A homily for the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 22, 2023
Is 45:1, 4-6, 1 Thes 1:1-5b, Mt 22:15-21
“What’s in your wallet?”
Every time I hear Samuel L. Jackson ask that in the credit card commercial, I actually stop and think and try to remember what’s in my wallet.
For the record, none of what I carry is that particular card.
A homily for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 17, 2023
Sir 27:30—28:7, Rom 14:7-9, Mt 18:21-35
When angry, count four. When very angry, swear.
Mark Twain
We all get angry; it’s a basic human emotion. For some of us, anger is one of the most powerful emotions, if not the most overwhelming. Anger’s power makes it difficult to contain or cool down from. When anger overwhelms us, it provokes action.
A homily for the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 27, 2023
Is 22:19-23, Rom 11:33-36, Mt 16:13-20
Back in 1977, a silly little film called “Rocky” defied all odds and won the Best Picture Oscar as well as a bunch of other awards.
The movie told the tale of a ne’er-do-well second- or third-tier boxer who was given a shot at the world championship as a publicity stunt for the current champ. Rocky Balboa was a simple guy, not credited with a lot of smarts other than street smarts, and he had zero chance of winning.
Except he almost did win, defying all odds, because he worked hard and believed in himself. And maybe he almost won because he wasn’t savvy enough to understand that he was just supposed to be a punching bag, a laughingstock.
A homily for the Feast of the Transfiguration, August 6, 2023
Dn 7:9-10, 13-14, 2 Pt 1:16-19, Mt 17:1-9
I always wanted a time machine. Between the H.G. Wells novel and the cheesy but omnipresent sci-fi shows of the 1960s (thank you, Irwin Allen), the notion of traveling to the future to see what humankind would do and design and build was irrepressible.
When anyone asked me the standard adult-to-child question — “What do you want to be when you grow up?” — I usually answered with some variation of “somebody who’s concerned with the future.”
And I still am. Deeply, almost desperately so.
A homily for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 23, 2023
Wis 12:13, 16-19, Rom 8:26-27, Mt 13:24-43
The Bible is amazing and awesome.
First of all, it’s a book of books. We Catholics believe that the Old Testament comprises 46 books, and the New Testament, 27.
And Christians and Jews alike believe that these books contain the Word of God, faithfully recorded by women and men whom the Holy Spirit inspired.
We of the Judeo-Christian faith traditions believe that these books contain Truth, with a capital T.
That doesn’t mean these books aren’t head-scratchers sometimes.
A homily for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 2, 2023
2 Kgs 4:8-11, 14-16a, Rom 6:3-4, 8-11, Mt 10:37-42
In the wacky 1992 comedy movie “Wayne’s World,” based on the “Saturday Night Live” skits by Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, and often in those skits, the Wayne and Garth characters bow down in adulation before their musician idols and chant, “We’re not worthy! We’re not worthy!”
In the wacky spring and summer of 2023, far more than two young people are screaming and waving and jumping up and down before their musical idols. Those fans, worthy or not, could cause Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour to gross $1.4 billion.
We humans do get excited when we’re in the presence of our favorite celebrities.
And we react in a host of different ways.
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 Resurrection of the Lord (Easter), April 9, 2023
Acts 10:34a, 37-43, Col 3:1-4, Jn 20:1-9
We Americans celebrate holidays oddly, especially holidays with religious roots.
By one measure — how much money we spend to celebrate — Christmas is way up there. The winter holidays, as retailers refer to the season, are worth three times all the other holidays combined. Christmas shopping season starts earlier and earlier, in some places overlapping the tail end of BTS (back to school, not K-pop) and overshadowing Halloween and Thanksgiving.
Halloween is no slouch in the retail advertising world, though, and supermarket chains go all out for Turkey Day.
But there’s no mega-blitz of TV commercials for Easter, Cadbury bunny auditions notwithstanding.
And that’s perfect.
A homily for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, March 26, 2023
Ez 37:12-14, Rom 8:8-11, Jn 11:1-45
In one of the big production numbers in the musical “Fiddler on the Roof,” Tevye the milkman and wedding guests get rowdy and sing l’chaim — to life!
To life, to life, l’chaim.
L’chaim, l’chaim, to life.
Life has a way of confusing us,
Blessing and bruising us.
Drink, l’chaim, to life!
Every day, most of us raise a glass of something — wine, coffee, Gatorade, water — to life.
We’re grateful for a new day, another day, and we’re grateful for the people, places and things in our lives. Grateful to be sharing the day with them.
We’re grateful to be on this side of the daisies, as the sassy expression goes.
A homily for the Second Sunday of Lent, March 5, 2023
Gn 12:1-4a, 2 Tm 1:8b-10, Mt 17:1-9
Years ago, when I was on a religious retreat, our main speaker became deeply theological and clearly logical on the significance of the voice from the clouds as chronicled in today’s passage from the Gospel of Matthew.
