Fr. David Hogan

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time This Sunday's Gospel continues from this past week's chastisement of the pharisees and scribes by Jesus Christ. The pharisees and scribes were attempting to make good on the promises of Israel, but unfortunately started to fall into duplicity and eventually interior spiritual corruption. Fellow sinners, we too can fall into a similar lifestyle without the powe...

Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time These past couple of weeks we have had the privilege of learning more about Eucharistic theology through the words of our Gospel writer St. John. The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life, which necessitates that we take the time to learn more about God's substantial gift of himself through the appearances of bread and wine.  Simply learning...

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time The Gospel of John, Chapter 6, continues this Sunday with Jesus' definitive teaching regarding his substantial presence: body, blood, soul, and divinity in the Holy Eucharist. St. Peter, standing on behalf of the Church, states to whom shall we go...you have the words of eternal life. May we continue to open our minds and hearts to the power of God working through...

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Today's Gospel continues to lead us through the Bread of Life discourse, John 6.  Life is a journey in which we continue to learn about God and his plans for our lives. Like any journey via car or airplane it can be uncomfortable, there may not be many opportunities to stretch, or we may just get bored. Basically, life is difficult, therefore to get to our final...

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time The formative years of the celebration of Holy Mass took place with the first one hundred years after the resurrection. It was an organic movement through peace and times of persecution. Our world hungers for God, and as the disciple in today's Gospel asks Jesus to "give us this bread always," it is important to know where to find food. Scripture Reading for Augu...

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time American novelist Flannery O'Conner once said, "If its just a symbol, to hell with it," in response to a friend who described the Eucharist as a "pretty good symbol." During the opening ceremony of the Olympics, intended to bring people together from all over the world under the banner of sportsmanship, competition, and unity, sought the means of unity to be a g...

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time In today's Gospel Jesus welcomes back the twelve Apostles. He sent them out to preach repentance, drive out demons, and cure the sick. Now they have returned, full of stories of their successes and anxious to tell Jesus all they have done. Jesus has missed his friends. The excitement and anticipation has been tempered though when Jesus and the twelve arrive at the...

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time This Sunday's Gospel reminds us to pay attention to God's power. Just last week's Gospel, Jesus used three words to calm the storms at sea, "Quiet...Be Still." This week He brings a young girl back to life using only two: Talitha koum," which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise!" Both instances invite people of faith to reflect upon Jesus' authority to direc...

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time  Imagine, with your restless hearts and minds, are in the boat with the disciples in today's Gospel. You are surrounded by a violent storm with waves breaking over the boat, you are filled with fear as the boat fills with water. Picture these waves as the worries, problems, concerns, and stressful issues that are overwhelming your peace.  You have now reached the po...

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Sometimes we fail to appreciate the glory that God has in store for us. We can become overwhelmed with the daily struggles of our lives and be stunned at the way of the world with all its problems. But the Scriptures this week remind us that great things can happen when we let go and let God’s power transform us. Jesus uses images of the sower and the mustard seed...

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Kintsugi, also known as "golden repair", is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with urushi lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. As we age and mature, we continue to identify areas of personal brokenness. An important area to pay attention to is unforgiveness. Jesus is quite clear in speaking with t...

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ          St. Maximilian Kolbe once said, “If angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion.” This Sunday we celebrate Corpus Christi. From the Catechism, the Eucharist assists Catholics in many ways: an increase of union with Christ; forgiveness of venial sins; preservation from future mortal sins; strengthen...

Holy Trinity Sunday On this great solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, we boldly celebrate and affirm the Mystery of our God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one of our most basic, core beliefs as Catholics that we fail to grasp completely.  Men and women mirror God's image and likeness, whose core purpose, identity, and mission is to live as God's beloved sons and daughters. Given our culture this...

Pentecost Sunday With today’s feast the Easter Season now draws to a close, and the Easter candle will be extinguished, but we should not think of Pentecost as simply marking an end to our extended Easter festivities. It is also the beginning of something new for us.  May Jesus Christ continue to lead His holy people toward a deeper encounter with Him. Scripture Readings for May 19, 2024 Acts 2:1-...

The Ascension of the Lord The Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven is not Jesus simply going up into the clouds somewhere to distance Himself from his holy people. Rather Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father to lead, guide, judge, and encourage people of faith in their journey. Given much of the world is mission territory, Christ is calling all people of faith to preach, teach, and sanctify...

Sixth Sunday in Easter Jesus, looking at his disciples, pronounces one of the most revealing and empathic statements in all of sacred scripture: “ You are my friends ”. It is much easier to think of Jesus as a rabbi, political leader, or military leader. These types of relationships are rooted in authority.  Incredibly, Jesus does not want to simply rule over our lives, but commune with us at the...

Fifth Sunday in Easter "You are already pruned because of the Word that I spoke to you." -John 15:3 As Christians, we were first pruned at our baptism in which we were not only welcomed into the life of God, but also into Christ's death. Therefore, much pruning needs to take place throughout one's life in order to bear much fruit and become Christ's disciples. Scripture Readings for April 28, 2024...

Fourth Sunday in Easter Jesus is the model shepherd and guardian of our souls. He makes it clear that a good shepherd lays down his life for the protection and guidance of the sheep. The bad or hired shepherd, is merely utilitarian. When trouble (wolves) arrive, this shepherd flees as he is only interested in the self and self-preservation. St. Peter, unfortunately, was like the hired shepherd at...

Third Sunday in Easter "You are witnesses to these things." -Luke 24:48 As human beings we witness many things ranging from good to evil. To witness means that one sees, hears, and knows by personal presence and or perception. It is the ability to testify to; to give or afford evidence of something or someone.  The twelve apostles were witnesses of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. Particularl...

Divine Mercy Sunday Blessed John Henry Newman once said, " 10,000 difficulties do not equal 1 doubt. To Blessed Newman's point, we face difficulties every day which can lead to pain and suffering. Suffering, if seen in light of faith, has the ability to purify the mind, intellect, and will.  In today's Gospel, Thomas was not with the disciples when Jesus appeared to the disciples. When Thomas did...

Holy Saturday At the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night of Easter (Homily Taken from Easter Vigil) The Lord is Risen! He has Truly Risen! Blessed Easter to you! We do not hear much about Holy Saturday as we move from the tragic events of Good Friday to the Glory of Easter Sunday. Nonetheless, the stillness and great calm of Holy Saturday helps prepare the Church for a most glorious day!!! "W hat is ha...

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion James Allen Francis' poem entitled One Solitary Life, summarizes quite well the life and death of Jesus Christ and His impact on the world. Our focus has been and always will be Jesus. Palm Sunday invites the Universal Church to walk with Him as He endures His passion. Jesus' walk toward Golgotha can provide encouragement to humanity as well. When we humbly submit...

Fifth Sunday in Lent The Scripture readings for this weekend remind us that God has formed an alliance or covenant with His people just as He has done throughout all generations. A covenant requires humanity to abide by God's established rules. Moses reminded the people about the covenant God established with Israel. Jeremiah reminded the Israelite people to stay faithful to the covenant. Jesus no...

Fourth Sunday in Lent The Fourth Sunday of Lent is called Laetare Sunday. Laetare is a Latin word that means “rejoice.” Today's Gospel describes the reason for our joy: God's great love for us has been revealed in Jesus. Jesus' powerful conversation with Nicodemus, a man of the law, reveals God's plan for the world. May we have eyes to see and hearts to believe Jesus' invitation for conversion and...

Third Sunday in Lent St. Paul, in his First Letter to the Corinthians, calls people to remember the heart of faith: "proclaiming Christ crucified.” Though we may focus on Jesus' teaching or his miracles, the core of our faith is rooted in this reality.  From the cross Jesus reveals God’s love to all people no matter who they are. Jesus proclaims God’s forgiveness to all. Therefore, our lives are i...