Fr. Brendan McGuire - Podcasts that Break open the Word of God
Fr. Brendan McGuire shares homilies and reflections that break open the Word of God and apply Scripture to daily life. He invites listeners to pause amid the busyness of modern life and pay attention to what the Lord is saying. The podcast encourages a deeper awareness of God's presence and the divine story unfolding in each person.
Episodes
Homily for the Twenty-Eight Sunday in Ordinary Time - Nobody Missed Them: Come to the Feast
I recently reread some statistics that I found rather shocking, but probably not terribly surprising. They were from the Pew Research and CARA studies on church attendance and church affiliation. They said that 25% of people who claim to be Catholic, come to church. That means that 75% do not come to church. Now, they are the ones who claim to be Catholic.Read More
Homily for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time - Whose Vineyard Is This? Stop Living Like You Own It
As many of you know, I just returned last weekend from a two week pilgrimage to Spain with parishioners. We walked in the footsteps of St. Ignatius, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. John of the Cross. We started out following St. John of the Cross in Segovia and Sevilla, beautiful cities, stunning, where John was buried, Segovia.Read More
Homily for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Why Do We Keep Score? God Gives Us a Full Cup
My mother used to have problems with some of my homilies, and she used to say so, "You are a bit light on judgment and a bit heavy on love." I would say, "God has more love than judgment." She would go, "Yeah." Then she would always end the argument, "Yeah, but that one who gets in at the end of time, who kind of just shows up with a conversion at the last moment
Homily for the Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Tear Out the Page: There Is No Ledger in Heaven
I remember 9-11, twenty-five years ago. I was in the rectory at St. Lawrence Parish, as that second plane crashed into the tower, and then watching the two towers burning. It is seared into my memory. Then the following hours of confusion and anger, and then eventually watching both buildings collapse. I remember every moment of it. It is as if it happened yesterday. I remember in particular the n
Homily for the Twenty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time - Stagnant Water, Stagnant Love: Keep It Flowing
When I was growing up in Ireland, you would turn on the tap and have water, just like you guys do, right? The difference is, in Ireland, there is no bill. Water is free. Never charged for it.Read More
Homily for the Twenty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time - Are You a Believer or a Follower? The Hard Truth
Human behavior scientists maintain that in order to change one’s behavior, the person who actually wants to change needs to desire to change. That sounds so obvious, right? If you want to change something, you have to actually want to change it.Read More
Homily for the Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time - Not What You Do But Who You Are
I had the wonderful opportunity to visit my close friend and mentor, Monsignor Lloyd Torgerson. Lloyd is a towering figure in the American church, especially in Los Angeles. He is eighty-six years old, still pastor,and he has been pastor over thirty years. He is still as sharp as a tack.He has this wonderful way. He is so hospitable. He is such a generous human being. He meets me, and it is always
Homily for the Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time - The Yellow Door and the God of Surprises
This last week we had a great opportunity as a parish and school staff to go away on a day of retreat. It was wonderful just to be away and to spend a day in prayer,holding up the whole year ahead. I introduced the theme for the year: Flourish: Cultivating Dignity Through Presence.Read More
Homily for the Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time - God’s Primary Language Is Silence
I just got back from vacation. I had been in Florence for a conference on artificial intelligence for the first nine days, where I gave four presentations over those days. Then I had the great opportunity to go to Sicily and visit with a friend of mine, with another friend, and we spent two weeks there. It was great to catch up and see my friends, but I must confess, one of the struggles with vac
Homily for the Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time - What Mothers Know That the Rest of Us Forget
Last year, when we were on pilgrimage to Turkey and Greece, in the footsteps of St. Paul, we had nearly 50 parishioners. When you have a group of people like that, something always goes wrong! So the first day, somebody cut their foot on something as we were walking somewhere. I turned around and I asked, “Rachel, we need a large bandage.” Rachel opens up her bag and out comes this huge
Homily for the 17th Sunday or Ordinary Time - What Is My Purpose Now? The Pearl of Great Price
During the year, at our Men’s Group, we have been reading a book called “The Power of Purpose” by Richard Leider, and in it he tries to articulate what it is that gives us meaning and purpose in our life. In this book in particular, he says that once we find this purpose, in relation to the world’s needs, and that it is a dynamic process. I think that insight is very powerful. It is a pro
Homily for the Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time - The Reckless Sower: A Love That Will Not Stop
I bring you this homily today from Florence, Italy. I am here with a group of Jesuits from throughout the whole world, those working in formation, bringing them all together to learn a little bit more about artificial intelligence and how to integrate that into their ministry.Read More
Homily for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Turn the Lens of Life to Clarity
One of the great gifts that we have as priests is that we are invited to journey with people in some of the most tender and vulnerable moments of their life. In particular, when people get sick, and when they get terminally sick, they invite us into that very vulnerable part of their life, and they share the most powerful insights and the most tender moments ever shared.
Homily for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Do Not Be Afraid: A Father's Faith in Hard Times
Many of you know how much my own father was a hero in my life. He always seemed to have the right thing to say at the right moment. He just seemed to have that wisdom to always guide in the midst of darkness.Read more...
Homily for the Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time - Do Your Portion of the Wall
Our conversation led to talking not so much about artificial intelligence, as what this means for humanity. What does it mean for humans to flourish? What does that conversation look like? It really was a mirroring of the document that Pope Leo announced. (Read more...)
Homily for The Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ - Gnaw on My Flesh: The Presence We Cannot Outsource
What does it mean for us as human beings to flourish? What does it mean to have dignity as a human person? And what is the common good for all people? He goes through a whole hundred and thirty-five years of the Church’s social teaching to refocus our energies on that message.Read More
Homily for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity - Right Relationship: With God, Each Other, and AI
This past week, as I said at the beginning of Mass, has been quite a week for me. It was extraordinary. I had the opportunity to sit in the Synod Hall as the Holy Father gave his new encyclical, Magnificat Humanitas, to the world. I am still unpacking the magnitude of the event in my life, but there are some things that really stood out for me. Read More
Homliy for Pentecost Sunday - Holy Spirit Goose 2026
In our Catholic church, we typically think of the Holy Spirit in rather tame terms. We think of the Holy Spirit as a nice peaceful dove coming, fluttering into our lives, or tongues of fire settling down on our head. But in Celtic spirituality, it is very different. In Celtic spirituality, it is a wild goose, honking and wild, untamed, fierce and furious, but free.(Read more...)
Homily for Ascension Sunday - The Fierce Urgency of Now: A Message for 2026
Almost 60 years ago, on April 4th, 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King walked into Riverside Church in New York City and gave a speech co-written by Dr. Vince Harding, his peer in ministry. For over a decade, he had been the voice of civil rights throughout the land and had great success.But on this occasion, he expanded his ministry to speak for justice throughout the world. He spoke about fighting for
Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Easter - Why Are We So Afraid? The Spirit Is With You
We need to recognize that the Holy Spirit is a gift, and like all gifts, it has to be received. It has to be opened. It has to be unleashed. As Catholics, we have some work to do with the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are maybe a tad shy in accepting the Holy Spirit as one of the persons of the Holy Trinity.Read MoreA Blessing for All Who Are MothersBy Fr. Brendan McGuireTo you who have carried life
Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter - The Way, The Truth and The Life
A few weeks ago, I was scrolling through my phone and stopped at three news clips back-to-back. Three different people, all speaking with total confidence, all claiming to tell the truth, and all saying things that flatly contradicted what the next person had just said.Read more...
Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter - Do We Hear His Voice? Listening for the Good Shepherd
“Do you always listen?” “Oh, listening is a bit of a problem,” they admitted. We hear the voice, but we do not always listen. Why? Because we get distracted. There are lots of things we are doing, and we want to do what we want to do,and maybe not obey. That is the exact same challenge with God.
Homily for the Third Sunday of Easter - Walking With Those Who Walk Away
I know that many of you, over the years, have told me how sad you are that your children and grandchildren do not come to church. It is hard, because you wonder what you have done that has led them away, or not to stay. It is hard, because you struggle. You want them to have what you have. But I want to say to you: you have not failed. You have been faithful.(Read more...)
Homily for the Second Sunday of Easter - Cool the Ego, Gentle the Soul
This last week I read an article about a tribe called the San tribe in southern Africa. They are believed to be the oldest continuous culture of human beings in the history of humanity, some 40,000 to 50,000 years old as a tribe. What is fascinating about this tribe is that it has no kings, no armies, no crowns, not even an official leadership in any way.(Read more...)
Homily for the Resurrection of the Lord - Slow Down and Let Easter Change You
I was talking with a colleague this week, and she said, “God, where has the year gone? It is Easter already, has Lent already passed?” I said, yeah, it has. I sympathize. Lent seemed to go faster than any forty days recently. We never seem to ever get a chance to slow down.Read More
Homily for Good Friday of the Lord's Passion - The Key You Already Hold
They had carried a grudge so long that they had forgotten. It had become like furniture in their house. It was just part of their lives. One leaned into the other and said, "You know, I am sorry. I was wrong." And the other calmly said, "Yeah, I know. And so was I." What struck me was not the precision of the words. It was what happened afterwards. The light in their faces. The
Homily for Holy Thursday Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper - The Power of Simply Showing Up for Someone in Pain
One of the great gifts we have as priests is to visit people in their homes and in their areas of vulnerability, in their hospital beds, in their convalescent homes. And when we get there, yes, we bring oils, often bring communion, and we bring prayers. But what we receive is often something quite spectacular. We see relatives, loved ones, not doing anything spectacular or heroic, but they are pr
Homily for Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion - The Meaning That Carries Us Through Suffering
And in this worst place of human suffering, he came to a profound realization. Who was it among them that survived? It was not the strongest. It was not the smartest. It was the one who had meaning in their life. And the meaning had to be greater than the suffering.Read More
Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Lent - Stop Keeping People in Their Tombs: Let them Go
I have a friend taking one of those GLP-1 drugs for the last year, and he just looks fantastic. He has shed pounds he has carried for 10, 20, 30 years. He is now walking, running, he has started to do weights. It has transformed his life completely.
Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Lent - Why Your Brain Judges People Before You Think
Whether it is because we know what young people are like, or what old people are like, or because of the color of their skin, or their accent, or their community. LGBTQ, married, divorced, immigrant, you name the list. We put people into categories, and we prejudge them. Now, in one sense, we are not bad people. We are just a little blind when we do that. We do not do it intentionally, but our br
Homily for the Third Sunday of Lent, First Scrutiny - Why Are We So Lonely? The answer is at the Well
We are the only human species that has survived hundreds of thousands of years.There were many human species, but only we remain. The reason, according to him, is not muscle strength, not our tools, and not even our brains, but because of our ability to tell a story. Storytelling. It is literally wired inside of us. It is what enables us as human beings to gather…
Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent - Collect the Right Memories
See, it is our choice. And when we choose to remember the hurts, the slights, we choose what will damage us and damage the relationships. It does not change that they said something silly or something hurtful. Why has that happened? Because they did say something hurtful. But instead of letting it go, we hold on to it and we dredge up that memory and shine it like gold, like some treasure. What a
Homily for the First Sunday of Lent - Three Lies the World Tells Us About Our Identity
If you think about an ordinary social interaction, that you might have at a party or some sort of scene, where you are meeting people for the first time. What is typically the first question after you have greeted? What do you do? And I am always reluctant to answer because they are so disappointed! They are like, "Oh, okay," and then the conversation comes to an end. (Read more…)Here is
Homily for the Renewal of Marriage Vows - February 14, 2026
What amazed me about Cirque du Soleil was how they threw each other with such grace, they seemed to swoop in and pick them up each time, at the right place and the right time. It was just magnificent. Now, if you know anything about human dynamics, a lot of strength is required to throw somebody and catch somebody of your own weight or anybody’s weight. And it requires the ability to adjust. (Read
Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time - Swimming in Love and Not knowing It
There is a great story told of a little fish in the ocean swimming around trying to figure out where the ocean is. He comes up to this older, wiser fish and says, “Where is the ocean?” The old fish says to him, “You are swimming in it.” The little fish is confused. He says, “But that is just water,” (Read more…)Here is my homily for the Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time. I hope you can enjoy it.
Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time - You Already have What it Takes to Change the World
When I was growing up in Ireland, my father had an expression, just one simple phrase that summed up a person, and it was a compliment. He would see somebody that he thought well of, somebody that he thought was authentic. He would say, "Ah, that man is a salt of the earth man." It was a definitive statement. (Read more…)Here is my homily for the Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time. I hope you
Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time - Why Humility is the Secret to Real Happiness
The foundational component, what they called a pillar of humility. To be humble before God and know that they are a child of God. Happiness comes from that. We are no better than anybody else. No one else is any better than us. And because of that foundational principle, everything else is built and flows from there. (Read more…)Here is my homily for the Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time. I hope you
Homily for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time - How to be a Peacemaker in a Divided World
And there, in that unlikely place, Jesus finds his first followers. He walks along the Sea of Galilee and sees two brothers, Simon and Andrew, casting their nets. He says to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." At once, they left their nets and followed him. Then he sees James and John with their father Zebedee. He calls them. (Read more…)Immediately they left their
Homily for the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time - We Are a Religion of History
Most myths follow the same general pattern. The arc of the story is that you have a hero who goes on a quest, then in that adventure overcomes great adversity, whether personal or something that happens in their life.Then in overcoming it, they gain profound wisdom. But that is not where the story ends. Because the real power of the myth is that they bring this newfound wisdom back to their tribe
Homily for the Baptism of the Lord - You Are My Beloved Son
I am not going to tell you to do not do all those New Year's resolutions. I am just going to say to do this one thing first. Remember that you are beloved. And sit with that for maybe just January. Not just today, but the whole month of January. Just put all the other ones on to February. You can pick those up then, and then you see if you need to do them. (Read more…)Here is my homily for th
Homily for the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord - I Spy with My Little Eye
We need to start with small things, but we need to have a vision of what we want. One of the things that human behavior scientists would tell us, the idea of setting goals is great, but it is actually useless when it comes to accomplishing anything. We all can give value to how many of our New Year's resolutions never get really even started, right? Because we have outsized our goals. That is
Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family - Make Room for Family
It is such a gift to be able to celebrate a meal around the table and just feel the love of family. And it is a gift, but it also requires some hard work, because you have to show up, right?And that is a challenge for all of us, because we get busy with our lives, especially when we move out of the house as children. When you return to the house, you have to show up more than just physically. You
Homily for the Nativity of the Lord during the Day - The Word was Made Flesh
The only meaning, the true logos, is God. The true logos is what we believe as Christians, the baby Jesus. He is the logos made flesh. That is what we celebrate, that that is the profound meaning. That is a foundation meaning for everything in our lives. God loves us so much that He did not just send a messenger, He sent His very self, His Son. (Read more…) Here is my homily from the Christmas Day
Homily for the Nativity of the Lord at Night - Make Room for Christ
What I would like you to do today and this week is make a little bit of room, take something away. Because like the branches in that story, we had to clear some of the branches and the grass away. We had to take something out. Can we have just a few minutes less television? A few minutes less playing on the computer so that we leave room for Christ. (Read more...)
Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent - Courage to Listen and Obey
The challenge for us as modern-day people, is that we have so much coming at us, so many voices. We have a cacophony of voices and messages. We do not know where or how to listen, and we certainly do not expect to listen to God. We do not ave that same sense that God is speaking to us in those direct ways. We have podcasts, we have videos, we have endless amount of internet voices, and that is not
Homily for the Third Sunday of Advent - Rejoicing in the Midst of Doubt
Here is what is interesting, what I have learned since then and before, through other many situations. Doubt is not the opposite of faith. We often believe that doubt is the opposite of faith. But it is a part of faith. Doubt is not the opposite of or the enemy of joy. It is part of it. Doubt is part of the process of faith development. (Read more…)Here is my homily from the Third Sunday of Advent
Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent - Turn Around
The prophets are the people who tell us what we need to hear even if we do not like it. Isaiah today which we hear in the first reading and John the Baptist, who we may as well call “John the Isaiah” because he comes on with just as strong a language. They see where we ought to be or could be but we are not quite there yet. But they see it and they tell us, we have to turn around. They build a vis
Homily for the First Sunday of Advent - The Eye of the Storm
And now comes Advent. Now comes the busiest season of the year, when our regular business goes into high gear. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we add shopping, decorating, parties, concerts, and celebrations to our already overflowing calendars. It seems almost impossible to stay awake and attentive when we are running on empty, exhausted by hurry sickness. (Read more...)Here is my homily from
Homily for the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe - We Are Not Numbers
Today, we celebrate the Feast Day of Christ the King and the readings bring us back to the foot of the cross. It seems like an odd place to bring us back as we enter into the end of our liturgy year and now enter into to the Advent season as we prepare for Christmas. Yet, that is where it does brings us, to the foot of the cross. (Read more…)Here is the Homily from The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus
Homily for the Thirty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time - Death and Life Eternal
In the cultural view, time is a scarcity. It is an asset that is a diminishing, that we are going to lose some day. In this cultural view of time, time is running out. We have this sense of everything must produce something. A view of productivity. You are running out of time, so therefore you need to use your time well, and you need to stop wasting your time. (Read more…)Here is the Homily fro
Homily for the Feast of the Dedication of Lateran Basilica in Rome - Church as Restaurant
We have to be mindful of how we are serving others in our world today. Because we, you and I, are the church. Today we celebrate an unusual Feast day called the Dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome. We might say, "Why are we celebrating a dedication of a building?" It is a pretty significant building. First of all, it is the See of the Bishop of Rome, not St. Peter's. St.
Homily for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed - Cricle of Life
Every one of us will take that final journey home someday. But until then, we are called to live this circle of life well. We are called to live it fully, embracing every moment and savor every moment for what it is, whatever part of the journey or the stage of this circle we are on. To never to embrace the next too soon, nor to resist it too much. But to embrace it knowing that our final destiny,
70th Anniversary Celebration
Today we are honoring our 70 year history. This place was a orchard of apricots. And that is why we have honored it with the very apricots we have here as a reminder of our roots. The soil that produced so much fruit for so many years then became the soil for this parish. Now look at what we have done with the seeds of faith of 70 years of believing, 70 years of toil in the soil of this parish. (R
Homily for the Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time - Hidden Acts Define Us
When Pope Francis was first elected, you might remember, one of the very first interviews he ever conducted, was from an Italian journalist. The journalist asked, "Who is Cardinal Bergoglio? Who is Pope Francis?" The pope bowed his head and said, "I am a sinner." It was really humbling to hear the pope remind himself that he is a sinner. As he had been exalted to the highest of
Homily for the Twenty-Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time - Heal Us, Divine Physician
What is most important for today's celebration, is that Luke was a physician. Dr. Luke, as I always like to call him, had a particular view that is seen in his gospels and we see it even today. That view is an incredibly compassionate way to look at everyone he meets. His gospel and his second volume, the Acts of the Apostles, portray Jesus as the divine physician. (Read more…)Here is the Ho
Twenty-Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time - Awareness- Gratitude-Conversion
My friends, you see, we have to find a way to tune in to God's grace each day. Here is the thing to be very mindful of. Our senses are always at work, whether we am having a good day or a bad day. So we can be grateful to God for those no matter what is going on. (Read more…)
Homily for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time - Seeds of Faith
No matter what the secular society says, how wonderful everything is, it is so important that we take the seed of faith that we have been given and that we plant it deep within our soul. And we water it by our faithful attendance like you all are here today. That we keep showing up and that we need to trust, as the Lord reminds us, we need to trust that faith is going to produce much fruit. (Read
Homily for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time - Equal is God's Eyes
It is humbling to be reminded that we are trying to learn that we are all equal. That that we are all children of God, whether rich or poor, whether we are Catholic or not Catholic, whether we are straight or gay; nothing matters except we are his children. We are all, in the eyes. (Read more…)Here is my homily email from the Twenty-Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time. Please feel free to share this ema
Homily for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Good Stewardship
We have to be wise about what gifts that we have. It is not just about what how much money we have, although that is a gift for sure. But if we can realize that our time is our gift, that we all have only so much time. We are stewards of our our eighty five years that we might get, maybe if we are lucky 90. But for a lot of us, we do not even get that eighty five. (Read more…)Here is my homily ema
Homily for The Exaltation of the Cross - Divine Paradox
We do not need to be scarce about God's love to others. Why? Because there is an abundance. We have an ocean of God's love. And when we have this ocean of God's love, we are called to give it away to everyone. Not just our family and our friends, but indeed, maybe most especially, those who are not pleasant. (Read more…)Here is my homily email from the Exaltation of the Cross. Pleas
Homily for the Twenty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time - Identity First, Then Action
When I say yes to the Lord, I am be promising to become what I already am, the body of Christ. I am committing to “the way” again each and every week. And we see each other to recommmit that same thing again. It is not as much hard work as it is a decision. Once you have made that decision, then we live by that decision. Christ, is the way, the truth, and the life, and the final everything for us.
Homily for the Twenty-Seond Sunday of Ordinary Time - Being A Tool For God
We come to this table every week. We come humbly, every one of us equal at this table. Myself, you, all the same. Men and women, boys and girls, children of God, coming to the savior to see the same thing. To receive what we promised to become. The body of Christ. Humble servants. Humble tools in the hand of God. (Read more…)Here is my homily email from the Twenty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time. P
Homily for the Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time - The Narrow Gate
The exercise of free will comes with consequences. In other words, when we choose to do bad things and we harm ourselves, these are the consequences of free will. We do silly things, silly things happen, and we pay the price for it. But also on the other hand, when we choose to do good things, and not only good for ourselves, but good for everyone else, there also are good consequences. Positive c
Homily for the Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time - All In For The Lord
It is a sense of “all in” that Jesus is talking about in today's gospel. That he wants to set our hearts on fire. He wants us to set our hearts on fire about God and about his message of love for this world. And he says that I wish the whole earth was ablaze with a sense of passion that we could understand what he is trying to say. Now, Jesus is not Pollyanna. He knows that if you do become t
Homily for the Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time - Be Grateful. Be Generous. Be Joyful
We have an internal fairness scale that measures that. And it is true in in life too. That is why I suppose that we have higher standards for those who hold higher places in office. Especially the way we we regard our politicians, we have high expectations for them. Regardless of what party they are in, we have a certain sense of violation when they do not hold up their highest standards. We feel
Homily for The Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time - God Does Not Call the Qualified, He Qualifies the Called
We are all called to go, and we are sent not to be just disciples, but missionary disciples to go forth into the world to proclaim it through our words and actions. I sometimes fear that we are a little insecure, and we think that we need theology degrees or we need to be qualified as professionals. That that you need to be somehow more trained than others, but that is not the case. (Read more…)He
Homily for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul - Micro Conversions
Today is the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, two towering figures in the church. They literally laid down their lives in proclamation of the faith. But you know, Peter and Paul were not perfect people. We remember Peter's famous threefold denial. There he was, the closest of the apostles, and he himself denies Christ. And then Paul, who was once called Saul, was a persecutor of Christians. He
Homily for The Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ - We Become What We Receive
Today is the feast of Corpus Christi as we used to call it, the Body and Blood of Christ. It gives a particular reverence to what we do at this table and at the Eucharist, our primary purpose for gathering us in thanksgiving. I am grateful for all of you being here, but it is hard for me to know there are so many more who are at home choosing not to come, not to offer thanks to God. (Read more…)He
Homily for the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity - Sacred Symmetry of the Holy Spirit
The Trinity, this sacred symmetry, is all about the flow of love, love from the father to the Son and the Son to the Father. The love that flows between them is the Holy Spirit. It is a beautiful sort of understanding. It is about this sacred symmetry and the the rhythm of life. (Read more…)Here is my homily email from the Solemnity of the Most Holy trinity. Please feel free to share this email wi
Homily for Pentecost - Holy Spirit Goose
There is a certain freedom to how wild geese fly because of the unity that the goose brings to it. A goose never flies alone, they always fly in formation. And when geese fly, they fly in a “V” formation. Those who are at the front expend 70% more energy than the ones on the wings. They will readily get pretty tired, and then they move to the back of the V formation. Each one will take their role
Homily for the Feast of the Ascension - The Circles of Our Lives
In Celtic Christian spirituality, we believe, that when we are born, we become a traveler. We move from the invisible into the visible and then journey through this life. Then when we die, we complete the circle and move from the visible back to the invisible and our soul continues the journey. (Read more…)Here is my homily email from the Feast of the Ascension. At the vigil Mass, I had the honor
Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Easter - Let the Holy Spirit Come!
The challenge is that we often do not want to listen to the Holy Spirit. We want our own opinion, and we want to what we want to do. What makes us as a church and institution different is that we promise that we are going to listen to the Holy Spirit. But this institution is more than just an institution. This church we do, we live. It is we, the body of Christ. We, the people of God, are the chur
Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter - Neural Pathways of the Heart
Jesus is talking about how they will know us by who we are. They will know that you are followers if you love one another, or if you see this constant behavior in your life. They will recognize in your behavior that you are a follower and a believer in me. You see, it is not enough just to believe in Jesus Christ. We have to become followers of Jesus Christ, and that requires action, and those act
Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter - Learning to Listen to the Voice of God
We all just know our mother's voice. It is not that we are not unfamiliar with it. It is just that we may not always be paying attention to it. In the same way, we all know God's voice in our own life. We may just not be paying attention to it. We may not be hearing what we are called to hear. And here is the interesting thing, we can be busy about many good things in this world and stil
Homily for the Third Sunday of Easter - Signs on the Path of Life
The reality is in all of our lives, we sometimes wander from the trail of life, in this journey of life, we do miss a sign or two. We get thrown off, and we follow a path that takes us to a place where we may sometimes take us a little time to figure out that we were down the wrong path. But then all we have to do is work our way back to that sign, the sign that points to God's love, and that
Homily for the Second Sunday of Easter - Divine Mercy and kindness
No matter what, it is always better to be a person of the truth, and if you make mistakes, to tell the truth, to hold yourself accountable to that. It is not always easy to tell the truth or be a person of the truth because there is a certain amount of shame. But believe me, there is greater shame that comes from a lie when you do not tell the truth. (Read more…)Here is my homily email from the Se
Homily for the memorial of Pope Francis - Joy of the Gospel
Pope Francis called the whole church with that sense of calling us back to the roots of who we are. He kept on bringing us back to Jesus. He kept on calling us back to primarily God’s mercy, his love, and his joy. I always remember his first letter to us, the Gospel of Joy. He talked about how important it is to be men and women of joy. And he has lived that in his papacy over these long years. He
Gem of God's Grace - Holy Saturday At the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night of Easter
We are called to let the light of Christ shine not only on us and within us, but from us, so that others can see that they have the grace, the gem of grace within them. These luminous minerals that we have in rocks are like the luminous grace of God within us. We are called to shine the light of Christ on others. It is not enough that we just celebrate here together with all of us who believe, we
Homily for Good Friday of the Lord's Passion - Oil of Our Presence
To watch a hopeless death is one to be avoided at all costs. But Christianity has a response. It may not be the answer we want, but it does have a response. Let me offer it to you because it is about what happens today. This is the response: it says first of all that not only God recognizes the suffering and the pain, and he does not remain at a distance. He enters into the suffering and the pain.
Homily for Holy Thursday Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper - New Perspective: New Model to Follow
My friends, tonight is about service. Can we find a way to serve some other person in our community who feel completely left out? Some neighbor who feels estranged, maybe have lost a spouse, there is nowhere else to go. Can we love them where they are and get down low and serve them and realize that this is a new perspective for us. (Read more…)Here is my homily for Holy Thursday - Evening Mass of
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