2025 Homilies on Homilies & Thoughts

Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A house can be holy and still be hurried. Picture Joseph waking in the dark, heart pounding, listening to a message that feels like both mercy and emergency. There is no time for long conversations, no time to tidy loose ends. A child is lifted, a mother gathers what she can, and a family slips into the night—because God has chosen to save the Savior by sending him away.

The startling part is where they go: Egypt. Not the postcard Egypt of museums and pyramids, but the Egypt that lives in Israel’s memory: the place of slavery, the furnace of temptation, the land from which they once begged to be freed. It had become a symbol for everything that crushes and corrupts. And yet the angel says, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you.”

Nativity of the Lord, Mass During the Day

Thu, 25 Dec 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Most of us will spend Christmas afternoon doing something wonderfully unglamorous: rinsing dishes, finding the missing piece to a toy, checking on an older relative, driving home in the dark. It can feel almost jarring to hear the Church speak, on a day like this, about eternity, glory, and the mystery of God.

And yet that is exactly where Christmas aims—right at the ordinary.

We sometimes imagine the Incarnation as a kind of divine fireworks show: a miracle meant to prove that God is powerful, and a ladder meant to lift us out of this world and into the next. If that is all it is, then the best Christian life would be the one that escapes the mess: less work, fewer meals, fewer conversations, fewer interruptions—just “spiritual” things.

Nativity of the Lord, Mass During the Night

Thu, 25 Dec 2025 00:00:01 +0000

Tonight the story begins with paperwork: a ruler’s signature, a decree, an empire’s gears turning. Caesar Augustus wants the world enrolled. Not because he is curious, but because names on a register become taxes, and taxes become leverage. Rome calls this order. Rome calls this peace. Rome even calls it, in its own way, salvation.

Augustus knew the power of religious language. He was Octavian, the adopted son of Julius Caesar; when Julius was officially declared a god, Augustus became the son of god. The title sounded like heaven, but it served the throne. The Pax Romana, the Peace of Rome, was real—roads were safer, borders steadier—but it rested on the threat of the sword. Revolts were crushed. Crosses lined the roads. Fear did a great deal of Rome’s governing.

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Sun, 21 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Joseph falls asleep with a decision already made. He has weighed the options, tried to keep his conscience clean, tried to do the least damage. He is a righteous man, and that righteousness does not make the situation simple. It makes it heavier.

Then God interrupts his careful plan—not with thunder, not with certainty, but with a dream. And the angel speaks a sentence that is almost startling, because the Gospel does not use the word “fear” until the angel names it: “Do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.”

Third Sunday of Advent

Sun, 14 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Most of us spend our lives building walls. Not stone walls, usually. Although we certainly know fences, locks, and passwords. We build personal walls. We retreat into routine and hide inside busyness; we reassure ourselves, “I’ve got it handled.” That is how life stays manageable, predictable, and even pleasant. And if we’re not careful, God is treated the same way—tidy and familiar, safely kept at arm’s length.

Then Advent arrives like a cold wind at the gate. Jesus praises John the Baptist, and he asks the crowd one question: “What did you go out to the desert to see?” The word we hear as “desert” is better understood as “wilderness.” And the wilderness is not a scenic backdrop. It is outside the city’s protection, beyond the lamps and the watchmen. It is where you are exposed—to the elements, to hunger, to danger, to uncertainty, to your own limits.

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Before sunrise on a December morning, an ordinary man walked the road toward mass on the hill of Tepeyac. He was not a governor, not a soldier, not a spokesman for a cause. Juan Diego was simply faithful—poor, overlooked, living in a world torn open by conquest, suspicion, and fear.

That is precisely where Our Lady chose to appear.

Guadalupe does not arrive as a badge for one side. She comes as Mother—Madre de Dios—for a wounded, divided society. Her presence says: you are not merely rivals, classes, or camps. You are children. One Mother, many peoples. She speaks to Juan Diego in a way he can receive, and she sends him back into the conflict with a task larger than himself.

Second Sunday of Advent

Sun, 07 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Many of us might admit that this Jubilee Year of Hope has passed quietly by. It is on the Church’s calendar, but not always on our minds. Yet the very idea of a Jubilee is to interrupt ordinary time, to shake loose the dust that settles over our faith, and to let God do something new within us.

Into that same kind of spiritual drowsiness steps John the Baptist. He does not arrive gently. He is rough, strange, even unsettling: camel hair on his shoulders, the dust of the desert on his feet, wild insects for food. God chooses this man precisely because he cannot be ignored. His very presence is a question: have you grown too comfortable in your faith?

First Sunday of Advent

Sun, 30 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Advent arrives like an alarm clock in the dark. The world keeps moving at its usual pace—work and meals, holidays and travel, screens glowing late into the night—yet the Lord gently shakes our shoulder and gives a single, urgent command: “Therefore, stay awake!”

When Jesus speaks of the days of Noah, he does not describe spectacular sins. He speaks of people eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. Ordinary life. Good things, but lived as if God were unnecessary. People so absorbed in what was immediately in front of them that they never lifted their eyes to what was coming toward them. The flood did not surprise them because it was hidden; it surprised them because they were spiritually asleep.

Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (Christ the King)

Sun, 23 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The throne of our King does not look like a throne. It is a cross planted outside the city, with a crude sign nailed above his head and a handful of people watching while the crowd mocks and walks away. The rulers scoff, the soldiers make jokes, even a dying criminal joins in. It looks like weakness and failure.

Yet this is the moment when the true King of the Universe is revealed. The eternal Son of the Father has emptied himself, born of a woman, obedient even to this shameful death. And precisely here, when every earthly measure says he has lost, he begins to reign. One man sees it. One man, condemned justly by his own admission, looks at the crucified Jesus and recognizes a King. He turns and says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

Sun, 09 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A cathedral on Rome’s Lateran Hill—St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome—bears the name “Mother and Head of all churches in Rome and in the world.” Today the Church celebrates the dedication of that cathedral. Strange, perhaps, to keep a feast for a building. Yet the Church asks us to do so because what we dedicate in stone reveals what God desires to do in us. Walls and doors cannot contain God. He fills heaven and earth. Still, he gives us a place set apart so our scattered hearts can be gathered, our senses focused, our lives reoriented toward him.

All Souls (The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed)

Sun, 02 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A single desire pulses beneath every distraction, every ambition, every fear: to be loved and to love in return. God did not fashion us because he lacked company; the Trinity is eternal communion. He wanted creatures who could share the joy he is. We were made for love—real, infinite, unexhausted.

Yet reaching for that desire is not easy. Sin crowds the heart. Pride distorts. Greed narrows. Selfishness turns us in on ourselves until we confuse appetite for love. Seeing this, the Father sent the Son to reopen the way home. Jesus shows that love is not a feeling we hoard but a life we receive and learn to give. He conquers the very sins that steal what we most long for and offers grace so we can begin again and again. Holiness, for most of us, is not a clean sprint; it is a long walk with stumbles, hand in hand with mercy.

All Saints

Sat, 01 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Sometimes we can become too focused on sin. That might sound surprising, because it seems like the world around us is not focused on sin at all—and there’s truth in that. Yet even within the Church, we can fall into the opposite error: we can make sin and morality the entire focus of our faith, reducing Christianity to a system of rules.

Faith, however, is far more than moralism. Even if we somehow managed to live our entire lives without committing a single sin, that alone would not make us perfect. It would not make us true imitators of Christ. Christ did not simply avoid sin—he went far beyond that. He lived a life of perfect charity, of complete self-giving love. He lived as those in heaven live, fully united to the love of God.

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sun, 26 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

There is a certain comedy to the Pharisee’s prayer. He speaks as if heaven should applaud his résumé, as if the problem with the world is everyone else. We know that swagger. We have seen it, maybe even felt it tug at us. Yet Jesus does not waste time telling us simply not to be that person; he turns our gaze to the other figure in the doorway—the man who cannot raise his eyes.

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sun, 19 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

At the city gate, the dust never settles. Merchants haggle, travelers shout, carts rattle by. Here the courts meet in the open: respected elders and judges sit from morning to evening, hearing disputes where anyone may step forward. A widow has no husband to represent her; she must speak for herself before neighbors and strangers alike. There—at the busiest spot in town—a widow appears again. She stands where everyone can see. She is not proud. She is not powerful. She simply returns, day after day, to plead for justice.

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sun, 12 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Mercy always costs somebody something. Sometimes it costs time. Sometimes pride. Sometimes the ache of being taken for granted. The ten lepers cry out, and the plea is familiar to our lips at the start of every mass, in a slightly different translation: Lord, have mercy. Their illness has pushed them to the edges—forced to live apart, forced to warn others away. They are not simply unwell; they are unwelcome.

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sun, 05 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The request from the apostles is disarmingly simple: “Increase our faith.” Yet the response they receive is startling—vivid images and a story with a demanding master. At first hearing, the tone feels harsh. That is on purpose. Jesus leans on exaggeration to uncover an essential truth: the Christian life is not a part-time hobby. It is non-stop. It is all-consuming. It touches everything we do because it is about everything being made new in Christ.

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sun, 28 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This parable sketches two worlds divided by a gate: a banquet inside, a wounded neighbor outside. Step by step, a life is constructed around that gate—habits, choices, comforts, and blind spots harden into architecture. When death comes, the architecture holds. As Abraham says, “a great chasm is established.” The tragedy is not only punishment; it is permanence. A man who would not cross toward communion discovers he can no longer cross at all.

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sun, 21 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Imagine being told the audit is coming and you have already blown through the budget and squandered the resources. Your stomach drops. You start thinking, not about excuses, but about how to repair what has been damaged. That is the hard reckoning that forces the manager in the parable to act—and it names us. We have all wasted what the Lord placed in our hands: hours scrolled away, skills left idle, chances to love postponed for “later.” Yet the turning point is not in shame. It is in action.

Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Sun, 14 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Every medicine cabinet hides a story. Bottles with child‑proof caps, labels we can’t quite pronounce, doses we would rather skip. Bitter cures seldom feel like kindness in the moment. Yet the physician who truly loves us prescribes what heals, not what flatters the tongue.

Sin opened a wound we could not stitch. Death came as the consequence, and it has torn through families, hopes, and every human story. But listen to the strange mercy of God: the punishment becomes the medicine. The wood meant for execution becomes a tree that bears life. The valley of shadows is turned into a doorway. The cross does not decorate suffering; it transforms it.

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sun, 07 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

You know the hush that falls when a sunset sets the sky on fire. For a breath, everything stops and you simply receive. Then the colors dim, and the shoreline returns to ordinary. Beauty lets us glimpse God, and then it slips from our grasp. The moment was real, but it was never meant to be owned.

Our families, our plans, even our very lives are like that—astonishing gifts that point beyond themselves. Then comes the sentence that jolts us awake: “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” These words sting because love for family runs deep. Yet the Lord is not commanding contempt; he is unmasking a temptation—to clutch a gift so tightly that we stop seeing the Giver.

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sun, 31 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Jesus can feel like the guest who spoils a party—the one who stands in the doorway, notices every flaw, and starts rearranging the seating chart. Many Pharisees saw him that way: not fun, not flattering. But look closer. He is not ruining the celebration; he is teaching us how to finally enjoy it.

Hosting can be exhausting. The menu, the timing, the conversations that must be managed so certain people do not collide. Beneath the lists and the candles burns a deeper pressure: the need to impress. We carry it into our homes, our jobs, our social feeds. Show that life is curated, successful, enviable. Spend more. Prove you belong at the head of the table.

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The question sounds religious enough: How many will be saved? Yet it is a poor guide for a disciple. Whether the number is many or few, nothing essential changes—love does not shrink or expand because of a statistic. Counting souls does not convert a single heart. It distracts us from the work right in front of us.

Jesus refuses the headcount and gives us a marching order: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate.” Not a spreadsheet, a path. He redirects curiosity into courage. The image is tight, demanding, almost like a trail that steepens at the end. And the warning is clear: many will try, and strength will fail. So what now?

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sun, 17 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Ancient Israel wanted soothing voices. If a message promised comfort, they would pay to hear it. Prophets became a profession, and when a profession depends on pleasing customers, the truth gets trimmed to fit the market. Many in that guild learned to say only what people wished to hear. Yet, in the midst of all that noise, a few refused to sell the word. Their sermons were not crowd-pleasers. They spoke of judgment and course correction. And when the kings needed an honest messenger, they searched for the one no one wanted to hire—the one whose words stung.

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Day

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

God is not a hoarder of glory. He is lavish. Open-handed. He delights to share what is his—life, joy, even victory over death. The Assumption of Mary is the radiant sign of that generosity. When the Father brings Mary, body and soul, into heavenly life, he is not making an exception to keep us small; he is unveiling what he wants for all who cling to his Son.

Look at how the story in Judah’s hill country begins: not with Mary grasping at honor, but with movement toward another. She goes quickly to serve her older cousin. Her greeting stirs new life; a child rejoices before he can speak. Elizabeth recognizes the gift and blesses Mary for trusting God’s promise. And Mary answers by directing every compliment away from herself and toward the Giver, praising the One who lifts the lowly, scatters the proud, and breaks open his storehouse for the poor. Only one line needs to be heard aloud today: “He has filled the hungry with good things.”

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Vigil

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

God is not a collector of glory. He is a giver. From creation’s first breath to the empty tomb, he pours himself out, offering his very life to be shared, not guarded. The Assumption of Mary is a bright window into that generosity. It is heaven’s way of showing what happens when a human heart welcomes God without reserve: he does not merely forgive; he exalts. He does not only mend; he makes new.

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sun, 10 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Three images tumble across this passage like waves—master, servant, thief. They do not line up neatly, and that is the point. Jesus is pressing on our imaginations until we feel the jolt of a world where he returns unexpectedly, overturns the order of things, and sets a table for the weary. Into that swirl of pictures he speaks one anchoring word: “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.”

Thursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

When we reflect on this particular Gospel scene, we tend to focus on Peter’s confession of faith and the Lord’s response to it. But I think there is something interesting at the very beginning—when the Lord asks his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” What is the word on the street?

The disciples offer various answers. But, in a way, I believe this part of the Gospel serves as a warning: do not listen to the crowd. There are many opinions out there, and most of them are wrong. Faith is not something determined by opinion or consensus. It is not shaped by the majority view or the prevailing cultural sentiment. Rather, faith is something revealed directly by God. That is what the Church teaches us. She calls faith an infused virtue—“infused” meaning that it must be given by God. He places it directly into the minds and hearts of the faithful.

Transfiguration of the Lord

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Fathers of the Church see in the Transfiguration a prefiguring of the Resurrection. That is, when Jesus radiates light and his clothes become dazzling, what we behold in that moment is the world recreated after the Resurrection—a world God is going to give us in the life of heaven. And that is important, because what he is doing for three of his disciples—Peter, James, and John—is strengthening them. Knowing the journey to Jerusalem is beginning and that all these terrible events are about to unfold, he gives them a glimpse of glory to give them hope, the strength to keep going—even in the face of what is to come—so they might make it to the Resurrection.

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sun, 03 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

It is striking how often isolation masquerades as independence. We live in a culture saturated by messages urging us to secure our futures—to plan diligently, save meticulously, and safeguard our comforts. These are not evil aspirations, but when detached from gratitude and divorced from relationship, they become a perilous illusion.

A voice in the Gospel today pleads with Jesus to mediate an inheritance dispute. Jesus answers, gently but firmly, and then warns: “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” This line is not just cautionary advice about wealth—it is a piercing revelation about the true nature of life itself. The parable Jesus shares features a successful farmer whose land yields an abundant harvest. His immediate instinct is not gratitude to God or generosity toward neighbors. Instead, his thoughts revolve solely around storing more for himself, building bigger barns, and celebrating his self-contained abundance. His critical error is not merely financial prudence or planning for future security; rather, his folly is believing himself utterly alone. He stands isolated, sealed off from God and neighbor, trapped within the solitary echo of his own desires.

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sun, 27 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

On a clear morning, Abraham stood upon a hillside, his eyes straining through tears toward the place he loved. Smoke rose in tragic columns, a stark reminder of devastation—of loss. Abraham, who once saved Sodom with sword and valor, could now only watch in sorrow as flames consumed it.

This moment, this heartbreaking moment, captures the intersection of God’s justice and the tender mercy sought by human hearts. Abraham did not merely mourn the destruction of buildings and land; he grieved a place deeply woven into his life story—home to his nephew Lot, land of battles won, place of divine blessing through the priest Melchizedek. His prayers to spare the city were not transactions; they were not desperate bargaining. Rather, Abraham stood humbly before the divine justice of God, pleading solely from a place of love: “Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty?”

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sun, 20 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Why fuss over dishes and tidiness when the Son of God is seated in your living room? At first glance, today’s Gospel story seems to nudge us towards such simplicity. But pause and listen closely—this is not merely about choosing Jesus over chores. It is about recognizing eternity amidst the fleeting, stability amidst decay.

Consider this truth: every house we build, every effort we pour into this passing world, is destined to crumble. Our bodies age, buildings collapse, memories fade. All around us is a relentless reminder of impermanence. Martha’s anxious heart mirrors our own. Her worry is not just about serving dinner—it is an existential dread that nothing we do will outlast the pull of decay and death.

Fifthteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sun, 13 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Consider the ditches we find ourselves in, those hidden places where the soul feels battered and weary. Everyone, at some point, knows intimately what it means to lie wounded, stripped bare by circumstances we never imagined. It might be a betrayal by someone we cherished deeply, a rejection that stings in silence, or simply the unbearable weight of daily expectations. Indeed, we often find that the deepest cuts come from the sharp tongues or cold indifference of those nearest to us, those who know precisely where our vulnerabilities lie. Pride, envy, greed—these are the thieves that rob us of peace, leaving us isolated and desperate in our own private ditches.

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sun, 06 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

“Peace to this household.” With these simple yet powerful words, Jesus teaches us precisely how we are to approach others. Notice that the first step of evangelization, the first moment of witnessing to Christ, is not a catechism quiz or a doctrinal declaration; it is an offer of peace, an opening of the heart. Peace prepares us for genuine communion. It allows us to sit down together at one table, to share a meal, and, in doing so, to encounter Christ himself.

Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

Sun, 29 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In Caesarea Philippi, Christ posed a piercing question to his closest friends, a question that challenges each generation anew: “But who do you say that I am?” Peter’s bold reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” captures not merely a statement of belief, but a decisive moment of revelation, a recognition not shaped by human convenience but illuminated by divine grace.

Peter’s affirmation and Jesus’ subsequent response remind us that the Church is not a human invention, nor is it a mere institution subject to popular opinion or marketplace demands. Rather, it is Christ’s deliberate act, a divine gift structured to safeguard the purity of truth and the sanctity of the sacraments. The Church, as Christ established it upon Peter, remains steadfast precisely because it is rooted not in human preference but in heavenly authority.

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)

Sun, 22 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Growing up, my family had a few cows. I will always remember one of them; her name was Annabelle. She was a pretty cow. Annabelle had beautiful red fur, two tiny nubs for horns, and was very sweet. She loved the taste of freshly mowed grass. Every time we mowed, I would pick up piles of grass and offer them to her. She ate it right out of my hands. She would even let me rub her head and pet her. Eventually, Annabelle had two calves, a boy and a girl. I named them Mickey and Minnie. Even though they were a bit skittish, I slowly got to where I could feed and pet them as well. Then, one day, Mickey was taken away. A few days later Mickey returned, wrapped in butcher paper and ready for grilling. I stopped naming the cows that day.

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Sun, 15 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

At the very heart of reality, beyond the boundaries of space and time, relationship reigns supreme. Before the stars first ignited, before human voices reverberated through history, relationship already existed, eternal and unbounded. “He will take from what is mine and declare it to you,” Jesus assures us, unveiling a divine intimacy that stretches from the Father through the Son to the Holy Spirit and into our lives.

This relationship is not theological poetry; it is the essence of our existence. We glimpse here the inner life of God, a community of love—the Father eternally pouring forth into the Son, the Son reflecting that love fully, and the Holy Spirit binding and breathing through their union. This eternal communion is not merely about God’s identity; it profoundly shapes our understanding of who we are and why we exist.

Pentecost

Sun, 08 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Roman Empire loved to boast about its dominance. Emperors carved the names of conquered peoples and lands onto stone monuments, proudly proclaiming their control over the known world. Their message was clear: defiance was futile, resistance impossible. Yet, today we hear a different proclamation, one that echoes not from monuments of stone, but from hearts ablaze with divine fire.

“We hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.” This declaration from the crowd gathered at Pentecost signals a profound turning point. It is not just another biblical list—“Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia”—but a subversive proclamation of Christ’s universal victory. Each place named is no mere geographical detail, but a declaration that Christ’s kingdom knows no boundary or empire. No earthly power can confine it or stop it.

Pentecost Vigil

Sat, 07 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

As summer approaches, we know the familiar feeling of when the sun’s heat presses heavily upon us. On those scorching days, nothing refreshes us more deeply and immediately than cool water. Imagine that feeling—the relief, the refreshment, the renewed vitality from just a simple drink. Jesus invites us today with this very image: “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink.”

Yet Jesus is not speaking about physical thirst. He describes the gift of the Holy Spirit as “[r]ivers of living water,” an image that might surprise us. Often, we associate the Spirit with fire—dynamic, powerful, and transformative—especially recalling the flames of Pentecost. But here, in a world scorched by conflict, division, and heated rhetoric, perhaps we need the Spirit precisely as living water—refreshing, soothing, and restoring peace.

Ascension of the Lord

Sun, 01 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

“Why are you standing there looking at the sky?” With these words, the angels confronted the disciples in their moment of uncertainty and hesitation. It was a question that pierced their confusion and moved them from paralysis toward purpose. Jesus had departed, leaving them behind, and their gaze was locked heavenward, lost in wonder and in apprehension. They had depended upon Jesus—his presence, his wisdom, his reassuring voice. Now they stood frozen, caught in the unknown.

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Sun, 25 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

When Jesus speaks of peace, he promises something very different from what we usually imagine. He declares, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” Christ offers us a peace unlike any other—distinct from worldly promises and entirely free of conditions or threats.

Consider how the world typically delivers peace: often through force, dominance, or transactional arrangements. We might think of ancient Rome, whose emperors boasted of establishing peace across conquered territories. Yet this peace was maintained through fear, enforced with violence, and secured only through suffering and loss. Even today, worldly peace often comes disguised as a transaction: “We will give you protection if you give us something valuable in return.” Such peace is fleeting and fragile, inherently unstable because it is built upon conditional promises and shaky foundations.

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Sun, 18 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The early Christians stood out—not because of unique clothing or special customs, nor because they spoke their own language or lived separately from others—but because they behaved differently. They were ordinary people indistinguishable from their neighbors in all outward appearances, yet they were known unmistakably by one profound truth: the way they loved.

Jesus speaks clearly: “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” It is not our attire, nationality, or language that sets us apart. It is not even the symbols we wear or the places we gather. Rather, it is our willingness to embody love—to make tangible and visible the love that Christ himself has shown us.

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Sun, 11 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

When we have doubts about someone’s integrity, we often say, “Actions speak louder than words.” And indeed, genuine love, trustworthiness, and compassion become real to us not through promises or claims, but through what someone actually does.

This is at the heart of Jesus’ words: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” Jesus makes clear that following him is not about simply knowing the right words or holding correct beliefs. Rather, true discipleship is revealed in our actions—actions that reflect his own. The context of this Gospel is people asking Jesus to speak plainly and reveal whether he is the messiah. Jesus responds by pointing not to what he has said, but to what he has done. His works—healing the sick, caring for the poor, forgiving sinners—speak clearly and powerfully. They are the signs that God the Father is present, working in and through him.

Third Sunday of Easter

Sun, 04 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

There is a saying we have all heard countless times: “God never gives us more than we can handle.” While it might sound comforting, it is simply not true. Life’s experiences teach us otherwise. Think of the parent who loses a child, the person diagnosed with a terminal illness, or someone facing the shock of unemployment. In these moments, the burdens are undeniably overwhelming, stretching human strength far beyond its limits.

Second Sunday of Easter - Divine Mercy Sunday

Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I had a different homily prepared originally, but I spent almost five hours hearing confessions at various places across the diocese yesterday. In the midst of that, I found myself thinking about all of you—thinking about what these past three weeks have been like—and something struck me during that time.

One of the things I have noticed, fairly consistently, is that most of us here, if not all of us, are wounded. As a community, it seems we have all had experiences that have hurt us in some way, and we have held on to those hurts.

Easter Sunday

Sun, 20 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

When Mary Magdalene first encountered the empty tomb, her heart was filled not with joy but confusion and fear. Her cry was felt deeply in the hearts of Peter and the other disciple: “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” This emptiness, this initial shock, confronts us too. We, like Mary and the apostles, live in a world overshadowed by the reality of death, faced daily with uncertainty and the haunting question: Is it all vanity?

Holy Saturday - Easter Vigil

Sat, 19 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

My dear catechumens, candidates, and beloved friends, this night is unlike any other. Tonight is the heart of our faith, where everything we have known and hoped for comes together: “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has been raised.”

These words spoken to the women at the tomb ring in our hearts tonight. They capture the extraordinary truth that transforms everything. Jesus Christ, who has always been with us, who existed before the world began and who will remain after all things pass away, has conquered death itself. Christ, our Alpha and Omega, has shattered the darkness of sin and death by rising victorious.

Good Friday

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Pilate’s question, “What is truth?” echoes through the centuries because it captures the core of our human struggle. Pilate stands in front of Jesus, a man whose innocence he openly acknowledges, and yet he remains trapped in the familiar patterns of human history—a history of power abused, justice twisted, and truth silenced. His question is not flippant or dismissive. Rather, Pilate voices the deep uncertainty within each of us when faced with a world that appears unchanging in its cycles of selfishness, pride, and violence.

Holy Thursday

Thu, 17 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Tonight we witness something unexpected: the Lord, the master, the teacher, kneeling at the feet of his disciples. Amidst the echoes of Passover preparations, amidst talk of betrayal and sacrifice, one action pierces through: Jesus washing feet. It might seem odd that on Holy Thursday, the night we celebrate the instituion of the Eucharist, we are given a Gospel that does not explicitly show the Eucharist at all. Instead, we encounter humility in its purest form.

Palm Sunday

Sun, 13 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Jesus rides into Jerusalem today not as a conquering king but as the one who willingly goes to the cross. Every step, every gesture of his procession speaks clearly of one thing: the limitless depth of God’s love for us. Yet how often do we doubt this love, feeling isolated by pain, misunderstood by others, or burdened by hidden wounds?

Today, we see Jesus embracing our pain, carrying it deliberately toward the cross. His entry into Jerusalem is more than just a historical event—it is God’s profound declaration that we will never be alone. Our suffering, which we believe isolates us, actually draws us intimately into Christ’s own journey. He makes our loneliness his own; he enters our abandonment, our rejection, our fears, and insecurities.

Fifth Sunday of Lent

Sun, 06 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

NB: This Sunday we had the third scrutiny. The homily for the mass with the scrutiny can be found below. The homily for the Year C reading used at the other masses follows immediately:

When the scribes and Pharisees placed a frightened woman before Jesus, they believed they were creating a test—a situation that would trap Jesus into either breaking the law or compromising his message of mercy. But Jesus, seeing beyond their trap, responded differently than anyone expected. Notice an easy to miss detail, his posture, his quiet presence: he bent down, writing silently in the dust. In this simple gesture, he paused the moment, shifting attention away from accusation and judgment.

Fourth Sunday of Lent

Sun, 30 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

NB: This Sunday we had the second scrutiny. The homily for the mass with the scrutiny can be found below. The homily for the Year C reading used at the other masses follows immediately:

Every family has its difficult chapters—moments when someone feels distant, misunderstood, or unloved. Each of us, in some way, has been that younger son, wandering far from the love that once grounded us. And each of us has, perhaps unknowingly, also played the role of the older brother, steadfast yet quietly resentful. The power of this parable is that it shows us God’s relentless desire to close those distances and restore every relationship.

Monday of the Third Week of Lent

Mon, 24 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

When we hear this familiar Gospel story—especially the words, “no prophet is accepted in his own native place”—we often think of the old saying: familiarity breeds contempt. And certainly, that is part of what’s happening here. The people who have known Jesus since childhood cannot believe he is someone extraordinary. But there is something deeper at play.

In this passage, Jesus brings Israel’s history to the forefront. Throughout their history, God’s people have often misunderstood their relationship with him. They believed that because God chose them, he owed them something—that blessings and protection were guaranteed simply because they were his chosen people. They even voiced it aloud at times: “The temple is here, so surely God will protect us.” Yet repeatedly, God reminded them that being chosen does not create obligations for God; rather, it places responsibilities upon his people. Israel was chosen for holiness, chosen to cultivate a genuine relationship with God, chosen to faithfully follow him. Their privilege was matched by a profound responsibility, and they frequently struggled with this reality. Instead of responding with holiness, they relied on entitlement, believing God had to protect and bless them simply because they were chosen.

Third Sunday of Lent

Sun, 23 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Whenever tragedy strikes, our first impulse is to search for meaning. We want explanations: Why did this happen? Who is to blame? We instinctively wonder if suffering is punishment for wrongdoing. Yet, Jesus sharply challenges this notion, asking, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?” His response is clear: tragedy is not a measure of guilt.

In our lives, we frequently see evil or tragedy as signs of divine judgment or abandonment. But God does not operate in this way. The fallen tower of Siloam was not a judgment upon the victims, nor was Pilate’s cruelty proof of their sinfulness. Rather, these events reveal something profoundly different—our world, wounded and broken, yet waiting to be healed.

Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

Thu, 20 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I have always found the structure of this parable striking. At first glance, the details seem to emphasize the contrast between wealth and poverty and our obligation to care for the poor. Perhaps they even hint at the reality of hell. Yet, by the time we reach the conclusion, it becomes clear that the true focus is on listening to the word of God. That is the heart of the parable: the call to hear and respond to God’s word, for it is in listening that true transformation occurs.

Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Lord reminds us that we are not to take on exalted titles like “rabbi.” However, in our modern society, titles no longer carry the same weight they did in Jesus’ time. There are few positions left that command such honor universally, so we do not struggle with this issue in the same way. What remains unchanged, however, is the human tendency to place heavy burdens on others while excusing ourselves. This is the deeper concern Jesus addresses, and it is just as relevant today as it was then.

Monday of the Second Week of Lent

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Self-Reflection

The call to be merciful as the Father is merciful is a profound and challenging one. The early Church Fathers identify three steps that help cultivate this virtue within ourselves. The first step, self-reflection, is essential. Our natural tendency often leads us to focus on others—what they are doing, their faults, their shortcomings. This tendency frequently results in judgment and condemnation rather than mercy.

The Church Fathers urge us to turn inward instead. By examining our own hearts and acknowledging our own failings, we come to recognize our deep need for mercy. The more time we spend reflecting on our own lives, the more readily we can extend forgiveness and understanding to others. This practice of self-examination helps us grow in humility and prepares us to offer the same mercy we ourselves seek.

Second Sunday of Lent

Sun, 16 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

We find ourselves on a mountaintop, standing in the presence of something extraordinary. In that moment, the veil between heaven and earth is pulled back just enough for us to see the world as God intended—a world radiant with divine light, untouched by sin and sorrow.

At first, this revelation might seem disconnected from the journey of Lent. Why, in the midst of a season focused on penance and fasting, do we pause to gaze upon Christ in glory? Why, as we walk through this time of spiritual struggle, does the Church set before us this dazzling, almost otherworldly scene? It can feel like a cruel reminder of what we are not yet able to reach.

Ash Wednesday

Wed, 05 Mar 2025 14:39:49 -0500

Jesus speaks often about fasting, almsgiving, and works of penance. This might surprise us. We live in a culture that has long shifted its focus. While fasting and charity still exist, they are often treated as secondary, even optional. This makes it difficult to understand what Jesus is saying. That is why we must rediscover the meaning of penance, and there is no better time for this than Lent.

Too often, when we hear the word penance, we think of extremes—medieval flagellants parading through the streets, people sleeping on broken glass, or fasting to the point of exhaustion. But these are distortions, misunderstandings that the Church has consistently opposed. True penance is something entirely different.

Eighth Sunday Per Annum

Sun, 02 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

There is something deeply unsettling about realizing we do not see as clearly as we think. Jesus’ words confront us with this reality. We assume that we understand the world, that we can judge right from wrong, that we can identify the faults in others with accuracy. And yet, Jesus tells us otherwise. He warns that sin is not just a private matter between us and God—it distorts everything, especially our vision.

Fifth Sunday Per Annum

Sun, 09 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

There is a reason why fishermen do not cast their nets from the shore. The shallow waters are comfortable, familiar, and safe, but they do not hold the abundance they seek. The deeper waters, though unpredictable and at times treacherous, are where the true catch is found. When Jesus tells Simon Peter to put out into the deep, he is not only speaking about fishing. He is calling Peter—and us—to a new way of life, one that requires courage, trust, and a willingness to go beyond what is comfortable.

Presentation of the Lord

Sun, 02 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

N.B. This weekend was the annual Bishop’s Appeal for Ministries. This homily is focused around the appeal.

The infant Jesus is brought to the temple, and there, in the arms of Simeon, light is revealed. This child, whom Mary and Joseph humbly present, is the fulfillment of Israel’s longing, the answer to generations of prayers. “A light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” Christ is the light that shatters darkness, the dawn that dispels the night of sin and death. And yet, the light of Christ is not something to be observed from a distance—it is meant to be carried, shared, and spread throughout the world.

Third Sunday Per Annum

Sun, 26 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Freedom is a word that resonates deeply within the human heart. From an early age, we long to break free from the things that bind us, whether they be rules we do not understand, limitations placed upon us, or burdens we carry. Yet, true freedom is often misunderstood. It is not simply the ability to do whatever we please; rather, it is the ability to become who we were created to be.

Second Sunday Per Annum

Sun, 19 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Prayer is essential for every Christian. It is the lifeline that connects us to God, the way we invite him into the deepest parts of our lives. When we are in need—spiritually, emotionally, or physically—prayer is where God meets us with his grace. It is in prayer that he transforms us. Because of this, we must be people of prayer.

The story of the wedding at Cana gives us a powerful example of how to pray. Mary, the mother of Jesus, shows us what it means to approach God with both simplicity and trust. When the wine runs out at the wedding, she turns to Jesus and states the need plainly: “They have no wine.” That is all. She does not embellish her request, nor does she try to persuade or plead. Mary does not worry about the outcome. She simply places the problem before Jesus.

Baptism of the Lord

Sun, 12 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Baptism can seem odd at first glance. We dress a baby in a white gown, pour water on their head, and take pictures while a community looks on. It is a strange ritual in a world where water flows freely from faucets, and bathing is a daily routine. For many of us, water is mundane, unremarkable. But in the ancient world, water was precious—an essential yet unpredictable gift of life. It was carried laboriously, rationed carefully, and only occasionally used for bathing. For people of that time, being immersed in water, especially as an act of worship, symbolized something extraordinary: God’s abundant love poured out in excess.

Epiphany

Sun, 05 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The story of the Epiphany is almost ironic. A great king, Herod, with the full backing of the Roman Empire, is terrified of a child—a newborn baby born in humble circumstances to a young girl and her understandably skeptical husband. Yet, this reaction fits the ancient world. Kings often had to fear even the young. They never knew when someone might rally the people and overthrow them, especially among the Jews, who were actively awaiting a messiah. To protect their power, rulers would resort to ruthless measures, even murder. So, while Herod’s fear may seem absurd, it is what we might expect from that culture and time.

Mary, Mother of God

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Blessed Virgin Mary is the supreme model for the Church and for every believer. Yet, it is unfortunate that we so often misunderstand and mischaracterize her. For far too long, Mary has been seen as merely demure and maidenly, a passive vessel who carried God rather than an active participant in the drama of salvation.

But that is not the Mary of Nazareth we encounter in scripture. A passive vessel is not the young woman who said “yes” to God. The Mary of the Gospels is the Mother of God, the model of Christian faith, and the greatest of Jesus’ disciples. God did not love her and bestow his abundant grace upon her because she was quiet and submissive. He chose her as his very mother because she was courageous. When faced with an incomprehensible mystery, she said “yes.” Contrast this with the many men in scripture who hesitated or tried to avoid God’s call. Elijah hid his face. 1 Kings 19:13 Jeremiah said, “I am too young.” Jer 1:6 Moses said, “I think you are looking for my brother.” See Exod 4:10-16 But Mary stared directly into the heart of the mystery, and with courage and faith, she said “yes.” Yes, she would give birth to the world’s salvation. Yes, she would stand by the cross and watch her only child die so that we all might live.