Homilies

“Rejoice in the Lord always, I say it again, rejoice” St Paul advises us. This third Sunday in Advent is called Gaudete or Rejoice Sunday drawing from those words of St. Paul. That uplifting message is not always well received in the midst of so many pre-Christmas activities and with the heaviness that is in our world these days, and in many lives. Yet if we choose to make our personal relationship with Jesus Christ as the most important aspect of our lives, we can overcome the distractions of the secular world and be joyful in the midst of its busyness and challenges. True joy is reflected in the first reading from Isaiah which Jesus read in his hometown synagogue as he began his public ministry: “The spirit of the…

“Prepare the way of the Lord.” With those words, the evangelist Mark introduces us to John the Baptist. Historians tell us that soldiers would be sent out to prepare the people for the arrival of their secular king. That is the mission of John the Baptist in a spiritual way, to get people’s attention, encouraging repentance and thus preparing for the King of Glory to arrive. John the Baptist prepares the way for us by bringing to life Sacred Scripture. Isaiah speaks of the voice crying in the desert prepare the way of the Lord. In the Gospel, Mark quotes Isaiah and notes that John the Baptist fulfills that role. St. Peter in the 2nd reading addresses those who thought they were prepared but were disheartened because the Lord had…

“Be watchful. Be alert. You do not know when the time will come.” It is interesting that this Gospel reading is proclaimed on the first Sunday in Advent as we prepare for Christmas. We know when Christmas day will come which tends to be our focus every December. Jesus of course was not talking about our Christmas festivities. Jesus spoke these words of warning and encouragement just before he experienced his Passion and death, and his resurrection. This Gospel reminds us that the child born in Bethlehem which we recall with such joy at Christmas was born for a significant purpose, our salvation. It should give us pause in the midst of sales, parties and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. A few passages later Jesus experienced the Agony in the…

Today the Church culminates all the seasons of the year - Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and Ordinary Time - with an exclamation point: Jesus Christ is King of the Universe.  It is a declaration of hope and of promise. This feast was added to the Church calendar in 1925 to counter the atheism, nationalism, materialism and anti-Catholicism of the 1920s when communism and fascism were on the rise. Things have not changed much, with secularism, relativism, attacks on religious liberty, incivility, religious intolerance and terrorism in our own country and around the world; we yearn for a declaration of hope. To celebrate Christ as King is to recognize the certainty of the triumph on the cross of good over evil and of God over worldly tyrants even in the midst…

What do you want out of life? What do we all want? Today’s gospel reading challenges us to think about it. Where does our culture suggest fulfillment can be found: in material stuff, in pleasure, in financial security, in popularity or power. I must admit there was a time when I bought into all of that. But as the crosses of life and the reality of my limitations have confronted me, I now realize that those answers supply only fleeting happiness and that true fulfillment comes only when we are in all humility one with God. As our first reading from Proverbs reminds us: “charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting, the woman (or man) who fears the Lord is to be praised.” To fear the Lord is not to cower…

“Stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour,” Jesus warns. As the church year winds down and fall turns toward winter, our readings these next several weeks focus on the end times. Be ready we are advised, be prepared, be wise. The parable of the ten virgins is one that clearly points out the ramifications of being wise and prepared or being foolish and not prepared. It urges us to keep the light of faith alive with sufficient oil of faith, hope and charity. The Gospel reading scholars tell us is based on the wedding traditions of the day when it was the custom for the groom to come at an unknown hour to lead his wife to their new life together. However the gospel teaching is…

We welcome knights and ladies of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre as we acknowledge Our Lady, Queen of Palestine and of the Holy Land. It is important that we raise up Christians in the Holy Land who have and are continuing to be persecuted for our faith both physically and economically, the result of which is the diminishment of Christianity in the land where Jesus was born, taught, suffered, died and rose. Our Lady, Queen of Palestine, intercede on their behalf. Our response to the plight of persecuted Christians reflects whether we take to heart what Jesus called us to in today’s Gospel reading. The truth that God, the Creator, gives life to us all, explains in part Jesus’ response to the question: which of the commandments is…

Jesus makes clear the stark truth in this parable: many are invited, few are chosen. God invites, we choose whether to accept the invitation. In this parable of the king’s wedding feast, some refused the invitation, some ignored it, some reacted with hostility, some came unprepared, and some were ready. So it is with the call of God. The invitation is to everyone; the response is our choice. Some of those invited to the wedding feast refused the invitation outright. Polls show that a vast majority of Americans say they believe in God, yet only about 25% attend church. Some would prefer to sleep in or to enjoy sports or leisure. I was among them for a while. God got my attention at a difficult moment in my life. In…