Category: HOMILIES

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HOMILIES

THE PROBLEM WITH TRUTH (AND MY PROBLEM WITH THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS)

This reflection is based on John 13:31-35 for the Fifth Easter of Sunday.

I begin with a confession: I had to read today’s Sunday Gospel several times before I managed to get into it. Don’t get me wrong. I do not disagree with the words of our Lord. On the contrary, these are, in fact, some of his most important–and at the time, revolutionary–teachings.

farewell discourse

Just listen:

“I give you a new commandment: love one another.
As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.
This is how all will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.”

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HOMILIES

EASTER ALLERGY TEST

This reflection is based on John 20:19-31.

In our Lord’s resurrection appearances, all his closest friends and followers seem to have a hard time recognizing him. Either his risen body looks different or the eyes of his disciples have been at least initially veiled.

jesus

Mary Magdalene mistakes him for a gardener whom she suspects of spiriting her Master’s body away from its tomb–that is, until he calls her by name in a tone that has always belonged only to him.

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HOMILIES

LISTEN TO THE STONES

This Palm Sunday homily is based on Luke 19:28-40.

rocks

The liturgy of Palm Sunday is marked by the jubilant waving of palm leaves and the somber reading of the Passion narrative.

Talk about contrasts!

To the cheers of the crowd, our Lord enters the city of Jerusalem, riding a humble donkey. He does that not only to fulfill Scripture, but also to demonstrate the kind of kingdom he is inaugurating. In just a few days, Jesus will be exiting the same gate with the same crowd singing to a different tune: A total failure by every appearance, Jesus marches to a brutal death reserved for the worst criminals of the Roman Empire.

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HOMILIES

A THEORY OF DIVINE MERCY

woman-in-red_1408671_inlThis homily, delivered at St. Agnes Catholic Church, is based on John 8:1-11.

Today we are presented with what I consider one of the defining moments in the public ministry of our Lord. A woman caught in the act of adultery is dragged into the temple square to stand in shame and in full view of a blood-thirsty mob. She stands alone because her presumably equally culpable accomplice is conspicuously missing.

It’s a disturbingly familiar scene: To this day, such tragic injustice continues to be inflicted on women in different parts of the world. Unfortunately, while it takes two to tango, it only takes one when you want to condemn the dance–and it’s usually not the man you haul to the public stoning.

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HOMILIES

MY PROBLEM WITH THIS PARABLE

Rembrandt's The Prodigal Son
Rembrandt’s The Prodigal Son

This homily is based on Luke 15:1-32.

Our Gospel reading today features what is arguably the best-known and best-loved of our Lord’s parables, The Parable of the Lost Son–more commonly known as the Prodigal Son.

We know the story: A wayward son prematurely asks his father for his share of the inheritance and spends it all in loose living. He predictably finds himself destitute and miserable, and just as predictably decides to go home in remorse. What is most unpredictable is that this good-for-nothing son is, much to his own surprise, greeted by his father’s embrace and is welcomed with a lavish homecoming party, complete with a roasted fattened calf.

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