Homilies

Readings: Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11; First 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, the Church commemorates...

Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians 1:17-23; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 28:16-20 As 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 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48; First Letter of John 4:7-10; Gospel of John 15:9-17 In our popular language, the word “love” is so often used and misused, that it has almost become devoid of meaning. Love is a word so frequently...

Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 9:26-31; First Letter of Saint John 18-24; Gospel of Saint John 15:1-8 Maybe few or none who read this have grown grapes, though perhaps some have. Even if we have not grown grapes, we are familiar with the notion of a tree...

Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 4:8-12; First Letter of Saint John 3:1-2; Gospel of Saint John 10:11-18 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 and direct...

Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 3:13-19; First Letter of St John 2:1-5; Luke 24:35-48 Today’s first reading, from an address of Saint Peter to the Jewish people after he had cured a man in the Temple, refers to the showing forth of God’s saving power in Jesus...

Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 4:32-25; First Letter of John 5:1-6; Gospel of John 20:19-31 We continue our yearly celebration of the Passover of Christ, whose triumphant resurrection from the dead is our hope and joy. Today the Gospel account describes...

Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 10:34, 37-43; Letter of Saint Paul to the Colossians 3:1-4; Gospel According to Saint John 20:1-9 One of the clearest messages of this holy day is contained in the words of the angel at the empty tomb, which is heard at the...

"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 finished? On Good Friday the old creation, of sin and separation from God, has ended, is finished, and a new creation has dawned. God so...

Scripture Readings: Book of Exodus 12:1-8,11-14; First Corinthians 11:22-26; Gospel According to John 13:1-15 Each Holy Thursday the Church recounts the evening when Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his closest disciples. At that meal Jesus inaugurated the...

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 50:4-7; Letter to the Philippians 2:6-11; Gospel According to Saint Mark 14:1 - 15:47 Each year on the Sunday before Easter, Christians around the world celebrate and commemorate what is traditionally called Palm or Passion Sunday, when we...

Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 5:7-9; John 12:20-33 This is the final Sunday before Holy Week, which begins next Sunday with Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. Today we focus our attention on the nearness and coming of the hour of Jesus’ glorification....

Scripture Readings: Second Book of Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23; Ephesians 2:4-10; John 3:14-21 This Sunday’s Gospel passage is part of the dialogue of Jesus with Nicodemus, a Jewish Pharisee and religious leader, who had come to Jesus expressing a sincere, though...

Scripture Readings: Exodus 20:1-17; First Corinthians 1:22-25; Matthew 2:13-25 This Sunday's Gospel recounts Jesus “cleansing the Jerusalem Temple,” as it is often called. This event took place at the approach of the annual Passover celebration, which recounts God's...

Scripture Readings: Genesis 22:1-18; Romans 8:31-34; Mark 9:2-10 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 Judean desert. The second Sunday of Lent I call...

Scripture Readings: Genesis 9: 8-15; First Letter of Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:12-15] Last Wednesday we began the season of Lent, a favorable or opportune time, inspired by Scriptural references that speak of returning to God as something completely desirable and...

Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Joel 2:12-18; Second Corinthians 5:20-6:2; Gospel According to Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18. The readings for Mass today set the tone for the entire season of Lent which we now begin. Keep in mind the word “Lent” comes from the same...

Scripture Readings: Book of Leviticus 13:1-2; 45-46; First Corinthians 10:31-11:1; Gospel According to Saint Luke 1:40-45 This Sunday’s Gospel describes the miraculous cure of a man afflicted with the dread disease of leprosy. An outcast of society is brought back to...

Scripture Readings: Job 7:1-4; 6-7; First Corinthians 9: 16-19, 22-23; Gospel According to Saint Mark 1:29-39 The Gospel passage for this Sunday presents us again with the first stages of the public ministry of Jesus. Having cast out evil spirits and preached in the...

Scripture Readings: Book of Deuteronomy 18:15-20; First Corinthians 7:32-35; Gospel According to Mark 1:21-28 The three Scripture readings assigned for this Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time speak about being attentive and listening to the prophet whom God will send (the...