Homily for the Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

To love the church is to long for her renewal. On the Feast Day of Saint Catherine of Siena, her entire life we can affirm, is marked by love for the Church. 

Homily for the Memorial of Saint Louis Mary de Montfort, priest

St. Louis Marie de Montfort was a French priest who is remembered for his love for the Blessed Mother, and for being the author of the classic book True Devotion to Mary. Within that great work is a prayer where St. Louis writes to Mary: “Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt”—“I am totally yours and all that I have is yours.” With these words, St. Louis not only expresses his love for Mary but his desire to belong completely to God like her and with her. Louis believed that this Marian spirituality of “Totus tuus . . . totally yours” is “the most perfect of all devotions” because “it conforms, unites, and consecrates us most perfectly to Jesus Christ” 

Homily for the Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter

Satan has access to the domain of darkness, but he can only occupy those areas where mankind, through sin, has allowed him. What's in the dark, we must bring to the light.

Homily for the Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter

In today's reading there was no such thing as rich or poor in the community. Each one’s aim was to ensure that the needs (not necessarily the wants) of the others were met rather than each one looking only to their own. Their material sharing was simply an expression of the care which they felt for each other at a much deeper level. Today, reflect on your own attitudes to material goods: how we acquire them, how we use them, to what extent we share our material blessings with those in genuine need and not just out of our surplus. This is something we need to reflect on as individuals, as families, and in our parish community...

Homily for the Friday in the Octave of Easter

Whether our lives are easy, hard, or somewhere in between, He is with us. Whether our faith feels strong, shaken, or somewhere in between, He never fails or forsakes us. God fills us when we are empty, when we are hungry, when we are in need. The empty tomb experience of the disciples points to us that we become witnesses of the Risen One because God filled us with His Spirit of Joy, Peace, and Love.

Homily for the Thursday in the Octave of Easter

As anyone would be, the apostles were “startled and frightened” when Jesus appeared out of nowhere – and Jesus said “peace be with you” to calm their fears.

Homily for the Wednesday in the Octave of Easter

At the heart of the Emmaus story is an urging towards a deeper faith: to recognize and discern, not just to see. Like Cleopas and companion we need to open our eyes to what is before us. 

Homily for The Mass of Easter Day, The Resurrection of the Lord 

He has risen indeed...

The preaching of Jesus, His teachings, the life examples of His healing others, treating all with dignity and respect, welcoming sinners and disciples alike and His selfless giving on the Cross help us learn that His actions brings renewal to all things, restore all things, brings to life all things. He did this not just through His Person but through what He did and said as gift – through the events of His life. During this Easter Season, let us embrace our Risen Lord. To be His follower, His friend, we must act in the friendship of Christ. We must act from true love – not just for common benefit or affection, but as learned from the Father through the Son – the offering of self so we can help others receive from us what Jesus bestowed as the gift of making all things new –renewed in relationships, reborn in caring for the most vulnerable and revitalized in faith to share.

Readings for April 17, 2022

1st Reading: Acts 10:34a, 37-43

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23

2nd Reading: Colossians 3:1-4

Sequence: Victimae paschali laudes

Gospel: John 20:1-9

Homily for the Holy Saturday At the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night of Easter

Holy Saturday - Our church lies in darkness and waiting. The light of Christ has gone out of the world and darkness will have covered the earth. A match will be struck in the darkness and the Easter fires will be lit outside of the church, representing Christ’s return from the tomb. Jesus Christ is the light that dispels the darkness of our world.

It is a beautiful thing that Jesus Christ not only died for the forgiveness of our lives, but he also did his best to shatter our fear of death. It isn’t so much what we say in life that matters, but what we actually do. Jesus knew that his words would only go so far in helping us to believe in him. He rose from the dead to physically prove to all of us, that there really is life after death. We were also created for eternal life.

Jesus Christ broke through the barriers of our doubts and our fear of death, when he was raised from the dead on Easter morning. The stone that sealed the tomb of our Lord was merely a door through which He passed into eternal life. Death is but a door that we too shall pass through. There really is no such thing as death. Death does not the final say. Jesus Christ does. This is why He is the Light of the World, the Light of the entire human race. And this is our Easter joy!

Readings for April 16, 2022

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Homily fo Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion

It is finished...

We are used to seeing this sacrifice on the Cross. We ponder this sacrifice every time we look at the crucifix. But it is important to note that our over-familiarity with the Cross can tempt us to lose sight of the sacrifice. It’s easy for us to miss what Jesus actually did for us. He accomplished the act that saves us and He is now offering it to us. Let this completed act of Divine Mercy penetrate your soul. He desires to say that His sacrifice has “finished” its work in your soul.

Understanding Jesus’ sacrificial love will enable us to love as He did. It will enable us to love those who have hurt us and those who persecute us. His love is total. It is generous beyond description.