Tag: Old Testament

Gray matter

A homily for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 26, 2026

1 Kings 3:5, 7-12, Romans 8:28-30, Matthew 13:44-52

If we count all the noses in the world, we discover that there are 8.3 billion-with-a-B people on Earth. Here in the USA, we make up almost 350 million members of our human family. We’re quite a crowd.

Every one of the 8.3 billion of us — North and South Americans, Africans, Europeans, Asians, Australians and even Antarcticans — has a brain. It’s been that way for tens of thousands of years, maybe even millions.

That’s quite a gift. Thank you, God!

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Stew

A homily for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 19, 2026

Wisdom 12:13, 16-19, Romans 8:26-27, Matthew 13:24-43

Some people can be fussy about what they eat and how. Some picky eaters insist that certain foods cannot touch other items on their plates. No gravy near their peas and carrots, no syrup near their eggs. And no pickles, ever.

Semi-fussy folks may eat one item at a time, clearing away the broccoli before the beef, even when they’ve been wokked together.

And there’s a good argument to be made for this: Individual flavors and textures deserve to be savored, remembered for their uniqueness.

But we also know that great chefs devote immense and intense time and skill to craft recipes that pair complementary or contrasting ingredients to create something new, fascinating and even more memorable than Harvard beets. A concoction to be experienced in its entirety, a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

God is the greatest chef of all.

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Service

A homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 3, 2026

Acts 6:1-7, 1 Peter 2:4-9, John 14:1-12

In early June 1973, barely 12 hours after flinging a mortarboard into the air on the lawn at CBA, I was about to wade into a newly dumped pile of steaming asphalt.

“All right, men, let’s git it!” Joe Romeo, the foreman, hollered, and we attacked the hot asphalt with our short-handled square-point shovels.

Within minutes, my new white T-shirt was transparent with sweat and my even newer Sears blue jeans were sliding down my skinny backside. I didn’t notice if my feet were hot in my boots as I danced through the blacktop, pretty much making a mess.

Then I felt a powerful hand yank me by my belt loops and toss me off the pile. “Get outta there,” Romeo growled. I snapped back, “What’s your problem, man? I’m working my ass off!”

He then said the words that shaped the rest of my life:

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Beeswax

A homily for the Fourth Sunday of Lent — Laetare Sunday, March 15, 2026

1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a, Ephesians 5:8-14, John 9:1-41

This may end up being more cliché than creative, more borrowed than original, but it’s nonetheless heartfelt and sincere. 

Let’s consider candles for a moment.

Candles come in all shapes and sizes, from tea lights and tapers to Muppet heads and madonnas. Some are designed to light a room; others, to infuse a scent.

The wicks-in-wax we know as candles have been traced back 2,500 years, and their forebears go back another 2,500.

As this winter winds down (don’t jinx it, Bill!), we remember stocking up on candles and flashlights in case the storms knocked out power. Even after 5,000 years, we rely on candles as our No. 1 source of emergency illumination. So that we don’t curse the dark.

As long as we don’t burn down the house.

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Affirmative

A homily for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 15, 2026

Sirach 15:15-20, 1 Corinthians 2:6-10, Matthew 5:17-37

In 1982, First Lady Nancy Reagan started a nationwide anti-addiction campaign with a simple name and simple objective: Just Say No to Drugs.  It was a powerful message about the horrific damage illicit substances were causing, especially among young people.

Just Say No could easily have been considered the Eleventh Commandment.

But Just Say No is only a halfway measure. It urges people who care about themselves and the people who love them to turn away from harm, but then what?

What is the Yes we should be saying?

We have one answer as of this coming Wednesday.

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It

A homily for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 18, 2026

Isaiah 49:3, 5-6, 1 Corinthians 1:1-3, John 1:29-34

It.

In the entertainment business notably, but in almost every endeavor, some people have It.

“It” is the essentially undefinable but immediately recognizable quality that makes certain people stand out in a crowd, almost as if they have permanent spotlights bathing them.

In other words, we know It when we see It.

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Membership

A homily for The Baptism of the Lord, January 11, 2026

Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7, Acts 10:34-38, Matthew 3:13-17

According to legend, in the early centuries Anno Domini, when followers of the carpenter from Nazareth were being persecuted and prosecuted for their beliefs, they were cagey about identifying themselves when they encountered strangers.

One Christian might trace an arc in the sand with his foot and then sidle back a few steps, eyeing the scratch with an occasional side glance. Aware, but not obvious.

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Misteak?

A homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 21, 2025

Isaiah 7:10-14, Romans 1:1-7, Matthew 1:18-24

We imperfect humans ask a lot of questions about our perfect Deity.

Many of them compare God’s persons and unlimited … everything … to our own limitations.

Nope; God is unnnnn-limited

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Rosy

A revisited homily for the Third Sunday of Advent, Dec. 14, 2025

Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10, James 5:7-10, Matthew 11:2-11

As of this belated writing, medium-size snowflakes are falling steadily but gently here at the Jersey Shore, piling up on cars and railings and bannisters and tree branches so heavily that mourning doves can’t grab the wood with their pink feet. It’s Nature’s insistence that we pause and rest.

And, today, to rejoice.

The other night, spending time with eighth-graders prepping for their Confirmation, I introduced the vast majority of them to the notion of Gaudete. And I remembered this homily from 2020, which I republish with some tiny updating and an apology to folks who don’t fancy reruns.

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Faith in Faith

A homily for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 5, 2025

Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4, 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14, Luke 17:5-10

We’re slowly edging into autumn. It’s more than a month old, meteorologically, and a little over a week old astronomically. The trees are starting to show their fall colors (though this looks like a dull season), and not long from now the leaves of brown will come tumblin’ down (to steal some lyrics).

It’s the annual cycle of seasons here in the Northeast.

It’s the circle of life, to borrow some other lyrics.

And because all life on God’s Green Earth is interconnected, because every singular aspect of life — our lives — contributes to the whole of Creation, there’s a spiritual aspect to the very physical cycle of death and rebirth. A metaphor.

As witnessed by all the plants we refer to as deciduous or annuals.

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