Father, the strength of all who trust in you, you made John Chrysostom renowned for his eloquence and heroic in his sufferings. May we learn from his teaching and gain courage from his patient endurance. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Preaching
Homilies for the 2005-2006 liturgical year
- 2nd Sunday in Advent 2005 (Year B) — Would you press the button?
Outline of themes: To be added. - Friday of the second week in Advent 2005 (Year B) — Preparing to vote with our principles
Outline of themes: To be added. - 4th Sunday in Advent 2005 (Year B) — Why do Catholics venerate Mary so much?
Outline of themes: To be added. - Feast of the Holy Family 2005 (Year B) — The Meaning of Faith
Outline of themes: To be added. - World Day of Prayer for Peace (Year B) — Building the civilization of love
Outline of themes: To be added. - January 6, 2006 (Year B) — Why the Church has sacraments, and how they work
Outline of themes: To be added. - Epiphany 2006 (Year B) — Learning about, and from, the "wise men from the East"
Outline of themes: To be added. - 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time — Jesus' first homily and the meaning of his ministry
- 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time — Explaining the Anointing of the Sick (poor sound quality)
- Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time — Faith understood as solidarity
- Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time 2006 (Year B) — The greatest healing miracle of all
Outline of themes: To be added. - Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time 2006 (Year B) — The analogy of the passport
Outline of themes: To be added. - Friday after Ash Wednesday — What are you giving up for Lent?
- Friday of the first week of Lent — The meaning of law & righteousness
- Second Sunday of Lent — The analogy of the work utility light
- Palm Sunday — If the Gospel was his platorm, would Jesus win an election?
Homilies for the 2004-2005 liturgical year
- 1st Sunday in Advent 2004 (Year A) — Laying Aside the Works of Darkness
Outline of themes: To be added. - 2nd Sunday in Advent 2004 (Year A) — The Baptism of Repentence
Outline of themes: To be added. - 3rd Sunday in Advent 2004 (Year A) — Equal and Responsible before the Lord
Outline of themes: To be added. - Epiphany 2005 (Year A) — Where was God in the Asian tsunami disaster?
Outline of themes: To be added. - Baptism of the Lord 2005 (Year A) — Living out the potential of our baptism
Outline of themes: To be added. - 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2005 (Year A) — Stop living in a dreamworld!
Outline of themes: To be added. - 4th Sunday in Lent, 2005 (Year A) — Hardness of heart disease
Outline of themes: To be added. Sorry for the poor sound quality! - 5th Sunday in Easter, 2005 (Year A) — Communion as the sign of the Way, the Truth, and the Life
Outline of themes: This is the original version which I addressed to the First Communion children. - 5th Sunday in Easter, 2005 (Year A) — Communion as the sign of the Way, the Truth, and the Life — Reveal themes:
This is the version I addressed to the adults at a later mass after the First Communion celebrations that weekend. - Thursday of the 9th week of Ordinary Time, 2005 (Year A) — Commentary on the greatest commandments — Reveal themes:
Following the Law was central to the life of the people of the Old Testament. searching the Scriptures, they found 613 laws. A hierarchy was creating in those laws, seeking to follow the best law for the particular situation. The scribes undertook this function, and themselves pondered the Law. The scribe in this story asks Jesus which law is the greatest, and is told he is not far from the Kingdom of God. The act of faith is superior to acts of sacrifice, and is the standard of judgement for the Kingdom. The scribe has discovered, within the Law, the seeds of universal salvation. - 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2005 (Year A) — No to corruption, yes to discipleship
Outline of themes: To be added. - Wednesday of the 10th week in Ordinary Time, 2005 (Year A) — Letting Jesus drive
Outline of themes: To be added. - Wednesday of the 11th week in Ordinary Time, 2005 (Year A) — Where is our treasure?
Outline of themes: To be added. - 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2005 (Year A) — Homily series on the Nicene Creed (part 1 of 5)
Outline of themes: To be added. - Thursday of the 12th week in Ordinary Time, 2005 (Year A) — The spirituality of patience
Outline of themes: To be added. - 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2005 (Year A) — Homily series on the Nicene Creed (part 2 of 5)
Outline of themes: To be added. - Tuesday of the 13th week in Ordinary Time, 2005 (Year A) — Sodom and Gomorrah, then and now
Outline of themes: To be added. - 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2005 (Year A) — Homily series on the Nicene Creed (part 3 of 5) — Reveal themes:
This passage of the creed is at the heart of our faith. A recap of the previous homilies in the series. Why Jesus chose to become incarnate, and why he chose to live his Passion and Resurrection. Evil has entered the world through sin, and God seeks to "fix" the creation he made to be good. The Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension is the definitive answer to this question. The Cross gives us access to our salvation — but how? He "died for our sins". Explaining the "grace of conviction", illustrated by a true story of sin, conviction, and redemption. This story patterns the experience of Jesus on the cross. Jesus took our sins upon himself. The physical torment he suffered reflected the spiritual reality of sins. He death and resurrection shows that there is no sin that is unforgivable, proven in his words from the cross. In baptism and confession we are actually seeking Jesus, looking for love and forgiveness. When Jesus comes again it will be as judge, but the delay is because the grace of conviction is still active in the world. Sadly, the world seeks to empty the Cross of its power by denying the reality of sin. This leads to individuals and a society that tries to live without God, but the judgement seat of Christ reminds us of the seriousness of sin. If we are living the grace of conviction, let us now make a new start. - Wednesday of the 14th week in Ordinary Time, 2005 (Year A) — Feast of St. Maria Goretti — Reveal themes:
St. Maria Goretti is a recent addition to the list of saints, and was once wildly popular. In 1902, when she was 12, she was killed after rebuffing sexual advances, forgiving her attacker from her deathbed. A wave of support then arose spontaneously for her canonization. She was a model for the power of heavenly intercession, for standing up for what is right, and for purity. Devotion to her has decreased in recent years, however, in parallel with an increasing social awareness of the sexual assault of women. The martyrdom of Saint Maria Goretti is a lesson in the nature of sin, and in the Christian call to resist evil. Martyrs are the proof that we must never cooperate with grave moral evil. An explanation of mortal and venial sin. The place of consent in moral decision-making. St. Maria Goretti is a martyr for the special grace to resist evil in all its forms, and we must pray for this special grace. She gives us the example of resisting any compromise with sin, particularly the sin of breaking sins down into component parts so small that the idea of sin seems to disappear. Out of love for God, we must refuse to consent to any evil, even if God won't hold the sin against us for all eternity. We must pray for her intercession more, not less. - Thursday of the 14th week in Ordinary Time, 2005 (Year A) — God draws straight with crooked lines — Reveal themes:
God draws straight with crooked lines, i.e he hates evil, but he can draw good out of it. The story of Joseph is an example of this principle. Most of us, when bad things happen to us, do not spontaneously trust in this: we pray for suffering to go away, and we wonder if God has abandoned us when it does not. Do we trust that God can turn evil around for the sake of his glory? Joseph has complete trust in God's providence. God does not let evil have the last laugh, and his glory always triumphs. In our advanced society, we have built a cocoon of comfort around us, such that we are even more offended when even relatively minor discomforts come. God wants to let his glory shine in the darkness, including through us. - Friday of the 14th week in Ordinary Time, 2005 (Year A) — The meaning of being part of the family of God — Reveal themes:
Jacob and Israel are the same person. Jacob received the name Israel from God when he "wrestled with God" one evening. In the Bible, the name of a nation is often same as the name of the original ancestor of that nation. Where did Israel the person become Israel the nation? In Egypt! This increase in numbers in Egypt sets the stage for the giving of the Law through Moses, which finally transforms them into a nation. This in turn sets the stage for the rest of salvation history. We as Christians are called to build community, and to get back to the root element of our baptism: being brothers and sisters in God's family. We are also called to adopt the Law of God into our lives, being united together through this Law. If persecutions come, we need to recognize that we are in exile in this world, resisting the temptation to be absorbed into the Egypt around us. Finally, we need to wait in joyful hope for God's salvation to come and draw us "out of Egypt". We need to remember that we, as Christians, are members of the family of God. - 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2005 (Year A) — Homily series on the Nicene Creed (part 4 of 5) — Reveal themes:
To be added. - Wednesday of the 15th week in Ordinary Time, 2005 (Year A) — The Pope vs. Harry Potter — Reveal themes:
The Pope doesn't like Harry Potter? This "controversy" provides a good teaching opportunity. How are we to understand the private opinions of public Church figures? Key principle: The Papacy is not retroactive! Until Cardinal Ratzinger was elected Pope, he wasn't the Pope. There are degrees of solemnity to Church teaching, depending in part on who is doing the teaching, and depending on whether such an individual is offering these teachings as a private opinion or not. The Harry Potter correspondence should be read with respect for the intelligence of the author of the private opinions expressed, but also recognizing that these ideas are not binding on the Church. Other historical examples where private opinion did not become public teaching: Pope Vigilius and the Monophysites, and Pope John XXII and the Beatific Vision. There is a distinction between the man and the office, a distinction the Popes themselves recognize. So perhaps this controversy is a chance to become better informed. - Friday of the 15th week in Ordinary Time, 2005 (Year A) — The Passover as a foreshadowing of the Mass — Reveal themes:
The story of the Passover describes elements that help explain the Catholic Mass. Jesus used the Passover meal to found this new meal where he himself is the Lamb. Just as the Passover instructions included joining households together, we join our households together when we come together in church for Mass. The breaking of the host is our symbolic "dividing of the Lamb" so that we might all eat of it. Regarding the blood of the lamb, for the first Passover it was a visible sign of solidarity with God. The Lord wants to see who is on his side when he executes his judgement against evil. We live in a modern-day Egypt, and the Lord wants to see the blood of the Lamb for us. Our lips are the doorposts of our hearts, so when the Blood of Christ touches them it is a request for God to "pass over" us. The Mass starts with the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, a sacrifice he associates with the elements of bread and wine: when we come to Mass we truly are standing before the sacrifice Lamb, asking the Lord to save us from our own modern-day Egypt. - 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2005 (Year A) — Homily series on the Nicene Creed (part 5 of 5) — Reveal themes:
We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
This topic is a continuation of the theme of the 4th part in the series, i.e. the presence of the Holy Spirit. This week concerns what happens when we take a number of individuals who possess the Holy Spirit, and we put them together. A "church" is an "assembly" united for a common purpose: the service and worship of God. Because each member of the Church is a temple of the Holy Spirit, the whole group is also a Temple. This community is different from other groups because of the presence of the Holy Spirit, seen in the "marks" of "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic". The parable of the two islands: the Heavenly island, with people who possess the Holy Spirit, and the Hellish island, where they do not. How the "marks" of the Church are lived on the Heavenly island. The problems of the Hellish island that come from not having these "marks" from the Holy Spirit. Each Christian denomination needs to measure itself as a church according to the 4 marks.
The Catholic Church believes that part of its mission is to promote these 4 marks in the Christian world. A review of how we see these marks in the Catholic Church itself. For those of us who have the honour of possessing the title "Catholic", we must be intentional about it: it carries with it the responsibility of carrying these 4 "marks" into the world.
All this raises two questions: (1) What about everybody else? (2) What about "bad" Catholics? St. Augustine's maxim: "There are those who appear to be part of the Church, but are not, and there are those who don't appear to be part of the Church, but are". This is the difference between formal and material membership in the Church. What each of these mean, and why it is important to have both. (In particular, we must resist the temptation to settle for mere material membership in the Church.) Two points in our life when we are guaranteed to have both: (1) at baptism; (2) at our entry into Heaven. For those who are not yet formally part of the Catholic Church, you are invited to invite to join this "assembly of God". For those who are already formally part of the Catholic Church, we need to live in unity with the Church so it isn't just a formality.
Because the family has the potential to be a "domestic church", the four marks can also be present in our families. As discussion of how the four marks can be found (or not) in our families.
But what about the times when we don't see these marks in the Church? The Church is not a hotel for saints, but a hospital for sinners: we should not be surprised to find sick people there! The Church needs to be judged based on whether it has the means to make people better, and it does. Our Creed is a declaration of willingness and eagerness to spread the Good News of new life for the world. - Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, 2005 (Year A) — The Da Vinci Code and other gnutty gnostic gnonsense — Reveal themes:
Today is the feast of St. Mary Magdalene. Mary was the first one to encounter the Lord in his resurrection. Tradition sometimes called her "the apostle to the apostles" -- what this means. But we don't really know that much about her, so over time stories arose to fill in the blanks. Recent decades saw a decrease in popular interest in the story of Mary Magdalene, but this just meant we started to "fill in the blanks" in a different way. The book "DaVinci Code" and the film "Last Temptation of Christ" are examples of this contemporary re-reading of Mary Magdalene. Some of these ideas come from an early church movement called gnosticism, which even had its own gospel called the "Gospel of Thomas". The gnostics tried to portray a conflict between Peter and Mary Magdalene, requiring people to choose one side over the other. Today, people still want to challenge the "apostles" (i.e. the hierarchy), so they appeal to gnostic ideas. A reading of part of the Gospel of Thomas, so we can hear what it actually says. We mustn't fall into false dichotomies designed to create opposition between the saints, so as to introduce a foreign agenda: the early Church wasn't Peter versus Mary, but Peter with Mary. Accept no substitutes for the faith of the early Church! - Thursday of the 18th week in Ordinary Time, 2005 (Year A) — Trust in God, not in trinkets — Reveal themes:
Why was Moses do to deserve the punishment of not being allowed into the Promised Land? Consider the staff of Moses, and how it was used in his ministry. Rather than command the rock with his lips, Moses uses his staff. He trusts the staff, rather than the words: it is turning into some sort of magic item. There is always a risk of turning an object into a source of salvation, rather than trusting the Lord. It is easy to turn our religion into a religion of trinkets, rather than a religion of the Word, a religion of relationship with God. Moses trusted his staff, and failed the test God was putting him through. For something to be morally good it requires both a good action and a good intent. Challenge #1: We should not invest our hope in trinkets, rather than in a relationship with God. Challenge #2: We need to make sure the intentions of our hearts are aligned towards the good. Challenge #3: We must have the courage of speak about the Lord before others. As Christians, we are the Moses and Aaron of the world, called to a high standard of example for others. - Friday of the 18th week in Ordinary Time, 2005 (Year A) — Feast of Blessed Frederic Janssoone — Reveal themes:
Historical rays of hope for peace in the Middle East, especially the saint of this day: Blessed Frederic Janssoone. Blessed Frederic was blessed with many skills, especially as a diplomat. As a Franciscan, he followed the historical example St. Francis and preached in the Middle East during the 19th century. While there, he reestablished the public walking of the stations of the cross in Jerusalem. He also negotiated inter-church agreements regarding who controls the holy sites of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. He gives us the example of the importance of holiness for the sake of establishing peace. - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) — Dealing with spiritual noise pollution
- 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) — That's not fair! Or is it?
- Friday of the 25th week in Ordinary Time (Year A) — What about all the Church's gold and silver?
- 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) — Sacrificial love as the highest love
- Friday of the 26th week in Ordinary Time (Year A) — Feast of St. Jerome
- 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) — The challenge of the heavenly wedding banquet
- Friday of the 28th week in Ordinary Time (Year A) — We need both works *and* faith
- Friday of the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) — The Drama of Concupiscence
- 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) — Re-examining the two great commandments of Love
- Friday of the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) — Background on the Liturgy of the Hours
- Friday of the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) — Proclaiming the identity of Jesus as Christ
- 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) — What should our attitude be in the face of death?
- Friday of the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) — If there really is only one God, why are there so many religions?
- The themes of Maccabees and the pattern of Christian belief
- The terms of the Final Judgement
- Understanding the signs of His coming
2003-2004 liturgical year archive
- 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2004 (Year C) — Our relationship with money — Reveal themes:
"Money isn't everything." "You can't take it with you." What you do with money now will affect what money will do to you later. Greed is idolatry: an idol distracts our hopes and imagination and emotional energy. Example #1: Lottery tickets and gambling. Example #2: Last will and testament. Our culture socializes us to be greedy, but money can't buy everything. For love to be real, it must be a free gift, not something purchased. When money is an idol, it distracts our love and redirects it to lesser things. Greed is a hunger, but the more you feed it the hungrier you get. Solution #1: Stewardship, with a mentality that everything is a gift from God. Solution #2: Voluntary simplicity. - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2004 (Year C) — The fact and basis of judgement — Reveal themes:
Two major themes of readings: (1) the basis of judgement; (2) the fragility of life. The story of the first funeral mass I ever presided (the deceased was 33 years old, with no apparent cause of death). God desires our salvation, which is not earned, but is a free gift that comes through faith. The example of the Good Thief on the cross next to Jesus. Our life of discipleship and stewardship will also be part of our judgement. We have a responsibility to learn what discipleship entails (negligent ignorance is no excuse). Everything we have is a gift from God -- how are we putting these blessings at His service? - Solemnity of the Assumption, 2004 — The Assumption and the theology of the body
Outline of themes: A summary of the Dormition and Assumption of Mary, adapted from the apocryphal texts. The Assumption speaks to the meaning of having a body. The image and likeness of God is not just in our soul, but in our bodies also. The difference between angels and human beings. The body is sacred, even if the soul has left. We *are* our bodies, such that even the souls in heaven will only be truly perfect in the Resurrection. Our culture has a utilitarian view of the body, but for a Catholic the body has a special honour and glory, but also a special responsibility. The body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, which should affect how we treat the body. Examples: clothes, jewelry, hair dye, makeup, piercings, tatoos: what is ok in a healthy spirituality? General rule: avoid vanity, and if the change to the body does not attack the normal healthy functioning of the body, it's generally ok. Removal of diseased organs is ok. Donating blood or organs is ok, as long as it doesn't harm the overall health of the body and is for a serious reason. The questions of suicide, eating disorders, and sterilization. How we treat other people's bodies is part of how we treat God, because the body is part of the image of God in us. Physical and sexual abuse are therefore contrary to Catholic discipleship, even if the victim is unaware of the abuse or is willing to be mistreated. The question of abortion. Our human sexuality: the body is meant to be part of a "language of love" that we share with one another. There are many wonderful ways to show affection, but there are also deviations. A rule of thumb: we've stepped away from Catholic discipleship when the other person has become an object for our pleasure (even if they are willing). We must take responsibility to not treat others as objects, especially in the intimacy of our sexuality. We see the importance of the body in the corpus on the crucifix, and in the words "The Body of Christ". An offer to dialogue with the community. - 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2004 (Year C) — Looking at part of the mystery of suffering
Outline of themes: To be added. - 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2004 (Year C) — Slavery and the Christian response
Outline of themes: To be added. - 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2004 (Year C) — The meaning of repentence
Outline of themes: To be added. - Solemnity of the Dedication of the parish church, 2004
Outline of themes: To be added. - 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2004 (Year C) — Sunday Mass as our Thanksgiving
Outline of themes: To be added. - 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2004 (Year C) — Catholics and the Bible
Outline of themes: To be added. - 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2004 (Year C) — Awaiting the Second Coming
Outline of themes: To be added.
Other preaching moments
- Parish Mission: "Behold your Mother"
Outline of themes: To be added. - September 9th, 2005 — Special Eucharist with prayers for healing
Oldies but goodies (I hope!)
- 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2002 (Year A) — Biblical advice for picking (and being) the right life partner
- 3rd Sunday in Advent, 2002 (Year B) — Be true to God, be true to yourself
- Feast of the Holy Family, 2002 (Year B) — The Church is a family, the family is a church
- Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, 2003 (Year B) — The analogy of the power cords
- 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2003 (Year B) — Stewardship as Offertory
- 3rd Sunday in Lent, 2003 (Year B) — The Ten Commandments and the analogy of the microwave
- Lent 2003 Parish Retreat: Mary in the Upper Room
- Passion Sunday, 2003 (Year B) — Putting on the mind of Christ as we face our cross
- 3rd Sunday in Easter, 2003 (Year B) — Jesus' resurrection, and ours
- 5th Sunday in Easter, 2003 (Year B) — The comfort of the Holy Spirit (the analogy of the powers cords, continued)
- Feast of the Holy Family, 2003 (Year C) — God's spiritual DNA
- Feast of Corpus Christi, 2004 (Year C) — Body and Blood of Christ? What does *that* mean?