Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, the two greatest apostles of the Church. The reason these two saints are celebrated together is because the tradition of the Church holds that they were martyred together on this date sometime between 64 and 68 AD at the hands of Emperor Nero. But these…
I have to admit, I feel somewhat called out by the Lord in this Gospel this morning. Being judgmental is something that so many of us, myself included, struggle with on occasion. That particular vice is one that can be very challenging to overcome. Why is that? In terms of being judgmental, that sin usually…
Jesus never promised us that being one of his disciples would be easy. In fact, quite the contrary. Throughout the Gospels, we see how Jesus shares with His disciples just how much hardship and suffering they will have to endure simply for following Him and spreading the Good News of salvation. Our Gospel reading for…
In 1263, a German priest, Peter of Prague, was traveling throughout Italy on a personal pilgrimage to Rome. Tradition tells us that Peter was a good and pious priest who was constantly striving for holiness in his life. In his ministry, however, he became quite troubled by the indifference of many of the faithful in…
Look at the Pharisees and the Herodians in this Gospel…how devious! They first try to flatter Jesus by saying He is a truthful man. But Jesus knows they mean that in a sarcastic way and that they’re trying to trap Him. They pose a false dilemma to Him. It's “either/or.” Either Jesus must accept Caesar…
We live in a world that is hard to sometimes really difficult to understand and, I think, we have let the frustration and uncertainty that have emerged in our own hearts to determine how we respond to various situations that we experience. Just look at all that we have endured over the last couple of…
On Friday, we celebrated the Memorial of St. Philip Neri, who has become one of my favorite saints over the last couple of years. He is well known for his humor and cheerfulness, his gifted spiritual direction, and his habit of making a fool of himself for humility’s sake. On one occasion, he even shaved…
Homily for Tuesday of the 7th Week of Easter In the final days of the Easter season, the Church invites us to reflect back on the events leading up to the Passion of Jesus. Yesterday, we were reminded of the moment when Jesus told His disciples that they would abandon Him. Today, the Church gives…
Homily for Monday of the 6th Week of Easter Our Gospel reading this morning comes from a section of the Gospel of John where Jesus is talking to his disciples about the world’s hatred for those who follow Him. Jesus knew what kinds of challenges the disciples would face in the days that were to…
Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter Audio version of the homily can be found below. First of all, I want to take this opportunity to personally wish all of our mothers, grandmothers, and spiritual mothers a very happy Mother’s Day. Thank you for always caring for us and supporting us in all that we…
Fr. Tom Pringle 