Faith of the Leper

Homily for Friday after Epiphany As I prayed with this Gospel passage yesterday, a couple of things stood out to me about this encounter between Jesus and the leper. First of all, the faith of the man with leprosy is incredible. The second thing is the willingness of Jesus to go against the prescriptions of…

The Mountaintop

Homily for the Feast of the Transfiguration In the Gospel today we hear about Jesus’ mountaintop experience, where He has an encounter with Elijah and Moses that leaves him totally transformed in his human appearance. Peter, James, and John are privileged to witness this moment and they become frightened when they see what happens to…

Not Fully Trusting in Jesus

Homily for Thursday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time Every time I hear this particular Gospel passage, I kind of chuckle at how Peter is being praised one second because of his deep understanding on who Jesus is as Messiah and then, seconds later, he is being rebuked for not recognizing who Jesus is.…

Prayer. Faith. Trust.

Homily for Tuesday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time Yesterday, I preached about how the Lord can make up for our limitations, how He can pour out His grace into our lives so that He can supplement our insufficiencies. After Mass yesterday, a couple of you asked me how we can prevent ourselves from…

Known By Its Fruit

Homily for Friday of the 16th Week in Ordinary Time The old saying goes that a tree is known by its fruits. That is basically the message of today’s Gospel. As disciples of Jesus, the depth of our relationship with the Savior of the World is revealed in how much we are embracing the Word…

Jesus is Personal with Us

Homily for the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene Something I always think about whenever this Gospel passage is read at Mass or when I have prayed with it is just how personal Jesus is to Mary Magdalene. Jesus, disguised as the gardener, sees how His death has affected one of His closest disciples. Mary is…

Who Are We For Jesus?

Homily for Tuesday of the 16th Week in Ordinary Time Who are we for Jesus? In the Gospel today, Jesus says that His brothers and sisters are those who do the will of the Father. So who are we for Jesus? Are we His brothers and sisters? Do we seek to do the will of…

Jesus Present in Our Midst

Homily for Monday of the 16th Week in Ordinary Time In the Gospel we’ve just heard, the Scribes and the Pharisees approach Jesus and ask him for a sign to prove that He is the Messiah. They have seen all that Jesus has said and done and yet continue to refuse to accept that He…