Sunday Homilies

The readings in Year B focus greatly on the blood of Christ.  Let us acknowledge the differences between the ancient mentality and our own, and appreciate their understanding of blood as a sign of atonement for sin.

The dynamism of the Holy Trinity should be reflected in the dynamic action of love in our lives.

"Now, listen up; this is the Holy Spirit talking.  Everybody start talking Latin!"  This is not the way the Holy Spirit works.  Unfortunately, the recent unpleasantness regarding English liturgical texts would lead one to believe that some highly-placed people in the Church do think that this is how the Spirit operates.  Today's passage from Acts contradicts them.  -- I do have one retraction of s...

After you hear this homily, you may find yourself humming the Beatles' "In My Life."  I am.

Where I live, we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord on the Seventh Sunday of Easter.  Therefore, on the Sixth Sunday of Easter we can use readings from the Seventh Sunday which we otherwise would never hear.  Today I used the Seventh Sunday's Gospel, Jesus' prayer "that all may be one."  Catholics need to watch their language when they refer to Christians of different denominations.

Today we consider the image of the vine and the branches, which, if you think about it, may suffer from some inadequacies.  We also consider the awkwardness of a former attacker coming over to the enemy.

Even Jesus cannot provide a perfect analogy.  It's just the nature of an analogy that it is always in some way inadequate.  And in the case of the Good Shepherd, the deficiency is this: WE'RE NOT SHEEP.

My take on The Da Vinci Code.  Also, is it true that, after the Resurrection, you still get to eat?  This was from the 8:00 am Mass at Auburn (10:15 was First Communion).

I had a little competition at the beginning of this homily.  These are some thoughts on the various titles given to Jesus and their meaning.  Recorded at the late Mass in Auburn.

The Covenant ... and how it is expressed to its fullest degree in the one who was lifted up and draws all to himself.

A week ago I was having problems with uploading.  Now, I am having problems remembering what I talked about.  Having referred to a lectionary, I recall now that I talked about the Babylonian Exile.  Also, of course, about John 3:16.

I was windy today -- this is over 14 minutes, at the early Mass at St. Benedict. I am covering various aspects of participation in liturgy. I would love to go deeper into the social situation of "convenient sacrifice" at the time of Jesus. My personal spirituality is founded upon the notions of sacrifice as discussed in Hebrews 9 and 10.

Is anxiety necessary? Was Abraham's imperative to kill his son all in his mind? We will try to answer these questions today. Recorded at the 8 am Mass in Auburn.

Once I finished this homily, I realized that I had not mentioned the date of Easter; it's April 16. Lent does not exist for its own sake; rather, it is our preparation for Easter.

Where was I the previous two weeks? Well, I was at the ambo ... but I don't have recordings to prove it. I know I inadvertently erased Feb. 19 -- but I don't know what happened to Feb. 12. Today's reflection continues with practical matters of living as a parish community, and it focuses on that church staple put together with staples: the humble missalette.

Today I talk about money. Listen to determine whether I make a convincing case for money being "boring."

The early Mass at St. Benedict. The man crying out in the synagogue makes me think of 1) kids in church -- an emotionally-charged issue, and 2) mental illness. Listen to my thoughts.

The last and best-attended Mass. A familiar theme of mine: We don't go to Mass to make God happy. Rather, God makes us happy (repentance/conversion) and then we, out of thanksgiving, are present for worship.

You were perhaps looking for the "First Sunday in Ordinary Time"? Sorry -- it doesn't exist! A bit of housekeeping, plus a look at the built-in eagerness for God that all of us have.

This was a week ago. I don't remember much. Mainly I was, I think, talking about the officialization of the new parish.

Two listeners noted that my original recording was truncated. Here, I believe, is the complete recording.

Midnight in Auburn: my fourth of five Christmas Eucharists.

Earlier I had posted an explanation of my absence on the Second and Third Sundays of Advent -- but that recording was blank, because I had not turned the microphone on. I'm back with a homily recorded at the early Mass at Auburn.

The late Mass in Auburn.

This was the early Sunday Mass, held at the St. Benedict Parish Center because the church interior is being painted.