Homily Cycle A 06-07-2026 - The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ Offered at OLPH , Bethlehem, PA

 

Shamus O’Reilly lived alone in the Irish countryside, his pet dog was his companion. When the dog died, Shamus went to the Fr. Patrick, the parish priest and asked, "Father, my dog has died, would you say a Mass for him?"

Father Patrick replied, "Shamus I know you loved your dog very much, but we can’t have services for an animal in the church. Why don’t check with the Protestant church down the road, they might be willing do something for your dog." “Thank you Father do you think a $15,000 donation is sufficient?" Father Patrick exclaimed, “Shamus why didn't you tell me your dog was Catholic?"

In 1983 Anne Murray released a hit record “A Little Good News”, the song enumerated many of the troubles of that era: war, economic woes, murders, robberies, fires, etc. –

Sound familiar? One of the verses asked for some hope, “We sure could use a little good news today.”

Many of us want A Little Good News Today.

You are here for “Good News” & the Good News is we will be fed with God’s Word & Eucharist, offered to us. There is an old saying, “You are worth your weight in gold.”

Way back in 1947 on September 6, I was born & the price of an ounce of gold was $34.71; this last Wednesday it was $4,550.00. So my value has increased at least “…  in gold.”

Our real value lies in how fully we allow Jesus to guide our lives. Jesus gives us “The Bread of Life” to nourish us on our journey here on earth & we are blessed to be partakers in “That Bread.” In Today’s Gospel Jesus teaches us that He “… is the living bread that came down from Heaven.”

One of my grandchildren finished a Popsicle & on the stick was this [awful] Pun. “Where do bad rainbows go?” “Prism, It’s a light sentence.”         

 In that awful Pun, but a beautiful analogy for the Light of Christ.

We are the Prism for the Light of Christ – dispersing His Light by our actions.

Jesus gave us the Extraordinary Gift of the Eucharist, His Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity: At once:

Simple & Mundane [bread & wine]

Esoteric & Divine [His body & blood of Jesus].

The Real Presence Offered to us in the Eucharist – Bread for the Journey - foretaste of the Heavenly Banquet.

Jesus call us, invites us, beckons us to experience Him, the Bread of Life, as nourishment/food for our journey. 

Let me share some excerpts from a poem,

“Light after darkness,

gain after loss,

Strength after weakness,

crown after cross;

Sweet after bitter,

hope after fears, …

Alpha and Omega,

beginning and the end,

He is making all things new.

Springs of living water shall wash away each tear,

He is making all things new.

Joy after sorrow,

peace after pain;

Love after loneliness,

life after tomb.”

[Adopted from Frances Havergal’s “Light After Darkness” & Revelation 21: 5-6, Elaine Hagenberg’s “All Things New”]

After Communion we conclude our Diocesan 33 Days to Eucharistic Glory by offering the Prayer for Eucharistic Consecration to Jesus, Bread of Life: True God/True Man. Today as we conclude our preparation, may our devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus guide us & our nation each day.

St. Teresa wrote, “Christ has no body but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks Compassion on this world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.” 

When you receive the Eucharist the Lord enters your body, let Him guide your heart & your soul.

May God Be Praised.

 

Wednesday’s Wink from Above 06/03/2026 - A Message to Everyone Who Graduates this Year - Following God’s Will

 

                                                            Following God’s Will

We need sacred space and time for discernment, that space and time we will help us find God’s dwelling in our minds, hearts and souls.

A dwelling place to SEE ourselves, our neighbors, and our world through Jesus’ eyes, though His Sacred Heart.

This “SEEING” does not require knowledge or profound insight. It requires us to decide to see, live and act through God’s Sacred Heart.

This “SEEING” offers a wisdom the world cannot offer, this way of “SEEING” offers a new way of living and loving.

I will not be easy, but it will be the most fulfilling way to live, the richest way to live and Jesus will walk with us to guide us. [Deacon George Kelly]

May God Be Praised.

Wednesday’s Wink from Above 05/27/2026 Creation & the Cosmos is Changed.

The Easter Season has ended, Ordinary Time has begun; the Easter Message has changed life it points us to Jesus and to follow Him. Let’s take a few minutes to reflect on a Short Story of Creation.

 Life and The Story of Creation considered in four major phases:

The Beginning when God’s love started it all.

The Incarnation when God’s love became enfleshed.

The Resurrection/Ascension when God’s love connected heaven and earth.

The End and Beginning when God’s love combines heaven and earth in eternal love.  

[Deacon George Kelly]  

 

May God Be Praised.

Wednesday’s Wink from Above 5/20/2026 [Homily Cycle A 03-05-2026 offered at O.L.P.H.]

In Acts we learn that life in the early Church had problems to deal with and resolve. From our Epistle we learned that Jesus referred to as “… a living stone ….” And St. John in the Gospel reminds us that Jesus didn’t want His followers hearts to be troubled, and that includes us.

He wanted us to know He will take us to our heavenly dwelling place and in this Gospel Jesus prays what Biblical scholars describe as His “Farewell Discourse.” He shared with the Apostles on Holy Thursday.

One Saturday night Fr. O’Reilly went into a local pub in Donegal and announced, “Anybody who wants to go to heaven, line up over there!” Everyone but O’Hearn got up and lined up near the wall. Fr. O’Reilly said, “O’Hearn don’t you want to go to heaven?” “Oh Yes I do Father, I thought you were getting a group together to go now.”

Each of us wants to go to heaven, so what is the path? Jesus tells us, plainly, He is The Way, The Truth and The Life. Jesus is our Hope and our Salvation. The Apostles resolved their ministry of service problem by praying with the community and the Holy Spirit which led them to choose deacons to help the Apostles in their ministry.

The “Living Stone” [Jesus] called each one of us “… a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation…” to follow Him. God doesn’t want our hearts to be troubled.

This story may aid us living our call to follow The Way, The Truth and The Life.

Dad starts with Altheimer’s or Dementia, so he needs help and so Mom needs help; help the Way Jesus would. Few people like wearing name tags, but what if wearing one could help?

Putting a name tag on to enter our childhood home, where our parents still live, after more than 50 years of marriage is awkward. However when the adult children come to visit they put on name tags before they enter: “I’m Doreen your daughter, I’m Paul your son.” They recruited the neighbors to wear name tags: “I’m Mary, your neighbor,” I am Joe, your neighbor, etc. The fill up with tears as they depart, realizing this act of love as small as it is, offers a glimpse of the divine, a simple sign of God’s love in our midst; a look into love lived. [Adopted from Connections, May 2019]

One of my grandsons, Deacon George [my namesake], attends Christ The Teacher School in Newark, DE, he’s in 4^th grade.

 Last week when we visited he told me a joke that I want to share with you.

Pop Pop why is the math book so sad?

I said I don’t know Deac why ?

Because it is filled with problems.  

Life does seem like it is filled with problems, but we believe that Jesus is with us and He shows us The Way, The Truth and The Life.

To encourage His Apostles and us Jesus offered them a poignant [Farewell] a poignant Good-Bye, He speaks mystically about a place not limited by space or time. He promises them and us He will return and take us to a place He has prepared.

Jesus is that “place.”

Following His Way, Truth and Life is a great challenge, but it offers us a rich and fulfilling life. St. Francis de Sales advises us, “Work hard every day at increasing your purity of heart, which consists in appraising things and weighing them in the balance of God's will.” And “Walk joyfully through life and if at times you cannot walk with faith and courage.”  Jesus reminds us today to have Faith in Him and have the Courage to follow Him, if we do that our lives will be filled with the deepest and most profound meaning.

For a few minutes reflecting on how you can live The Way, The Truth and The Life?

May God Be Praised.