A homily for the Solemnity of All Saints, Nov. 1, 2020
Rv 7:2-4, 9-14, 1 Jn 3:1-3, Mt 5:1-12A
The notion of “holy” gets some people all knotted up, because to some folks, “holy” is the first two syllables of a phrase that ends with “er than thou,” and like almost everything else in American culture, achieving a level of holiness can become a competition, cynical or otherwise.
It’s not.
A homily for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct. 25, 2020
Ex 22:20-26, 1 Thes 1:5C-10, Mt 22:34-40
Sorry, Robert Frost. In the crusty, taciturn New England of your era, good fences may have made good neighbors, but in today’s social climate, we can’t afford any more walls between ourselves.
Six feet, masks and plexiglass are intense enough as it is. We don’t need stone or steel. We definitely don’t need hearts of stone steeled against charity and justice.
We need Love.
A homily for the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct. 18, 2020
Is 45:1, 4-6, 1 Thes 1:1-5B, Mt 22:15-21
Today’s Gospel is well-known, most likely among the Top 5 for people of faith to cite when they list WWJD.
And because of its familiarity, this passage is usually interpreted as an either-or.
Choose the things of the world or choose the Ways of God.
But that arguably barely scrapes the surface.
A homily for the Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct. 11, 2020
Is 25:6-10A, Phil 4:12-14, 19-20, Mt. 22:1-14
Every so often, the Lectionary — the book we use at Mass with selections from the Law and the Prophets, the Letters of Peter and Paul, the Gospels of the Four Evangelists, and other New Testament books — gives us a short version and a longer version of a reading, usually the Gospel. This is one of those occasions.
It’s notable this weekend because the impact of each of the versions can be felt in opposite ways, and that makes choosing between the two a head-scratcher.
A homily for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct. 4, 2020
Is 5:1-7, Phil 4:6-9, Mt 21:33-43
Every organization has them: oaths or promises and laws. Worldwide.
And, amazingly, they all sound a lot alike.
