A homily for the First Sunday of Advent, November 30, 2025
Isaiah 2:1-5, Romans 13:11-14, Matthew 24:37-44
The folks who run Starbucks, Burger King, movie theaters and especially Cinnabon, among thousands of similar outfits, are geniuses.
They have made it impossible for even the most strong-willed among us to pass by their kiosks and shops without pining — yearning! — for their products. Regardless of how bad they may be for us.
A homily for The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, November 23, 2025
2 Samuel 5:1-3, Colossians 1:12-20, Luke 23:35-43
In first-century Jerusalem, Jesus of Nazareth …
… Jesus, the descendant of David who was born in a Bethlehem stable …
… Jesus, the Son of God and son of Mary …
was a terrible king.
Horrible.
Incredibly bad.
At least, that’s what a lot of Israelites believed.
A homily for the Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 16, 2025
Malachi 3:19-20a, 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12, Luke 21:5-19
In one of Hollywood’s greatest tear-jerking farewell sequences, E.T. admonishes young Gertie, “Be good.” Then, in his raspy, almost robotic voice, the little alien botanist points to Elliott’s forehead and says, “I’ll be right here.”
The spaceship ascends to the heavens, and the Extra-Terrestrial lives on in the hearts and minds of the people whose lives he’s touched.
And in those of movie fans worldwide.
A (belated and brief) homily for the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, November 9, 2025
Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12, 1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17, John 2:13-22
In every city and village worldwide, we’ll find houses of worship: temples, synagogues, mosques, churches, and more. Even storefronts and basements and tents and, yes, caves serve as gathering places for members of the human family to acknowledge in their culturally and religiously appropriate way that somebody somewhere loves us enough to give us our little blue marble in the sky.
To give us our own lives.
To give us our own unique lives, with our own unique abundance of gifts.
A homily for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed:
All Souls, November 2, 2025
Wisdom 3:1-9, Romans 5:5-11, John 6:37-40
Please forgive me if I’ve recounted this before…
When I was 12, three of my classmates’ fathers died in a fairly rapid sequence, including the dad of my best friend. Mr. M was in his mid-30s, a rugged National Guard officer, and his abrupt death seemed to come as far more of a shock than the other two. Those gents were older and ill, though all losses are sad.
The three deaths terrified me, but I wasn’t afraid that my father would be next. No: I was convinced that my time was almost up.
