Homilies

Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Ezekiel 18:25-28; Letter to the Philippians 2:1-11; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 21:28-32 Here at the Monastery it is definitely “harvest time.” Such is the case as well in many other parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Our...

Scripture readings: Book of the Prophet Isaiah 55:6-9; Letter to the Philippians 1:20-24, 27; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 20:1-16 This Sunday’s Gospel passage is taken from a section in the Gospel according to Saint Matthew where Jesus spells out some of the...

Scripture Readings: Prophet Jeremiah 20:7-9; Letter to the Romans 12:1-2; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 16:21-27 Today’s Gospel passage gives us more insight into who Jesus truly is and what He had to undergo for the salvation of all people. Important to keep in...

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 56:1,6-7; Romans 11:13-15,29-32; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 15:21-28 It should be safe to say and not incorrect to conclude that Jesus was at least mildly bothered by the persistent Canaanite woman in the Gospel passage this Sunday,...

Mass Readings: First Book of Kings 19:9,11-13; Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans 9:1-5; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 14:22-33 Growing up in western Oregon, where it rains more than it shines, we often had sporting events, family picnics, Shakespeare In the Park...

Mass Readings: Isaiah 55:1-3; Romans 8:35,37-39; Matthew 14:13-21 The three readings for Mass this Sunday contain some of the most consoling words in all of the Bible. The first reading for the Prophet Isaiah, who was active about 550 years before the birth of Christ,...

Scripture readings: First Book of Kings 3:5, 7-12; Letter to the Romans 8:28-30; Gospel According to Matthew 13:44-52 As we can probably all attest, our contemporary culture teaches everyone to seek the good life, at whatever the cost, literally. More often than not,...

Readings: Book of Wisdom 12:13.16-19; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans 8:26-27; Gospel of Saint Matthew 13:24-43 This Sunday we have more parables from Jesus about God’s good earth, dealing with weeds growing in the midst of wheat and a mustard seed planted in a...

Scripture Readings: Zechariah 9:9-10; Romans 8:9,11-13; Matthew 11:25-30 How can we possibly know the mind and heart of God? Undoubtedly the best way is to listen to our Lord Jesus Christ, whom we hear in the Gospel today thanking his Father in heaven for revealing to...

Every year on June 24th the Church remembers in a special way the birth of the great prophet, John the Baptist. This is also the day of our yearly recalling the beginning of the Monastery of Christ in the Desert, on June 24th, 1964. On that day our three founders,...

Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 20:10-13; Romans 5:12-15; 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 testimony to Christ. The first Christian community gave testimony to Christ...

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 Holy Spirit, equal in majesty and glory, One in Three and Three in One. This is something so...

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 Luke 24:46-53 We celebrate the Lord’s Ascension, taking place forty days after the Resurrection. We recount with joy the day Christ completed His...

Readings: Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; First Letter of Peter 3:15-18; 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 death, resurrection and ascension of the Lord. The...

Readings: Acts 6:1-7; First Peter 2:4-9; John 14:1-12 We are drawing near to the Solemnity of the Lord's Ascension, forty days after Easter, just two weeks from now. Where does the time go? Like it or not, time tends to fly by quickly, even when we try to live it...

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 2:14, 22-28; First Letter of Peter 1:17-21; Luke 24:13-35 Perhaps the first question we want to ask after hearing this Sunday’s Gospel text is: why did the disciples not immediately recognize the risen Lord? Had they not known...

Readings: Acts of the Apostles 2:42-47; First Letter of Peter 1:3-9; Gospel of John 20:19-31 We are celebrating the Passover of Christ, his resurrection from the dead, and today the Gospel shows us Christ in the midst of His disciples, not bound by time or space, but...

Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 10:34, 37-43; Colossians 3:1-4; Gospel of Saint John 20:1-9 In the Gospel text for the Easter Day Mass, we hear of Mary Magdalene arriving “early in the morning on the first day of the week” at the tomb of Jesus and finding the...