Homilies

Scripture Readings: Deuteronomy 30:10-14; Colossians 1:15-20; Luke 10:25-37 The wonderful parable of the Good Samaritan is unforgettable and perhaps the most famous of the parables of Jesus, on a par perhaps with the parable of the Prodigal Son, and the parable about...

Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Isaiah 66:10-14; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Galatians 6:14-18; Gospel According to Saint Luke 10:1-12,17-20 A fundamental truth of our life in Christ is that God desires our full and willing cooperation to carry on the work of...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 here; for...

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...

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: 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...