From 6pm Mass on Sunday, January 5, 2025, the Feast of the Epiphany, Year C, at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.

This homily ended up being kind of a continuation, Part II, of my homily from two weeks earlier (December 22, 2024). December 22 focused on the darkness, this homily focuses on the Light.

My Three Points:

1. Historical Context
2. The Rescue
   1. Created
   2. Captured
   3. Rescued
3. The Light

Conclusion: Response:

• What is the correct response to a God Who loved us into being, fought for us, died for us?

From the 6pm Mass on Sunday, December 29, 2024, the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Year C, at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.

My three points:

1. Order
2. Obedience
3. Hope

References:

• The definition of "hope" from the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "The theological virtue by which we desire and expect from God both eternal life and the gace we need to attain it."
• Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen's On The Demonic.
  • I make a little reference to Chapter 1, that the devil and his minions may have fallen between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2.
  • I make a reference to Chapter 3, regarding the eras of the Church, and what is under attack in each era.

From the 6pm Mass on Sunday, December 22, 2024, the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year C, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.

Just how well can we understand the "Good News," the Gospel, if we don't understand the "bad news," the darkness?

How dark was it, before the coming of Christ? How dark is it, when we have not given our lives over to Christ?

In this homily, I explore the darkness, and ask the congregation to pray about and sit in the darkness for these couple of days before Christmas, before the coming of Jesus Christ, our Life and Light.

From the 11:30 am Mass on Sunday, December 15, 2024, the Third Sunday of Advent, "Gaudete Sunday," Year C, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.

My three points:

1. Like Children on Christmas Morning
2. Hope
3. Let's Open Our Gifts a Little Early!

From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, December 8, 2024, the Second Sunday of Advent, Year C, at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica.

Only two points this week:

• Minor Point: The Flesh
• Major Point: Fill in a Pothole

From the 6pm Mass on Sunday, December 1, 2024, the First Sunday of Advent, Year C, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.

My three points:

1. How we Observe the Birth of Christ
2. Living as Christians
   • (One mistake I made: I called Keeping the Lord's Day Holy the Second Commandment, it is in fact the Third.)
3. "New Year's" Resolutions?
   • Ideas:
     • Read
       • The Magnificat
       • Pope Benedict's Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives
       • Archbishop Sheen's Life of Christ, particularly through page 63
       • More suggestions from Unleash the Gospel
     • Pray
       • Kiss the floor when you wake up and dedicate the day to God
       • Marian devotion:
         • Daily Rosary, particularly focus on the Joyful Mysteries
         • At least pray a decade a day
     • Mass on Christmas Day: Spend Jesus' birth with Jesus

Homework: Make a New Year's Resolution: What can I do daily to prepare for the Lord's coming on Christmas Day?

From the 7:30am Mass at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica on Sunday, November 17, 2024 the Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B.

My three points:

1. The End Times
2. Shining Stars or Everlasting Horrors?
3. Living Mass Well:
   • • Baptized
     • In the state of grace (Confession)
   • The Mass:
     1. Offertory
     2. Consecration
     3. Communion

From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, November 10, 2024 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, the Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B.

1. The First Commandment
2. Tithing
3. Faith

Resource:

Washington, Booker T. Up From Slavery, 1901.

From the 11:30am Mass on Sunday, November 3, 2024, the Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.

This homily was preached with the intention of forming the faithful in matters of responsible citizenship, in preparation for the upcoming election.

The main points:

1. What is the Place of Politics?
2. Navigating the Gray Areas
3. Abortion
4. The Nature of the Devil

Resources:

• First Homily of Pope John Paul II, October 22, 1978.
• Sheen, Fulton J. On The Demonic. Pp. 4 & 41.

From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, October 27, 2024, the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.

My four points:

1. 'I Want to Follow You, Jesus'
2. Grasping at What We Already Have
3. Division vs. Diversity
4. Grasping at Uniqueness

Resources:

• Ritter, Lawrence S. The Glory of Their Times.
• Sheen, Fulton J. On The Demonic.