-
The Commemmoration of all the Faithful Departed
Today’s Gospel: Matthew 25:1-13 | Today’s feast I think this Gospel reading is kind of weird to our modern ear. This whole notion of virgins with lamps speaks to us of very strange customs that have long since been forgotten. But we still have to get the message that Jesus speaks very clearly at the…
-
The Solemnity of All Saints
Today’s readings | Today’s feast (more) During his lifetime, Pope John Paul II canonized some 480 saints. Many people felt that this was a kind of “inflation” of saints, since he alone canonized more than one for every day of the year. But the pope’s view on this was that holiness is the true mission…
-
Tuesday of the 30th Week of Ordinary Time: Be subordinate to one another
Today’s readings Well, it would be hard to pick a scarier reading to preach about on Halloween than one that starts out with the emotionally-charged sentence, “Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.” It almost makes me want to skip it and preach on the Gospel reading, or even on the…
-
30th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Take Courage!
“Take courage, get up, Jesus is calling you.” These would be wonderfully comforting words to hear in any situation. Who among us does not wish to be called to Jesus? But as joyful as we are to hear these words in good times, they are incredibly comforting in times of sickness and suffering. “Take courage,…
-
Thursday of the 29th Week of Ordinary Time
I don’t remember exactly when, but sometime during my time in seminary, I realized following God’s call was not guaranteed to be easy, all full of sweetness and light. Yes, there is sweetness, there is light, and there is also sadness, pain and persecution. Jesus was always very clear about that. And I don’t think…
-
Thy Will be Done
This morning’s Office of Readings contains a letter to Proba by St. Augustine. In it, St. Augustine explores the Lord’s Prayer: We need to use words so that we may remind ourselves to consider carefully what we are asking, not so that we may think we can instruct the Lord or prevail on him. …
-
Monday of the 29th Week of Ordinary Time: Being rich in what matters to God
Today’s readings I don’t know about you, but it’s getting harder and harder to get out of bed these days. I always find that in these waning days of the year, when the mornings are cooler (dare I say “colder?”), and there is less sunshine in the morning, I just want to pull up the…
-
29th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Much will be expected!
Today’s readings Of those to whom much has been given, much will be expected. These words, spoken by Jesus in another place in the Gospels, are very related to the words we hear him speak to us today: Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among…
-
Saturday of the 28th Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings The greatest prayer of the homilist is that the Spirit will give him the words that God wants his people to hear. That is the prayer that hopefully all of us pray before we sit down to write or plan our words. Then, we do our homework, praying over and studying the words…
-
St. Isaac Jogues, John de Brébeuf and Companions, Martyrs
Today’s Feast | Today’s readings: 2 Corinthians 4:7-15; Matthew 28:16-20 St. Isaac and St. John were among eight missionaries who worked among the Huron and Iroquois Indians in the New World in the seventeenth century. They were devoted to their work and were accomplishing many conversions. The conversions, though, were not welcomed by the…
You must be logged in to post a comment.