by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Nov 14, 2019 | Homily
Readings: Book of the Prophet Malachi 3:19-20; Saint Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians 3:7-12; Gospel According to Saint Luke 21:5-19 No doubt to the consternation of his hearers, Jesus predicted the destruction of the great Temple in Jerusalem. The people...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Nov 8, 2019 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Second Book of Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14; Second Letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians 2:16-3:5; Gospel According to Saint Luke 20:27-38 November is traditionally the month in the Catholic Church to recount and pray for the Faithful Departed, those...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Oct 31, 2019 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of Wisdom 11:23-12:2; Second Letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians 1:11-2:2; Gospel According to Saint Luke 19:1-10 The Liturgical Year 2018-2019 is drawing to a close. In less than a month we will begin a new Liturgical Year with the...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Oct 24, 2019 | Homily
Book of Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18; Second Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy 4:6-8; 16-18; Gospel According to Saint Luke 18:9-14 Jesus’ powerful parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple might seem like an exaggeration or a parody, outside the...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Oct 18, 2019 | Homily
Readings: Book of Exodus 17:8-13; Second Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy 3:14-4:2; Gospel According to Saint Luke 18:1-8 Our ancestors in the faith, the children of Israel, went forth from slavery in Egypt accompanied by the patriarch Moses. Their destination was the...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Oct 12, 2019 | Homily
Readings: Second Book of Kings 5:14-17; Second Letter of Paul to Timothy 2:8:13; Gospel According to Saint Luke 17:11-19 Throughout the Gospels we see clearly that our Lord has the power of healing people. Sometimes the faith of the one or more persons who want to be...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Oct 3, 2019 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Habakkuk 1:2-3, 2:2-4; Second Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14; Gospel According to Saint Luke 17:5-10 “The just man, because of his faith, shall live,” Habakkuk the prophet announces in the first reading for Mass...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Sep 27, 2019 | Homily
Scripture readings: Book of the Prophet Amos 6:1, 4-7; First Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy 6:11-16; Gospel According to Saint Luke 16:19-31 “A wise man is known by the fewness of his words,” as the saying goes. Saint Benedict cites this saying in his Holy Rule, in...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Sep 20, 2019 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Amos 8:4-7; First Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy 2:1-8; Gospel According to Saint Luke 16:1-13 The characters Jesus describes in this Sunday’s parable are not proposed as models whose precise behavior we should imitate. Other...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Sep 13, 2019 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14; First Letter to Timothy 1:12-17; Gospel According to Luke 15:1-32 The story is told of a catechism class studying the Parable the Prodigal Son. After emphasizing...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Sep 7, 2019 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of Wisdom 9:13-18; Letter of Saint Paul to Philemon 9-17; Gospel According to Saint Luke 14:25-33 The first words we hear from Jesus in this Sunday’s Gospel passage might almost startle us. They were spoken...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Aug 30, 2019 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29; Letter to the Hebrews 1218-19, 22-24; Gospel According to Saint Luke 14:1, 7 – 14 All three Mass readings from the Bible this Sunday are gems of wisdom and joy for those who take them to heart and strive to put...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Aug 23, 2019 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Isaiah 66:18-21; Letter to the Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13; Gospel According to Saint Luke 13:22-30 This Sunday in Ordinary Time directs our attention to God’s intention for the salvation of the human race in Jesus Christ. Expressed...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Aug 17, 2019 | Homily
As an infant of forty days, Jesus was presented in the Jerusalem Temple, where the elderly prophet Simeon said to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, that her child was “set for the fall and rising of many in Israel,’ and as a sign that would be spoken against,” (see Luke...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Aug 1, 2019 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23; Letter to the Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11; Gospel According to Saint Luke 12:13-21 This Sunday’s Scripture readings provide us with another opportunity to reflect on the fact that “you can’t take it with you,” when one...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jul 16, 2019 | Homily
16th Sunday of Ordinary Time-Cycle C-2019 FIRST READING Genesis 18:1-10a The LORD appeared to Abraham by the terebinth of Mamre, as he sat in the entrance of his tent, while the day was growing hot. Looking up, Abraham saw three men standing nearby. When he saw...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jul 9, 2019 | Homily
15th Sunday of Ordinary Time–Cycle C–2019 FIRST READING Deuteronomy 30:10-14 Moses said to the people: “If only you would heed the voice of the LORD, your God, and keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this book of the law, when...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jul 2, 2019 | Homily
14th Sunday of Ordinary Time-Cycle C-2019 FIRST READING Isaiah 66:10-14c Thus says the LORD: Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad because of her, all you who love her; exult, exult with her, all you who were mourning over her! Oh, that you may suck fully of the milk...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jun 29, 2019 | Homily
Scripture Readings: First Book of Kings 19:16-21; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Galatians 5:1, 13-18; Gospel According to Saint Luke 9:51-62 Whether young or old, poor or rich, people normally wish to be treated with respect and fairness. Jesus encountered a lack of...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jun 23, 2019 | Homily
Every year on June 24th the Church remembers in a special way the birth of the great prophet, John the Baptist. This is also the day of our yearly recalling the beginning of the Monastery of Christ in the Desert, on June 24th, 1964. On that day our three founders,...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jun 21, 2019 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of Genesis 14:18-20; First Letter of Saint Paul the Corinthians 11:23-26; Gospel According to Saint Luke 9:11-17 On the night before giving His life on the cross, Jesus instituted the Eucharist, the gift of his Body and Blood, in the form of...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jun 14, 2019 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of Proverbs 8:22-31; Letter to the Romans 5:1-5; Gospel According to Saint John 16:12-15 Each year on the Sunday following Pentecost, the Church celebrates the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, our belief that God is One and yet Three Persons:...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jun 6, 2019 | Homily
Readings: Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13; John 20:19-23 The Solemnity of Pentecost is a splendid reminder of the universality of the love God has for us. At Pentecost, fifty days after Easter, the Church celebrates the powerful presence of God...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | May 29, 2019 | Homily
What does it matter for us today that Jesus ascended into heaven? While we hear it in both the first reading and gospel today, we also confess it every Sunday and Solemnity in the Creed: “He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” This...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Apr 27, 2019 | Homily
On April 30, 2000, Pope St. John Paul II designated the second Sunday after Easter to be a celebration of Divine Mercy. Why this day? This is the day which the Church proclaims that Jesus, “the first and the last,” whom we put to death by our sins, comes through our...
