Fr. Kyle White's Homilies

God gives each of us specific gifts for the building up of the Body of Christ. We too often consider our purpose in life through the lens of what will make us happiest, but what if we instead considered God’s role for us in his kingdom? Each individual person has an essential and irreplaceable role in the Body of Christ, and discovering that role will lead to something greater than quick happiness...

Jesus’ first miracle is not an exorcism, nor a healing, nor an act of nature, but to supply wine at a wedding. Fundamental to Jesus’ mission is his identity as the divine bridegroom. Understanding this properly changes the way we understand our experience at Mass.  To learn more about our mission, visit stleolafayette.com

We are experiencing an identity crisis, which is causing too many of us to feel lost, discouraged, and confused. The Father announces Jesus' identity at his baptism, which also tells us something about our identity. Instead of believing all the identity lies that the world tells us, we choose to believe what the Father says to us.  To learn more about our mission, visit stleolafayette.com

Why do you seek what you seek? King Herod and the Magi each sought Christ, but with different intentions. Sometimes we seek the wrong things in life, but sometimes we seek the right things with the wrong intentions. Instead, we want to seek the right things with the right intentions.  To learn more about our mission, visit stleolafayette.com

The Holy Family is not just an example that’s too idealistic to imitate. The Holy Family is your family, too. Jesus shares his family with us, and they make up for where our families fall short.  To learn more about our mission, visit stleolafayette.com

The Christmas story is so much more than a sweet children's tale. It's a bold proclamation that God lowered himself to rescue us from the powers of darkness by elevating us into his divine life. Christ was born for you because he loves you that much. Do not forget your dignity. Merry Christmas! To learn more about our mission, visit stleolafayette.com

While Christmas is supposed to be a time of happiness & cheer, sometimes family members have a way of robbing us of our joy. Taking Mary & Elizabeth as an example, here is one concrete way to discover joy in the midst of everyone we encounter, including the difficult people in our lives.  To learn more about our mission, visit stleolafayette.com

Anyone with a heartbeat knows that anxiety is just a part of life, but St. Paul tells us to rejoice always and to have no anxiety at all! He's not suggesting that we run away from the cross, but that we embrace Christ in the midst of our suffering. Here are two concrete things that we can do when we are anxious: a prayer of petition and a prayer of thanksgiving. To learn more about our missio...

Advent is about embracing John the Baptist's desire to decrease so that Christ can increase in us. Here are three concrete ways to die to your ego so that you would have more room in your life for Jesus Christ.  To learn more about our mission, visit stleolafayette.com

Our hearts become weak and weary from overindulgence and all of our worries. Advent is a time to reset. Since Jesus tells us to pray for strength, we will strengthen our hearts these next 24 days.  To learn more about our mission, visit stleolafayette.com

Most of us have a few smaller fears that, although they aren’t debilitating, they tend to influence the way that we see the world and make decisions. Sometimes those smaller fears can prevent us from seeing Jesus in front of us. Today we surrender our fears, big and small, to Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

The apocalyptic passages in scripture are not meant to scare us, but to motivate us. Everything in this world is passing away, except the Word of God. Be not afraid to live for his Kingdom. 

We tend to feel good when we give our time, energy, and money to a good cause… until it starts to hurt. Resentment can creep in when we give beyond our surplus. The story of the poor widow’s coin reminds us that the primary reason we give is not for our personal fulfillment, nor for economic benefit. The fundamental reason we give is to die to our ego so that we may learn the art of love. 

Since American politics is often an emotional rollercoaster, we can be tempted toward one of two extremes: total disengagement or over engagement. Instead, Jesus gives us the commandment of charity, which is love of God and neighbor. The law of charity serves as our guiding light in everything, including our political engagement.  **Please forgive our sound quality this week. We are working to fix...

We tend to hold on to things, even if we know they aren’t good for us, because it’s what we know. But these things prevent us from approaching Jesus. The gospel demands a responds, and Jesus invites us to “throw our cloak aside” and follow him. Be not afraid. It’s time to be set free.

Most would agree that if something is important to us, it’s worth making sacrifices in order to achieve it or obtain it. But there’s a difference between making a sacrifice for personal gain and offering a sacrifice for God & for others. Jesus calls us beyond self-interest. 

When push comes to shove, most of us place our trust in our financial stability. We all want to trust Jesus, but our finances tend to have more of an impact on our sense of peace. But no matter how much wealth we have, putting our trust in material possessions ultimately gives us a false sense of security. 

The number one threat to marriages is the same top threat to our salvation: selfishness. St John Paul II speaks about the personalistic norm as a fundamental principal for human relationships. Persons are meant to be loved, not used. 

Jesus emphasizes the seriousness of sin & scandal by acknowledging the reality of hell. Parents especially need to be on guard from leading their children to sin. Although God’s mercy is essentially the good news of the gospel, it’s not very good news if we don’t take seriously sin, scandal, and hell.

For most of us, the single biggest obstacle in our spiritual life is our tendency to cling to control. We may have even tried to “let go & let God”, only to get discouraged when it got hard. But the way of Christ is different.

We tend to flee from suffering at all costs, only to be frustrated in finding it to be unavoidable. Yet, by his cross & resurrection, Jesus gives new meaning to all of human suffering. We have a choice: to use it or lose it. 

Our distractions make it difficult to hear the Word of God, which in turn makes us less confident in speaking God’s Word. In a spiritual sense, we become like the deaf & mute man in the gospel reading. Yet, even in the midst of all our distractions, there is hope.  Our mission at St. Leo Lafayette is made possible because of many generous donors, including recurring monthly donations of any am...

Jesus doesn’t say that all traditions are bad, but he does criticize the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. When traditions undermine the fundamental message of the Gospel, we got a problem. Our mission at St. Leo Lafayette is made possible because of many generous donors, including recurring monthly donations of any amount. Thinking about helping out? You can give at stleolafayette.com/give   Thank y...

Much of evangelization is about making good invitations. I’ve see this done well, but also done poorly. Here are 5 things to avoid when inviting someone back to church.  Our mission at St. Leo Lafayette is made possible because of many generous donors, including recurring monthly donations of any amount. Thinking about helping out? You can give at stleolafayette.com/give   Thank you!

The Church’s teachings on marriage, family, and the body can be difficult to accept. Every conversation will be unique because every situation has its nuances. Although truth doesn’t change, we should always be evaluating and adjusting our rhetoric when speaking about tough moral topics. Jesus shows us how to speak with both truth & charity. Our mission at St. Leo Lafayette is made possible be...