How to Make Hard Tasks Easy I teach New Testament Greek at St. John’s Seminary.  The first thing I told my class on the first day was to put away the notebooks and pens; they would not need them to learn the alphabet. I know what would happen. They would be writing down the Greek...

The post Gospel-Homily for Second Sunday of Advent (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.

Always Have A Reason to Be Grateful and Happy On my way home, I saw a lady standing in front of her car with the hood up. When she saw me, she asked if I had a pair of jumper cables. I told I did and I would get my car. When I said that,...

The post Gospel-Homily for First Sunday of Advent (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.

For Every Lost Sheep, There Are Ninety-nine Partners Does God love good people more than bad people? Answer: the lost sheep. Jesus leaves the 99 righteous sheep to go after the lost sheep. Think about a sheep lost and alone. Every living being with teeth loves lamb chops; it is an easy dinner. Sheep cannot...

The post Gospel-Homily for Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.

No Risks, Guaranteed Win When Your Master Is God Let’s talk about parables for a moment. A parable is a simple story about ordinary events, and Jesus throws in a zinger. For example, someone says, “Well, I went into the store, and I took out my wallet and saw a one-dollar bill. I took it...

The post Gospel-Homily for Thirty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.

A New Way to Enjoy Life There are 10 Virgins. 5 have oil, and five do not. Why? In order to have olive oil for lighting your lamps, you need to grow an olive tree. You have to prune it so you have abundant olives. You need to pick the olives off the tree, pit them,...

The post Gospel-Homily for Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.

Who Do You Choose to Lift Your Burdens? Someone donated a car to our congregation. Yay! So I needed to register the car. I got the form, went to the insurance company, received the stamp, went to the registry of motor vehicles–and the agent told me I had the wrong tax-exempt number. So, I had...

The post Gospel-Homily for Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.

If Happiness is Fulfillment, then Love is Filling the Void of Need Happiness means fulfillment. So when we are fulfilled, we are happy. If true, then we have a problem. Take, for example, your wallet. Suppose I was going to give you a crisp one hundred dollar bill. I bet you would not say: “I can’t...

The post Gospel-Homily for Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.

Crossing the Finish Line When the doctor entered the examination room, I told him, “I apologize for wasting your time with a sore throat, congestion, and flu-like symptoms. I never go to the doctor with just the flu. But I am running a marathon in two days. Can you help me?” He asked, “What marathon?”...

The post Gospel-Homily for Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.

The post Gospel-Homily for Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.

Focus on the Good, and You Will Always Feel Blessed Did you ever have one of those days when you go to the car and find the tank on empty? Or tie your shoe one minute before Mass, but you break the lace, and you have no spare? Or have the Bishop at the door...

The post Gospel-Homily for Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.