLove can change the world for the better. Hate can’t do that. Why? “Because love is of God.” Jesus does not want us to be his slaves. He says so himself, “I no longer call you slaves.” Instead He calls…
Read More5th Sunday of Easter, Year BActs 9:26-31Psalm 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32 (26a)1 John 3:18-24John 15:1-8April 28, 2024 We read in Acts, “The church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace. It was being built up and walked in…
Read MoreWe celebrate the 4th Sunday of Easter today. The gospel reading on the 4th Sunday of Easter always come from Jesus’ Good Shepherd discourse in chapter 10 of the Gospel of John. We also celebrate it as the World Day…
Read More3rd Sunday of Easter, Year BActs 3:13-15, 17-19Psalm 4:2, 4, 7-8, 9 (7a)1 John 2:1-5aLuke 24:35-48April 14, 2024 Peter spoke to the Jews who had heard that he has healed a crippled beggar. He said to them, “the God of…
Read MoreToday I would like to take a look at how our readings on this Divine Mercy Sunday contrast to the way the world looks at life. Our reading from the Acts of the Apostles speaks of how the early church…
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