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This homily is based on Mark 1:1-8.

First to appear on the Advent stage is the familiar but disturbing figure of John the Baptist, the so-called “forerunner and messenger of the Lord.”

We’ve met this guy before: We’ve read about the announcement of his birth before his cousin’s. Yes, that other Annunciation where things didn’t exactly go well: His father Zechariah understandably thought himself and his wife way beyond the age limit for biological parenthood, the angel uncharacteristically lost his cool, and poor Zechariah consequently went speechless for virtually nine months. His prophet son, of course, eventually more than made up for that long silence.

The guy couldn’t wait to play prophet. When Mary, pregnant with Jesus, visited the equally pregnant Elizabeth, the still-unnamed future Baptist leapt in his mother’s womb and even then, even without words, already proclaimed the coming of “him who is to come.”

This homily for the first Sunday of Advent is based on Isaiah 63:16ff, 1 Cor 1:3-9, and Mark 13:33-37.

Today is the First Sunday of Advent, and so we light the first of four candles in our Advent wreath.

Already?! Today we begin our countdown to what should be the strangest Christmas of our lifetime… It is for this reason–amidst the global pandemic–that Advent becomes even more significant.

After all, the season of Advent has always been quite underrated. What do you expect from something that comes right before Christmas–and naturally pales in comparison to it? Yet the Church in her centuries’ worth of wisdom has thought it important that before we rush and celebrate the birth of our Lord, it’s worthwhile to spend some time–in fact, four weeks–just to prepare for Christmas.

This homily for the Solemnity of Christ the King is based on Matthew 25:31-46.

One of my guilty pleasures these last eight months of the quarantine–also, a much-needed coping device–is treating myself to a show on Netflix at the end of the day (shout out and thanks to my friend who has generously shared the password!).

And last night I just watched the second to the last episode of Season 4 of The Crown.

This homily is based on Matthew 25:14-30.

Today’s Gospel reading is known as the “Parable of the Talents.”  According to its usual interpretation, its moral lesson is:  “Don’t just preserve your God-given talents.  Develop them!”  To that, we can even add that we should also share our talents with others, in contrast to “burying” them and keeping them to ourselves.  But what happens if we’ve been developing a talent, and then it turns out we don’t have that talent, after all?

The other evening, I joined a zoom meeting with some friends, and I can’t help connecting today’s parable to the experience of that reunion. During the zoom session I met friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen for a long time.  As we chatted with one another about our lives, we celebrated the successes accomplished and virtually patted one another on the shoulder for the setbacks encountered these past years.