This homily is based on Matthew 20:1-16.
Many years ago I was a student in a class called “Homiletics.” Maybe you can’t tell, but people training to be priests take a class to learn how to preach.
This homily is based on Matthew 18:21-35.
Today’s Sunday Gospel is about forgiveness: Peter, on the one hand, monitoring his quota on forgiveness, and our Lord, on the other, tossing all that accounting out the window by reminding us that by the way, we all of us are recipients of the Father’s boundless mercy, remember?
Forgiveness is a funny thing. When we’re the offended party, we know it’s not an easy thing, especially when we have been hurt deeply by the very people that we’ve cared deeply for. Forgiveness sometimes requires not just a lot of strength and love, but also a lot of pain. That is why when we are the ones asking for forgiveness, we must never take it for granted.
This homily is based on Matthew 18:15-20.
A controversial short film by Mexican director, Alonso Álvarez Barreda, won the 2008 Cannes Film Festival’s online short film competition. Approximately five minutes long, the short film, “Historia de un Letrero” (or “Story of a Sign”), tells the story of a blind beggar sitting in a park with a sign that says, “Have pity! I’m a blind man.”
This homily is based on Matthew 16:21-27.
A few years ago, I watched a film called “The Exorcism of Emily Rose.” I expected a full-blown horror movie in the tradition of other Exorcist movies, complete with all the scary special effects like 360-degree head turns, shaking beds, and lots of vomiting. Instead, to my disappointment, with the exception of a few scenes, the movie wasn’t all that scary. It wasn’t even really a horror movie, strictly speaking, since the scary parts were relegated to flashback scenes. To my surprise—but pleasant surprise—the film turned out to be a religious movie in disguise; in fact, it turned out to be a deeply moving and spiritual experience.
This reflection is based on Matthew 16:13-20.
In our Gospel reading, our Lord conducts an informal two-item survey of sorts among his disciples. The survey has two similar-sounding but significantly different questions.
The first question is: “Who do people say that I am?” And the second: “Who do you say that I am?”
While the first question immediately elicits responses, the second one leaves the disciples stumped and speechless–until Simon Peter, as usual, blurts out his answer.