Father Kevin A. Codd

Though our Easter liturgies carry on, the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday has made the past week a time of grief and hope. We remember Francis for so many lovely gestures of mercy, compassion, and love. We pray that his successor will be a shepherd who brings all his sheep to the Church's Table.  Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Ecuador

"Happy Easter" is a fine greeting, but the word "happy" doesn't really communicate the depth of what we experience on this Easter morning. The risen Jesus offers his own "word" for his disciples and for us:  "Peace."  Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Ecuador, (and wrapping up a long Holy Week, the homilist is a bit weary which seems manifest in his delivery!)

John's narrative of Jesus' passion, death, and burial includes the mention of many names. There is Jesus and Simon Peter, of course, but also Malchus, Annas and Caiphas, Pilate, and at the end, the noble Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. But there is also the name of Barabbas, the brigand, and that of Caesar; what significance might these two names hold in this deeply sad story? Homily shared wit...

The Passion of the Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke. All of it...eighteen minutes of it, here told again as so many times before. A simple reflection follows: Jesus prays three times in this long story and each prayer is worthy of its own homily; each one shows us something deeply important about Jesus, his relationship to his Father, and his relationship to us. There is a fourth prayer here, t...

The horrific story given to us on this fifth Sunday of the Lenten season is so much more than a story about a woman "caught in the very act of adultery"; it is a story about that woman, of course, but also about the men carrying the stones in their hands ready to kill her in the name of Moses, and it is a story about Jesus... Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Ecuad...

The magnificent parable that Jesus tells in Luke 15 proves he is one of the great story-tellers of all time. It also is a spiritual revolution because it turns upside down the way most people have imagined God. Jesus pulls no punches in this story, which as it happens, is squarely directed at the religious leaders of his day. What is God like? For Jesus, God is this father who loves his sons so mu...

The magnificent story of Moses and the Burning Bush reveals to Moses (and to us!) a God who has the ears to hear the cries of a people enslaved, humiliated, and impoverished. That God would care with a burning passion for the sufferings of a small tribe of Hebrews trapped in Egypt teaches both Moses and us so much about the God at the heart of our faith. But there is more to this story worthy of o...

En la primera lectura de este domingo cuaresmal, encontramos con Moisés algo maravilloso: una zarza ardiendo sin consumirse. Es mas que cualquier zarza y mas que cualquier zara ardiendo sin consumirse: es un encuentro con Dios. Este Dios revela que es un Dios con oídos para escuchar los gritos del pueblo de Moisés esclavizado en Egipcio y un Dios con un corazón para los oprimidos. Ha hecho la deci...

Abraham looks up into the night sky resplendent with stars and sees his destiny: "Your children will be more than even the starts of the night!" James, John, and Peter look into the divine face of Jesus and are given a pre-vision of Easter glory. And more than that, they, and we with them, also see our own destiny: what we see in Jesus Glorified is what we too shall be when all is said and done. ...

Following his extraordinary experience in the Jordan River, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the desert. Here he must confront the fundamental temptations of his life, especially now that he clearly knows his is God's Beloved Son. Each  of the three desert temtations is a test of his vocation and mission. Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Ecuador.

Jesus doesn't mince his words or his imagery; he says it clearly: "Love your enemies." We all know that this is the most difficult, if not the most impossible, thing Jesus teaches us. So how do we actually do it in real life? Jesus gives us the answer and it is both a simple one and a profound one.  Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Ecuador.  

Jesús nos ofrece hoy su "mandamiento" más difícil: "Amen a sus enemigos."  A nosotros en nuestras vidas cotidianas, se parece casi imposible cumplirlo porque los enemigos nuestros nos han dañado mucho. Jesús entonces nos ensena como podamos vivir su mandamiento tan difícil...por orar para el bien de ellos.  Homilía compartida en la Iglesia de San Francisco, Cuenca, Ecuador. 

Entre las dos versiones de las Bienaventurados que encontramos en los evangelios de Mateo y Lucas, la de Lucas es la más difícil. Jesús se pone como revolucionario en no ofrecer bendiciones a los a la cima del orden social y religiosa del día y al contrario de toda expectativa, anuncia que los bendecidos de Dios son los más al bajo del orden social y religiosa.  Homilía compartida con la comunidad...

Everyone loves the Beatitudes, though the version they love is almost always that of Matthew. Luke's version is more difficult because Jesus is in full-prophet mode as he uses his maiden sermon to upend the social and religious order of his time. Who is "blessed" and who is "woed" are not what anyone in that crowd expected to hear.  Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca...

Sometimes a single brief moment can define the character and meaning of a whole life. So it was for Simeon; his encounter with the child Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem gave meaning to his long life and made him a figure of immense importance in the story of Israel's long-hoped-for salvation. As he received the Messiah on behalf of Israel, so he also stands in for us for whom this messiah is our...

Today's impressive "miracle story" from the Gospel of John is a rarity: it is a "happy miracle!" Most of Jesus' miracles begin with a leper, a blind-man, even a dead-man (Lazarus), but this one begins with a wedding feast...the only problem is the wine for the feast has run out...not such a big deal in the face of humanity's many troubles.  The changing of water to wine is a sign of the grand grac...

“Mijo, te quiero y me complace.” Tales palabras dicho por un papá son de suma importancia en la vida de un niño. También fueron para Jesús. Al oír palabras muy parecidas de su Padre en el cielo momentos después de su bautismo en el rio Jordan, Jesús seguramente se sentía a la aprobación de su Padre para su manera de llevar la salvación a su pueblo. No por una revolución política contra los poderes...

"I love you and I'm proud of you." These are words any son or daughter loves to hear from their father. They are much the same words Jesus hears from his Father following his baptism in the Jordan River at the hands of John. They were important to Jesus not just because he needed some paternal validation, but because they let him know that his choice for just how he is going to save God's People h...

We have warm and loving feelings for our Three Magi, so prominent on this final solemn feast of the Christmas season. Because of that love, we have many names for them: the Three Magi, the Three Kings, the Three Astrologers, and the Three Wisemen. Perhaps, we missed one though: "The Three Strangers", for their coming from a far-away land, their strange dress and customs, even their status as non-b...

Arguably one of the most poignant lines in all of Luke's Gospel is at the heart of today's feast: "And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart." It tells us so much about the character and spirituality of our dear Mary. She was at heart, a contemplative, and remembering all that God had done for her was an integral part of her contemplative spirit.  Homily shared with the Saint...

The boy Jesus' extended stay in the Temple of Jerusalem marks a significant turning point in his life as Luke tells the story. As he listens to the great rabbis teach and preach, he also asks them the big questions that have been on his mind for a long time. Over the three days he spends among them, something remarkable happens: he grows up. He lets go of the hands of his father and mother and tak...

It seems that the more we honor God as "Almighty", the further he seems to be from us. We imagine the Almighty God as a severe judge, a king enthroned on high, or even as Michaelangelo's old man with a great beard floating on heavenly clouds. As God becomes ever more distant from us and our lives here on this earth, so too the cry from our hearts: "Where are you God; I need you HERE!" Those images...

Elizabeth is one of those dear people you just want to get to know. So today, using the gift of homiletic imagination, let's spend some time with her and listen to her tell her story... Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Ecuador.

The question is repeated several times over; John is asked: What should we do? John's answer is a baseline of moral behaviour; it is nothing extraordinary. John is just trying to get his people up to the minimum of decent human and Jewish behavior. John knows that the One Who Is To Come will ask far more of them: a much deeper kind of love, a self-giving love! Homily shared with the Saint Francis...

Luke opens his version of Jesus's story with a bit of historical context. It is important in telling us that the story that follows is not a fable or a fairy tale or a great work of fiction. It is history. And this very real story begins with John in the desert... Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Ecuador.