Tagged: Gospel of Matthew

Living Lake or Stagnant Pond? Homily for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A

We are given very powerful readings today, powerful individually and powerful collectively. And at the heart of them all is a line by St. Paul in his letter to the Romans: “…be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” So today we’re given three challenges: transformation, renewal, and discernment. First Paul says, be transformed. This is what Jesus is trying to help Peter do in today’s Gospel. When Jesus explains what...

We Must Do Better! Homily for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A

It’s a sad fact of history that the largest religious community that ever lived together in the same place in the history of the Catholic Church was at the Dachau concentration camp in Germany during World War II. Over 2,500 Catholic priests became prisoners in Dachau, in Cellblock 26, known as the Priestblock. They were from 144 dioceses and 25 countries, and they made up about a third of Dachau’s total population. While they were there at Dachau, the priests ministered to the other prisoners the best they...

The Story of the Other Wise Man – Homily for the Epiphany of the Lord

The feast of the Epiphany commemorates the arrival of the magi, and their journey to find Christ can inspire us to reflect on our own journey to encounter Christ in our lives. Each of our journeys is unique, and no one finds Christ in the quite the same way as anyone else. The magi in the Gospel of Matthew found Jesus in their own way. The names and numbers of the magi are not given in Matthew’s gospel, but we think of them as a group of three,...

What More Were You Looking For? – Homily for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

A terrible storm came into a town and local officials sent out an emergency warning that the riverbanks would soon overflow and flood the nearby homes. They ordered everyone in the town to evacuate immediately. There was a certain man in the town who heard the warning, so he looked out his window at the gathering storm and saw his next-door neighbors parked outside in front of his yard. They were concerned about him and so they had come by his house and said to him, “We’re leaving and...

The Sending Forth – Homily for Trinity Sunday

I wonder if anyone here has ever felt under-appreciated, overlooked, or even forgotten. If so, then this homily is for you. Today we’re going to sing the praises of one of the most under-appreciated and over-looked parts of the Mass. Everyone always talks about how the scripture readings spoke to them, or how great the music is, or even sometimes how the homily touched them. But no one ever walks out of Mass saying, “Wow, that dismissal, it really hit me today.” The dismissal is often forgotten or...

The Crucifix on the Wall: Homily for the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. On the surface that seems so barbaric. And yet that law, known as the Law of Retaliation, was one of the most civilizing acts in human history. In the ancient world, before there were any laws, if a person was hurt or offended, then they would round up their clan and go after the person who caused the injury and their revenge would often be worse than the original crime, perhaps even leading to death. The Law...

Florelle as Fantine

Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along: Fantine

As we enter the eighth week of the Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along, we arrive at the 50th chapter of the book. From The Bishop of Digne to Jean Valjean, from Fantine to the Thénardiers, we have seen light and darkness, gardens and stars, shipwrecks and collapsed carts. And there is still so much more to come. The last few chapters have focused on the figure of Fantine and her sad fate, and in this 50th chapter Hugo summarizes her life: At the point we have now reached in this...

Treasure box of pearls

A Value Far Beyond Pearls – Homily for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

As the church year begins to wind down over the next two weeks, many of the the Scripture readings are about the end of time, when Jesus will come again. So today’s first reading may seem out of place. In the cycle of readings for Sunday, the first reading is paired with the gospel. But today’s reading from Proverbs about the worthy wife seems a bit disconnected from the gospel. Why are these two readings paired together today? Since the gospel seems to fit this time of year...

Catechetical Sunday 2017

An Echo Among the Noise – Homily for Catechetical Sunday

This weekend is catechetical Sunday, the weekend in which the Church asks us to call forth those who have been chosen to be catechists in our parish, to bless them and commission them for the upcoming year. These are the teachers at our parish school, All Saints; these are the parish staff and volunteers who work with the children and teens in the many youth faith formation ministries of the parish. They are more than teachers, they are catechists. What does that mean? They do teach, certainly. which...

Total Eclipse

An Eclipse in Our Time – Homily for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

After Mass this Sunday I’m going to drive south to the Camas Prairie in Idaho, where my wife Brenda is already visiting her mother. As any conscientious husband will tell you, you don’t need a reason to visit your mother-in-law, but this weekend we do in fact have a particular reason for visiting: we’re going to watch the eclipse. We want to go see the eclipse not only because it’s such an unusual natural phenomenon, but also because natural events like this can help us understand the supernatural...

Ending the Cycle of Hatred and Violence – Homily for the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

A few weeks ago we read how Jesus went up the mountain to teach his disciples. Just as Moses went up on Mount Sinai to receive the Law, Jesus, the new Moses, speaks his Sermon on the Mount to deepen our understanding of the Law. This week he is still on the mountain and his words are clear: “Offer no resistance to one who is evil.” “Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you.” The message is simple, the challenge is difficult: Jesus is telling us to...

Mark Link, SJ

One Heck of a Story – Homily for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A

There were many newsworthy events this past week and there are many more going on this weekend; but there’s one event that happened this past Wednesday that you probably didn’t hear about: one of the world’s best-selling authors passed away at the age of 92. They say that if a book sells more than 20,000 copies in a year, then it’s in the top one percent of all book sales. This author sold over 10 million copies of his books. And yet, despite being so successful, you probably...