Sunday Homilies

The homilist did not preach on August 28.  -- What does the Kingdom of God demand of us?  Great flexibility.  We think of the slave Onesimus and the sacred character of human labor.  We remember the inner struggle of St. Teresa of Kolkata.

"Enter through the narrow gate."  Jesus has gone through the narrowest gate of all: the death we all must face.  We therefore enter into the love which led him there.

Looking for comfort today?  The Scriptures are more about struggle and perseverance.

We are called to trust that our God is eager for us to enter into his Kingdom.  Faith bids us perceive that every moment of our existence is an opening into eternal joy. 

We must reconsider the fantasies our minds have woven.  We must affirm that God holds our life in his hands.  

Is it possible to bargain with God?  Abraham thought so.  Our pleading in prayer leads us to purify our intentions.  God is eager to give us the help we really need.

The homilist was away the past two Sundays.  -- Hospitality need not lead us to anxiety.  Paying attention to our guests in fact leads us to the peace of contemplating the goodness of God.  Our sufferings are united with those of Jesus.

Elisha eliminated obstacles to his answer of the call of Elijah.  We must turn from the half-hearted responses of would-be disciples of Jesus.  Renunciation leads to the deepest freedom.

Our classifying, labeling, and dismissing of people leads to such things as the Orlando mass shooting last Sunday.  Saint Paul calls for no such classifying.

Every Catholic Christian must become intimately familiar with the Scriptures.  David and Bathsheba are linked today with Jesus' proclamation of forgiveness for the woman who approaches him.

Saint Paul, in Galatians, calls us to an appreciation of the ways in which God is changing and converting us.  Elijah and Jesus proclaim resurrection as they act in favor of the sons of widows.

It is well for us to appreciate Melchizedek as a "type" of Jesus: both offer bread and wine.

I think this is the first time I ever got an "Awww..." over something I said in a homily.  And on Trinity Sunday?!?

Our existence in the flesh is good.  Spirit supplies what we need when flesh can go no further.

Let us be especially aware of the description, from Hebrews, of Jesus entering the heavenly sanctuary, and know that his gift of self is utterly personal.

Borrowing from the Seventh Sunday of Easter, we read Jesus' aspiration "that all may be one" and consider, in light of the first reading, that unity is achieved and maintained painstakingly.

On love as feeling and as virtue.

From day to day, as in the case of the Apostles, it may seem that few are being gathered in.  We hold before us the image of the "multitude" of the Book of Revelation.

Love itself can be uncomfortable.  Just ask Peter.

I may have recorded Easter, but it may have been part of a recording which did not get shut off for hours.  -- Doing right by Thomas, and the perils of having chewing gum in school.

A consideration of a strange and wonderful conversation: "This day you will be with me in paradise."

We tend to be our own judge, jury, and executioner.  God does a new thing: setting us free from our self-imposed prisons.

The annoying parable of the Prodigal Son.  (I can't remember why I don't have a recording for Feb. 28.)

"Isn't life awful -- and wonderful?"  The Transfiguration prepares for the fullness of the mystery of death and resurrection.

More calls.  Our vocation is founded upon Jesus' resurrection; Paul hands on to us the testimony of the earliest witnesses to Jesus' rising.