Homilies
Sunday’s Readings: Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14; Psalms 51:3-4, 12-13, 17, 19; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-32 OR 15:1-10
……from your Pastor’s Desk – Today’s Gospel is the story of the Prodigal Son. We all know it. Maybe we’ve all been that child one time or another. I doubt any of us would want to be judged by one incident or one ‘part’ of our lives ruled by bad decisions. …
Sunday’s Readings: Wisdom 9:13-18b; Psalms 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17; Philemon 9-10, 12-17; Luke 14:25-33
……from your Pastor’s Desk – Don’t be a Hater! – The first words we hear from Jesus in this Sunday’s Gospel passage might startle us. They were spoken by the Lord to convey without the shadow of a doubt a very important message to his followers. The words of Jesus are these: “If any one comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” …
Sunday’s Readings: Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29; Psalms 68:4-5, 6-7, 10-11; Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a; Luke 14:1, 7-14
……from your Pastor’s Desk – A Lesson in Humility – The Litany of Humility is a prayer worth pondering. As it is a long litany the following are only excerpts: From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, O Jesus. …
Sunday’s Readings: Isaiah 66:18-21; Psalms 117:1, 2; Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13; Luke 13:22-30
……from your Pastor’s Desk – Heaven’s Gate – Jesus tells two parables about someone asking a favor at a late hour. They teach us a lot. Maybe you remember the first one, which Jesus told two weeks ago. …
Sunday’s Readings: Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10; Psalms 40:2, 3, 4, 18; Hebrews 12:1-4; Luke 12:49-53
……from your Pastor’s Desk – The Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary (Monday, August 15) – The feasts of Mary may be puzzling to the casual observer. And some are surprised at the brevity of the dogma of this specific feast in its entirety: …
Sunday’s Readings: Wisdom 18:6-9; Psalms 33:1, 12, 18-19, 20-22; Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 OR 11:1-2, 8-12; Luke 12:32-48 OR 12:35-40
……from your Pastor’s Desk – “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much….” – When Jesus says these words about us, two questions immediately arise. First, what has Jesus entrusted us with? Second, what therefore will be required of us? Each of us, naturally, has been given the gift of life. In our day and age, this is not a gift that we ought to take for granted. Still, when we thank God each day for the gift of life, what exactly are we giving thanks for? …
Sunday’s Readings: Genesis 18:20-32; Psalms 138:1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 7-8; Colossians 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13
……from your Pastor’s Desk – Ask and You Will Receive – When you want something, do you pray to God for it? A lot of people in this country, even in these troubled times, do say that they “whisper a little prayer.” Excellent. Others put aside time each day for prayer or even for Mass. A number use the present web site to understand and pray about the readings for the coming Sunday. …
Sunday’s Readings: Genesis 18:1-10a; Psalms 15:2-3, 3-4, 5; Colossians 1:24-28; Luke 10:38-42
……from your Pastor’s Desk – DON’T BE ANXIOUS – In the prayers we used to use for Mass until a few years back – we prayed each day that we would be “Protected from all Anxiety”. Quite a task. Truly a request only God could answer. Much more than ‘Don’t Worry – Be Happy” [I must admit I loved that song when it was popular and still find myself singing it sometimes!]. And although it seems that we do need some tension in our lives for productive growth – too often we just ‘worry’ too much, and are NOT happy. …
Sunday’s Readings: Deuteronomy 30:10-14; Psalms 69:14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36, 37; OR Psalms 19:8, 9, 10, 11; Colossians 1:15-20; Luke 10:25-37
……from your Pastor’s Desk – Beloved of God – If we listen carefully to the readings this Sunday, we will hear the whole Christian and Catholic life very gently stated—even (or especially) in this post-covid world, complete with Ukraine and high inflation. In the First Reading Moses describes how simple God’s command is. I would like to quote his words because they are beautiful. …