Abbot's Homilies

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B - 2018 FIRST READING            Wisdom 7:7-11 I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.  I preferred her to scepter and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her, nor did...

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B - 2018 FIRST READING                     Genesis 2:18-24 The Lord God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone.  I will make a suitable partner for him."  So the Lord God formed out of the ground various wild animals and...

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B - 2018 FIRST READING            Numbers 11:25-29 The Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses.  Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses, the Lord bestowed it on the seventy elders; and as the spirit came to rest on...

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B - 2018 FIRST READING            Wisdom 2:12, 17-20 The wicked say:  Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with...

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B - 2015 FIRST READING            Isaiah 50:5-9a The Lord God opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back.  I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did...

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B - 2018 FIRST READING            Isaiah 35:4-7a Thus says the Lord:  Say to those whose hearts are frightened:  Be strong, fear not!  Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you.  Then...

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B - 2018 FIRST READING            Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8 Moses said to the people:  "Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land...

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B – 2018 FIRST READING            Joshua 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem, summoning their elders, their leaders, their judges, and their officers.  When they stood in ranks before...

NOTE:  I will retire as abbot on December 12, 2018.  I have been writing these homilies since the First Sunday of Advent in 1997.  I will no longer write these homilies.  My last homily will be published for the Solemnity of Christ in the King, November 25, 2018. ...

NOTE:  I will retire as abbot on December 12, 2018.  I have been writing these homilies since the First Sunday of Advent in 1997.  I will no longer write these homilies.  My last homily will be published for the Solemnity of Christ in the King, November 25, 2018. ...

NOTE:  I will retire as abbot on December 12, 2018.  I have been writing these homilies since the First Sunday of Advent in 1997.  I will no longer write these homilies.  My last homily will be published for the Solemnity of Christ in the King, November 25, 2018. ...

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B - 2018 FIRST READING                      2 Kings 4:42-44 A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing to Elisha, the man of God, twenty barley loaves made from the firstfruits, and fresh grain in the ear.  Elisha said, "Give it to...

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B - 2018 FIRST READING            Jeremiah 23:1-6 Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture, says the Lord.  Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, against the shepherds who shepherd my...

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B - 2018 FIRST READING            Amos 7:12-15 Amaziah, priest of Bethel, said to Amos, "Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah!  There earn your bread by prophesying, but never again prophesy in Bethel; for it is the...

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B - 2018 FIRST READING            Ezekiel 2:2-5 As the Lord spoke to me, the spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard the one who was speaking say to me:  Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, rebels who...

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B - 2018 FIRST READING            Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24 God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.  For he fashioned all things that they might have being; and the creatures of the world are...

June 24-The Birth of John the Baptist - 2018 First Reading  --  Isaiah 49:1-6 Hear me, O coastlands!  Listen, O distant peoples.  The Lord called me from birth, from my mother's womb he gave me my name.  He made of me a sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow...

11th Sunday of Ordinary Time-Cycle B-2018 FIRST READING            Ezekiel 17:22-24 Thus says the Lord GOD:  I, too, will take from the crest of the cedar, from its topmost branches tear off a tender shoot, and plant it on a high and lofty mountain; on the mountain...

10th Sunday of Ordinary Time-Cycle B-2018 FIRST READING            Genesis 3:9-15 After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree, the Lord God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?”  He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was...

9th Sunday of Ordinary Time-Cycle B-2009 FIRST READING            Deuteronomy 5:12-15 Thus says the Lord:  “Take care to keep holy the sabbath day as the Lord, your God, commanded you.  Six days you may labor and do all your work; but the seventh day is the sabbath of...