A homily for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 28, 2024
2 Kgs 4:42-44, Eph 4:1-6, Jn 6:1-15
Let’s think about numbers for a moment.
Not the Old Testament Book of Numbers; that’s for another day.
No, I’m thinking about how numbers — mathematics and all that — are a big part of our relationship with God.
Because, of course, God created math and science and the laws of nature.
And miracles.
A homily for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 14, 2024
Am 7:12-15, Eph 1:3-14 or 1:3-10, Mk 6:7-13
Let’s start with a story about how not to evangelize.
When I was in the third grade at St. Leo the Great School in Lincroft, our teachers told us of the great rewards that awaited us in the afterlife if we brought other people into the faith. If we made converts.
Most of us, myself included, expected a shorter stay in Purgatory or, better yet, coconut cream and key lime pies for dessert at every meal in the Heavenly banquet.
A homily for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 7, 2024
Ez 2:2-5, 2 Cor 12:7-10, Mk 6:1-6
“That’s amazing.”
We’ve all probably seen the Consumer Cellular ad in which the lady in the kitchen is talking with the sales rep while the gentleman is jumping into a pool, doing little tricks.
Yet what amazes her, according to the ad, is not the man’s Olympic wannabe diving prowess but the mobile phone’s features and the company’s service.
Apparently proving, once again, that we 21st-century Americans love our high-tech flashy-sparkly-shiny things.
A homily for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 30, 2024
Wis 1:13-15; 2:23-24, 2 Cor 8:7, 9, 13-15, Mk 5:21-43 or 5:21-24, 35b-43
When I searched Google for the phrase “God helps those who help themselves,” the search engine yielded about 71,600,000 results in 0.37 seconds. Which, among other things, suggests to me that God helps those who look things up on search engines.
Furthermore, I read in a few citations that, despite the popular belief that this is a biblical quotation, the phrase originated from English politician-philosopher Algernon Sydney in 1698 in an article titled “Discourses Concerning Government.” Never heard of him. Oh, well.
OK, so it’s not in the Bible. Nonetheless, does God help those who help themselves?
A homily for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 16, 2024
Ez 17:22-24, 2 Cor 5:6-10, Mk 4:26-34
Years ago, to help a friend produce her dance school students’ recital, I agreed to appear onstage as a magician — “The Great Badini.” Emphasis on “bad,” as in stumblebum. She sent me to a shop where the proprietor set me up with a few basic tricks and props, tricks even I couldn’t foul up.
I didn’t pull any rabbits out of my hat, but I did learn to pass a massive needle and thread completely and safely through a balloon before intentionally popping it. And there was this gizmo I held behind my teeth so I could pull yards upon yards of colored handkerchiefs out of my mouth.
As “The Great Badini,” I learned the secrets of making people believe the otherwise unbelievable. And I can still do those tricks.
These days, lots of people can. Make people suspend disbelief, I mean.
Unfortunately, these days it’s more a case of fooling people than persuading people to believe in what’s true and right and good.
A homily for the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 9, 2024
Gn 3:9-15, 2 Cor 4:13—5:1, Mk 3:20-35
The first time I saw someone talking on a cellphone wearing wireless earbuds, I thought the person was … uh … possibly mentally ill. You see, they weren’t merely having what looked like a conversation with their self; they were arguing.
Loudly. Passionately. Did I mention loudly?
With vigorous hand gestures to no one in sight, some of them NSFW.
As were many of the loud words.
The earbuds were so small that I didn’t spot them right away.
A homily for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 21, 2024
Jon 3:1-5, 10, 1 Cor 7:29-31, Mk 1:14-20
In a “Hägar the Horrible” comic strip, the red-bearded Viking’s son, Hamlet, asks Hägar if he has any words to live by. Yes, his father replies, there are three things to always remember.
“Never apologize.”
“Never explain.”
Then Hägar pauses and leans closer to Hamlet, who asks, “What’s the third?”
“Don’t get caught!”
