Teaching & Preaching: Deacon Matt's homilies & podcasts

What is worship? What kind of worship does God ask of us? And how do we offer God worship in a way pleasing to him?

Ancient cultures across the globe worshipped their gods by means of offering sacrifice, and God instructed the people of Israel in how to offer sacrifices to Him. But all these ancient sacrifices were but shadows or signs pointing toward the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ. How do we, as Christians, participate in that one perfect sacrifice?

Readings:

Homily for the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A) preached by Deacon Matt Newsome on July 30, 2023, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

Every Christian should be familiar with the two great commandments. “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind,” (Dt 6:5) and, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lv 19:18). Jesus says that, “The whole law and prophets depend on these two commandments.” (cf. Mt 22:36-40).

In today’s gospel passage, Jesus is telling us the ramifications of these commandments. It is easy enough to say that we love God more than anything else, but what does this mean in practice? Jesus is clear about the stakes. He says, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me” (Mt 10:37a). This statement is meant to shock us a little bit.

Homily preached by Deacon Matt Newsome on Sunday, July 2, 2023, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Sunday, June 4, 2023, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

Many struggle to understand why the doctrine of the Trinity is relevant. Sure, it might be of interest to theologians, but what does it have to do, practically, with our lives? I’ll give you three reasons why the doctrine of the Trinity is important.

One: The whole purpose of the Christian religion is union with God, and that requires an understanding of Who and What God is. 

Two: We are called to be holy, and to be holy is to be like God, which again requires an understanding of Who and What God is. 

Three: We are made in the image and likeness of God, so if we desire to know ourselves, we need to have an understanding of Who and What God is. 

For these three reasons we should be very interested in the fact that God has revealed himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three Persons in one God. But how are we to understand it?

Homily preached by Deacon Matt Newsome at the Chapel of Our Lady of the Annunciation at the Catholic Student Center at Western Carolina University on Sunday, May 7, 2023, for the final Mass of the semester.

"Life is full of beginnings and endings. Amidst all this change, what can we hold on to? What can be our sure foundation, our rock, our refuge and our stronghold? What can we really have faith in that we know will never change and never fail us?"

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter (Year A) preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on May 7, 2023, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church.

"...this is not a funeral Mass. This is the Mass for the Fifth Sunday of Easter. And this is not a eulogy. This is a homily. And it is my Christian duty in this moment to proclaim to you the good news of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Joe would be disappointed in me if I didn’t. I was in the middle of writing my homily when we found out Joe had passed, so you’ll forgive me if I wasn’t able to finish it. But I will tell you what I was going to say."

“Who can climb the mountain of the Lord? Who can stand in his holy place? (Ps 24:3). Who, indeed? Who can climb this mountain with Jesus? Who can approach the Temple and enter the Holy of Holies that is Calvary? Who can bear his suffering? Or who can bear his glory, for that matter? Psalm 24 gives us the answer: “The man with clean hands and pure heart, who desires not worthless things, who has not sworn to deceive his neighbor” (Ps 24:4).

Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent (Year A) preached on Sunday, March 5, 2023, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church by Deacon Matthew Newsome.

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. 

"When you commit murder, or steal from someone, tell a lie, or commit adultery, these things are not sins because they are forbidden by the Church. They are forbidden because they are sins. The law is there to help us steer clear of them, but they are wrong with or without the law. They are wrong because they violate the goodness of human nature and our human dignity. This is called natural law morality and it’s the moral system favored by the Church because it is based on how God made us as human beings."

When we think about all the things that make Mary great, what is it that merits her the great honor of being the Mother of the Lord? Is it that she was immaculately conceived? No. Is it that she was assumed into heaven? No. Is it because she was a virgin, or that she was descended from the line of David? No. None of these things about Mary caused her to be the Mother of God? So what did? It was her “yes.” It was the fact that Mary said to the angel, “let it be done to me according to your word,” and she meant it with all of her being.

Homily preached at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on Jan. 1, 2023.

Homily preached by Deacon Matt Newsome on Dec. 8, 2022, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church.

I aim to answer three questions in this homily. 1) What is the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception? 2) Where does it come from? And 3) What does it matter to us?