Homilies

Scripture Readings: First Book of Kings 3:5, 7-12; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans 8:28-30; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 13:44-52 As we all know, contemporary culture teaches us to seek the good life, at whatever the cost, literally. Happiness itself too often...

Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Isaiah 55:10-11; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans 8:18-23; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 13:1-23 The three Scripture readings offered to us this Sunday are cause for mediation on the mystery of birth, life and death. These...

Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Zechariah 9:9-10; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans 8:9,11-13; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 11:25-30 How can we possibly know the mind and heart of God? No easy task, but the best way is to listen to our Lord Jesus Christ,...

Scripture Readings: Second Book of Kings 4:8-11, 14-16; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans 6:3-4, 8-11; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 10:37-42 The Gospel passage for this Sunday, recorded by Saint Matthew the Evangelist, is the conclusion of what has been called...

Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 20:10-13; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans 5:12-15; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 10:26-33 The New Testament, including today’s Gospel text, is clear that those who obey God are capable of giving witness or...

Scripture Readings: Book of Exodus 19:2-6; Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans 5: 6-11; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 9:36-10:8 I’d like to begin with a story from the Jewish Hassidic tradition: A man received a telegram telling him that a relative had died and left...

Scripture Readings: Book of Deuteronomy 8:2-3,14-16; First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians10:16-17; Gospel According to Saint John 6:51-58 The Mass readings from Sacred Scripture for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, traditionally...

Scripture Readings: Book of Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9; Second Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians 13:11-13; Gospel According to Saint John 3:16-18 Each year on the Sunday following Pentecost, the Church celebrates the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, our belief that God...

Readings: Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11; Saint Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13; Gospel According to Saint John 20:19-23 The Solemnity of Pentecost is a celebration of the universality of the love God has for us. At Pentecost, fifty days after Easter,...

Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians 1:17-23; Gospel According to Saint Luke 24:46-53 We celebrate our Lord’s Ascension, which took place forty days after his Resurrection. We recount with joy the day when Christ...

Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 8:5-8, 14-17; First Letter of Peter 3:15-18; Gospel According to Saint John 14:15-21 The readings for this Sunday are taken from the final days of Jesus' earthly sojourn as well as the first steps of the infant Church after the...

Readings: Acts of the Apostles 6:1-7; First Letter of Saint Peter 2:4-9; Gospel According to Saint John 14:1-12 We are drawing near to the Solemnity of the Lord's Ascension, forty days after Easter, less than two weeks from now. Where does the time go? Time tends to...

Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 2:14a, 36-41; First Letter of Saint Peter 2:20b-25; Gospel According to Saint John 10:1-10 This Sunday is usually called “Good Shepherd Sunday,” because of the focus of the Mass readings, especially the Gospel, where Jesus...

Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 2:42-47; First Letter of Saint Peter 1:3-9; Gospel According to Saint John 20:19-31 We are still celebrating the Passover of Christ, his Resurrection from the dead, and today the Gospel shows us Christ in the midst of his...

Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen! Christ is in our midst, both now and forever! These are traditional Easter greetings, especially among Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Christians, and sum up well the meaning of today’s “Solemnity of Solemnities,” as it is often...

Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Letter to the Hebrews 4:14-16. 5:7-9; Gospel According to Saint John 18:1-19:42 "It is finished," are Christ's words from the cross just before He "bowed his head and gave up His spirit" (John 19:30). What is...

Scripture Readings: Book of Exodus 12:1-8,11-14; First Corinthians 11:22-26; Gospel According to John 13:1-15 The Sacred Triduum has begun; that is, the final days of Holy Week leading to the commemoration of the Resurrection of Christ on Sunday. On Holy Thursday the...

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...

Readings: Book of the Prophet Ezekiel 37:12-14; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans 8:8-11; Gospel according to Saint John 11:14-45 It is nearly Palm Sunday and Holy Week, but not quite yet! We are entering the fifth Sunday and week of Lent and the Gospel passage...

Readings: First Book of Samuel 16:1-13; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians 5:8-14; Gospel According to Saint John 9:1-41 The color of the Mass vestments worn today is rose, a reminder for us to rejoice, for we are half way through the Lenten journey and our...