Tag: Commandments

Purple mountains

A homily for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 5, 2026

Zechariah 9:9-10, Romans 8:9, 11-13, Matthew 11:25-30

… and crown thy good with brotherhood…

God shed an incredible amount of grace on our not-so-little corner of the world. Every blessing that we celebrate in “America the Beautiful” and countless more: We Americans have much to be thankful for.

Yes, countless, countless blessings of every kind imaginable. Of every kind of person imaginable.

And we have much to be proud of. Not everything, of course, and the upright among us know that and acknowledge that.

But in 250 years, our forebears and we have achieved an abundance of good. We have shown ourselves to be that shining city on a hill, a premier force for good. Therefore, Christian charity and Catholic social justice demand that we continue to crown that good.

With brotherhood. Just as the song says.

Continue reading Purple mountains

Surround sound

A homily for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 28, 2026

2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16a, Romans 6:3-4, 8-11, Matthew 10:37-42

A half-century ago, more or less, the music industry had what they thought was a genius idea: quadraphonic stereo. Their engineers devised a way to embed not one but two soundtracks into each side of a vinyl record groove: a main one, intended to be heard from the front speakers, and another, for more depth or richness, to be piped through a set of rear speakers.

Four unique sounds blending harmoniously in our heads.

Critics, or, more accurately, cynics, saw this technology as a scam to sell more amplifiers, speakers and higher-priced albums.

We have only two ears, they argued. Why do we need four channels of sound through four speakers?

After a while, however, consumers like us — led by musicians and filmmakers — couldn’t imagine not having front and rear speakers and subwoofers and headphones and earbuds, with far-off timpani or coyotes howling.

Ah, depth and richness. A spatial experience. From an artist — a source — we embrace, even cherish.

Continue reading Surround sound

Almost there

A homily for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 14, 2026

Exodus 19:2-6a, Romans 5:6-11, Matthew 9:36—10:8

The other day, a motorcyclist was doing laps around a traffic circle on an older highway that crosses New Jersey’s waist like a belt. He — of course it was a he — zipped around the roundabout at least three times as I approached, and then he zoomed east through a small business district.

I caught up with him about a mile farther as he was lapping another circle. After these jumbo doughnuts, he headed west, as young men are advised to go.

The list of possible reasons for this biker’s Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride is long and indeed wild. A real head-scratcher. What I take away, though, is that his journey was at least as important as his destination. If not more so.

Continue reading Almost there

Heel and heal

A brief homily for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 10, 2026

Acts 8:5-8, 14-17, 1 Peter 3:15-18, John 14:15-21

Important stuff first:

  • Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers, grandmothers, godmothers, and everyone who cares for people the way a mother does. I send you joy and deepest thanks, especially as I miss my long-deceased mom. 
  • Congratulations to the youngsters in our parish and all over the world who received their First Holy Communion this weekend, and throughout the Easter season. May you always feel the love of God at the center of your lives.

• • •

The other day, I heard a promo for an NPR program whose host intended to detail how having strict limits or rules or other constraints can actually enhance creativity.

She pointed to the story about how Dr. Seuss bet publisher Bennett Cerf $50 that he could write a book using a vocabulary of only 50 words. And we all came to like Sam I Am, even if we may disagree about “Green Eggs and Ham.” The meal, not the book.

Continue reading Heel and heal

Service

A homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 3, 2026

Acts 6:1-7, 1 Peter 2:4-9, John 14:1-12

In early June 1973, barely 12 hours after flinging a mortarboard into the air on the lawn at CBA, I was about to wade into a newly dumped pile of steaming asphalt.

“All right, men, let’s git it!” Joe Romeo, the foreman, hollered, and we attacked the hot asphalt with our short-handled square-point shovels.

Within minutes, my new white T-shirt was transparent with sweat and my even newer Sears blue jeans were sliding down my skinny backside. I didn’t notice if my feet were hot in my boots as I danced through the blacktop, pretty much making a mess.

Then I felt a powerful hand yank me by my belt loops and toss me off the pile. “Get outta there,” Romeo growled. I snapped back, “What’s your problem, man? I’m working my ass off!”

He then said the words that shaped the rest of my life:

Continue reading Service

Patience

A homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, April 26, 2026

Acts 2:14a, 36-41, 1 Peter 2:20b-25, John 10:1-10

About 15 years ago, our front lawn was green and lush. For about three weeks. A legitimate showpiece, just begging for us to walk barefoot and let the silky blades tickle our toes. Woohoo! We even sorta-kinda played badminton, until we lost all the birdies.

In the 23 years before that, and in the 15 years since, our postage-stamp-size patch of earth has looked more like the fur on a dog with mange.

So this year, I hired someone to rip out the crabgrass, sprinkle some topsoil and starter fertilizer, and scatter some grass seed. In March. After the snow, but only shortly afterward. Yeah, with all that crazy weather.

Even so, I watered it faithfully according to the landscaper’s instructions.

Ya know that cliché about how boring it is to watch grass grow? It’s even more boring to watch grass not grow.

Continue reading Patience

Ism

A homily for the Second Sunday of Easter, April 12, 2026

Acts 2:42-47, 1 Peter 1:3-9, John 20:19-31

Tattoos, T-shirts and trucks have become billboards for our thoughts and feelings, especially our social or political leanings. And, by logical extension, for our spiritual or religious or ethical beliefs.

But there’s not a lot of nuance in inked insights, in silk-screened slogans, or in bumper stickers telling the world where to stick it. Stick-figure images of the Remington and AR and Glock and Kalashnikov families could not be further from subtle.

Yes, we live in a broad-brush-label-’em world. Some of us have devolved into “if you’re not with us, you’re against us.” And that slippery slope leads to “if you’re against us, we have to shun you, or troll you, or worse.” Heaven knows, there’s a lot of “worse” to be found.

But there’s far, far more “better” out there, and it’s closer than we think.

Continue reading Ism

Merci for mercy

A homily for Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, March 29, 2026

Matthew 21:1-11, Isaiah 50:4-7, Philippians 2:6-11, Matthew 26:14—27:66

I’m spoiled. Not rotten, as far as I’ve ever been able to determine (though some people may disagree). But definitely spoiled. So is my wife, my children and daughter-in-law, my brothers and sisters-in-law, and our cats.

Our parents spoiled us, and we, in turn, spoiled the ensuing generations.

Yeah, we have it pretty good.

Our parents and we did it out of love, and because we as children and our children in turn appreciated what went into the spoiling — the time shared, the places visited, the money spent, the sacrifices made — none of us turned out all that rotten.

Yes, it all came down, it all comes down to appreciating what we’ve been given abundantly.

To gratitude. To saying thanks. Often. Sincerely.

Continue reading Merci for mercy

Beeswax

A homily for the Fourth Sunday of Lent — Laetare Sunday, March 15, 2026

1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a, Ephesians 5:8-14, John 9:1-41

This may end up being more cliché than creative, more borrowed than original, but it’s nonetheless heartfelt and sincere. 

Let’s consider candles for a moment.

Candles come in all shapes and sizes, from tea lights and tapers to Muppet heads and madonnas. Some are designed to light a room; others, to infuse a scent.

The wicks-in-wax we know as candles have been traced back 2,500 years, and their forebears go back another 2,500.

As this winter winds down (don’t jinx it, Bill!), we remember stocking up on candles and flashlights in case the storms knocked out power. Even after 5,000 years, we rely on candles as our No. 1 source of emergency illumination. So that we don’t curse the dark.

As long as we don’t burn down the house.

Continue reading Beeswax

Expectations

A homily for the Third Sunday of Lent, March 8, 2026

Exodus 17:3-7, Romans 5:1-2, 5-8, John 4:5-42

In the second episode of their second season a half-century ago, the highly irreverent British comedy troupe Monty Python carved a phrase into popular culture forever:

“Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!”

The rest of their loony sketch was loaded with other unexpected ideas and items.

A Google search on “expect the unexpected” turns up a who’s who of people known for adopting some variation of the phrase as their personal mantras. There’s a millennia-old history of wisdom in being prepared for anything, even the unknown unknowns.

Continue reading Expectations