Photo by Ricardas Brogys on Unsplash
Has it been three months already?
On the Friday morning after the Tuesday when New Jersey’s governor was re-elected, on the Friday morning after the Thursday evening when our staff celebrated with good wine, great food and matchless camaraderie, I officially joined the ranks of the consciously uncoupled from the working world.
It wasn’t my first retirement, but it was my first voluntary one.
A homily for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 30, 2022
Jer 1:4-5, 17-19, 1 Cor 12:31—13:13, Lk 4:21-30
The Rock and Roll and Country Music halls of fame. New Jersey Hall of Fame. Halls of fame for every sport imaginable, at every level conceivable: pro, college, amateur and more.
In fact, there probably are halls of fame for every endeavor in which more than three people participate.
And if an inductee is somebody local, then every family member and every neighbor and every teacher and preacher and the mayor and fire chief and three marching bands parade down Main Street to hail the Hometown Hero.
So why did Jesus have to slip away from his home village to avoid being run out of town on a rail?
Didn’t he qualify as a Hometown Hero?
A homily for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 23, 2022
Neh 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10, 1 Cor 12:12-14, 27, Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21
I was in high school at the end of The Sixties. Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft, New Jersey, Class of 1973. Yes, I’m that old.
Times back then were tumultuous: The war in Vietnam. Oppressed minority citizens rioting in our cities for their God-given civil rights. The slaughter at Kent State. Watergate.
Many Catholic clergymen refusing to breathe in the fresh air from windows thrown open by Vatican II.
And no one over 30 could be trusted.
A homily for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 16, 2022
Is 62:1-5, 1 Cor 12:4-11, Jn 2:1-11
Rubik’s Cube. Jenga. Pick-Up Sticks. Checkers and chess. Jigsaw puzzles. Even Hungry Hungry Hippos.
Success in every one of these pastimes and many others depends on having the right pieces in the right place at the right time and, very often, having many pieces precisely where they need to be simultaneously.
A homily for the Baptism of the Lord, January 9, 2022
Is 42:1-4, 6-7, Ti 2:11-14; 3:4-7, Lk 3:15-16, 21-22
So: God in Heaven is well pleased with Jesus.
Duh.
Could anyone expect anything else?
Even though his ministry was still in its infancy, Jesus was living the right way, working the right way, teaching the right way and following the Law and the Prophets as any observant Jew of his age should.
Simply put, he was doing everything that a man of his time and place believed would please God.
And God literally said as much.
Jesus, son of God, got high praise.
So where does that leave us?
A homily for the Feast of the Epiphany, January 2, 2022
Is 60:1-6, Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6, Mt 2:1-12
The calendar of events for seniors in a Central Jersey local newspaper, now defunct, used to occasionally include a listing for a “mystery trip.” The Old Age Club — yes, that’s what they called themselves back in the 1980s — would rent a bus and sell tickets, and the participants would find out where they were going once they were underway.
These trips were so popular that every one of them had a waiting list. Obviously, the Old Age Clubbers were the adventurous sort and, obviously, they were pleased with how their adventure turned out, or they wouldn’t have gone again. And again.
Obviously, the participants had faith in the organizers.
As did the Magi.
A homily for the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, December 26, 2021
Sir 3:2-6, 12-14, Col 3:12-21, Lk 2:41-52
A little girl is watching one of the dozens of rerun channels on TV and asks her parents, “When you were my age, were you in black and white?”
Because, of course, before Adam West appeared IN COLOR twice a week at the same bat-time on the same bat-channel, everything indeed was black and white.
Maybe not visually, but definitely in society.
A homily for The Nativity of the Lord — Christmas, December 25, 2021
Readings from the Mass at Night: Is 9:1-6, Ti 2:11-14, Lk 2:1-14
‘Tis better to give than receive.
Every child knows that. Every adult says that.
Every person of faith, justice and charity tries to live up to that.
So what’s the best gift to give today and every day?
A homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 19, 2021
Mi 5:1-4a, Heb 10:5-10, Lk 1:39-45
As the Advent season of waiting nears its end for 2021, one key question remains:
What are we waiting for? Or for whom?
Certainly not Godot.
A homily for the Third Sunday of Advent, December 12, 2021
Zep 3:14-18a, Phil 4:4-7, Lk 3:10-18
They go together like Snap, Crackle and Pop:
Faith, Hope and Charity (or Love).
And they’re both the best way to start the day, every day.
Of course, one of these indispensable triads is a lot holier than the other.
