Homilies

As we go through Lent, we hear about events in the life of Jesus which are leading up to the Paschal Event, which is the totality of Jesus death, resurrection and ascension.  The pericope we hear today has been titled, somewhat ironically, “The Resurrection….Which Leads to Death.  The last thing that ...

In the Readings today, there seems to be a whole lot of anointing going on.
           In the first Reading, Samuel has gone to Jesse’s house to seek a king for the people.  The Lord told him that He has chosen one of his sons, so Samuel has his oil flask ready at hand.  And being the youngest of 7 sons, I love what happens next.  Jesse parades all of his Big Burly Boys by Samuel…. 

So…. How is your Lent going?   Have you been tempted to break any practices yet?  You know, I rarely eat much of anything for breakfast, maybe an orange, if even, but on Ash Wednesday morning, one of only two REQUIRED days of fast and abstinence, I wanted to eat everything in the refrigerator.

We have just heard, from the mouth of Christ, one of the clearest and most difficult passages in the entire gospel, and what is the heart and soul of the ethic of the New Testament: the divine commands to love, to be merciful, to not judge and to not condemn, not only our friends, but even our enemies.1 These divine commands cut to the heart of the common impulse of our flesh for self-defense and for balancing the scales of justice,...

Well…. With the Feast of the Presentation last week, we officially closed the Christmas Season.  We took down the tree.  The Nativity creche is gone.  We’re back in Green Vestments.  With the exception of a few stubborn poinsettias who just won’t die…. You can hardly tell that Christmas was even celebrated.

Today is the closing of the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity, so it is appropriate that we hear from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians because we are all different.  But diversity shouldn’t breed contempt, because as St. Paul tells us, we are all part of the same unified….ONE… Body.

I don’t know about your mother, but if I would have responded to my
Mom, who just found me at the age of 12 after missing for three days without
telling her, as nonchalantly as Jesus did…. I probably would have been thrown
halfway across the Temple by the back of her hand. And something

Well, it’s REALLY CLOSE now. When we light all of the candles on the Advent Wreath, we know that we are only days, literally hours away from Christmas.  If you haven’t gotten your card in the mail by now… It’s TOO late.  And if you haven’t done your shopping by now, you can’t do the easy online purchasing by clicking—To read more, CLICK here

Zephaniah was written over 600 years before Christ.   It was even before the Babylonian Exile.   But it was a time of Jewish religious laxity.  The Law of Moses was being abandoned and Idolatry was on the rise.  So, Zephaniah speaks of God’s wrath reeking down upon Jerusalem, followed by judgment…. But he promised Salvation for those who have remained loyal to Yahweh.  What we hear today is the beginning of Joyful Praise for the loyal remnant that is Restored. 

Today’s readings revolve around a common theme: Hope through tribulation.
    In the Gospel, we get one last Apocalyptic account from St. Luke. For weeks now, we’ve been talking about the end of time. Jesus also talks about the usual signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, the roaring seas, and the very powers of the heavens being shaken. And then they will see…..