Fr. Brendan McGuire - Podcasts that Break open the Word of God

I just returned last night from our pilgrimage and I had a long trip home. I finished the pilgrimage in Greece and Turkey and then I flew to Vienna for a Stanford class reunion. Then I flew from Vienna to San Francisco last night.

One of the things I love to see while traveling is how children and parents interact. God bless the parents; it is a lot of work! You guys know when you are traveling with kids, they push all your buttons. (Read more..)

Here is my homily from the Twenty- Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time. Please feel free to share with others.

You are not going to win every hand in your plan, in your life. That is just the way it is. You get some really doozy hands sometimes when you are sick and when you are suffering and you have gotten a bad hand, you still have to play the hand. Pick up your cross and come and follow me. You can not just fold the hand every single time. And that is what the Lord is trying to tell us, that he is in every single hand. He will help us play the every single hand. (Read more…)

Here is my homily from the Twenty- Third Sunday of Ordinary Time. Please feel free to share with others.

In today’s gospel, Jesus moves in close with this deaf and mute man. He moves in real close. And Jesus just does not say be healed or be opened in this case, he sticks his fingers in his ears. He puts his spittle on his tongue. I mean, that is moving in pretty close. He is intimately engaged. It is ultimately what Jesus did in becoming human. (Read more…)

Here is my homily from the Twenty- Third Sunday of Ordinary Time. Please feel free to share with others.

Henry Nouwen, the great Catholic priest and theologian of modern times, explains this reconnection concept using four words: taken, blest, broken and given. These connects us back to God as his beloved. When we truly discover that we are the beloved of God, that changes everything.  (Read more…)

Here is my homily from the Twenty- Second Sunday of Ordinary Time. Please feel free to share with others.

We come to church not just for ourselves. We come for the sake of others. If there was only one person here, it would not be a celebration. It is a celebration because so many of us have made the decision to come here. That is what makes church.  (Read more…)

Here is my homily from the Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time. Please feel free to share with others.

I want us to understand what we need to do because the whole world needs this nourishment so desperately. We are the remnant few who come to church. We need to be the bread of life for the world. If we do not do it, then who is going to  do it? There is no one else out here. It is just us guys. It is up to us to live what Christ gave to us and to become that in the world. (Read more…)

Here is my homily from the Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time. Please feel free to share with others.

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Watching the Olympics was such a wonderful counterpoint to so much we listen to in the news. It is such a relief for the human spirit. Because all we ever seem to see or hear is all bad news. But it is such a relief to watch this, the best of humanity. And it is such a relief and joy to watch. I cannot help but think of that phrase from St. Ireneus. “The glory of God is man, fully alive.” (Read more…)

Here is my homily from the Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time. Please feel free to share with others.

What we can do is share the nourishment we receive from here. And what does that mean? It is exactly what Paul says in the letter to the Ephesians. He said, “We shed the old self and we put on new self.” We need to become different when we come back from here. We need in some way to be nourishment for the world. We need to be the bread of life for the world. That is what will convince people, it is the deeds that we do.  (Read more…)

Here is my homily from the Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time. Please feel free to share with others.

Thank you for the prayers as I rested and relaxed during my vacation. I had a wonderful time but am very glad to be home.

Jesus sent out the apostles, the twelve. In Mark's gospel, it depicts as just the twelve. But in the other gospels he sends out all his disciples. He sends all of us out to share the good news of the gospel with others. How we do that is incredibly important, but more important is that we do something to spread the good news. (Read more…)

Here is my homily from the Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time. Please feel free to share with others. 

Finally, I will be on vacation for the next two weekends, so there will not be any homily emails during that time. Thank you for the prayers as I rest and relax.

Let us open our eyes and see what is among us and see if we can participate. At least recognize them for the gifts that are here, that are the ordinary being turned into extraordinary. That we can be grateful for the gift among us and be part of it, maybe to be willing to step in  and to help in some way. (Read more…)

Here is my homily from the Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time. Please feel free to share with others.