Praise, Thanksgiving, Fidelity

Homily for December 22nd | Thursday of the 4th Week of Advent There is such a beautiful connection between the two women that we hear about in our readings this morning. Both women, Hannah and Mary, are overjoyed at the news of the birth of their sons and offer the Lord praise and fidelity. Remember,…

Trust Leads to Mighty Deeds

Homily for December 19th | Monday of the 4th Week of Advent In our readings this morning, we hear the beginnings of the lives of two people who would become so central in the history of salvation: Samson and John the Baptist. Between the two, there are quite a few parallels. Both Samson and John…

Burning and Shining Lamp

Homily for Friday of the 3rd Week of Advent In our Gospel this morning, Jesus is continuing to speak about John the Baptist, reminding the people how he was the messenger that pointed them to recognize that salvation was at hand. Jesus calls John “a burning and shining lamp.” But, John’s light was not his…

Go Into the Desert

Homily for Thursday of the 3rd Week of Advent In our Gospel this morning Jesus poses a question to the crowd, asking them: “What did you go into the desert to see?” It’s actually a question that He asks them three separate times. I wonder if Jesus does that because He wants to not only…

St. Nicholas

Homily for the Memorial of St. Nicholas As we have already heard in our opening prayer for this morning, today we celebrate the Feast of St. Nicholas. On this day every year, I think about my favorite story of St. Nicholas. Growing up, Nicholas was a very devout young man who lived with his uncle…

God is Present

Homily for the Memorial of St. Francis Xavier Throughout this first week of Advent, we have been reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, hearing of the promises that the Lord would bring His people out of misery, suffering, and darkness. The Lord assured His people that He would bring about their liberation and…

Have Pity on Us

Homily for Friday of the 1st Week of Advent In our Gospel this morning, two blind men approach Jesus and ask Him to heal them. They wholeheartedly believed that Jesus was the one who could bring them to freedom from the literal darkness that they had lived for such a long time. Because of their…

Faith of the Centurion

Homily for Monday of the 1st Week of Advent Our first reading this morning from the Prophet Isaiah really sums up what we are looking forward to during this Advent season. In this particular passage, God is speaking through the prophet about the promises that He has made to His people. It’s a message that…

Watchful. Hopeful.

Homily for the 1st Sunday of Advent Throughout history, there have been countless times when people have said that the end of the world would happen. In 1910, people thought that Halley’s Comet was going to crash into the earth resulting in some apocalyptic explosion bringing about the end of civilization as we know it.…