Category: Sunday Homilies

Lectionary 155 The poor and the defenseless are at the heart of the Church’s scripture readings this Sunday, with Elijah the prophet encountering the impoverished widow of Zarephath, the Psalmist singing the praises of the Lord who is close to the downtrodden, and Jesus himself upholding the poor widow visiting the Temple as the model […]

Mark 12: 28 – 34 In the Gospel for this weekend we hear about an encounter that Jesus had with a Scribe.  At the time of Jesus Scribes were Pharisees who had a particular interest and expertise in the law, and were sometimes referred to as lawyers in the Gospels.  Often when we hear of […]

Revelation 7: 2 – 4, 9 – 14 1 John 3: 1 – 3 Matthew 5: 1 – 12 Today we pause to recognize, honor and venerate the Saints. Throughout the Church Year we celebrate specific days for saints. Men and women were widely recognized for their heroic virtue and fidelity to God’s grace, and […]

Lectionary 149 In today’s reading from Jeremiah we hear wonderful news; the prophet announces that the blind and the lame will be healed and will join the joyful throng of Israelites as they are redeemed from their exile in Babylon and return home to the promised land:  “I will gather them from the ends of […]

Isaiah 53: 10 – 11 Mark 10: 35 – 45 This Gospel has ambition, jealousy and the paradox of Christian leadership.  James and John approach Jesus and seemed very determined to be given the two highest places of honor in Jesus’ kingdom.  One might even wonder what led them to ask for such a thing.  […]

Lectionary 143 The Book of Wisdom, also called the Wisdom of Solomon in the Protestant traditions, is another one of the lesser known books of the Old Testament which does not get much air-time in the Church’s liturgy.  Considering the readings at Sunday mass we only hear from Wisdom eight times in the entire three-year […]

Genesis 2:18-24 Hebrews 2:9-11 Mark 10:2-16 The first Sunday of October is designated by the United States Bishops as Respect Life Sunday.  The theme for this year is “Every life; Cherished, Chosen, Sent.” This observance is meant to remind us and renew in us the importance of the culture of life. Human life is both […]

Envy is a particularly evil sin because by means of it we wish to deprive others without gaining anything ourselves—it is the self-pitying refuge of all of us when we become embittered and petty. The YouCat, a version of the Catechism which Pope Benedict XVI directed to be developed for use among young adults, says […]

The scene in the Gospel is an easy one to picture. Jesus and his disciples are walking through Galilee and most likely Jesus is up front leading the way like a good shepherd leading his flock. He’s telling them the harsh reality of what is going to happen; he’s going to be killed and on […]

Lectionary 131 Today’s Sunday scripture readings open with a passage from the prophet Isaiah, in which the prophet speaks of his fidelity to the Lord even in very difficult times, and of the way in which the Lord provided refuge for him in this time of testing. We read, “I gave my back to those […]