Tag: Epistle

No Brag

A homily for the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 31, 2025

Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29, Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a, Luke 14:1, 7-14

The older folks among us will remember when the most-watched shows on TV were Westerns. “Gunsmoke.” “Bonanza.” “Wagon Train.” And even these days, they’re getting a pretty decent ride on rerun channels like MeTV.

I don’t remember which Western this happened on, but I do remember a scene in which some tenderfoot came up to a gunslinger, and their conversation went something like this:

“Some people say you’re the fastest gun in these parts. True?”

“It’s true. I can outdraw any man.”

“That’s some pretty serious bragging, mister.”

“No brag. Just fact.” 

Continue reading No Brag

Seedlings

A homily for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 10, 2025

Wisdom 18:6-9, Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19, Luke 12:32-48

As it turns out, most of the stories about Johnny Appleseed were true, and only mildly embellished.

Here are a couple of salient paragraphs from the Wikipedia entry on this American folk hero:

Johnny Appleseed (born John Chapman; September 26, 1774 – March 18, 1845) was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced trees grown with apple seeds (as opposed to trees grown with grafting) to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Ontario, as well as the northern counties of West Virginia. He became an American icon while still alive, due to his kind, generous ways, his leadership in conservation, and the symbolic importance that he attributed to apples. …

The popular image is of Johnny Appleseed spreading apple seeds randomly everywhere he went. In fact, he planted nurseries rather than orchards, built fences around them to protect them from livestock and wildlife, left the nurseries in the care of a neighbor who sold trees on shares, and returned every year or two to tend the nursery. … Continue reading Seedlings

F.A.O.

A homily for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 3, 2025

Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23, Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11, Luke 12:13-21

“He who dies with the most toys wins!”

Hmm…

I think that, when it’s my time to go, I’ll rate at least a bronze medal.

Continue reading F.A.O.

Prioritizing

A homily for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 20, 2025

Genesis 18:1-10a, Colossians 1:24-28, Luke 10:38-42

Most of us have compiled or received (or both) a honey-do list, a tally of all the stuff that needs to be done around the house. The list challenges us (nags us?) to get off our duffs and wash the windows, schedule the car maintenance, call the exterminator and, oh yeah, give Rover a long-overdue bath.

Without making the house smell like wet dog.

Quite often, the lists grow more like zucchini in a New Jersey summer than basketball-size green melons. In fact, mine qualifies as a watermelon list.

Continue reading Prioritizing

Delivery people

A homily for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 13, 2025

Deuteronomy 30:10-14, Colossians 1:15-20, Luke 10:25-37

It’s something of an urban legend that Amazon delivery drivers go undetected by Ring doorbell cameras. They place packages on our doorsteps, photograph them and email those photos to us as confirmation of safe deliveries.

Invisibly, somehow.

Continue reading Delivery people

To, from

A homily for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 6, 2025

Isaiah 66:10-14c, Galatians 6:14-18, Luke 10:1-12, 17-20 

This steamy, sultry time of the year, two things are clear (even if thunderstorm-laden skies are not):

Shorter homilies are preferable, depending on the nearest HVAC system, and we pay more attention to summertime events and holidays than to theology. Especially those of us who live in tourist-y locales.

So how ’bout we try mixing church and state briefly but sincerely…

Continue reading To, from

Multilingual

A homily for the Solemnity of Pentecost, June 8, 2025

Acts 2:1-11, 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13, John 14:15-16, 23b-26

Back when I was a sophomore at Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, I was struggling to learn French. (I didn’t do much better in the years that followed, but that’s a story for another day.) My accent was horrendous, my memory of numbers was awful, and I failed miserably at determining which person, place or thing was a le and which was a la.

But one night as she was doing bed checks, Mom heard me talking in my sleep, in what she swore was flawless Français. I scoffed. So the next time she thought I was doing my best Maurice Chevalier, she recorded it, to play back in the morning.

I sounded more like the “pardon my French” you might hear on a golf course but never in church.

Continue reading Multilingual

Reciprocal

A homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 18, 2025

Acts 14:21-27, Revelation 21:1-5a, John 13:31-33a, 34-35

None of us can love ice cream, no matter how vigorously or energetically foot-stompingly any of us insists we absolutely do.

Not vanilla, chocolate or strawberry. Not cookie dough or coconut or fudge ripple or key lime pie. Not even chocolate chip mint!

None of us can love ice cream, though any and all of us can really, really like it.

We can’t love ice cream because ice cream can’t love us back.

Continue reading Reciprocal

Woolen

A homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 11, 2025

Acts 13:14, 43-52, Revelation 7:9, 14b-17, John 10:27-30

In the incredibly long-running BBC science fiction show “Doctor Who,” The Doctor’s space- and time-travel vessel is bigger on the inside than on the outside.

Yes, that’s a key plot point.

Today’s passage from John’s Gospel has that same characteristic. Its messages — and there are several — are far larger than the 62 words proclaimed. It’s bigger on the inside than on the outside. No alien technology required.

Continue reading Woolen

Loyalty

A homily for Palm Sunday of the Passion of Our Lord, April 13, 2025

Luke 19:28-40, Isaiah 50:4-7, Philippians 2:6-11, Luke 22:14—23:56

I grew up in a Ford family. Over the years, we had more Country Squires than three seasons of “Bridgerton.” And a couple of Mustangs, of course.

At one point, we added a Volkswagen Bug, and we owned our share of VeeDubs, but they were always The Second Car. The big Ford V-8 was the vehicle of choice.

Yet when it was time for me to take out a loan, sign on the dotted line and drive away in my own wheels, I opted for a, yes, sexy VW Scirocco. And don’t you know, I felt some guilt pangs for betraying the Blue Oval.

Continue reading Loyalty