The earth is the better part of 4.5 billion years older than humanity. It took just about that amount of time for her to get ready for us and to give birth to us. Since our bodies are made of various elements of the earth, no wonder we call...

These next four Sundays, we will hear from the very beautiful chapter 8 of St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Paul explains in the four excerpts we will hear four ways in which the Spirit of Jesus works in the world: first, in our bodies; second, in the “body” of...

Peter’s faith was not something he made up. It wasn’t from “flesh and blood”, either from himself or from any other human being. Instead, as Jesus tells him, it was a gift from the heavenly Father. And we can say more. The profession of faith in Jesus is not just...

Readings: Jeremiah 20:10-13; Psalm 68(69):8-10,14,17,33-35; Romans 5:12-15; Matthew 10:26-33 Jesus paints two very different pictures of God the Father in today’s Gospel, almost à la Jekyll and Hyde. First, he is the One we must fear because, unlike human beings, he can destroy both body and soul in hell. Then,...

Readings: Deuteronomy 8:2-3,14-16; Psalm 147:12-15,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17; John 6:51-58 Self-isolation, social distancing, lockdown: these have become household terms since mid-March. We know what they mean. We understand they’re necessary. But the human cost of them is very real. We’re not made to relate to one another only in voice...

Readings: Exodus 34:4-6,8-9; Daniel 3:52-56; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; John 3:16-18 When you first meet someone, you don’t ask them to explain themselves! You ask their name. So, I think we get off on the wrong foot with the Blessed Trinity if the first thing we ask for an explanation. The...

Readings: Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 103(104):1,24,29-31,34; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13; John 20:19-23 The Holy Spirit is the breath of God. When he comes on the apostles, the first thing he does is give them the breath to speak. But to speak words about the person, death and resurrection of Jesus, who is...

Readings: Acts 1:12-14; Psalm 26(27):1,4,7-8; 1 Peter 4:13-16; John 17:1-11 In today’s particularly sublime Gospel reading, we are listening to Jesus praying to the Father as if he were already in heaven. The text is taken from chapter 17 of St. John’s Gospel which is actually still part of the...

Readings: Acts 8:5-8,14-17; Psalm 65(66):1-7,16,20; 1 Peter 4:13-16; John 14:15-21 One of the awful things about our present predicament is that we miss being with people, especially with those we love. If you look at the cover of the hymn sheet today, which can be found on the parish website,...

Note: I prepared two homilies for today. I’m not entirely sure why! I did not preach the first one at all; I preached the second one at the Vigil Mass; I preached neither at the 10am Mass! Readings: Acts 6:1-7; Psalm 32(33):1-2,4-5,18-19; 1 Peter 2:4-9; John 14:1-12 First Homily: Goodbye...