A homily for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct. 4, 2020
Is 5:1-7, Phil 4:6-9, Mt 21:33-43
Every organization has them: oaths or promises and laws. Worldwide.
And, amazingly, they all sound a lot alike.
Tag: Sermon
Interstate 80 at 80 mph
A homily for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sept. 27, 2020
Ez 18:25-28, Phil 2:1-11, Mt 21:28-32
As you may or may not know, I was a deadline editor at newspapers for 40 years, and several times during my career I was part of a team whose task was to (a) transform the look and feel of the newspaper, (b) add the news to websites and apps, (c) revise the look and feel of the newspaper again, and so on. And on and on.
Also, as you likely know, the news never stops. So all of these transformations had to be engineered and accomplished while we reported, fact-checked, re-reported, re-fact-checked, edited, illustrated, designed and published the newspaper and website.
We did not get to stop what we were doing to rip apart, tear down, gather materials and rebuild.
We realized we had to work as if we were changing the tires on Interstate 80 at 80 miles per hour.
Fair’s fair
A homily for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sept. 20, 2020
Is 55:6-9, Phil 1:20C-24, 27A, Mt 20:1-16A
For some people steeped in timeclocks, hourly wages, collective bargaining and labor law, this Gospel has always been a head-scratcher.
If the worker who was employed from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. gets, let’s say, 75 bucks but then the worker who started at 6 a.m. also gets 75 bucks, how is that remotely fair? The late-starter is getting $75 an hour while the guy from the Dawn Patrol is getting $6.25. What should the hourly rate be? Shouldn’t it be the same for everybody?
Better than new
A homily for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sept. 13, 2020
Sir 27:30 – 28:7, Rom 14:7-9. Mt 18:21-35
My late father used to say, “I’ll forgive, but I won’t forget.”
He wasn’t the only person I ever heard say that. In fact, he ran with quite a big crowd on that sentiment.
“I’ll forgive, but I won’t forget.”
I never understood that. I still don’t.
Alone again, unnaturally
A homily for the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sept. 6, 2020
Ez 33:7-9, Rom 13:8-10, Mt 18:15-20
Our Gospel passage today concludes with one of the greatest promises Jesus ever made to us:
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Jesus’s promise — to be truly present anytime we gather in remembrance of him — invokes and evokes faith, hope and love. All three.
You must be kidding
A homily for the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Aug. 30, 2020
Jer 20:7-9, Rom 12:1-2, Mt. 16:21-27
Let’s start with a little confession: I don’t talk about Jesus all that much. Not really.
I’ll say “Praise God!” or “Praise Jesus!” sometimes when some little good thing happens in my life, but it’s almost a reflex and not a reflection.
No, I won’t start a conversation about any person of the Holy Trinity, though I will talk at length if I’m asked or otherwise engaged in a conversation.
That may seem strange, when you point out I’m an ordained clergy member, a preacher and teacher and online (and occasionally live) homilist. But it’s true.
Pleased to meet you
A homily for the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Aug. 23, 2020
Is 22:19-23, Rom 11:33-36, Mt 16:13-20
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy??
A cup of sugar
A homily for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Aug. 16, 2020
Is 56:1, 6-7, Rom 11:13-15, 29-32 , Mt 15:21-28
When we embrace The Way that Jesus blazed, we recognize that almost everything he preached was countercultural. Then and now.
Dining and bunking in with tax collectors and prostitutes, and forgiving their sins when they repented and promised to go and sin no more: Jesus was able to reconcile these dregs of society with the God of mercy, even if First Century Hebrew society left them at the margins.
Tougher than the SAT
A homily for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Aug. 9, 2020
1 Kgs 19:9A, 11-13A, Rom 9: 1-5, Mt 14:22-33
Like St. Peter’s, our faith is being tested right now.
Now, to be clear, I don’t believe the coronavirus is a punishment from God or an act of the devil. It’s not caused by demonic possession or the wrath of the Almighty for some transgression by our parents or grandparents. We’re long past those notions as a community of believers, or at least we should be.
Yes, COVID is testing our faith right now.
And it’s a hard test.
I I U R, I I U B
A homily for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 26, 2020
1 Kgs 3:5, 7-12, Rom 8:28-30, Mt 13:44-52
Have you ever asked for something? Asked Mom or Dad or Uncle Mike or Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny?
Did you get it? After you got it, was it really what you wanted? And even if you thought it was, did you get tired of it after a while? Or, after a long while, did you realize that, no, it really wasn’t what you wanted after all?