by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jun 20, 2022 | 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 16, 2022 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Genesis 14:18-20; First Corinthians 11:23-26; Gospel According to Luke: 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 bread and wine, as the perpetual passover...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jun 10, 2022 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of Proverbs 8:22-31; Romans 5:1-5; Gospel According to 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: Father, Son and...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jun 2, 2022 | 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 23, 2022 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians 1:17-23; Gospel According to Saint Mark 16:15-20 We celebrate our Lord’s Ascension, taking place forty days after his resurrection. We recount with joy the day Christ completed his...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | May 19, 2022 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 15:1-2,22-29; Book of Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23; Gospel According to Saint John 14:23-29 This Sunday’s Gospel passage comes from the Farewell Discourse of Jesus at the Last Supper, right before his betrayal, crucifixion and...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | May 9, 2022 | Homily
Readings: Acts of the Apostles 14:21-27; Revelation 21:1-5; John13:31-35 An essential part of being a follower of Jesus Christ is a willingness to love. How many times have we heard with our ears and our hearts the words in today’s Gospel passage, “I give you a new...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | May 1, 2022 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 13:14, 43-52; Book of Revelation 7:9, 14-17; Gospel According to Saint John 10:27-30 Our Lord Jesus Christ, during his earthly ministry, knew very well how to speak to the people about his person and his mission, using simple...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Apr 23, 2022 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 5:12-16; Revelation 1:9-11;12-13;17-19; Gospel According to Saint John 20:19-31 We continue our celebration of the Passover of Christ whose resurrection from the dead is the cause of our joy. This Sunday’s Gospel shows us...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Apr 16, 2022 | Homily
The great message ringing out during this holiest of days is contained in the words of the angel at the empty tomb, heard at the Gospel account according to Saint Matthew: “Do not be afraid, I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Apr 12, 2022 | Homily
Each Holy Thursday the Church recounts the evening when Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his closest disciples. At that meal Jesus inaugurated the Passover of the New Covenant, when the supreme sacrifice would be offered for the salvation of the human race, by...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Apr 6, 2022 | Homily
Readings: Book of the Prophet Isaiah 50:4-7; Letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians 2:6-11; Gospel According to Saint Luke 22:14-23:56 Palm Sunday Mass normally begins outside the church building with a recounting of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. After...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Apr 3, 2022 | Homily
Readings: Isaiah 43:16-21; Philippians 3:8-14; John 8:1-11 The Gospel account this Sunday is partly a study in contrasts. That is, we see the great disproportion that exists between the infinite mercy of God and the very human quick-to-condemn approach of many with...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Mar 22, 2022 | Homily
Readings: Joshua 5: 9,10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Luke15:1-3,11-32 The story is told of a catechism class studying the Parable the Prodigal Son. After emphasizing the wrong attitude of the older son in the parable, the teacher described the great rejoicing of the...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Mar 16, 2022 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Exodus 3:1-8; 13-15; First Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12; Luke 13:1-9 Each year the first two Sunday’s of Lent are linked with specific events in the life of Christ: the temptations he endured in the Judean desert and the Transfiguration on the...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Mar 12, 2022 | Homily
Readings: Genesis 15:5-12; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 9:28-36 I like to call the first Sunday of Lent “Christ in the Desert Sunday,” for its emphasis on the mystery of our Lord’s temptations in the solitude of the desert, and I like to call the second Sunday of Lent...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Mar 3, 2022 | Homily
Readings: Deuteronomy 26:4-10; Romans 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13 Each year Holy Mother Church gives us this season of Lent to renew our intention of living more completely for Christ. Lent is a word in English that is related to “length” or “lengthen,” and fittingly, in the...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Feb 21, 2022 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Book of Sirach 27:4-7; First Corinthians 15:54-58; Gospel According to Luke: 6:39-45 This Sunday’s Gospel is addressed to Jesus’ followers, whom he considers to be eventual leaders and teachers in his Church. The notion of persevering in learning...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Feb 9, 2022 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Prophet Jeremiah 17:5-8; First Corinthians 15:12,16-20; Gospel According to 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 “Sermon on the Plain” in Saint Luke’s Gospel....
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Feb 1, 2022 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Prophet Isaiah 6:1-2,3-8; First Corinthians 15:1-11; Gospel of Luke 5:1-11 Today’s Gospel passage recounts the miraculous catch of fish by Jesus’ first disciples. The successful catch is the result of Peter placing his trust in the words of Jesus,...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jan 26, 2022 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 1:4-6,17-19; First Corinthians 12:31-13:13; Luke 4:21-30 From the beginning of his public ministry, at about the age of thirty, Jesus is described in the Gospels as being filled with the Holy Spirit and proclaiming the saving word of God....
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jan 18, 2022 | 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 Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Jan 8, 2022 | Homily
Scripture Readings: Prophet Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7; Acts of the Apostles 10:34-38; 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 celebrate the Presentation of...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Dec 27, 2021 | 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 Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Dec 23, 2021 | Homily
Readings: Isaiah 52:7-10; Letter to the Hebrews 1:1-6; Gospel of Saint John 1:1-18 The scripture readings assigned for the Mass of Christmas day emphasize an attitude of child-like wonder at all that is taking place. In the text from the prophet Isaiah, the city of...
