Homilies

On December 8, the last of the Mercury Seven astronauts, John Glenn, passed away. When he circled the earth in 1962, we were captivated by the emerging potential of space travel. His death brings back memories of our country’s initial space endeavors: Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. Of those missions, one stands out for me.

On Christmas Eve, 1968, millions of people around the world, by means of television, traveled with the Apollo team on an unforgettable journey around the moon, six months before Neil Armstrong was to land there. We watched in awe as the camera of Apollo 8 scanned the lunar surface, showing us with the incredible details of mountains, craters, canyons and plateaus. We could hardly believe that we were being drawn so closely to such a distant and bleak place. …

4th Sunday of AdventRead More »

As the journey of Advent continues, as we prepare to celebrate the Nativity of Jesus, John the Baptist’s call to conversion sounds out and resonates throughout our faith community and hopefully the community at large. It is an urgent invitation to open our hearts and minds to welcome the Son of God who comes among us to show us, in the fullness of truth, how to attain eternal life with him.

The Father, as described in the gospel of Matthew does not judge anyone, but has entrusted the power of judgement to the Son, because he is the Son of Man. And it is today, in the present, that we decide our eternal destiny. It is with our everyday concrete behavior in this life that will determine our eternal fate.

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2nd Sunday of AdventRead More »

As a sequel to Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll wrote Through the Looking Glass. One verse of its unusual poetry comes to mind as I reflect on today’s feast.

“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes –and ships—and sealing wax—
Of cabbages – and kings—
And why the sea is boiling hot –
And whether pigs have wings.” …

Christ the KingRead More »

Jesus had a knack for speaking words that made his listeners uneasy: words that took them by surprise, words that forced them to confront their own prejudices and preconceptions; he had a knack for speaking words that led them to reconsider what it meant to be numbered amongst God’s elect. Imagine yourself sitting on the steps of the Temple, listening to Jesus share his lesson of the day that is aimed at shaking your complacency and mine.

Perhaps Jesus was speaking literally when he cautioned his disciples, “the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down,” foretelling the destruction of the temple, which was the most magnificent building in Jerusalem, destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. Today the Wailing Wall is all that is left of the splendid temple that once graced the skyline of Jerusalem. …

33rd Sunday of Ordinary TimeRead More »

1st Reading: 2 Maccabees7”1-2, 9-14
2nd Reading: 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5
Gospel: Luke 20: 27-38

There is so much going on in these readings it was really hard in determining what to talk about. It looks on the face that what is being said is; “How to live our lives here and now even in the midst of suffering and what that suffering will bring us.” In a way, this could be the point.

We have all gone through suffering of sorts; physical as well as emotional whether it was a serious illness or disease or even the loss of a loved one. Last Tuesday we celebrated All Saints Day. We remembered the Saints, especially the way they lived their lives here on earth. What is so special about them is that the life lived on earth was a live lived in hope of what is promised to all of us, eternal life in heaven. What was so special in these saints was the total let going and the giving over of their lives to Christ despite the hardships endured during their journeys. …

32nd Sunday of Ordinary TimeRead More »