by Abbot | Feb 10, 2025 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 17:5-8; First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians 15:12, 16-20; Gospel According to Saint Luke 6:17, 20-26 What is usually called the “Sermon on the Mount” in Saint Matthew’s Gospel, is generally referred to as the...
by Abbot | Feb 3, 2025 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Isaiah 6:1-2,3-8; Saint Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians 15:1-11; Gospel According to Saint Luke 5:1-11 Today’s Gospel passage recounts the miraculous catch of fish by Jesus’ first disciples. The successful catch is the...
by Abbot | Jan 27, 2025 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 1:4-5,17-19; First Corinthians 12:31-13:13; Gospel According to Saint Luke 4:21-30 This Sunday’s first Mass reading is the important call of Jeremiah the prophet, some six hundred years before the birth of Christ....
by Abbot | Jan 20, 2025 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Nehemiah 8:2-6, 8-10; First Corinthians 12:12-30; Gospel According to Saint Luke: 1:1-4, 4:14-21 In the course of the Liturgical Year we are given in the liturgy (the Holy Eucharist and the Divine Office) many occasions to discover or be reminded...
by Abbot | Jan 13, 2025 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Isaiah 62:1-5; First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians 12:4-11; Gospel According to Saint John 2:1-11 We have now completed the Advent and Christmas seasons of the Church’s yearly liturgical calendar and have returned to...
by Abbot | Jan 6, 2025 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7; Acts of the Apostles 10:34-38; Gospel According to Saint Luke 3:15-16, 21-22 The Christmas season comes to an end with the Sunday of the Baptism of the Lord. We still have a glimpse of the season when we...
by Abbot | Jan 3, 2025 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Isaiah 60:1-6; Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 2:1-12 The Solemnity of the Epiphany, literally the “manifestation” or “showing” of the Lord Jesus Christ to the nations, is...
by Abbot | Dec 30, 2024 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of Numbers 6:22-27; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Galatians 4:4-7; Gospel According to Saint Luke 2:16-21 The shepherds who “went in haste to Bethlehem,” as directed by the angel, can be understood as the whole human race seeking Jesus. The quick...
by Abbot | Dec 29, 2024 | Homily
Readings: Book of Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Colossians 3:12-21; Gospel According to Saint Luke 2:41-52 In our Catholic Liturgical Calendar, the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas is always dedicated to the mystery of the Holy Family of...
by Abbot | Dec 23, 2024 | Homily
Christmas has come! Our hearts greatly rejoice! Our Redeemer is born! Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to people of good will. It has been said: if there ever was a doubt, the Christmas story settles it forever—God really does love us! That just about...
by Abbot | Dec 18, 2024 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Micah 5:1-4; Letter to the Hebrews 10:5-10; Gospel According to Saint Luke 1:39-45 On this closest Sunday to Christmas, the Scripture readings for Mass direct our attention to the theme of the coming Redeemer, whom we believe is...
by Abbot | Dec 10, 2024 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Prophet Zephaniah 3:14-18; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Philippians 4:4-7; Gospel According to Luke 3:10-18 We have reached the half-way point in Advent. The celebration of Christmas draws near, in just ten days. On this Sunday the Church invites us...
by Abbot | Dec 7, 2024 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Baruch 5:1-9; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Philippians 1:3-11; Gospel According to Saint Luke 3:1-6 On the Second Sunday of Advent the Church has us contemplate the person and mission of Saint John the Baptist, the great...
by Abbot | Nov 25, 2024 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 33:14-16; First Letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians 3:12-4:2; Gospel of According to Saint Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 We begin the holy season of Advent this Sunday and a new Liturgical Year has begun. The message we...
by Abbot | Nov 18, 2024 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of Daniel 7:13-14; Book of Revelation 1:5-8; Gospel According to Saint John 18:33-37 In the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church, this Sunday we celebrate the last Sunday of Ordinary Time, dedicated to Christ the King. Next Sunday a new...
by Abbot | Nov 11, 2024 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of Daniel 12:1-3; Letter to the Hebrews 10:11-14, 18; Gospel According to Saint Mark 13:24-32 We are nearly at the end of the Church’s Liturgical Year. Next Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King and the Sunday after that begins...
by Abbot | Nov 7, 2024 | Homily
Readings: First Book of Kings 17:10-16; Letter to the Hebrews 9:24-28; Gospel According to Saint Mark 12:38-44 In the Gospel passage for this Sunday’s Mass, Jesus gives a clear warning against the very human tendency of seeking our own glory. In other words, parading...
by Abbot | Oct 29, 2024 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of Deuteronomy 6:2-6; Letter to the Hebrews 7: 23-28; Gospel According to Saint Mark 12:28-32 In the old covenant, before the coming of Christ as man, God gave to the people, through Moses, a great commandment: “You shall love the Lord, your...
by Abbot | Oct 22, 2024 | Homily
Readings: Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 31:7-9; Letter to the Hebrews 5:1-6; Gospel According to Saint Mark 10:46-52 In the first reading for Mass this Sunday, the Prophet Jeremiah, writing some six centuries before the birth of Christ, speaks of a return from exile, a...
by Abbot | Oct 14, 2024 | Homily
Readings: Prophet Isaiah 53:10-11; Letter to the Hebrews 4:14-16; Gospel According to Saint Mark 35-45 The first reading for Mass today, from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, was written some six centuries before the birth of Christ. The prophesy announces the victory...
by Abbot | Oct 6, 2024 | Homily
Scripture: Book of Wisdom 7:7-11; Letter to the Hebrews 4:12-13; Gospel According to Saint Mark 10:17-31 In the Gospel passage this Sunday, an unnamed man meets Jesus and asks what he must do to possess everlasting life. Jesus replies with emphasis on the true meaning...
by Abbot | Oct 1, 2024 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of Genesis 2:18-24; Letter to the Hebrews 2:9-11; Gospel According to Saint Mark 10:2-16 A sad reality of modern society is the high rate of divorce. We hear about it frequently and often it is even glamorized with fascination by how often...
by Abbot | Sep 28, 2024 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of Numbers 11:25-29; Letter of James 5:1-6; Gospel According to Saint Mark 9:38-48 In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus advocates a spirit of humility and gentleness in a concrete case of someone expelling demons in Jesus’ name. Though not an...
by Abbot | Sep 21, 2024 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of Wisdom 2:12, 17-20; Letter of Saint James 3:16-4:3; Gospel According to Saint Mark 9:30-37 A very human trait that often leads to problems is comparing oneself to others. We may wish to be more like others or maybe less like them. We may...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Sep 9, 2024 | Homily
Isaiah 50:4-9; James 2:14-18, Mark 8:27-35 A moment came in the public ministry of Jesus when he asked his disciples what others were saying about him, and who they thought he was. Jesus asked not because he did not know the answer, but to elicit a stance from his...