Father Kevin A. Codd

The great prayer of Advent is a simple one: "Come, Lord, Come! It expresses our humility before God; we cannot save ourselves! It trusts in God's ability to save us. It places full faith and confidence that God, indeed, WILL save us! The pattern of crying out to God in our tribulations to come, then waiting for his coming, and finally experiencing his coming to save us is an old one, but it is esp...

The Gospel passage from John this final Sunday of the Church's liturgical year presents us with two "kings" facing one another. One is typical of most human kings: power and domination are the currency of their reign. The other is far from typical: a humble carpenter, a controversial prophet, one willing to let go of all power in self-sacrificial love, destined for a cruel death. How can he be con...

As the church year draws to a close, our liturgical readings are replete with apocolyptic imagery. Some of it is deeply consoling while other passages make us shiver with fear and trembling. Perhaps, the images in today's gospel can be read a different way: as images of a great love and a new life being born.  Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, EC.

Jesus attends to those who donate to the Temple in Jerusalem. The rich donors do not impress him, but a poor widow clearly does touch him deeply. In her self-giving, he sees himself and what will happen to him in Jerusalem.  Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community of Cuenca, Ecuador. 

Let us consider the Scribe who asks Jesus which of the commandments is the most important. Jesus answer seems to astound the man: "The greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, all your sould, all your mind, and all your strength...and the second: love your neighbor as yourself."  The Scribe finds these to be the perfect response to his question and says so. Jesus commends his under...

El escriba en el evangelio de hoy presenta a Jesús una pregunta muy fundamental: "Cual de los mandamientos de la ley es lo más importante? La respuesta de Jesús le impresiona mucho y el escriba dice que Jesús de verdad tiene razón. Es cierto que el mandamiento más grande de todo es amar a Dios con todo su corazón y amar a su prójimo como a si mismo.  Homilía compartido en la Iglesia de San Francis...

The beautiful verse from the late Hebrew scriptures, the Book of Wisdom, "The souls of the just are in the hands of God and there no torment shall touch them", leads us to reflect on the mystery of life, the life God has gifted to us, and its fulfillment in the life of God. As we remember our beloved dead this day, we entrust their souls into God's merciful and gracious hands.  Homily shared with...

La hermosa y profunda lectura del Libro de Sabiduria con que comenzamos la Liturgia de la Palabra en este dia solemne, nos ayuda a reflejernos sobre la realidad de la vida como don precioso de Dios, la muerte, y las manos tiernos de Dios en que entregamos las almas de nuestros queridos difuntos.  Homilia ofrecida en la Iglesia de San Francisco de Cuenca, Ecuador. 

"I was blind, but now I see..." When Andrea Bocelli sings that beautiful line from the hymn, Amazing Grace, you know it is a prayer that comes from deep in his own experience as a blind man. He would understand why Bartimeus in today's gospel reading would ask Jesus for just one thing: "I want to see." The most important "seeing" here is a seeing of things unseeable: love, life, amazing grace.    ...

The brothers, James and John, make a bold request of Jesus hoping to fulfill their desire for greatness in their lives. Jesus lets them know that he can't fulfill their request, but asks them instead if they can drink the cup of which he is to drink. He then gives all his apostles a stern lesson in humility and service.  Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community of Cuenca, Ecuador. 

Jesus loves the man who asks him, "What must I do to inherit everlasting life?" He already fulfills the commandments, so what more is there to do? Jesus, in love, gives him the one thing he can't bring himself to do: sell everything, give to the poor, and follow him. Alas... Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Ecuador.

Jesus responds to a trick question about divorce. Rather than fall into the trap, he points his opponents' attention to what they are not seeing: the rich image of God's love that marriage is. The ideal of married love that he poses to them is one that animates our own understanding to this day.  Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community of Cuenca, Ecuador. 

Jesus' severe teaching in the 9th chapter of Mark's gospel is a good example of radical exaggeration to make an important point. Jesus isn't mandating the cutting off of feet, chopping off of hands, or the actual plucking out of eyes. He IS mandating that we take a hard look at our own fundamental sins and excise them from our lives. Arrogance, lying, and lack of forgiveness, these are the "big on...

One of the most popular images of Jesus is when he holds a child, embracing him/her with great love and tenderness. Today's gospel reading presents us with one of those moments, but the meaning off the story is far deeper than just "Jesus loves the little children", as the popular song from the '70's reminded us. This is a story about service, humility, and striving to be the least rather than the...

Jesus takes some time with his disciples to talk with them about something serious. He begins by asking them who others say that he is. The he asks them who THEY say he is. Peter's response is perfect: "You are the Christ." Jesus then explains what that will mean as they go forward: persecution, injustice, death...and the resurrection. After Peter protests, Jesus explains that this is essential to...

¿Nada más que un milagro más?  ¿O sea posible que en la sanación del hombre sordo y mudo estamos experimentando un encuentro intimo entre nosotros y Jesús?   Homilia compartida en la Iglesia de San Francisco, Cuenca, EC. 

Jesus strangely uses spit to heal the deaf and mute man in the Gospel of Mark. Why spit? It is not so obvious to us in our times, but just maybe saliva had a primordial significance for Jesus. Coming from the mouth where both breath and word mingle, it may be that Jesus' spit carries with it his breath, his word, his spirit, his humanity and divinity both. In this intimate ritual of healing, Jesus...

The big boys from Jerusalem come to Jesus to complain about his disciples failure to follow the ways of their forefathers, more particularly, their failure to wash their hands before meals. It sounds at first like a reasonable complaint to us, but their intervention wasn't really about proper hygiene; it had much more to do with the measures they were using to judge how faithful to God one was. Th...

As the 6th chapter of John's Gospel comes to an end this Sunday...as well as his lengthy teaching on the Bread of Life...there are no cheers nor gusty rounds of applause. To the contrary, most of his own disciples walk away from him, except the Twelve. It must surely have been a most discouraging moment for Jesus and a confusing one for Peter and the other eleven. At this nadir of his ministry, Je...

Even after three Sundays worth of quarreling over Jesus' teaching on the Bread of Life, those Galileans who have followed Jesus to Capernaum are still at it. They just cant figure out what Jesus is going on about. There is a reason: they don't underestand his foundational teaching on who God is. They are stuck within an image of God as a powerful king, a severe judge, a great general. All this is...

The spectacular story of the prophet, Elija, helps us understand more profoundly the proclamation of Jesus in the Gospel of John that he is the Bread of Life, the Bread Come Down from Heaven. In Elijah's story, the God of Israel gives him the bread he needs to continue on in his great prophetic mission. So Jesus is the Bread of Life given to us by his Father that nourishes us and strengthens us fo...

La historia del profeta Elías nos ayuda entender a Jesús cuando proclama que si mismo es el pan de vida en el evangelio de San Juan. El verdadero Dios de Israel no abandona a su profeta, sino le da el pan que necesita para seguir en su misión profética. Así es con Jesús: él es el pan que Dios, su Padre, da a nosotros para cumplir nuestras misiones en este mundo.  Homilía compartida con los feligre...

Those poor folks in the desert! Having just escaped the slavery of Egypt, now they must face the reality of not having bread for their journey towards the Promised Land! Their murmuring against both Moses and God is not without effect for God provides them with their daily bread because of his love for them. Jesus does much the same in his own time; last Sunday he provided a bounty of bread to a h...

Los pobres hebreos en el desierto! Después de haber dejado atrás la esclavitud de egipcio, se encuentren sin pan y con hambre en el desierto de Sinaí.  Se murmuran contra Moisés y contra Dios. Sin embargo, Dios les provee su “pan de cada día” por amor a ellos. Jesús hace lo mismo a los judíos de su tiempo; les da pan de harina de trigo (el domingo pasado) pero mas importante, les da pan que no se...

Our world has many hungers: Hunger of the body. Hunger of the spirit. Hunger for riches and power. Which of these merits the primary attention of the Christian? A case can be made for each of them. Jesus addresses all three as one in today's magnificent gospel story of the multiplacation of the loaves and fishes.  Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community of Cuenca, Ecuador