I'm a little late in getting this posted, but here is the homily from Pentecost Sunday, May 19, 2024 from the 7:30am Mass at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica.

My three points:

1. Multiculturalism, is really hard to do well
2. Real Diversity, only comes from the Holy Spirit
3. Called to be Great Saints
   • This comes from the real diversity of the Holy Spirit. Only God loves you the way God loves you. And only you can love God the way you can love God.

From the 7:30am Mass on the Feast of the Ascension, Year B, May 12, 2024, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica.

This week there were a number of "minor" things that caught my attention:

1. Looking Up
2. Do the political?
   • No! Keep your eyes up
3. Wait
   • God's time? Or, the world's time?

From the 11:30am Mass on Sunday, April 21, 2024, at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year B.

I preached about the amazing Sacrament of Baptism, and highlighted three points:

1. Salvation is Only through Jesus
   • Directly salvific vs. indirectly "salvific"
2. Children of God
   • Children become like their parents
3. Parents, Good Shepherds to their children
   • How are we in the areas of:
     • The Faith
     • Marriage
     • Work
     • Sports

From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, April 14, 2024 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, the Third Sunday of Easter, Year B.

My Three Points:

1. "Know"
   • To know Jesus
2. Who's Job?
   • Active, we must work at knowing Jesus
   • Passive, we must also let Jesus work on us
3. Exult For Ever!
   • The closer we are to Jesus, the more we know Him, the more we want to be with Him, and exult in His presence. That is, the more we want to be in heaven with Jesus.

From the 6pm Mass on the Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday), Year B at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, Sunday, April 7, 2024.

Intro:

• An explanation of Divine Mercy Sunday

Body: I relate the book I am working on (On the Demonic, by Fulton Sheen) to the readings today:

• Three Signs of the Demonic:
  1. Love of Nudity
  2. Violence
  3. Schizophrenic Mentality / Loss of Identity
• Three Weapons against the Demonic:
  1. The Name of Jesus
  2. The Blood of Jesus
  3. Mary, the Mother of Jesus

Conclusion:

• Jesus, Jesus, Jesus... the answer is Jesus!

From the 7:30am Mass on Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Year B, Sunday, March 24, 3024 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, Royal Oak.

My three points:

1. Who Killed Jesus?
2. Not Open to God
3. Giving All
   • Break that alabaster jar! Give it all to Jesus!

The priests at the National Shrine of the Little Flower gave a five week series of talks on the Mass. I had the final talk: "What does God want from me? Reflect on how we are part of God's Divine Plan for salvation--and how He is counting on you to carry out this mission just as the Apostles, Disciples and Saints have done for over two thousand years." Given at 7pm on Wednesday, March 20, 2024 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, Royal Oak. This was about a 45 minute talk, followed by Q&A.

Layout of the talk:

Intro:

• Mass is ended, go...
  • I borrow material from the sixth chapter of Sheen's Calvary and the Mass.

Body:

• Part 1:
  • Foundations:
    • I borrow material from Sheen's talk explaining the Mass.
  • A Sacramental View of Reality
• Part 2: Pratical:
  • A. "Come," how do we step closer to Christ?
    • Boundaries
    • Prayer
  • B. "Go!" Witnessing to others
    • Live the Life
    • Engage people

Conclusion

This talk was live streamed, and can be found here.

From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, March 17, 2024 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year B (but using the Year A readings).

My three points:

1. Incredulity
2. Our Artificial Lives
   • Although I don't name him or directly quote him, the basis of these thoughts come largely from the book John Senior and the Restoration of Realism.
3. Reality, Life!

Other Resources Quoted:

• Scott Hahn's Hope to Die: The Christian Meaning of Death and the Resurrection of the Body, particularly pp. 1-2.
• Pete Townshend's The Age of Anxiety, particularly pp. 113 & 129.

From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, March 10, 2024 at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year B (but using the Year A readings).

(The recorder is finally hooked up!)

My three points:

1. "Not as Man Sees Does God See"
2. Who is Blind?
3. Humlity

(Our new recorder is still not set up, so I'm recording things on my phone. Thank you for your patience!)

From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, March 3, 2024, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, Royal Oak, the Third Sunday of Lent, Year B (but using the Year A readings).

My three points:

1. Bunch of Whimps!
   • Like the Israelites, how quickly we turn back when the going gets tough, running from the cross.
2. Hope
   • "The theological virtue by which we desire and expect from God both eternal life and the grace we need to attain it" (Catechism of the Catholic Church).
3. The Samaritan Woman
   • Loses everything, and is left with Jesus

Conclusion:

• Fix your eyes on Jesus and His love, and pray for the grace to embrace your cross.