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Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr
Today’s feast | Today’s readings: Philippians 3:17-4:1 / Psalm 34 / John 12:24-26 St. Ignatius was a convert to Christianity who eventually became the bishop of Antioch. During his time in Antioch, the Emperor Trajan began persecuting the Church there and forced people to choose between death and denying the faith. Ignatius would have none…
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Don’t be afraid of the Light!
[Homily for our youth reconciliation service.] I confessed to the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders from our school on Friday that I used to be afraid of the dark. I asked them and all the adults present how many of them have ever been afraid of the dark, and – no surprise – almost everyone…
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28th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Stewardship of God’s Gifts
Today’s readings It’s a matter of hanging on to things that have no permanence. Those who have wealth will find it extremely difficult to enter the kingdom of God. You see, brothers and sisters in Christ, being wealthy is nice, but it is a lousy substitute for the enduring riches of entering the kingdom of…
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Friday of the 27th Week of Ordinary Time: The Light of Christ
Today’s readings: Ephesians 1:15-16, 18-19a and Mark 5:21-24, 35-36, 38-42 [Mass for the school children] I have a confession to make: a long time ago when I was a little kid, I used to be afraid of the dark. When I would go to bed, I remember making my parents leave the door open just…
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Monday of the 27th Week of Ordinary Time: Go and do likewise
Today’s readings “Go and do likewise.” What a wonderful instruction for Jesus to give us this morning. “Go and do likewise.” Jesus is telling us that those who hear the Gospel must also live it, or it is useless. Those who do not go out and do likewise are like the foolish Galatians in today’s…
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27th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Doing what we were created for
Today’s readings Those of you who heard my homily last week know that I gave a reflection on one of the foundational spiritual principles, namely, “it’s not about us.” Today’s readings make it possible for us to reflect on a foundational principle of moral theology, namely, we must always do what we were created for.…
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Friday of the 26th Week of Ordinary Time: Who are we to answer God?
Today’s readings [Mass for the school children.] Our first reading today sounds almost like God could be asking us all the same questions. He asked Job these things to help Job understand that God knows things that Job will never come to understand. We’re like that too. How many of us have ever told the…
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Thursday of the 26th Week of Ordinary Time: I know that my Vindicator lives!
Today’s readings This is the first opportunity I’ve had to preach on the ongoing reading of the book of Job this week. I have to admit that the book of Job disturbs me all the time, just because of the seeming unfairness of it. The whole idea of Job being a pawn in the ongoing…
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The Guardian Angels
Today’s feast | Readings: Exodus 23:20-23, Matthew 18:1-5, 10 I love the feast of the Guardian Angels, because my Guardian Angel was probably the first devotion that I learned. I remember my mother teaching me the prayer. Say it with me if you know it: Angel of God, my guardian dear, To whom God’s love…
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26th Sunday of Ordinary Time: It’s not about me.
Today’s readings Today we should spend some time reflecting on one of the essential truths of our faith, and that is: It’s not about me. In fact, I hope you will memorize those four words and find yourself repeating them all through the coming week. If we are ever to get anything out of our…
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