Homilies

The closing line of today’s gospel brings to mind a conversation I had with a childhood friend years ago. At the time she was working as a bartender in a coastal town in Oregon and I visited her while driving home from California. She no longer considered herself a Catholic, yet she expected to see God in heaven. However, she didn’t believe in the existence of the devil and went on to dispute certain other teachings of our faith. Time did not allow me the opportunity to explore her many reasons but as I drove north, I had to wonder how many of us delude ourselves into thinking that heaven is ours even if we choose to ignore the truths that Jesus shares in this gospel passage.

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12th Sunday of Ordinary TimeRead More »

Every year on the second Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate the feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, traditionally known as Corpus Christi. Like the Trinity, this is a mystery of our faith that has survived the test of time. Using human concepts and words, we still struggle to fully understand the mystery of this awesome sacrament.

Remember, at the Last Supper, Jesus shared bread with his disciples, telling them that this bread is his body and that they were to eat this in remembrance of him. As we heard in the gospel, he had told them that he was “the living bread that came down from heaven.” He then assured them that “whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

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Corpus ChristiRead More »

Every year on the Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate the mystery of the Trinity. Using human concepts and words, we describe God as a Trinity in order to better understand who God is. Ultimately, while these words and concepts do the best job they can, they are far from being perfect. To explore this mystery, I want to begin with a story that I suspect many husbands and wives can relate to.

On the night of their anniversary, one husband, determined to show his wife how much he loved her, took her to an elegant restaurant for an intimate candlelight dinner. As she sipped champagne, he recited romantic verses, telling her he would climb the highest mountains, swim the deepest oceans, even cross burning deserts for her; how he would slay dragons to protect her; how he longed to sit under her window and sing beautiful love songs to her in the moonlight.

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TrinityRead More »

This weekend of Pentecost is one of the most important days of our Catholic Religion for it is the BIRTH of our church. I can’t help but feel a great sense of humility that God would allow me, a sinner, to be invited among the elect, as we all are. This holds great meaning for me and should for you as well.

This weekend we here in our readings the stories of anticipation and then the receiving of the Holy Spirit which brings our mortal bodies alive. This all begins with our Baptism in to the Church, the receiving of the Holy Spirit where we become members of the body. And at Confirmation we receive the Spirit of wisdom to go out and prophecy, to tell everyone about our faith, about love, about our very hope in the new life to come.

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PentecostRead More »

A Greek philosophy professor ended a lecture as usual by asking if anyone had any questions. Anxious to get to their next class, no one spoke up, until someone asked, “Dr. Papaderos, what is the meaning of life?”

The usual laughter followed and people stirred to go. The teacher held up his hands and stilled the room. Seeing that the student was serious, he replied, “I will answer your question.” Taking his wallet out of his hip pocket, he fished into it and retrieved a very small round mirror, about the size of a quarter.

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Ascension SundayRead More »