Sunday Homilies

Did you ever notice how the births of Jesus and John are at the solstices?

The Kingdom of God is manifested in the surprising growth which occurs within and among us.

The Holy Eucharist cannot be separated from the Easter mystery and all which occurred as Jesus gave himself for our salvation.

Embrace and submit to the paradox of God, one and three.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit lead to the growth in us of the Spirit's fruits.  Surely we must want to live this way: carried and calmed by joy, peace, and all the other fruits of the Spirit.

"God is love."  We may struggle to understand the pull of love.  We find our answers as we appreciate that "God is love."

In our polarized society, we must recognize our absolute need to be branches on the one vine, Jesus, who leads us out of tribalism into life-giving union.

This was First Communion weekend in my parishes.  "This is the church, this is the steeple" leads to a discussion of the Church as  the people,  and of our need to be shepherded.

We used the Gospel from the Easter Vigil: Mark's account of the discovery of the empty tomb.  We can identify with the fear which the women felt when they were charged with announcing Jesus' resurrection to the world.

As we near the celebration of the Passion of the Lord, the image of the grain of wheat becomes very helpful to us.

The homiletic treatment of the strange story of Abraham and Isaac.

On February 4, I apparently did not turn off the recorder, so that homily was part of a several-hours-long file.  Sorry.  February 11, I did not preach. This homily was preached at a retreat for 7th- and 8th-graders, just after the mass shooting at Parkland, Florida.  If we are to understand human behavior and, especially, the ways in which we succumb to temptation, we cannot demonize even the mos...

Can gift cards heal?  We need to consider all the various ways in which people need to be healed, and we will grasp this possibility.

The homilist did not preach January 14.  -- We certainly need to know the context of this episode in the book of Jonah if we are going to appreciate how God works with an  unwilling  prophet.

Imagine being embarrassed on behalf of one's entire country, as we try to negotiate the boundaries of unity and diversity.

We consider the impossibility of counting the stars, the impossibility implied in sacrificing one's son, and the impossibility of having one's heart pierced by a sword.

The homilist did not preach on the Fourth Sunday of Advent (it was the deacon's turn).  Imagine the figurines of a Nativity scene being set up on a battlefield.  That's the whole point of Jesus' Incarnation.

In risk and in ritual, joy emerges.

The Book of Consolation (beginning at Isaiah 40) aids us as we remember that God never tells us, "You are something wrong."

"You are the potter, we are the clay."  St. Jerome considers its physical-plant needs.

"King" or "Queen" tends to imply some distance from the people they rule.  Our King sympathizes with us; indeed, he completely identifies with us.

The pastor did not preach last weekend.  -- The "worthy wife" helps us to consider how we place our gifts at the service of God's Kingdom.

Jesus questions the habit of clinging to titles and status. 

The great commandments of love of God and neighbor rely upon a healthy self-love.

The homilist was away October 8, and did not preach on October 15.  -- Caesar's coin occasions a discussion of how  everything  is political and  everything  is religious.