Catholic Preaching

By Father Roger LandryReligion & Spirituality Christianity

Catholic Preaching episodes

April 25Preaching Through the Pen, Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist, April 25, 2026
Msgr. Roger J. Landry
St. Jude Convent, Peoria, Illinois
Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist
Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist
April 25, 2026
1 Pet 5:5-14, Ps 89, Mk 16:15-20

To listen to an audio recording of today’s homily, please click below:
https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/4.25.26_Homily_1.mp3

The following points were attempted in the homily:
Four times a year we celebrate the Feast of an Evangelist. When we celebrate Matthew on September 21, most often we ponder his great conversion that is the center of the Gospel. When we mark St. Luke on October 18, it’s hard not to focus on the parts of his Gospel that are unique — like his extraordinary parables of God’s mercy — and to extend our treatment to the Acts of the Apostles. When we celebrate St. John on December 27, we do so within the Christmas Octave and meditate on how the Word became flesh and dwelled among us and how we have been able to see, hear, touch — and now, taste — him. I’ve always looked forward to the Feast of St. Mark every year because it gives us the chance to focus on how the Lord took a very humble man and made him one of the most famous writers of all time.
We celebrate today’s feast of St. Mark not primarily because he was the first bishop of Alexandria or even a martyr. We celebrate because he was an evangelist, likely (for lots of textual reasons) the first one to write down the account of Jesus’ life. It’s highly unlikely that when he did, he was thinking he was doing so for more than a specific audience. But while he wrote it for some, his work, inspired by the Holy Spirit, has nevertheless been preserved throughout the centuries, gone to the ends of the earth and been translated into hundreds of languages. St. Mark records Jesus’ valedictory in today’s Gospel, instructing the twelve, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature,” and promising that signs would accompany their words — exorcisms, healings, new languages, and courage in the face of threats. St. Mark, who for a while accompanied his Uncle St. Barnabas and St. Paul and finished as Peter’s companion and assistant, as we see at the end of the first reading, detailed that as “they went forth and preached everywhere, … the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.” The Lord has also accompanied the propagation of the Gospel of St. Mark, confirming the word through so many miracles of faith in the lives of saints throughout the centuries, leading many to “believe,” be “baptized” and be “saved.”
Thinking of St. Mark, we can ponder how the Lord wants us to be similarly creative. To write down an orderly account of Jesus was something new. Jesus had never sent the apostles into a room to write letters or record parables. He sent them out verbally to preach because they themselves were part of the message. But as they were getting ready to meet the Lord anew at the end of their lives on earth, St. Mark wrote down what is likely the Gospel that Peter was accustomed to preach, using his own writing skills and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It was clearly an innovation, but one inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit, one that continues to bear extraordinary fruit. Little did St. Paul and St. John grasp that their letters would become part of our worship today. Little did St. Ignatius of Antioch grasp that his personal letters would be preserved and still guide many into the Church. Little did St. Therese think that the story of her soul, written under holy obedience, would feed multitudes and lead to her being declared a doctor of the Church. They just shared their faith and the Holy Spirit did the rest. We need to ponder this principle. Even though what we write or record or email will likely never be mentioned in the same breath as these spiritual classics, we, just like they, never know. Whatever we write will never take the place of in person testimony, but it can certainly be of help in the preaching of the Gospel to every creature. So much of the new evangelization today is happening through through videos, podcasts, websites, blogs, books and so many other means. The Lord is constantly accompanying our meager efforts and confirming the words through signs of faith and other means. One action item I used to always try to inspire among parishioners would be to write their own story of a soul, the history of their life of faith, for their family members, because that writing might be what helps them to imitate their relationship with Jesus, imitate their faith, and, God-willing, follow them on the path to salvation and eternal happiness. Likewise our phone calls, texts, emails, even thank you notes, all can be used by the Lord, like he used St. Mark’s Gospel, to spread the faith. During these days in the Diocese of Peoria, we have been focused on the upcoming beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen. When he won the Emmy Award in 1952, he humorously thanked his writers, “Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.” Well, those are our same writers! We are grateful to all of them and they’re supposed to influence what we say, write and do just as much as they did Archbishop Sheen in Life is Worth Living!
One of the things I love most about St. Mark is that he is a saint of perseverance. Many Scripture scholars believe, legitimately, that he was writing about himself during the Passion when he said, “Now a young man followed [Jesus] wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body. They seized him, but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked” (Mk 14:51-52). How would he have known this, why would he have written it, unless it were he? But even though he had fled from the Lord in his time of need as a youth, he came back. Likewise most Scripture scholars think that he is the “John Mark,” the son of Mary, in whose house in Jerusalem many of the disciples would gather for prayer (Acts 12:12), the nephew of Barnabas, who accompanied SS. Paul and Barnabas on their initial journeys (Acts 12:25 ff). But when he got to Perga in Pamphylia and saw that malaria infested swamps and the high treacherous cliffs to get to Galatia, he chickened out and returned (Acts 13:13). But eventually Barnabas found him and incorporated him into his further journeys (Acts 15:37-40). He never gave up despite his weakness, his cowardice. And we see him in today’s first reading with St. Peter to the end. No matter how many times we may have failed to live up to the Gospel, we can learn from him not to quit.
Another thing we can learn from him is that sometimes the most fruitful thing we can do for the Church is to assist others. He assisted Paul, Barnabas and Peter. And it was from his association with them, particularly from St. Peter, that his Gospel was born. Often our great work will be not leading some mission, but supporting those leading it, learning from them and passing it on. We can therefore be grateful when we’re surrounded by greats. St. Peter didn’t write a Gospel. St. Paul didn’t. St. Barnabas didn’t. St. Mark did. God’s ways are not our ways. Today would be a great day to thank God for the people he has put into our life from whom we’ve heard the Gospel and we can ask that we will be able to pass on their witness to Christ, together with our own, to others.
The highlight of St. Mark’s Gospel is the Passion account. Some have said about his Gospel that it’s a Passion account with a long introduction. And in that Passion account he tells us, “While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, ‘Take it; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.’” He would make those words come alive during the celebration of the Mass as the Bishop of Alexandria. Today as we seek to do the same and worship God at Mass, having heard St. Mark’s Gospel, we ask the Lord to send the Holy Spirit who inspired him to inspire us, never to give up, to profit from the witness of those he has put around us, and to use whatever we can, whatever is necessary, to become the pens with which the story of salvation in Jesus will be shared with a new generation and, if God so chooses, many generations to come.

The readings for today’s Mass were:
Reading 1 1 Pt 5:5b-14
Beloved:
Clothe yourselves with humility
in your dealings with one another, for:
God opposes the proud
but bestows favor on the humble.
So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that he may exalt you in due time.
Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.Be sober and vigilant.
Your opponent the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion
looking for someone to devour.
Resist him, steadfast in faith,
knowing that your brothers and sisters throughout the world
undergo the same sufferings.
The God of all grace
who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus
will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you
after you have suffered a little.
To him be dominion forever. Amen.
I write you this briefly through Silvanus,
whom I consider a faithful brother,
exhorting you and testifying that this is the true grace of God.
Remain firm in it.
The chosen one at Babylon sends you greeting, as does Mark, my son.
Greet one another with a loving kiss.
Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
Responsorial Psalm PS 89:2-3, 6-7, 16-17
R. (2) For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The favors of the LORD I will sing forever;
through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness.
For you have said, “My kindness is established forever”;
in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness.
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The heavens proclaim your wonders, O LORD,
and your faithfulness, in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies can rank with the LORD?
Who is like the LORD among the sons of God?
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Blessed the people who know the joyful shout;
in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk.
At your name they rejoice all the day,
and through your justice they are exalted.
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Gospel 1 Cor 1:23a-24b
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
We proclaim Christ crucified;
he is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Mk 16:15-20
Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them:
“Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them,
was taken up into heaven
and took his seat at the right hand of God.
But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.
The post Preaching Through the Pen, Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist, April 25, 2026 appeared first on Catholic Preaching.
11 min
April 18 Being Present To Others, Convocation of the Deacons of the Diocese of Bridgeport, April 18, 2026
Msgr. Roger J. Landry
Diocese of Bridgeport Diaconate Convocation
St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Weston, Connecticut
April 18, 2026

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/4.18.26_Being_Present_to_Others.mp3
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49 min
April 18 Being Present To God, Convocation of the Deacons of the Diocese of Bridgeport, April 18, 2026
Msgr. Roger J. Landry
Diocese of Bridgeport Diaconate Convocation
St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Weston, Connecticut
April 18, 2026
https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/4.18.26_Being_Present_to_God.mp3
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56 min
April 17Speaking the Words of God, Thursday of the Second Week of Easter, April 16, 2026
Msgr. Roger J. Landry
IESE Business School, Manhattan
NYC Chapter of the Leonine Forum
Thursday of the Second Week of Easter
April 16, 2026
Acts 5:27-33, Ps 34, Jn 3:31-36

To listen to an audio recording of today’s homily, please click below:
https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/4.16.26_Homily_1.mp3

The outline of today’s homily was:
The mystagogical structure of the Easter season at daily Mass.
The missionary dimension of our baptism: “The one sent by God speaks the words of God.”
How to do so, obeying God rather than men, in the context of gender ideology and the attacks of the President of the United States on the successor of St. Peter.
Not rationing the gift of the Spirit but fully cooperating with the Holy Spirit.
Being strengthened by Jesus within in Holy Communion to help us do God’s will rather than please men and speak the words of God to the ends of the earth.

The readings for today’s Mass were:
Reading 1 ACTS 5:27-33
When the court officers had brought the Apostles in
and made them stand before the Sanhedrin,
the high priest questioned them,
“We gave you strict orders did we not,
to stop teaching in that name.
Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching
and want to bring this man’s blood upon us.”
But Peter and the Apostles said in reply,
“We must obey God rather than men.
The God of our ancestors raised Jesus,
though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree.
God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior
to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.
We are witnesses of these things,
as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”
When they heard this,
they became infuriated and wanted to put them to death.
Responsorial Psalm PS 34:2 AND 9, 17-18, 19-20
R. (7a) The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
blessed the man who takes refuge in him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
Many are the troubles of the just man,
but out of them all the LORD delivers him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia JN 20:29
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord;
blessed are those who have not seen, but still believe!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel JN 3:31-36
The one who comes from above is above all.
The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things.
But the one who comes from heaven is above all.
He testifies to what he has seen and heard,
but no one accepts his testimony.
Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy.
For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God.
He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.
The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,
but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life,
but the wrath of God remains upon him.
The post Speaking the Words of God, Thursday of the Second Week of Easter, April 16, 2026 appeared first on Catholic Preaching.
16 min
April 15 Daily Reflection for the Pontifical Mission Societies, April 15, 2026
Msgr. Roger J. Landry
National Director, The Pontifical Mission Societies
Daily Reflection for April 15, 2026
Here is the video of today’s reflection.
The YouTube generated transcript for today’s reflection is:
I’m Monsignor Roger Landry, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies. It’s Wednesday, April 15th. I’m coming to you from the beautiful Bethany Retreat Center in St. Petersburg, Florida. Today in the Gospel, we have one of the most famous passages of all time. It’s plastered on football stadium walls across the United States of America. We don’t know if Jesus was saying the words or St. John the Evangelist was saying the words. I think St. John the Evangelist. But the words themselves are the truth that’s meant to set us free. St. John’s gospel tells us, “God so loved the world that he sent his only son so that we might not perish but have eternal life. For God does not want to condemn the world but save the world.” This is what we’re seeing in the crucifix behind me. Jesus did all of this not to condemn us, but so that we might be rescued, so that we might be redeemed. So that we might be ultimately saved. is as soon as this sort of phrase is said then we get the harsh truth that St. John throughout his gospel beginning in his prologue is stressing said the light came into the world but people preferred darkness to light because their deeds were evil. Jesus came as that light so that we would be able to be illumined in all our ways by his living wisdom. But then also so that we might be warmed by the fire that burns and makes that light radiant. But so many of us preferred our old ways. We didn’t want to change. We didn’t want to gravitate to the light. We wanted to remain exactly where we were in relative or absolute darkness. And that’s the great sadness that so many haven’t adjusted to Jesus even during this Easter season when the whole world is supposed to be illumined by the light of the resurrection that the flame of the pascal candle that we have received in our Easter taper taking out into the middle of the world to try to light the world on fire that many of us haven’t yet been bringing that light on out. We haven’t made the choice to dwell in that light together with Jesus. Jesus says that the one who lives the truth remains in the light. And so he teaches us truths not just to inform our minds. He teaches us his truths so that it might inform our entire life so that it might change the day-to-day way we live. And when we live according to his truth, that’s when we begin to radiate fully his light. God so loved the world that he gave all of this to us. But he’s not going to force it on us. We have to change. We have to receive that gift. We have to live in that gift. And then he’s summoning us to pass that gift on. That just as we have received the fire of his light, we become transformed like a burning bush. And then we go to try to light fire everywhere. This is what missionaries try to do. They’re the ones who proclaim to the ends of the earth this unbelievable love of God. They’re the ones who seek to live in his truth so as to radiate his light and announce that light to others. They’re the ones who help others patiently to make the choice for the light to live in that light too. We pray for their successes all across the globe. We pray for us that we might recognize that we’re all summoned to be missionaries of that light by what we say by recapitulating Jesus’ truth, but more so by the way we live by radiating his light. Let’s ask the Lord for the gift this Easter season that we might be truly full of light as the light of the world reflecting Christ who is that inextinguishable flame. God bless you.
The Gospel reading on which the reflection was based on:
Gospel
John 3:16-21
God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.
And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

The post Daily Reflection for the Pontifical Mission Societies, April 15, 2026 appeared first on Catholic Preaching.
5 min
April 14 Daily Reflection for the Pontifical Mission Societies, April 14, 2026
Msgr. Roger J. Landry
National Director, The Pontifical Mission Societies
Daily Reflection for April 14, 2026
Here is the video of today’s reflection.
The YouTube generated transcript for today’s reflection is:
I’m Monsignor Roger Landry, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies. It’s Tuesday, April 14th. I’m coming to you from the Bethany Retreat Center in St. Petersburg, Florida, where we’re having some meetings with the diocesan directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies throughout the southeast region of the United States. In today’s gospel, Jesus continues the conversation he began yesterday with Nicodemus, that fearful disciple who came to him by night. And Jesus was explaining to him about the sacrament of baptism. The Easter season is a season in which we’re supposed to be living out our baptism fully together with our newly baptized brothers and sisters who became Catholics at the Easter Vigil. And in today’s gospel, Jesus began with what he finished yesterday, saying that the Holy Spirit blows where he wills. You don’t know where he’s coming from or where he’s go. So it is with everyone born of the spirit. And Nicodemus protested, “How can I understand this?” And Jesus says, “I was explaining to you meteorological things that you don’t know really what’s driving the wind if you don’t accept that because you’re resistant. You’re asking so many questions rather than just listening and receiving as well as you can.” He says, “How are you going to understand spiritual things?” And then he gets into one of the most important spiritual things of all. He talks about his own upcoming crucifixion. He had said we have to be born again from above. And the way we’re going to be born again from above is when Jesus is lifted up. He says just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert to be able to heal all those who had been bitten by the serpent of serpents in the desert, the serpents a sign of sin going all the way back to Adam and Eve in the garden. that they looked at the poison of sin imaged by that bronze serpent lifted up on a pole and they saw their sinfulness and that was the way God was able to open them to his mercy. The mercy of healing them but the mercy he was prophesying by that whole action. And Jesus would be lifted up on Calvary like that sarif serpent mounted on a pole so that anybody who looked at Jesus crucified would be able to see the impact of our sins that our sins led to his crucifixion. But just like those Israelites in the desert be able to cry out for mercy that when Jesus would be lifted up when his side would be pierced and outflowed blood and water that would be the source of the sacramental life of the church. That would ultimately be what makes baptism capable of delivering on what it promises. Literally washing us totally clean from sin, making us a child of the kingdom, a child of God the father, a child of Christ the king by the power of this Holy Spirit that Jesus has been talking about. This is ultimately what the missionaries try to do throughout the world. Take this mystic goji, take these sacraments beginning in baptism, taking the life to which it leads out so that everybody can cheer in it. As we continue throughout this Easter season, let us give God thanks for the gift of our baptism. And let’s pray for the 5.5 billion all across the world that hasn’t that haven’t been baptized, that haven’t come to enter into God’s kingdom yet. We exist to try to bring Christ to them and them to Christ so that together we can all be lifted up with Christ in this world and with him forever.
God bless you.
The Gospel reading on which the reflection was based on:
Gospel
John 3:7b-15
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“‘You must be born from above.’
The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes,
but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes;
so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus answered and said to him,
‘How can this happen?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this?
Amen, amen, I say to you,
we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen,
but you people do not accept our testimony.
If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe,
how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
The post Daily Reflection for the Pontifical Mission Societies, April 14, 2026 appeared first on Catholic Preaching.
4 min
April 14 The Mission of Proclaiming Mercy, National Gathering of the Missionaries of Mercy, April 14, 2026
Msgr. Roger J. Landry
Saint Meinrad Archabbey and Seminary, St. Meinard, Indiana
Fourth National Gathering of the Missionaries of Mercy in the USA and Canada
April 14, 2026

To listen to an audio recording of today’s presentation, please click below:
https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/4.14.26_Missionaries_of_Mercy.mp3

To download a PDF copy of the slides of the presentation, please click below:
4.14.26 The Mission of Proclaiming Mercy
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1 hr 7 min
April 12Peace and Divine Mercy, Divine Mercy Sunday (A), April 12, 2026
Msgr. Roger J. Landry
Convent of the Missionaries of Charity, Bronx, New York
Divine Mercy Sunday
April 12, 2026
Acts 2:42-47, Ps 118, 1 Pet 1:3-9, Jn 20:19-31
To listen to an audio recording of today’s homily, please click below:
https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/4.12.26_Homily_1.mp3

The following text guided the homily:
At this time when the United States has been led into in an undeclared war with Iran, in a week after our President threatened, contrary to Just War principles and international law that he was prepared to annihilate Iranian civilization and blow up all of its power plants and energy facilities if it didn’t capitulate to his demands, after so many have been killed within Iran by the Iranian regime and many others by US and Israeli bombs, after more than 1,000 have died in Lebanon, after more attacks on Christians in Nigeria, after more suffering in Ukraine from Russian attacks on power plants such that Ukranians have no electricity and heat, Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel are somehow more compelling than they perennially are. Three times the Risen Lord Jesus says, “Shalom!” “Peace be with you!” Peace, as we know, is not the absence of war. Peace in the Jewish understanding is the fullness of every good thing. St. Augustine would call it the tranquility of order, when everything is in its proper place. Jesus, after having signed the definitive peace treaty between the human race and God through his blood on Calvary was wishing us that fullness, that order, that peace. He had said, three days earlier during the Last Supper on Holy Thursday, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you” (Jn 14:27). He wants us to have that peace, to dwell in that gift, and then he wants to send us out as peacemakers to share that gift with the world. Today, on Divine Mercy Sunday, he shows us how.
But, before we get there, I want to pause on this subject of peace. Last night, the vicar on earth of the Prince of Peace, led a Rosary for Peace prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica. I want to share some of his words. He began by addressing the importance of Christians praying for peace, like we do at today’s Mass and in every Mass. Prayer, he said, is needed “in order to face this dramatic hour in history together — as humanity and alongside humanity. Prayer is not a refuge in which to hide from our responsibilities, nor an anesthetic to numb the pain provoked by so much injustice. Rather, it is the most selfless, universal and transformative response to death: we are a people who are already risen! Within each of us, within every human being, the interior Teacher teaches peace, urges us toward encounter and inspires us to make supplication. Let us rise from the rubble!”
He continued, with words that are easily applied to the protagonists and antagonists in the present conflict, “Prayer teaches us how to act. In prayer, our limited human possibilities are joined to the infinite possibilities of God. Thoughts, words and deeds then break the demonic cycle of evil and are placed at the service of the Kingdom of God. A Kingdom in which there is no sword, no drone, no vengeance, no trivialization of evil, no unjust profit, but only dignity, understanding and forgiveness. It is here that we find a bulwark against that delusion of omnipotence that surrounds us and is becoming increasingly unpredictable and aggressive. The balance within the human family has been severely destabilized. Even the holy Name of God, the God of life, is being dragged into discourses of death. A world of brothers and sisters with one heavenly Father vanishes, as in a nightmare, giving way to a reality populated by enemies. We are met by threats, rather than the invitation to listen and to come together. Brothers and sisters, those who pray are aware of their own limitations; they do not kill or threaten with death. Instead, death enslaves those who have turned their backs on the living God, turning themselves and their own power into a mute, blind and deaf idol (cf. Ps115:4–8), to which they sacrifice every value, demanding that the whole world bend its knee.”
The Holy Father said, “The Church is a great people at the service of reconciliation and peace. She advances without hesitation, even when rejecting the logic of war may lead to misunderstanding and scorn. She proclaims the Gospel of peace and instills obedience to God rather than any human authority, especially when the inherent dignity of other human beings is threatened by continuous violations of international law.” He finished by reiterating the words of Christ from today’s Gospel, the first words he said when he emerged on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica last May 8 after his election: “Dear friends, peace be with you all! It is the peace of the Risen Christ, the fruit of his sacrifice of love on the cross.” And then he led us all in a powerful prayer for peace to the Risen Lord, God-with-us still with us in the world. “Lord Jesus, you conquered death without weapons or violence: you shattered its power with the strength of peace. Grant us your peace, as you did to the women filled with doubt on Easter morning, as you did to the disciples who were hiding in fear. Send forth your Spirit, the breath that gives life and reconciles, that turns adversaries and enemies into brothers and sisters. Inspire in us to trust in Mary, your mother, who stood at the foot of your cross with a broken heart, firm in the faith that you would rise again. May the madness of war cease and the Earth be cared for and cultivated by those who still know how to bring forth, protect and love life. Hear us, Lord of life!”
Today, on Divine Mercy Sunday, we are able to see how Jesus wanted to bring his peace to the world. It would be through extending his mercy. The absence of peace is ultimately and always a result of sin and so the remedy is not just stopping to sin against each other, but receiving mercy from God that can be paid forward to others. Without peace with God, there will never be the fullness of every blessing or the tranquility of order because sin destroys peace. So, on the night of his resurrection, Jesus said to the apostles, “Just as the Father sent me, so I send you!” God the Father had sent Jesus ultimately to save us from our sins — and the consequence of our sins, death — by his life, passion, death and resurrection. “Just as the Father sent me [to forgive sins], so I send you!” So immediately after offering them peace, Jesus was going to send out the apostles to forgive sins in his name and bring peace to the world. But since no one can forgive sins but God alone (Mk 2:7), Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” He gave them God the Holy Spirit so that they might forgive sins, just as we hear every time the priest pronounces those beautiful words in confession, “God, the Father of Mercies… has poured out the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins.” And then he said words that point clearly to the Sacrament of Penance: “Those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; those whose sins you retain, they are retained.” Jesus was making them his ministers, his ambassadors. Just as through them, Jesus himself says, “This is my body. … This is the chalice of my blood” in the Mass, so through them Jesus was going to say, “Your sins are forgiven; go in peace!” This was going to be the apostles’ most important mission, the mission in which he involved them intimately as his first action upon rising from the dead. The only way that they would know which sins to forgive and which to retain would be if penitents told them their sins in confession. If we want peace for ourselves and for the world, then Jesus gives us the means and wants us to take Him and those means seriously. Jesus says that the most important factor in peace is not the number of diplomats or the strength of the United Nations. It’s not the elimination of Iran’s capacity to make nuclear weapons, or stopping our President from threatening war crimes, or getting the Israelis and the Palestinians to reach a two-state agreement, or persuading Russia to cease its hostilities toward its neighbor and return what it has stolen. Jesus says that real peace is based recognizing we’ve sinned against him and others and asking for and coming to receive his mercy. Jesus says that real peace is based ultimately on the Sacrament of Confession he instituted and whether we use it. In other words, the most important person in the world if we want real peace is not Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Vladimir Putin, Antonio Guterres or any other world leader. It’s actually a priest acting in Christ’s name, so that we can receive the peace that the world can’t give or rob.
Today’s celebration of Divine Mercy brings us to the heart of this mystery. Jesus said to Saint Faustina Kowalska, the Polish sister through whom he revealed his Divine Mercy in the 1930s in Krakow, “Humanity will not find peace until it turns trustfully to divine mercy.” And hence Jesus wanted to help us to turn with trust to that mercy. Through this devotion, he wanted us to recognize our need for his mercy, to trust in it, to ask for it, to come to receive it, and to share it with others. He revealed to her five different practices to help us to do so.
Divine Mercy Sunday — The Lord said, “I want… the first Sunday after Easter … to be the Feast of Mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and a shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day, the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day are open all the divine floodgates through which graces flow.” Divine Mercy Sunday is meant to be a day of peace.
To make a novena between Good Friday and Divine Mercy Sunday to implore divine mercy — He gave St. Faustina an intention for each day of the novena. He said, “I desire that during these nine days you bring souls to the fount of My mercy, that they may draw from there strength and refreshment and whatever graces they need in the hardships of life and, especially, at the hour of death. On each day you will bring to my Heart a different group of souls, and you will immerse them in this ocean of My mercy, and I will bring all these souls into the house of My Father.” The groups, for each of the days, are all humanity, especially sinners; priests and religious; the pious and faithful; those who do not believe in Jesus and who don’t yet know him; our separated Christian brothers and sisters; the meek and humble and children; those who venerate the mercy of Jesus; those in Purgatory; and the lukewarm. This novena we pray for all, through receiving Divine Mercy, to become peacemakers.
To pray to him in the image of Divine Mercy — The Lord revealed to St. Faustina an icon that he desired to be made: “One night when I was in my cell, I perceived the presence of the Lord Jesus dressed in a white tunic. One hand was raised in blessing, the other rested on his chest. From an opening in the tunic in the chest, two great rays were coming out, one red and the other clear… After some time, Jesus said to me, “Paint an image in accordance with what you see, with the inscription, “Jesus, I trust in you.” A little later, Our Lord explained to her the meaning of the two rays: “The two rays represent the Blood and the Water. The white ray represents the Water [baptism], that justifies souls; the red ray represents the Blood that is the life of souls [the Eucharist]. Both rays flow from the depths of my Mercy when, on the Cross, my Heart in agony was opened by the lance.” The image of Divine Mercy is one before whom we implore peace.
To pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy — St. Faustina heard an interior voice that taught her this prayer. On the larger beads of the Rosary, one says, “Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and for those of the whole world.” On the ten smaller beads, we pray, “For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.” You pray five “decades” in this way, after which, one prays three times the “Holy, Holy, Holy” from the Good Friday reproaches, “Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One,” “have mercy on us and on the whole world.” What we’re doing in this beautiful prayer is offering Christ’s own sacrifice during the Triduum, to the Father. We’re lifting up the Eucharist — Christ’s body, blood, soul and divinity — and making Christ’s prayer our own. There is no more powerful prayer! Jesus promised, “It pleases me to grant everything they ask of Me by saying the chaplet… if it be compatible with my Will.” This is especially true of the moment of death. Jesus specifically asked priests — and I’m obeying him right now — to “recommend it to sinners as their last hope of salvation. Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this chaplet only once [with an attitude of trust, humility and sorrow for sin], he would receive grace from my infinite mercy.” The Chaplet is, in short, the means by which we implore peace through asking God to forgive our and others’ sins against him and each other.
To pray particularly at three in the afternoon, the time in which Jesus died on the Cross, invoking the Mercy of the Lord — Jesus said to St. Faustina, “At three in the afternoon, implore my Mercy, especially for sinners, or at least briefly reflect on my Passion, especially on the abandonment I felt at the moment of agony. This is the hour of great Mercy for the whole world. I will allow you to penetrate my mortal sadness. In that hour, I will deny nothing to the soul that asks me in the name of my Passion.” Jesus gave three indispensable conditions to hear prayers made at the hour of Mercy: the prayer has to be directed to Jesus, take place at three, and invoke the value and merits of his passion. This is a great way to pray for peace in the world, uniting ourselves to Jesus’ work to reestablish peace on Calvary.
Today, together with Pope Leo and our brothers and sisters throughout the world, we continue our prayer for peace, trusting in the Lord Jesus, who, as St. Peter reminds us in today’s second reading, “in his great mercy gave us new birth to a living hope” through his resurrection. Like the members of the early Church whom we meet in the Acts of the Apostles, we devote ourselves to the teachings of the apostles and their successors, to peaceful life in common, to the celebration of the Mass and to prayer. With everyone who fears the Lord, as we prayed in the Psalm, we proclaim anew, “His mercy endures forever.” And Like St. Thomas in the Gospel, we not only look at Jesus’ wounds, but we’re invited to enter into those wounds that brought peace to the world, putting not just our hands but our whole life in Jesus’ side out of which flowed blood and water. As we, in this Mass, offer the Eternal Father in heaven Jesus’ body, blood, soul and divinity, we ask God Father, who is Rich in Mercy, to send us the Holy Spirit so that, trusting in Jesus’ mercy, we may not merely mystically enter his saving wounds but sacramentally become one with Jesus, who is Mercy incarnate, as we seek to become his missionaries of mercy in the midst of a world ever desperate for that gift.

The readings for today’s Mass were:
Reading 1
Acts 2:42-47
They devoted themselves
to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life,
to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.
Awe came upon everyone,
and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
All who believed were together and had all things in common;
they would sell their property and possessions
and divide them among all according to each one’s need.
Every day they devoted themselves
to meeting together in the temple area
and to breaking bread in their homes.
They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart,
praising God and enjoying favor with all the people.
And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
R. (1) Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let the house of Israel say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let the house of Aaron say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let those who fear the LORD say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
R. Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I was hard pressed and was falling,
but the LORD helped me.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
The joyful shout of victory
in the tents of the just:
R. Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it.
R. Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading 2
1 Peter 1:3-9
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading,
kept in heaven for you
who by the power of God are safeguarded through faith,
to a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the final time.
In this you rejoice, although now for a little while
you may have to suffer through various trials,
so that the genuineness of your faith,
more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire,
may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor
at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Although you have not seen him you love him;
even though you do not see him now yet believe in him,
you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,
as you attain the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Alleluia
John 20:29
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord;
blessed are they who have not seen me, but still believe!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
John 20:19-31
On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”
Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve,
was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
But he said to them,
“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands
and put my finger into the nailmarks
and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Now a week later his disciples were again inside
and Thomas was with them.
Jesus came, although the doors were locked,
and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side,
and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples
that are not written in this book.
But these are written that you may come to believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that through this belief you may have life in his name.
The post Peace and Divine Mercy, Divine Mercy Sunday (A), April 12, 2026 appeared first on Catholic Preaching.
26 min
April 10Being Renewed in Our Vocations as Missionaries, Easter Friday, April 10, 2026
Msgr. Roger J. Landry
Saint James Chapel, Bethany Retreat Center, Lutz, Florida
The Pontifical Mission Societies USA Southeast Regional Meeting
Friday of Easter Week
April 10, 2026
Acts 4:1-12, Ps 118, Jn 21:1-14

To listen to an audio recording of today’s homily, please click below:
https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/4.10.26_Homily_1.mp3

The outline for the homily was:
Every time we see a body of water, like behind this altar, we should be reminded of our call to be fishers of men, as missionaries.
Today’s Gospel of how Jesus restores Peter and the six other disciples in their vocations as fishers of men after the resurrection, reminding them through this miracle of how he first called Peter, Andrew, James and John. We’re all called to go fishing with the successor of Peter.
The historical and symbolic meanings of 153 fish, pointing to how we’re sent out to every nation to catch every possible type of person.
The first reading shows how Peter, restored, was actually fishing for people, helped by the Holy Spirit, before the Sanhedrin.
The breakfast the Lord Jesus prepares for us here is far more nutritious than the toast and baked fish at the seashore in Galilee. He strengthens us with his own risen Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity to go out with him to put into the deep, cast the nets and catch for us his kingdom as many as we can.

The readings for this Mass were:
Reading 1
ACTS 4:1-12
After the crippled man had been cured,
while Peter and John were still speaking to the people,
the priests, the captain of the temple guard,
and the Sadducees confronted them,
disturbed that they were teaching the people
and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.
They laid hands on Peter and John
and put them in custody until the next day,
since it was already evening.
But many of those who heard the word came to believe
and the number of men grew to about five thousand.
On the next day, their leaders, elders, and scribes
were assembled in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest,
Caiaphas, John, Alexander,
and all who were of the high-priestly class.
They brought them into their presence and questioned them,
“By what power or by what name have you done this?”
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, answered them,
“Leaders of the people and elders:
If we are being examined today
about a good deed done to a cripple,
namely, by what means he was saved,
then all of you and all the people of Israel should know
that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean
whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead;
in his name this man stands before you healed.
He is the stone rejected by you, the builders,
which has become the cornerstone.
There is no salvation through anyone else,
nor is there any other name under heaven
given to the human race by which we are to be saved.”
Responsorial Psalm
PS 118:1-2 AND 4, 22-24, 25-27A
R. (22) The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
Let the house of Israel say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let those who fear the LORD say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
R. The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it.
R. The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.
or:
R. Alleluia.
O LORD, grant salvation!
O LORD, grant prosperity!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD;
we bless you from the house of the LORD.
The LORD is God, and he has given us light.
R. The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Gospel
JN 21:1-14
Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.
He revealed himself in this way.
Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus,
Nathanael from Cana in Galilee,
Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples.
Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”
They said to him, “We also will come with you.”
So they went out and got into the boat,
but that night they caught nothing.
When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore;
but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?”
They answered him, “No.”
So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat
and you will find something.”
So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in
because of the number of fish.
So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.”
When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord,
he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad,
and jumped into the sea.
The other disciples came in the boat,
for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards,
dragging the net with the fish.
When they climbed out on shore,
they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread.
Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.”
So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore
full of one hundred fifty-three large fish.
Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.
Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.”
And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?”
because they realized it was the Lord.
Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them,
and in like manner the fish.
This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples
after being raised from the dead.
The post Being Renewed in Our Vocations as Missionaries, Easter Friday, April 10, 2026 appeared first on Catholic Preaching.
15 min
April 10 2026: A Big Year for the Missions, Address to TPMS Diocesan Directors from the Southeastern USA, April 9, 2026
Msgr. Roger J. Landry
Bethany Retreat Center, Lutz, Florida
TPMS Southeast Regional Meeting
April 9, 2026
To listen to an audio recording of this address, please click below:
https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/4.9.26_TPMS_SE_Region.mp3

To download a copy of the slides of the presentation, please click below:
4.9.26 2026, A Big Year for the Missions
The post 2026: A Big Year for the Missions, Address to TPMS Diocesan Directors from the Southeastern USA, April 9, 2026 appeared first on Catholic Preaching.
54 min

About Catholic Preaching

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Father Roger J. Landry is a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, who works for the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations in New York.