Remember a few years ago when the Red Sox were in last place? Sports writers criticized the players for their lack energy and effort. Fans were furious because they had to pay the highest price for Major League Baseball tickets only to see the team fold and lose every game. Five months later, thousands of...

The post Gospel-Homily for Fifth Sunday of Lent (2019) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.

When I was growing up, my mother always came to me when something had to be done around the house. That made sense because my older brother used to help out my father with his chores, like mowing the lawn and fixing the screen door. My younger brothers were too young to know anything so...

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I was with one of my confreres while he was unpacking his belongings. He pulled out a bottle of liquor and said, “One of my friends in the parish gave me this as a going away present; this is very good stuff.” I said, “That doesn’t tell me anything.” So I asked him, “If I...

The post How Long? appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.

We always begin Lent with Ash Wednesday. We receive ashes to remind us that we are all going to die. Why would we want to be reminded of that? I knew a guy who was incredibly successful in life. Everything he touched turned to gold. I asked why everything he did was so good. He...

The post Memento Mori appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.

Noah’s ark. How do you envision it? If you picture in your mind a large shoebox, about the size of a football field and about three stories high, then, Congratulations, you have read your Bible. The Bible gives the exact dimensions and the shape of the ark. But this is my question: why would God...

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The post Ash Wednesday (2019) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.

Why does God make it so hard on us? He tells Elijah, the prophet, to go to Mount Horeb. Mount Horeb is in the middle of the hottest, most brutal desert on the planet. It takes forty days to get there. For forty days, he has no access to food, water, or mini-marts along the...

The post Strength in the Struggle appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.

David could have killed Saul. And if he had killed Saul, David would have vastly improved his life. He would not have had to run for his life anymore, to look over his shoulder every time someone suspicious walked behind him, or to worry about a spear or arrow flying in his direction out of...

The post To Bless and Not to Curse appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.

One time a guy called my brother and asked him if he would work in his new computer company. He told my brother that he didn’t have a lot of money, but he could pay him with stock options. My brother thought long and hard about it, but in the end, he declined. Later, my...

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Problems, we all have them. We just need to find the best solutions. One time I went on a vacation in the deep woods of Maine at my brother’s lake camp. I went to bed and outside my bedroom window was a love-sick bullfrog calling to his mate. “No problem,” I thought. “I can handle...

The post Problems and Their Solutions appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.