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

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.

What does it mean then for us to be faith-filled? And what does it mean for us to be humble as disciples? The lesson of the woman with the hemorrhages gives us is to reach out and touch his garments, if I could just reach out and touch God. Our constant sort of mode is to always be looking to touch God in our lives. (Read more…)

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

There is something consoling about knowing when the storms will come and go. It does not take away from the fact that storms are there and they are coming and the damage that they are going to do, But it does sort of help to get ready for it. That is kind of the way it works. I find it very helpful, very consoling. (Read more…)

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

It is true that the little things are what matter in our own lives as well. It is the little things we will become known for. The little things that we do or say that matter the most. That is what Christ is saying in today's gospel with this parable of the kingdom of God. A mustard seed is the smallest of seeds, but yet when it grows, it becomes the largest of plants. (Read More…)

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

Happy Father's Day to all fathers or father figures out there.

Today, I do not want to focus on the fall of humanity. I want to focus on the rise of humanity that will return to being fully human, fully alive, by seeing with new eyes, by hearing with new ears, by tasting and touching and smelling with new vitality so that we want to drink in the whole world and give glory to God. (Read more…)

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

Henry Nouwen, the great theologian and Catholic priest wrote in a book called Open Hands, Open Heart, “Most Catholics, when we come to church on Sunday, in fact, do not have open hands or an open heart. When we come, our hands and our hearts are full of many other things, and they are not open.” He challenged us in a very strong way. He said, “many of us have fists clenched tight, full with many things that keep us from in fact receiving the Lord in fullness.” (Read more…)

Here is my homily from The Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. Please feel free to share with others.

A lot of ink has been spilled over the mystery of the Holy Trinity for the past many years. Indeed, actually sadly, even more blood has been spilled over it. Even now, the East and the West Church are still split over a single word called the Filioque. This means that the spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. The gospel today brings us back to the core of the Trinity and t is more about mission than mystery. (Read more…)

Here is my homily from The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity Sunday. Please feel free to share with others.

The message is God loves us. The good news is that God loves you completely. The bad news, he loves everyone else completely too. But it is not really bad news. Of course, it is good news all around. The challenge then is, where we are called to be the church in the world where we are called to share this love where we are called to witness this love in the world, where are we called to do it to every corner of the earth. (Read more…)

Here is my homily from Ascension Sunday. Please feel free to share with others.

This Sunday was also Mother's Day. I wish a Happy Day filled with many blessings to all those mothers and mother figures in our lives!

God loves us not for what we have or what we do, what we own or what we look like. God loves us for who we are. We know that intellectually, I guess we know that, but we need reminders of it. And in this world, there is so much coming at us that we need reminders often for that purpose. Sometimes there are things in our life that will illustrate the love that God has for us, that breaks it open for us. (Read more…)

Here is my homily from the Sixth Sunday of Easter. This was First Communion Sunday, so the first part of the Homily was interactive with the children . Please feel free to share with others.

“I looked out upon my window and I saw the leaves and the flowers falling from my beautiful tree outside my window. And I lamented as I saw the barren branches appear, and I lamented the beautiful flowers and leaves I had. And then I noticed, as I looked through the tree with its barren branches, the stunning mountains behind the tree that I had not seen.”  (Read more…)

Here is my homily from the Fifth Sunday of Easter. Please feel free to share with others.

Alleluia He is Risen !