Tag: Apostles

Its own reward

A homily for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 1, 2026

Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13, 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, Matthew 5:1-12a

Sometimes, a passage from Scripture is so clear, so powerful, so iconic that we might be tempted to smile and say, “Yes, I know that one. It’s so, so inspiring; I love it. I refer to it all the time.”

And whatever we’ve ever thought about those words from Jesus or a letter-writing Apostle or an Old Testament prophet pretty much sticks with us the way we interpreted them the first time.

And maybe that’s OK. We cling to words of comfort and hope; we stay energized by grace whenever God calls us to action.

Yet some passages are so profound that they deserve — they demand! — revisiting. They order us to deepen our understanding of them, commanding us to add to our interpretation more than reinterpreting them.

The passage we know as The Beatitudes, Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount as recorded by Matthew, demands that we break it open again and again.

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Career change

A homily for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 25, 2026

Isaiah 8:23—9:3, 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17, Matthew 4:12-23

For many of us, a change in our work situation happens because of one of two scenarios. Either we seek a new job, a new boss, a new location, or any combination of those, or the change is imposed on us by outside forces like the company closing or downsizing or relocating.

Résumé and interviews vs. pink slip or transfer papers.

Something we sought vs. ol’ Damocles and his stupid sword.

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It

A homily for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 18, 2026

Isaiah 49:3, 5-6, 1 Corinthians 1:1-3, John 1:29-34

It.

In the entertainment business notably, but in almost every endeavor, some people have It.

“It” is the essentially undefinable but immediately recognizable quality that makes certain people stand out in a crowd, almost as if they have permanent spotlights bathing them.

In other words, we know It when we see It.

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Count on it

A homily for the Second Sunday of Advent, December 7, 2025

Isaiah 11:1-10, Romans 15:4-9, Matthew 3:1-12

Dictionary.com recently made a lot of people shake their heads in disbelief when the organization chose a number as the Word of the Year for 2025. Not even a number, really; it’s more of a number phrase, because it’s not pronounced in the familiar way it appears.

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Plowshares

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.

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Terrestrial, but extra

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.

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Tabby Truth

A homily for the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 19, 2025

Exodus 17:8-13, 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2, Luke 18:1-8

It doesn’t take long for any of us to realize why cat videos — and especially kitten reels — constitute about half the content on mainstream (fuddy-duddy) social media.

Cats are crazy.

Which qualifies cat people like my family and me as being a bit loony, too.

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Grazie

A homily for the Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 12, 2025

2 Kings 5:14-17, 2 Timothy 2:8-13, Luke 17:11-19

“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.”
― Meister Eckhart

The German theologian and mystic Eckhart von Hochheim wrote plainly, simply, yet profoundly, and his writings on many topics that link the everyday with the spiritual have been translated for centuries. His statement on gratitude is among the most-quoted.

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Faith in Faith

A homily for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 5, 2025

Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4, 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14, Luke 17:5-10

We’re slowly edging into autumn. It’s more than a month old, meteorologically, and a little over a week old astronomically. The trees are starting to show their fall colors (though this looks like a dull season), and not long from now the leaves of brown will come tumblin’ down (to steal some lyrics).

It’s the annual cycle of seasons here in the Northeast.

It’s the circle of life, to borrow some other lyrics.

And because all life on God’s Green Earth is interconnected, because every singular aspect of life — our lives — contributes to the whole of Creation, there’s a spiritual aspect to the very physical cycle of death and rebirth. A metaphor.

As witnessed by all the plants we refer to as deciduous or annuals.

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Sez who?

A homily for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 28, 2025

Amos 6:1a, 4-7, 1 Timothy 6:11-16, Luke 16:19-31

George Booth was a cartoonist, mostly for The New Yorker magazine, and he was famous for his detailed line drawings of wacky people and their even-wackier pets. His trademark character was a skittish bull terrier, and he once drew a cartoon with 86 cats and 74 dogs, along with a bunch of people and a cloud of buzzing flies.

George Booth’s cartoons were hilarious.

But he could be profound.

Continue reading Sez who?