Homilies from the National Shrine

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020326.cfm The Church remembers St. Blaise as a powerful intercessor for those suffering from ailments of the throat — but his witness points far beyond physical healing. In this homily, Fr. Matthew Tomeny, MIC, draws us into the heart of the Gospel, where Christ’s miracles transcend the physical. From the blessing of throats aft...

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020126.cfm As our nation approaches a historic milestone, Fr. Mark Baron, MIC invites us to look deeper than slogans, documents, or even the American Dream. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are good aspirations—but they are incomplete unless they are rightly ordered. True happiness, as St. Thomas Aquinas teaches, is no...

Father Gabe Cillo reflects on St. John Bosco’s deep love for young people—and his clear-eyed realism about the world they’re growing up in. Formation isn’t just about information. It’s about helping hearts face a real battle: the pull of culture, personal wounds, and the enemy who wants to distract, numb, and divide. Saint John Bosco knew something essential: young people don’t need watered-down t...

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/013026.cfm Father Jason Lewis, MIC, leads us into one of Scripture’s most sobering and hope-filled accounts: the fall and repentance of King David. Chosen, anointed, and beloved by God, David nevertheless sins gravely — through sloth, lust, deceit, and murder. Yet this story is not preserved to excuse sin, but to reveal the aston...

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012926.cfm When Jesus speaks of a lamp placed on a stand, He reveals how God works in history. What God makes known is meant to give light, and what He reveals is never accidental or incomplete. Father Mark Baron, MIC, shows how the Gospel and the First Reading proclaim a single, unified plan of salvation. The promise given to Ki...

On the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, Fr. Chris Alar, MIC, reflects on a decisive moment in his own vocation and on the gift the Church receives through reason rightly ordered to faith. Saint Thomas shows us that clarity about God’s will is not opposed to intellect but illuminated by it. As the Catechism teaches, “God can be known with certainty from created reality by the light of human reason” (“C...

The Marians’ mission is inseparably tied to two great spiritual weapons: the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception; and Divine Mercy (“Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska,” 164). Blessed George Matulaitis-Matulewicz (1871–1927) exemplified this mission, guiding the Marians through persecution in Europe and establishing their presence in the United States. Father Chri...

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012626.cfm Father Chris Alar, MIC addresses one of the most misunderstood teachings in all of Scripture: Is there truly a sin that God will not forgive? Jesus warns that a house divided cannot stand (cf. Mk 3:25), and Fr. Chris explains that the most dangerous division is not political or cultural — it is spiritual. It is the div...

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012526.cfm Father Chris Alar, MIC addresses one of the deepest wounds of our time: division. Scripture asks plainly, “Is Christ divided?” (1 Cor 1:13; NABRE). The answer is no. Yet division arises when truth is rejected and replaced with opinion. Christ Himself warned that His coming would cause division—not because division is g...

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012426.cfm Father Jason Lewis, MIC confronts a question that has echoed since the time of Christ: Who is Jesus, really? As the Gospel recounts, some of Jesus’ own relatives believed He was “out of his mind,” while the scribes accused Him of acting by the power of evil. Yet Jesus’ works—healing the sick, casting out demons, forgiv...

Father Gabe Cillo, MIC, reflects on the witness of St. Marianne Cope, an immigrant and religious sister who did not hesitate when the call came to serve those suffering from leprosy on the island of Molokai, in Hawaii. While dozens of religious communities declined to send their members to serve, her community said yes. Saint Marianne went without fear, spending decades caring for the sick and dyi...

As headlines stir anxiety about the possibility of global conflict, Fr. Matthew Tomeny, MIC, turns our attention to a war already raging — one that has claimed more innocent lives than any battlefield in history. While nations prepare for external enemies, the Church is called to confront a deeper crisis: the systematic destruction of human life in the womb. Scripture teaches that peace is never m...

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012126.cfm Many people struggle with the Bible because they sense a tension between the Old Testament and the New. The God of the Old Testament is sometimes portrayed as harsh, violent, even distant, while the New Testament reveals mercy, healing, and love. Father Chris Alar, MIC addresses this confusion directly by reminding us...

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012026.cfm In the Gospel, Jesus’ repeated conflicts with the Pharisees over the Sabbath reveal not rebellion against God’s law, but a restoration of its true purpose. As Father Mark Baron, MIC explains, the Pharisees arose during a time of intense pressure to preserve Jewish identity. Their zeal to protect the Law led them to bui...

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011826.cfm Before healing the man’s body, Jesus heals his soul. The paralytic seeks physical restoration, but Christ addresses a greater paralysis: sin. Sin paralyzes the soul and separates us from God, the source of life. “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” the scribes challenge (Mk 2:7, NABRE). Indeed, only God forgives, yet...

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011626.cfm Father Chris Alar, MIC, draws us into the dramatic Gospel scene of the paralytic lowered before Jesus and reveals why this passage speaks so clearly of the Sacraments of the Church. What Jesus responds to first is not the man’s condition, but faith — specifically, the faith of those carrying him. “When Jesus saw their...

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011526.cfm Why would God allow Israel to be defeated even while the Levites were carrying the Ark of the Covenant before the army into battle? And why would Jesus heal a leper — then sternly command him to tell no one? In this homily, Fr. Mark Baron, MIC, brings these unsettling questions together and shows that they reveal the s...

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011426.cfm Father Chris Alar, MIC, reflects on the heart of the discernment of every vocation: learning to listen to God. Vocation is not just about priesthood or religious life — it is the unique call God has placed in your life. Marriage, single life, priesthood, religious life — each is holy, each is purposeful, and each is a...

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/0113-memorial-hilary.cfm Father Gabe Cillo, MIC, explains a truth so foundational that everything in the Christian life depends on it: Jesus Christ is truly God. Not partly divine, not a created being, not “like” God — but fully God and fully man. Father Gabe reflects on how the Church has defended this truth from the earliest ce...

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011226.cfm Father Daniel Klimek, PhD reflects on the beginning of Christ’s public ministry and the radical call of discipleship. When Jesus calls the first apostles, He does not simply invite admiration, but demands surrender. Peter leaves his nets behind—his livelihood, his security, his safety—to follow Christ. Those nets, Fr....

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/123125.cfm Father Chris Alar, MIC, confronts a hard but urgent truth drawn from Sacred Scripture and the teaching authority of the Church: the Antichrist is not only a future figure, but a present spirit at work in the world. Reflecting on the First Letter of John, Fr. Chris explains that Scripture speaks of both a singular Antic...