Teaching & Preaching: Deacon Matt's homilies & podcasts

Homily for the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C) preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on Nov. 6, 2022. The ancient Gnostics considered the soul to be the real person and the body just a shell. Salvation for them meant liberation from the body. Many in our culture — including professing Christians — seem to have adopted this same attit...

How do we go above and beyond in our faith? Doing good is a moral obligation, but enduring evils is also something Christians are called upon to do with charity and patience, trusting in the Providence of God.  Homily preached at by Deacon Matt Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on Sunday, October 2, 2022.

When Jesus says, “Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost?” he’s not really talking about building a tower. He’s illustrating a point about Christian discipleship. Being Christ’s disciple is a major undertaking. It’s not just coming to church on Sunday. It’s about taking up your cross and following Christ every single day of your life; in all your a...

When asked how many would be saved, Jesus doesn't offer a number but says that we should "strive to enter through the narrow gate." Having a narrow focus helps us achieve our goals in life in general, but especially in the spiritual life. Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome, campus minister at Western Carolina University, on Sunday, Aug. 22, 2022, at the first campus Mass of the new academic...

“Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and the evidence of things not seen" (Heb 11:1). But is it reasonable to believe in things not seen? Is faith just superstition? Deacon Matt talks about the reasonableness of the Catholic faith in this homily preached at St. Mary Mother of God Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on Sunday, August 7, 2022.

Homily preached on July 3, 2022, the 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C) at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church. Jesus sends his disciples out "like lambs among wolves" to proclaim the kingdom of God. Today, proclaiming God's kingdom means upholding the dignity of all human life, especially the most vulnerable.

As important as the Holy Spirit is to our lives as Christians, it's safe to say that the Third Person of the Trinity remains something of an enigma to most of us. In this homily, Deacon Matt talks about why that is and helps us to relate to the Holy Spirit by exploring the Spirit's role in the life of the Trinity and in the life of the Church. Preached at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Chur...

It’s very easy, after encountering Christ, to return to our usual routine and live our lives as if nothing has changed. Like Peter and the other Apostles, we sometimes need a reminder of our calling, or our mission. What is the mission of a Christian? Do we even know? Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on the 3rd Sunday of Easter, May 1, 2022, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic C...

Homily preached by Deacon Matt Newsome on Easter Sunday at St. Mary Mother of God parish in Sylva, NC. "When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believ...

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent (Year C readings) preached at the Catholic Campus Ministry chapel of Our Lady of the Annunciation at Western Carolina University on Sunday, April 3, by Deacon Matt Newsome. "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her" (Jn 8:7)

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent, using the readings from Year A for the scrutinies, preached on Sunday, April 3, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die" (Jn 11:25-26).

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on the First Sunday of Lent, March 6, 2022.

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C), preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC on February 6, 2022.

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on December 5, 2021, for the 2nd Sunday of Advent (C). 

Homily preached on November 7, 2021, by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, for the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B). "Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelih...

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time (B), October 10, 2021, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on September 5, 2021, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. How does the "Messianic Secret" correspond with the Church's evangelical mission?

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on Aug. 1, 2021, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst” (Jn 6:35).

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on Sunday, July 4, 2021, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

Homily for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ (Corpus Christi), preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on June 6, 2021.

Preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on May 16, 2021.

Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter preached on the campus of Western Carolina University by Deacon Matthew Newsome, campus minister, at the final campus Mass of the Spring 2021 semester.

Homily for Easter Sunday preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church, Sylva, NC, April 4, 2021.

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on the 3rd Sunday of Lent (Year A readings for RCIA), March 7, 2021, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on the 3rd Sunday of Lent, March 7, 2021, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.