Tag: Father

Abba

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.

Continue reading Abba

Keep X in Easter

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.

Continue reading Keep X in Easter

To life

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.

Continue reading To life

Divine smiles

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.

Continue reading Divine smiles

Alone time

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.

Continue reading Alone time

Gilt-free

A homily, sort of, for the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 19, 2023

Lv 19:1-2, 17-18, 1 Cor 3:16-23, Mt 5:38-48

To gild refined gold, to paint the lily /
To throw a perfume on the violet …/
Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.

If you haven’t heard this week’s selections from Scripture proclaimed in a house of worship, or if you haven’t used the links above to read them, please do.

There’s absolutely nothing I can add to make them more understandable or clearer. There’s no call to action I can write or shout from the rooftops that these passages don’t deliver.

Continue reading Gilt-free

Rechargeable

A homily for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 5, 2023

Is 58:7-10, 1 Cor 2:1-5, Mt 5:13-16

There are three little bins on a shelf in our basement with batteries in them: double-A, triple-A, and some random C, D and 9-volt types. We go through the double-As fairly often, and I reload the bin whenever it gets low, whenever a couple of them leak, or whenever Costco puts the 40-pack on sale.

There’s another, smaller bin on a shelf built into my desk at home, and it has a bunch of rechargeable double-As and a four-battery charger. They’re collecting dust.

They shouldn’t be.

They are, however, symbolic.

Continue reading Rechargeable

Solo? No.

A homily for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 29, 2023

Zep 2:3; 3:12-13, 1 Cor 1:26-31, Mt 5:1-12a

After 9/11, the phrase was everywhere. On bumper stickers and license plates. On flags and posters. On lapel pins and T-shirts. Spray-painted as graffiti.

United We Stand.

United.

We.

Stand.

Only we didn’t. We don’t.

Continue reading Solo? No.

Shine on

A homily for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 15, 2023

Is 49:3, 5-6, 1 Cor 1:1-3, Jn 1:29-34

I’ve written and spoken before about my “unchurched” years in college and thereafter, about how I was not being nourished spiritually at the parish of my youth when all I could take away from my weekly 50 minutes in the pew was the knowledge that Group No. 2 was working bingo that Wednesday.

Incessant reminders about seat collections, collections for the parish administration and overdue grammar school tuition drove me away from organized religion after high school at Christian Brothers Academy.

What kept me away was the very thing some people were convinced attracted people to Christianity.

Proselytizing.

Continue reading Shine on

How far?

A homily for The Epiphany of the Lord, January 8, 2023

Is 60:1-6, Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6, Mt 2:1-12

These are the days of miracle and wonder…
… The way we look to a distant constellation
That’s dying in a corner of the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder

In 1986, Paul Simon opened his “Graceland” album with the song “The Boy in the Bubble.” In it, his lyrics rattled off a list of technological marvels the world was only starting to learn about. Lasers in the jungle transmitting information. The baby with the baboon heart. The boy with no immune system who had to live in a germ-free bubble.

Fast-forward to now, and with the James Webb Space Telescope, we indeed are looking to distant constellations.

Miraculous.

Wonderful.

Amazing.

So what are we going to do about it?

Continue reading How far?