A homily for the First Sunday of Advent, Nov. 29, 2020
Is 63:16B-17, 19B; 64:2-7, 1 Cor 1:3-9, Mk 13:33-37
When Andrea and I were newlyweds in North Jersey, a priest at our parish up there preached a homily that has stuck with us all these years.
I’ve adapted it and updated it a bit, but it’s still Father Frank’s, and I’m thankful for it.
I hope you will be, too.
A homily for The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, Nov. 22, 2020
Ez 34:11-12, 15-17, 1 Cor 15:20-26, 28, Mt 25:31-46
My mom grew up in a row house in the Logan section of Philadelphia, where everyone had a front porch and there was no separation among them except for a three-foot-tall brick divider.
On one hand, back in the first half of the 20th Century, it engendered a sense of neighborliness we’re missing in the suburbs these days. On the other hand, privacy was in short supply.
Which meant that everybody knew when her neighbors three houses down got their nightly outdoor checkups on their porch and had to choke down their foul, fishy-tasting medicine.
All because it was good for them.
A homily for the Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Nov. 15, 2020
Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31, 1 Thes 5:1-6, Mt 25:14-30
The best way to check if something — or someone, or you — is alive is to make sure it’s growing.
If it is, it’s alive.
But if someone is already 6-foot-7, and that’s the tallest they’re going to get, are they still growing?
If someone is truly alive, the answer is yes, because people have the God-given ability to grow intellectually, emotionally and spiritually every day of their lives. Which means, of course, that someone needs to grow in these areas to be more than merely existing.
A homily for the Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Nov. 8, 2020
Wis 6:12-16, 1 Thes 4:13-18, Mt 25:1-13
Imagine, if you will, that you’re standing at the train station waiting for the 5:14 to New York, and it’s 5:12 p.m. Where are you looking? At your watch or smartphone? Randomly, all around?
Maybe.
But the odds are good that you’re looking up the tracks in the direction your train will be coming from. You want to see the train coming. You want to be ready when it arrives … as if you weren’t already ready to climb aboard.
