A Place for the Lord

Homily for Memorial of St. Irenaeus When I first read this Gospel yesterday in preparing for this morning, I was kind of left scratching my head and thinking, “What is Jesus saying here?” I actually had to go to a Scripture commentary to understand this more and try to figure out what Jesus meant by…

St. Aloysius Gonzaga

Homily for the Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga It has often been said that the greatest saints of a particular age are those who were most counter-cultural to their time, those who weren’t afraid to stand against what the culture was selling. Throughout the history of the Church we have seen how the Lord raises…

St. Boniface

Homily for the Memorial of St. Boniface I think many of us, looking at the state of affairs in our country and in many other places around the world, have seen, especially over the last several months, just how far removed we are from Christian values. All we have to do is look at the…

St. Justin Martyr

Homily for the Memorial of St. Justin, Martyr Do you and I have a desire to learn? Do we have a desire to allow the message of the Gospel to touch our hearts, leading us to a deeper encounter with the Lord? Are we willing to allow that encounter with Jesus to change our lives?…

Mary, Mother of the Church

Homily for the Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church As I mentioned at the beginning of Mass this morning, today we celebrate the Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church. It is a feast that is very much intimately connected to the Feast of Pentecost. From our Catholic tradition, we know that the Blessed…

The Angelic Doctor

Homily for the Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas Today, we celebrate the Feast of one of my patron saints, St. Thomas Aquinas, who was arguably one of the greatest, if not the greatest, mind the Church has ever known. Throughout his life as a priest, the Angelic Doctor, as he is known, wrote about various…

St. Agnes

Homily for the Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr If there was ever a saint that we could get some inspiration from, I think St. Agnes would be at the very top of my list. Her story is one of great faith in Jesus, but also a story of a young girl who knew…

Mary, Mother of God

Homily for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. It reminds us of the importance and the honor that we give to Mary as Catholics. I’m sure most of us here today have been asked at least once why Catholics give the Blessed Mother…

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Homily for the Memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe Today we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a day when we remember how the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Juan Diego in 1531 in Mexico. The story of her appearance resulted in the conversion of over 9 million people to Catholicism. So,…

God Chooses

Homily for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception, the solemnity that we celebrate today, also happens to be the patronal feast day of the United States. So, happy feast day. Why do we celebrate this feast? In 1854, in his Apostolic Constitution, Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX clarified without uncertainty the long-held…