Homilies

Homily for the 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, October 20, 2024

Today, we are asked to place in the special pink envelope the amount of dollars that our heart inspires us to donate to the work of the foreign missions.  However, having said that, I feel compelled to talk to you about the more serious and more demanding contributions that all Catholics ought to give, around the clock, 24/7 to fulfill their missionary obligations.  Whenever one in our family is seriously ill, or we find ourselves in a bind, financially, emotionally, mentally, we send toward heaven a steady stream of prayers and entreaties that come stra

Homilies

Homily for the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, October 13, 2024

Our first reaction must be: “I do not want my face to fall like the face of the rich, young man. I do not want to walk away from Jesus. I do not want to be sad (cf. Mark 10:21-22).  Now, to say the same thing in a positive form we would say: “I want to enter the Kingdom of God.”  Jesus again said to them in reply, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through (the) eye of (a) needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." Mark 10:24-25  And raising his eyes toward his disciples he sai

Homilies

Homily for the 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, October 6, 2024

Today we have a chance to reflect on the main reason why the Catholic Church feels so strongly about Christian marriage.  The reason is that married Christian couples are called to be a most eloquent and visible reminder we have of the unfailing love of God for his people.  The total, free, faithful and fruitful love of husband and wife is the sign picked by God himself in the Old Testament to show to the chosen people of Israel how he will never fail in his love for them.  The total, free, faithful and fruitful love of husband and wife is also

Homilies

Homily for the 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, September 29, 2024

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him; and I will raise him on the last day. John 6:44  Concerning salvation, we must never forget God’s absolute sovereignty. It is complete and foolish arrogance to attempt to circumvent it or to alter it.  Our God is in heaven; whatever God wills is done. Psalm 115:3  Clearly then, the first danger that we who are chosen must avoid is the presumption of trying to limit God’s favors and predilection only to the selected group to which we belong.  It is a hard lesson to learn for J

Homilies

Homily for the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, September 22, 2024

The lesson that Jesus wishes to teach us, today, is a life lesson, in the sense that it forces us to see where, instinctively, we place ourselves in the context of our relationship with God and our interaction with people.  Assuming that our relationship with God is correct, at least as far as it appears to us before a deeper, more direct reflection, it is already embarrassing and humbling to have come up with the different groups of people to whom we relate and with whom we interact.  “True loves:” it includes anyone within our very narrow circle of g

Homilies

Homily for the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time, September 15, 2024

If we reflect on this gospel passage (Mark 8:27-35) without a clear concept of discipleship, we would be shocked and bewildered.  Simon Peter is extolled for the tremendous insight from above about the very nature of Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man and then, is chastised and reprimanded with blistering directness by Jesus. “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”  While still in shock, we might want to take this dramatic turn of events and apply it to ourselves.  In life there are ups and downs, unexpec

Homilies

Homily for the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, September 1, 2024

You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition." Mark 7:8  Protestants quote this passage to prove that Holy Scripture alone and not traditions, should be the standard by which our life is guided and lived.  However, they are wrong for two reasons: firstly, the whole Bible was handed down orally by memorized word of mouth, both in the Old and New Testament before having parts of a larger oral tradition put into written form. I can think of only one exception: the gospel which was directly revealed by the Risen Lord to St. Paul (cf. Galati

Homilies

Homily for the 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, August 25, 2024

Today’s gospel passage forces us to come to grips with a somber, sad reality: some of Jesus’ disciples, in any epoch, become selective and refuse to abide by those words of life with which they disagree.  It is a repeat of what we see described here as the first case of “cafeteria or smorgasbord Catholics.”  Then many of his disciples who were listening said, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" John 6:60 … As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. John 6:66  While Jesus’

Homilies

Homily for the 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time, August 18, 2024

Today marks the fourth Sunday of a vital lesson on the Eucharist in which we are led to consider the natural human resistance to what the Father intends to do for us in the Eucharist, by offering us the flesh and blood of his Son Jesus. To this end, it would be profitable to open our minds and hearts to what Jesus feeds us, first, at the table of God’s Word by imagining what our world would be like without the Eucharist, without feeding on the flesh and blood of our Lord. It would be a world run by human beings but in which God is absent. It would be a wounded, cr

Homilies

Homily for the 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time, August 11, 2024

In his encyclical “Evangelii Nuntiandi,” (1975) St.  Paul VI writes this: “Man, nowadays, is more willing to listen to witnesses than to teachers.”  So true in every age! Without doubt, what I can teach you has less impact on all of us and on our world than how we, as individuals and as a Community, bear witness to Christ and to his Gospel.  Or, it can be said that the way the Holy Mass, which we attend changes us from within, determines how much we can change the world for the better. Words are cheap, actions are much more effective.  Pra