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.
A wish for Christmas, December 25, 2024
Is 52:7-10, Heb 1:1-6, Jn 1:1-18
This Christmas, if the only gifts we give and receive are justice and fairness, hope and kindness, that will be enough. More than enough.
Oh, and throw in a bountiful measure of joy, and the present of our presence with other people, and our day and our season will overflow.
At the end of the classic movie “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,” just before the alien botanist goes home, he gives little sister Gertie (Drew Barrymore) some powerful advice, in his scratchy-mechanical voice:
“Be good.”
Jesus, born this Christmas Day, said it first.
Be good.
Be kind.
Be loving, as God is love and God loves.
Yes: Be good.
Brilliant.
Merry Christmas!
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen!
A homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 24, 2023
A homily for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 18, 2023
Ex 19:2-6a, Romans 5:6-11, Matthew 9:36—10:8
While I was on vacation, I watched the “Avatar” sequel, and while I don’t necessarily subscribe to the New Age-y theology that undergirds the plot, I do agree with a key notion: A father’s role is to protect.
Now, let’s clarify how we define “protect.” In the movie — possible spoiler here — the human-turned-Na’vi was protecting his family from death and destruction as angry Earthlings rained down fire upon them. That’s capital-P protection. Macho stuff, arguably, yet still an expression of love.
But protection is a range. Shades of gray or a spectrum, if you will.
A homily for the First Sunday of Lent, February 26, 2023
Gn 2:7-9; 3:1-7, Rom 5:12-19 , Mt 4:1-11
Out in the backyard of my boyhood home in Lincroft, my brothers and I built a treehouse. Not just any treehouse. This was a classic, enough to make the Swiss Family Robinson jealous.
A homily for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 12, 2023
Sir 15:15-20, 1 Cor 2:6-10, Mt 5:17-37
Oh, well, a young man
Ain’t got nothin’ in the world these days
…
But you know, nowadays
It’s the old man
He’s got all the money
And a young man ain’t got nothin’ in the world these days
My Nana Zapcic, who lived downriver from Harrisburg and thus not far from Lancaster County Amish country, had a cheesy old refrigerator magnet that opined, “Ve get too soon oldt undt too late shmart.”
Well, I thought it was cheesy when I was 17 or younger. Now, not so much.
A homily for the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), December 25, 2022
Is 9:1-6, Ti 2:11-14, Lk 2:1-14 (the Mass at Night; for all Scripture options, click here)
This is the time of the year for us to be awestruck.
By Santa Claus? By 50 percent off and free delivery? By Jimmy Choo on consignment at The Real Real?
By our own ability to find a parking space right next to the front of the ShopRite, and then, for getting out of there with everything we went in to buy and with all of our limbs intact?
Uh, no.
To be sure: We can be happy this time of the year. Excited. Relieved, maybe, but not awestruck, despite what the solid-gold electric Cadillac commercials would have us believe.
None of that is awesome. Sorry not sorry, Madison Avenue.
A homily for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 17, 2022
Gn 18:1-10a, Col 1:24-28, Lk 10:38-42
This is not a rant about people (especially motorists) whose faces are buried in their phones and digital devices nonstop (although it could be).
This is more of an observation about what they’re missing.
A homily for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Cycle C, April 3, 2022
Is 43:16-21, Phil 3:8-14, Jn 8:1-11
We remember Alexander Pope’s most famous quote:
To err is human; to forgive, divine
And in this Lenten season of repentance and the seeking of forgiveness, we admit that we err occasionally. Or more than occasionally.
And we take comfort in knowing that our loving God forgives us and welcomes us home every time.
But there’s another quotation from this 18th Century writer that relates to all three of our passages from Scripture this weekend:
A homily for the Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 31, 2021
Dt 6:2-6, Heb 7:23-28, Mk 12:28b-34
Let’s imagine for a minute that it’s Christmas, and we’re 10 years old.
Our favorite uncle has given us the bicycle we’ve been dreaming about — shiny, painted in a red-and-gold sunburst, custom seat and no training wheels.
We throw our arms around Uncle Joe and say, “Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” about a hundred times.
We grab our coat, wheel our prized new bike out into the December chill — which we don’t feel at all — and pedal around the block a few times.
Just like Ralphie in the movie, this is the best present we ever got or would ever get.
