My final Sunday homily with the Catholic Parishes of the Valley before I transfer to my new assignment as pastor of St. Mary's Church in Aspen. I wish I could use this moment to talk mainly about my love for you all and for Jesus Christ. How we’ve journeyed in our faith together this past year and a half, listening to God’s word in scripture, receiving our Lord’s real presence in the Eucharist, learning to become better Christians, trying to make the world a better place, and hopefully get to heaven someday.

But unfortunately, I can’t just talk about those joyful things today. My dear friends, I need to talk to you one more time about a serious topic. For the last several weeks we have been trying to prepare you for the news that broke on Wednesday this week. Let's have this difficult conversion together in complete transparency...

www.archden.org/promise

Homily from the Twenty Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 20, 2019. Given by Rev. John Hilton at St. Mary Catholic Church in Aspen.

A homily from the heart, announcing a major change God has called me to in my priestly ministry...

Lectionary Readings:

Ex 17:8-13

Ps 121:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8

2 Tm 3:14-4:2

Lk 18:1-8

An unfortunate aspect of our fallen human nature is our inability to give proper and adequate thanks to God. Perhaps the biggest problem is that we don’t even realize the vast majority of what He does for us; it is hidden from our eyes. We seem to be wired to magnify our problems and minimize or discount the enormous blessings of each moment. God sustains every fiber of our being and every atom of creation. God’s blessings are countless and yet we get angry if our smartphone malfunctions or if a few of His myriad blessings are withdrawn. This old gospel song says it well:

“I’ve got so much to thank God for; So many wonderful blessings and so many open doors. A brand-new mercy along with each new day. That’s why I praise You and for this I give You praise. For waking me up this morning, For starting me on my way, For letting me see the sunshine, of a brand new day. That’s why I praise You and for this I give You praise. So many times You´ve met my needs, So many times You rescued me. That’s why I praise You. For every mountain You brought me over, For every trial you’ve seen me through, For every blessing, For this I give You praise.”

Today’s Gospel reading is about “The Grateful Leper”, 1 out of 10 who returned to thank Jesus for curing him. Take a listen as we unpack this Gospel and examine those areas of our lives where we ought to be more thankful for the incredible blessings the Lord has given us…

Lectionary Readings:

2 Kgs 5:14-17

Ps 98:1, 2-3, 3-4

2 Tm 2:8-13

Lk 17:11-19

Brother and sisters, it’s been several months since I broached this topic, but I need to address an issue again with you that most of us hate to hear and talk about. It regards the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the Church. Many people may have forgotten that early this year the Catholic Dioceses of Colorado entered a joint agreement with the Attorney General’s office of CO, and last February both parties announced two initiatives to support the continued healing process for those who were sexually abused as minors by parish priests. Those two initiatives are (1) an independent reparations and reconciliation program, and (2) an independent file review of all CO priests dating back to 1950. It was announced in February that this would come into effect in October…so here we are.

There will no doubt be painful moments in the coming months as we shine the bright light of transparency on the Church’s history related to the sexual abuse of minors, but we ask that you please join us in prayer for all victims, that we may maintain our trust in Jesus who alone can provide true healing and peace.

To learn more and receive updates, please visit www.archden.org/promise.

Today we hear from Luke 16, the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Has anyone ever heard this story referred to as the "Parable of Lazarus and Dives"? Somehow, in the history of Catholic tradition, the rich man got named Dives. That’s because Dives is the Latin word for ‘rich man’. So, when the original Greek was translated into Latin, the Latin word for ‘rich man’ became his name.

Anyways, brothers and sisters, here’s the main theme I want to talk with you about today. When I read, study, and pray with this Gospel – I hear the Lord teaching us two very real and sobering truths. I hear him saying; “Hell is real – it absolutely exists, and let me tell you a story about a person who actually chose to go there for eternity…instead of heaven.” Take a listen to dive into this further...

Lectionary Readings:

Amos 6:1a, 4-7

Ps 146:7, 8-9, 9-10

1 Tm 6:11-16

Lk 16:19-31

It would be an understatement to say that our Gospel readings the past few weeks have been challenging and confusing. In the Gospel two weeks ago, Jesus said that we must hate our family and our own life in order to be his disciple. Last week Jesus told us the parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son. These parables all contain a dramatic twist to the story that would have been shocking to any 1st century Jew hearing it. And unless we, with our modern ears, recognize the twist, then we will not truly understand what Jesus is teaching us.

So today we have a Gospel that is widely regarded as the most confusing and difficult parable of all the parables of Jesus -- the "Parable of the Dishonest Steward". Why would our Lord actually commend an employee for stealing from his boss by cooking the books? And why would he say to make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth?

I’m going to continue what I’ve been doing the past 3 weeks. We need to do some exegesis on this passage. It’s very important to understand the context and true meaning of what Jesus says here, so we don’t make the mistake of thinking he is telling us to do something scandalous and immoral. So, once again, let’s unpack this Gospel together.

Lectionary Readings:

Amos 8:4-7

Ps 113:1-2, 4-6, 7-8

1 Tm 2:1-8

Lk 16:1-13

My friends, today we read all of chapter 15 of Luke, perhaps the most famous chapter of Luke's Gospel containing three cherished and well known parables of Jesus.

Whenever we want to interpret the parables of Jesus, remember, they are not just nice stories about the kingdom of God, they actually tend to be shocking and surprising. If you want to get to the heart of the parable, there are two key elements: the "nimshal" (Hebrew) which is the statement at the end of the parable that will usually tell you the point or the upshot. But then there’s usually some twist, some surprising element in the parable. And in a long parable you can actually have multiple twists. So let’s look at what the twist is here, and then we will better understand the "nimshal", the upshot or point of the whole story. And I'll use a personal experience of mine from growing up on a farm & ranch to help illustrate the twist of the parable, take a listen...

Lectionary Readings:

Ex 32:7-11, 13-14

Ps 51:3-4, 12-13, 17, 19

1 Tm 1:12-17

Lk 15:1-32

It’s nice when we have a Gospel reading at Mass where Jesus gives a clear and reasonable teaching that we can understand. There’s not a whole lot we need to unpack. I can give a homily with a story or some illustrations suggesting how we can apply our Lord’s teaching to our daily life.

Well, today is not one of those days! For the past few weeks (and upcoming weeks), we’ve been hearing passages from Luke that contain hard and challenging teachings from Jesus. Today’s Gospel is arguably the toughest one of all and most difficult to understand. Our Lord says today that unless we hate our family, we cannot be his disciple. (Luke 14:26)

Brothers and sisters, we need to do some exegesis on this passage. It’s very important to understand the context and true meaning of what Jesus says here, so we don’t make the mistake of thinking he is telling us to do something scandalous and immoral. So, let’s unpack this Gospel together.

Lectionary Readings:

Wis 9:13-18b

Ps 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17

Phmn 9-10, 12-17

Lk 14:25-33

The parable Jesus tells in the Gospel today has a double theme; (1)Humility and (2) Love for the poor. For time's sake, I'm focusing on just the first one. The Church teaches that pride is the deadliest sin to all of us. St. Augustine describes it as self-love, but in an unhealthy way. It’s a disordered love of self. Yes, we are supposed to love ourselves, but in the right way, in the way that God desires, in a healthy way. And that comes when we put God and our neighbor before ourselves. Brothers and sisters, humility brings us freedom! It frees us to just get over ourselves! To love God, to love others, to realize that things are bigger than us. It creates freedom, a person who is humble is a person who is free! I think that is a truth the Lord is revealing to us in this Gospel, let's unpack it...

Lectionary Readings:

Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29

Ps 68:4-5, 6-7, 10-11

Heb 12:18-19, 22-24a

Lk 14:1, 7-14