Catholic Preaching

Fr. Roger J. Landry

Notre Dame Church, Manhattan

Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle and Martyr

August 24, 2023

Rev 21:9-14, Ps 145, Jn 1:45-51

 

To listen to an audio recording of today’s homily, please click below: 

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The following text guided the homily: 

* Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Bartholomew, a holy disciple of the Lord Jesus who became a great apostle, bringing the Gospel, as the great early Church historian Eusebius tells us, first to India (which in ancient usage included Arabia, Ethiopia, Libya, Parthia, Persia and India proper) and then Armenia, where he converted many people before being flayed alive by the barbarians in Albanopolis, on the west coast of the Caspian Sea. In the Gospel, we have the Gospel of Jesus’ encounter with Nathanael because from the earliest days of the Church Nathanael (a first name which means “God has given”) and Bartholomew (an Aramaic patronym that means “Son of Tolmay”) have been identified as the same person. The synoptics all mention Bartholomew, but never Nathanael; St. John uses Nathanael but never Bartholomew. And so it is almost certain the two names included in the different lists of apostles almost certainly refer to the same person.

* His feast allows us to focus on a couple of important aspects of living the faith. The first thing we can focus on is the great accolade Jesus gives him in the Gospel. Jesus does not give too many compliments in the Gospel. He praises his mother as someone who heard the word of God and observed it. He lauds a Centurion and a Syro-Phoenician woman for their faith. He commends Simon Peter for having cooperated with God the Father’s promptings to confess him to be the Messiah and Son of God. But here he compliments St. Bartholomew for being a “true Israelite” in whom there was “no duplicity” or “guile.” There was no deception in him. Jesus could see right away that he was forthright, honest, open, plainspoken, straightforward, upfront, earnest, innocent, and unpretentious. The Suffering Servant, who was prophesied by Isaiah as a man in whom “no deceit was in his mouth” (Is 53:9), recognized Bartholomew as a man praised by the Psalms: “Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no inquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit” (32:2). This candor, this lack of deception, is an attribute that should be able to be said about each of us as Christians, since Christians ought to recognize that lies flow from the one Jesus calls “father of lies,” who is a murderer and a liar from the beginning. One of the greatest corruptions that can happen in a person, in the Church or in society is when people stop telling the truth and cease to have candid consciences. People start to gossip, to connive, to evade, as if Jesus told us something other than “let your yes mean yes and your no mean no, everything else is from the devil.” The great dissidents of 20th century communism, like Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Vaclav Havel, said that the power of the powerless was to live not by lies, because the communists sought to have everyone not say, think, or live the truth. The feast of St. Bartholomew every year is an opportunity for us to make a greater commitment to truth telling.

* The second great lesson from today’s feast is about the fig tree. The initial encounter of Jesus with St. Bartholomew reaches another level when Jesus said he saw him under the fig tree. Jesus’ words to Nathanael have been much commented upon in the reflections of the fathers of the Church. I think Pope Benedict’s explanation of it in his 2006 catechesis on St. Bartholomew shows how important it is for us in our prayer and one day in our preaching.

Fr. Roger J. Landry

Convent of St. Birgit Vikingsborg Retreat House, Darien, CT

Retreat Day for the Teachers and Staff of Regina Pacis Academy

August 23, 2023

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/8.23.23_Eucharistic_Revival_1.mp3

Fr. Roger J. Landry

Convent of St. Birgit Vikingsborg Retreat House, Darien, CT

Retreat Day for the Teachers and Staff of Regina Pacis Academy

August 23, 2023

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/8.23.23_Eucharistic_Integration_1.mp3

Fr. Roger J. Landry

Convent of St. Birgit Vikingsborg Retreat House, Darien, CT

Retreat Day for the Teachers and Staff of Regina Pacis Academy

Wednesday of the 20th Week in Ordinary Time, Year I

Memorial of St. Rose of Lima

August 23, 2023

Judges 9:6-15, Ps 21, Mt 20:1-16

 

To listen to an audio recording of today’s homily, please click below: 

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The following points were attempted in the homily: 

* Today during this Day of Recollection in preparation for the upcoming school year, we enter more deeply into the school of the Master, who today teaches us a couple of important lessons about his kingdom.

* The first is that we need to desire him to rule. In the first reading from the Book of Judges, we see how when we don’t want the Lord to rule over us, we will be vulnerable to being ruled by rogues and basically even by the devil in disguise. Throughout the desert, God was teaching the Israelites to obey him and let him lead them, but they often resisted, longing to return to Egypt in slavery under Pharaoh rather than trust in the Lord. After they crossed into the Promised Land, they often totally forgot the Lord or rebelled against him. The Lord routinely raised up judges to deliver them, to show them how to obey him anew, to call them to conversion, but as soon as the judges died they rebelled again. After Gideon (as we would have seen yesterday if we didn’t celebrate the Coronation) defeated 135,000 Midianites with 300 soldiers, they asked him to rule over them, but he reminded them that they already had a ruler, God himself. But as soon as he died, his son by a concubine, Abimelech, desirous of being king and knowing that the people wanted someone to rule over them, decided to seize the opportunity and kill all seventy of his half-brothers and assume the throne. He killed 69, with only his youngest half-brother Jotham escaping. And the carnage was just beginning. Later he would burn down the tower with various elders meeting in it, wiping them out in the process. Those who want to rule like a god rather than a servant of God often cannot tolerate any other sources of authority, which is what we’ve seen with tyrants across the centuries and how they’ve persecuted the Church, religious believers in general and all those who follow a conscience rather than their whims. But the people basically accepted Abimelech’s homicidal rule. Eventually Jothan, his half-brother, would come out from hiding, go to the top of Mount Gerizim, and give the parable we hear in today’s first reading. The trees wanted a ruler, but the olive tree, the fig tree, and the vine refused, and so they got the buckthorn, representing Abimelech, who replied, “‘If you wish to anoint me king over you in good faith, come and take refuge in my shadow. Otherwise, let fire come from the buckthorn and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’” It was his shadow, not God’s, and anyone not beholden to him was fit to be burned down and devoured. The same history would take place later with the Jews in the desire for a king. They wanted to be like the other nations rather than singularly the Lord’s special people. Eventually they got Saul who himself would become a paranoid megalomaniac. They were susceptible to getting the leaders they deserved precisely because they were intent not to have the Lord rule them. They wanted to decide. There are still many lessons for us about our own political leaders, especially today when a presidential debate will take place, and what we get when we begin to think not about how individuals can help create the context for everyone to follow God’s lead, but rather about how to take the place of God.

* The second lesson about the kingdom is given in the Gospe...

Fr. Roger J. Landry

Sacred Heart Convent of the Sisters of Life, New York

Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

August 22, 2023

Is 9:1-6, Ps 113, Lk 1:26-38

 

To listen to an audio recording of today’s homily, please click below: 

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/8.22.23_Homily_1.mp3

 

The following text guided the homily: 

Today we celebrate the Memorial of the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was placed in the 1970 reform of the liturgical calendar at the end of the Octave from her Assumption, because it’s on the Coronation that we celebrate the enduring purpose of the Assumption. Mary was raised body and soul into heaven not so much as an honor but with a mission, a mission flowing from the vocation. As the Second Vatican Council taught, at the culmination of her earthly life, Mary “was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory… and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son” (LG 59). She was assumed and crowned in order to intensify further her conformity to her Son in glory. Mary is, as we remember, first and foremost a disciple of her Son. She sought to conform her existence to him in everything. God’s having crowned her Queen of heaven and earth — Queen of Angels, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Virgins, all Saints, Families, and Peace, as we proclaim in the Litany of Loreto — is so that she may first share in his glory and in his heavenly reign and work.

There are two grounds for Mary’s queenship. The first is her maternity. Isaiah in today’s first reading prophesied that the child to be born to us would have from David’s throne a vast dominion, and as a result of his reign, the people in darkness would see a wonderful light. We see that fulfillment in the Gospel, when that “child to be born for us” would be “called holy, the Son of God” and “Son of the Most High.” The Archangel says he would simultaneously receive “the throne of David his father and rule over the house of Jacob forever and of whose kingdom there would be no end.” Our Lady would give to the light in Bethlehem the light of the world so that all those in the darkness of despair and even death would see the greatest light of all. We know that in most realms the mother of the King is traditionally called Queen and in many of them has some real authority. Mary would have that type of service. Her lap would become the king’s throne. And since his reign is eternal, so would be her queenship. She would exercise her maternal queenship, for example, in Cana of Galilee, interceding with confidence. And at the end of her life on earth, Jesus took her up to heaven so that she could continue that work. At St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome, in the beautiful 13th century apse mosaic, Jesus is depicted crowning Mary while the two of them were seated on Jesus’ throne. With his right hand, Jesus is placing a crown on Mary’s head; with his left, he has an open book with the words that describe what he was in fact doing: “Veni, electa, ponam te super thronum meum,” “Come, chosen one, I will place you on my throne.” Jesus once sat on Mary’s lap as the throne on which he reigned as an infant king of heaven and earth. At the end of her life, Jesus took her and sat her on his throne.

This humble Nazarene teenager, growing up in humble circumstances in a place where Nathaniel would later wonder whether any good could come, is now the queen of the universe. As we prayed in Psalm 113, the Lord indeed raises up the lowly to seat them with princes. As Mary prayed in her Magnificat, that’s because the Lord casts down the mighty, exalts the humble, and never ceases to do great things for her for which all generati...

Fr. Roger J. Landry

Triduum for the Missionaries of Charity

Gift of Love Convent

Greenwich Village, New York City

August 21, 2023

 

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/8.21.23_Cheerfulness_1.mp3

Fr. Roger J. Landry

Notre Dame Church, Manhattan

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

August 20, 2023

Is 56:1.6-7, Ps 67, Rom 11:13-15.29-32, Mt 15:21-28

 

To listen to an audio recording of today’s homily, please click below: 

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/8.20.23_Homily_1.mp3

 

The following text guided the homily: 

* In today’s Gospel Jesus gives a pagan woman the greatest compliment he could give to anyone, the type of tribute he wanted to give to every one of his fellow Jews, the accolade he wants to give every Christian, the salutation he wants to give to people from all nations (the subject of the first reading and psalm), and the commendation he wants to say about each of us now and when we meet him face-to-face: “Great is your faith!”

* Jesus’ praise was not cheap. It was a result of the way the woman responded to the terrible problem of having a possessed daughter and all the issues that likely led to her possession and followed it. It was the result of a dialogue with Jesus that would have tested her faith to the limit. It was the end of a process of growth in faith that culminated with Jesus’ amazed acclaim.

* In today’s Gospel we are able to enter the scene and learn from this Syro-Phoenician woman how we, too, can grow in faith so that our faith may genuinely become great.

* The question we ought to ask at the outset, however, is whether our faith is great or small or just average right now. Are we living by faith full-time or only part-time? Is our faith the most important aspect of our self-identity? Do we want it to be? If Jesus were to come, would he compliment us like he praised the Canaanite woman or would he say of us what he often said to some of his closest followers, including the apostles last week in the crash course on faith he gave them during a storm on the Sea of Galilee: “O you of little faith!”? Jesus once wondered aloud whether we he returned whether he would find faith on earth at all (Lk 18:8). He said those words at the end of a parable about an importune woman who bothered an unjust judge so much that he finally did right by her, suggesting that if he finds faith, he’ll find us persevering like that bothersome widow or today’s Canaanite mother. Do we have that type of resolve that flows from faith and helps it to grow? And if we have that resolve, how, practically, can we grow in faith?

* We see the various steps involved in that growth in today’s dramatic Gospel scene, which is at the surface one of the most confusing and even disturbing in all of Sacred Scripture, when Jesus subjects a woman to a test in faith. But he did so because she was capable of it, and in helping her to grow in faith, Jesus would help his disciples and all of us. There are four essential steps to the boot camp of faith in which Jesus trained her, each one of which was a bigger challenge, and all of which she passed.

* The first test happened when she went up to Jesus and called out, “Have pity on me Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” She began with an act of faith in his power and goodness. The fact that she used the language she did showed already how much she was prepared to do and to risk. Canaanites, especially those in Tyre, had nothing to do with Jews. They were considered enemies all the way back to the time of the Phoenicians who battled against David. For her to call Jesus “Son of David!” was almost an act of treason for the people of her region and for her to call him “Lord” was an act of apostasy against the region’s system of pagan worship. But as Jesus was coming into this pagan territory to get away from the intrigue of those seeking to entrap him, she was going out to meet him in what seems to be a divinely arranged encounter.

Fr. Roger J. Landry

Triduum for the Missionaries of Charity

Gift of Love Convent

Greenwich Village, New York City

August 20, 2023

 

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/8.20.23_Total_Surrender_1.mp3

Fr. Roger J. Landry

Triduum for the Missionaries of Charity

Gift of Love Convent

Greenwich Village, New York City

August 19, 2023

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/8.19.23_Loving_Trust_1.mp3

Fr. Roger J. Landry

Conversations with Consequences Podcast

Homily for the Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time, A, Vigil

August 19, 2023

 

To listen to an audio recording of this short Sunday homily, please click below: 

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/8.19.23_ConCon_1.mp3

 

The text on which the brief homily was based was:

* This is Fr. Roger Landry and it’s a privilege for me to be with you as we enter into the consequential conversation the Risen Lord Jesus wants to have with each of us this Sunday, when Jesus will give a pagan woman the greatest compliment he ever gave anyone. It is the type of tribute he wanted to give to every one of his fellow Jews, the accolade he wants to bestow on every Christian, and the commendation he wants to say to each of us now and when we meet him face-to-face: “Great is your faith!”

* Jesus’ praise of the woman in this Sunday’s Gospel was not cheap. It was a result of the way the woman responded to the terrible predicament of having a possessed daughter and all the problems that likely contributed to her possession and followed upon it. Jesus’ admiration was also the result of his dialogue with her that would have tested her faith to the limit. His tribute was the end result of a process of growth in faith that culminated with his amazed acclaim. We are able this Sunday to enter the scene and learn from this Syro-Phoenician woman how we, too, can grow in faith so that our faith may, too, become great and praiseworthy.

* The question we ought to ask at the outset, however, is whether our faith is great, small or just average right now. Are we living by faith part-time or full-time? Is our relationship with our triune God the most important aspect of our self-identity? Jesus once wondered aloud whether when he returned he would find faith on earth (Lk 18:8). If Jesus were to come right now, would he compliment us like he praised the Canaanite woman or would he say of us what he often said of some of his closest followers as we heard last Sunday: “O you of little faith?” Most of us, if we’re honest, might respond like the man whose son Jesus healed of possession, who said to Jesus, “Lord, I do believe. Help my unbelief!” This Sunday Jesus gives us that assistance through his interaction with this needy mom. We see her great faith shine and grow in the four tests Jesus gave her.

* The first test happened when she went up to Jesus and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” Jesus’ response was total silence. St. Matthew, an eyewitness, tells us, “He did not say a word in answer to her.” Jesus’ silent treatment seems a cruel thing to do to a desperate mom. Jesus, however, who almost certainly was prepared to work the exorcism, wanted to effectuate another miracle that day, a greater one, for the woman, for the disciples with him, and for all of us. To do that, though, he needed to try her faith. He did so first by his silence. Even though he was seeming to ignore her, the woman didn’t give up.

* Her second attempt was intercession. She ran up to the disciples and asked them to intervene. We can imagine her grabbing on their clothes and arms, raising her voice, begging their assistance. It drove the disciples to their breaking point. They approached Jesus and said with frustrated urgency, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us!” They were asking Jesus to work a miracle just to get rid of the lady, she was so bothersome. Jesus refused their advances, too. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” he said, within her hearing. This was her second test. Jesus treated her as if she were a pagan have-not.