Sunday Homilies

News was changing by the hour.  This homily ended up a little disjointed.  I meant to add -- to complete the thought about not being irrational -- that the current challenge is an opportunity for us to bring forth all that is most precious and beautiful within us.  As Jesus thirsted for the faith of the Samaritan woman, we thirst for an outpouring of love from us all.

"It's a good thing the world is far, far away!"  No, the world is with us, and we are with the world.  Jesus' Transfiguration is his pledge to be with us, whatever the world is suffering.

We must keep posing to ourselves the question: "Jesus -- he became human -- just like me?"  Yes, he is one with us when we are in the midst of temptation.

We take a look at St. John XXIII and all the renewal he initiated by calling Vatican II.

Generosity or codependency?; and why Easter should be one week later.  Also, my apologies for not including the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time.  I left the recorder on and the file ended up being 2.5 hours!

I had a letter to read.  Light and salt!

The One presented in the Temple comes with the power to change us, and his influence will feel astringent!  But he derives his authority from his complete union with humanity.

It's not just these four fishermen who are called by Jesus.  Every one of us has received a call to holiness.

Some housekeeping matters, and these readings feel like a repeat of last week.  First Corinthians feels familiar to us, because all church is local!

I was not able to record the homily; what you hear here is a summary.

As we survey the diversity of the nations, we recognize the ironies of people, supposedly of one community, to fail to communicate.  We talk to one another about projects before us, and we recognize the value of silence.

Family traditions are of various kinds, even in the Holy Family.

We consider the secrets which give depth to our life.

The cycles of time and the process of conversion.

What is the Kingdom which we await?  And how do we participate in its coming?

Fifty years of the Lectionary cycle; transforming your tools.

"A church that looks like a church" vs. a church built upon martyrdom.

The Berlin Wall and scaling the wall of mortality.

Climbing trees and finding mercy.

It's time to examine the "interior monologue" that each of us carries on with ourselves.

Jesus' parable is hilarious.  For one thing, it is almost as if the unjust judge can overhear the narration about his turpitude.

The homilist was off last weekend. -- The Naaman incident gives us a picture of the evolution of the idea of God, who is supreme and not a "local god."  Naaman still requests two mule-loads of earth from Israel, so he can have a "local connection."

This was our "Mass in the Grass."  You may remember from last year that my homily was interrupted by a football game and the national anthem.  This year it didn't happen.  I did not say to the congregation, though I was sorely tempted to do so:  "Well, they didn't do civic religion, but they did have whistleblowers."

Cats have nine lives.  People re-invent themselves.  But our God wills that we be simply a person, not a persona.

Note the calf in the Old Testament reading and the Gospel.