Tag: Insight

The worm turns

A homily for Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, March 28, 2021

Mk 11:1-10, Is 50:4-7, Phil 2:6-11, Mk 14:1—15:47

Regular church-goers know Palm Sunday’s Mass as the one with the extra Gospel and the extra-long Gospel. A lot of standing; a lot of thinking. With any luck, not a long homily or sermon, though the extra time to sit might be welcome if the preacher is not too boring.

And today’s Gospel about the humiliation, torture and horrifying death of Jesus, though familiar, always provokes strong emotions. What his persecutors did to Christ. What Christ did for us. What Christ still does for us every day of our lives, which themselves are a gift from our Triune God and for which we should — we must — be grateful every day of our lives.

This isn’t a homily about any of that.

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Like father…

A homily for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, March 21, 2021

Jer 31:31-34, Heb 5:7-9, Jn 12:20-33

We were reminded in last week’s Gospel of the great gift of God’s love — Emmanuel, God With Us, Jesus the Christ, God’s only-begotten Son — and this week our Gospel lays out in blunt, almost harsh, terms just how far Jesus is willing to go to save us from ourselves.

His divine perfection vs. our human imperfection.

His freedom from sin vs. our perpetual sliding into sin.

His laying down his life vs. our running from the slightest hint of danger.

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Socks off

A homily for the Second Sunday of Lent, Feb. 28, 2021

Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18, Rom 8:31b-34, Mk 9:2-10

When was the last time you let yourself be wowed, be amazed, to have your socks knocked off?

We’ve all been in some degree of lockdown for about a year now, and there haven’t been a lot of opportunities or reasons for our jaws to drop. We do have Zoom, and we do have our small joys, but all in all, many of our lives these days are more humdrum than historic.

So:

When was the last time you let yourself be wowed, be amazed, to have your socks knocked off by Jesus?

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Three pillars

A homily for the First Sunday of Lent, Feb. 21, 2021

Gn 9:8-15, 1 Pt 3:18-22, Mk 1:12-15

Chocolate and ice cream are not sinful.

Hot dogs and bologna are not evil.

Tuna casseroles are, but that’s a whole nuther kettle of fish.

As we mark the First Sunday of Lent 2021, we can concentrate on the little things we choose to “give up” or we can concentrate on the big things we really ought to be giving up. And the crosses of all sizes that we should be picking up.

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Morning glory

A homily for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Feb. 14, 2021

Lv 13:1-2, 44-46, 1 Cor 10:31—11:1, Mk 1:40-45

AMDG.

No, it’s not one of those cable news mesothelioma law firms.

AMDG — Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam — is Latin, meaning “for the greater glory of God.”

And while Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s reminder about the true purpose of our work and prayer and interaction as people sounds highfalutin’ — I mean, Latin and all that — it’s simple and meaningful.

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Wow. You too?

A homily for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Feb. 7, 2021

Jb 7:1-4, 6-7, 1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23, Mk 1:29-39

The cliché tells of the patience of Job, but today’s first reading sounds more like the whining of Eeyore, the tail-less donkey friend of Winnie-the-Pooh.

Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery? …
So I have been assigned months of misery,
and troubled nights have been allotted to me.

There’s heavy, and there’s soul-crushing. Then there’s this passage.

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Never … er, always mind

A homily for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jan. 24, 2021

Jon 3:1-5, 10, 1 Cor 7:29-31, Mk 1:14-20

In the gently beautiful movie “Field of Dreams,” Ray Kinsella, the Iowa farmer who felt compelled to plow under some of his corn to build a baseball diamond, drags a skeptical and unwilling Terence Mann, a writer who deeply inspired him, to a Boston Red Sox game.

As they are walking to their seats, they share this pivotal conversation:

Ray Kinsella: So what do you want now?

Terence Mann: I want them to stop looking to me for answers, begging me to speak again, write again, be a leader. I want them to start thinking for themselves. I want my privacy.

Ray Kinsella: No, I mean, what do you WANT? (gestures to the concession stand they’re in front of)

Terence Mann: Oh. Dog and a beer.

Misunderstandings can be like that.

Especially when people misunderstand God.

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The right thing to do

A homily for the Baptism of the Lord, Jan. 10, 2021

Is 42:1-4, 6-7, Acts 10:34-38, Mk 1:7-11

What would you do if, on any given day, the clouds parted, a blinding sunbeam spotlighted you, and a thundering shout — or a barely perceptible whisper — said, “I love you. You rock!”?

You’re not crazy. It’s not a practical joke. It’s not “Candid Camera” or “Punk’d.” It can — and should — be an everyday occurrence for each of us. We just need to understand that we have a role to play in the scenario.

Our role is a lot like Jesus’s role as he was baptized by John in the River Jordan: to serve and not be served, to lead our brothers and sisters to God by example from within the flock. To do the right thing at the right time, even if other people don’t think it’s necessary.

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Excelsior into 2021

After I read Sarah Miller’s compelling New Yorker column “Cancel New Year’s Eve Forever,” not only did I agree, but I got to thinking about why people make such a big deal about the so-called new beginning the replacement calendar brings.

First of all, how many beginnings do each of us get? If the beginning involves a new craft, a new skill, a new project, a new way to improve our lives and the lives of others, then the answer is “an infinite number.” Because each of us should be ticking off items from a bottomless bucket list every day of our short and precious lives. The world is too big — the universe is too vastly big — for any of us to box ourselves in and limit our literal and figurative diets to corn flakes and fast-food cheeseburgers. Do you want fries with that?

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No favorites

A homily for the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Dec. 27, 2020

Sir 3:2-6, 12-14, Col 3:12-21, Lk 2:22-40

Before we attempt to discern what makes a family holy, we should try to determine what makes a family.

Are blood relatives a family? Are people joined in a sacramental or governmental bond a family? Is a commune a family?

Are people who agree with each other a family? Can families disagree and not be disagreeable?

Do people have to like each other to be considered a family? Do people have to love each other to be considered a family?

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