Wednesday’s Wink from Above 02-18-2-026 Homily Cycle A 02-08-2026 Offered at OLPH

 God calls us to be both “light & salt” in the world. Isaiah reminds when we share our “bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed & the homeless …. Then [our] light shall break forth like the dawn ….” We prayed in our Responsorial psalm the just are “a light in the darkness.” In Corinthians St. Paul reminds us that our “… faith … rests on the power of God.”

Then in Matthew’s Gospel he instructs us to be “salt of the earth, light of the world.” He urges us to not lose our flavor as Christians & not to hide our light.

de Sales wrote, “Great occasions of serving God seldom present themselves, but little ones are frequent …. ‘Do all things in the name of God & you will do all things well.’ ” [Reflections of St. Francis deSales on Living Jesus, p.109]

Let me share a story with you,

“God Shows Through”

One Sunday as they drove home from church, a little girl said to her mother, “Mommy, there is something about today’s homily that I don’t understand.’

Mom said, “What is it?”

The little girl replied, “Well, he said that God is bigger than we are.  He said God is so big that He could hold the whole world in His hand. 

Is that true?”

Mom replied, “Yes, that’s true ….”

“But Mommy, he also said that God lives inside us - Is that true, too?”

Again, Mom said that was true!

With a puzzled look the little asked,

“If God is bigger than us & He lives in us, wouldn’t He show through?”

The little girl is right about God showing through, when God shows though our actions – we are LIGHT for the world.

Our good works help God’s light to shine in the darkness of our world. Our faith is not a private affair, we shouldn’t hide under a basket. Jesus challenge us to be His disciples to be His missionaries “salt” for the Kingdom & “light” for the world. In Jesus’ time salt was a precious commodity; Jesus is telling you & me that we are precious. To be salt & light for the earth, is to “Do all things in the name of God & you will do all things well. ”  [St. Francis deSales]

Our Discipleship is our moral compass, in life. I want to share with you one of my favorite stories to aid us in realizing the cost of Discipleship.

The Academy Award-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden played her best role for the Make-A-Wish Foundation portraying Snow White for Bonnie, a little girl dying of cancer.

Snow White was Bonnie’s favorite movie, & she wanted to meet Snow White, so the date was set. As Marcia was preparing for her bedside Performance, a casting agency called her to audition for a new Olive Stone movie. The auditions were scheduled for the same day as her Snow-White performance.

Neither could be changed, her hospital performance for Bonnie or her chance for the movie. After a sleepless night and many tears Marcia decided to keep her promise to the little girl. Marcia as Snow White entered Bonnie’s room - her face lit up. After the performance Bonnie asked Snow White, “When I die, will the prince kiss me & then I’ll wake up again?” The room fell silent as Marcia tried to think of what to say.

Finally, she said, “No, Bonnie, It is even better. When you get to heaven, God will kiss you & then you will wake up again.” Years later, Marcia reflected: “At that moment in the hospital room with Bonnie …. I knew that I was exactly where I was meant to be, playing exactly the role, I was meant to play.”  [Connections, April 2008, pg2] Marcia was salt for Bonnie. Jesus teaches us today that following Him why we are here.

For a few minutes think about how you will be light & salt for God here on earth.

May God Be Praised.

 

Wednesday’s Wink from Above 02-11-2026 Homily Cycle II Offered at OLPH 01/15/2026

Homily Cycle II Offered at OLPH 01/15/2026 [Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011526.cfm]

 

Our 1^st Reading this morning tells us of Israel’s “disastrous defeat.” The concert musician Itzhak Perlman indicated two things that happened to him before he was four & they shaped his future:

1.     He was struck with polio.

2.     He heard Jascha Heiftez play.

For most of us there are probably two things that shaped our future:

1.     We were Baptized and became children of God.

2.     We learned to love from our parents.

Profound and important but not frequently reflected upon. In our Responsorial Psalm we prayed “Redeem us, Lord, because of Your mercy.”

People kept coming to Jesus and so should we, may God’s mercy fill us today and every day.

May God Be Praised.

 

Wednesday’s Wink from Above 02-04-2026 [Homily Cycle A 02-01-2026 Offered at OLPH]

 

 

Homily Cycle A 02-01-2026 Offered at OLPH

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020126.cfm

Zephaniah instructs us to “Seek the Lord…. Seek justice, seek humility.” And St. Paul reminds us that “God chose the foolish … the weak and the lowly [and that we] … should only boast in the Lord.”

A few months ago Fr. Murphy was walking down the main street in his little town outside of Dublin when he saw the Lord, Jesus Himself walking toward him. He panicked and took out his cell phone, called Pope Leo, to his surprise he got right through to Pope told him what was happening and asked Pope Leo “what should I do?”

The Pope said, “Look Busy!”

Our Gospel is about being busy “listening to the Lord” and doing God’s work in building up THE KINGDOM. Today we are called to the Mountain, the one that Jesus called His listeners to 2000 years ago. Sometime today gaze at South Mountain [in Bethlehem, PA]and imagine walking up it to listen to Jesus. He calls us [as He did them] to make the Beatitudes the center of our lives. What anxiety, what need, what prayer, what emptiness will you give to Jesus to lift off your shoulders as He blesses you?

Picture a dusty mountain in Galilee, where the sun baked the earth & hope felt as scarce as shade, where fisherman, carpenters, field workers, homemakers, servants, day laborers & others were searching for the answers to life’s questions. Some were comfortable, but most were struggling. For them and for us there are bills, mortgages and taxes to pay, mouths to feed, violence on the streets, and in the world. There are many in need of the essentials of life, food, housing, safety.

Blessed? Who can call this life blessed?                                        

Our Catechism [#2546] offers us this profound insight, “The Beatitudes reveal an order of happiness and grace, of beauty and peace. Jesus celebrates the joy of the poor, to whom the Kingdom already belongs.” Pope Francis put it this way,“The word blessed…. Is like a refrain reminding us of the Lord’s call to advance together with Him on a road which, for all its many challenges, leads to true happiness.” Many years ago Jesus spoke God’s Word and His fame spread like wildfire, even though there were no TV broadcasts, no Social Media, no Newspapers [paper or electronic].

The teaching of Jesus of Nazareth called the people of His time and of our time to live the way God created us to live. A life to honor & love God.

Today we join the crowd as they climb up the rocky path and we pray for our nation for civil discourse, the restoration of  trust in our government, but most importantly for the courage to follow Jesus faithfully and fully. We pray for our world, our families and ourselves. Jesus sat like a rabbi of old, His disciples close, the air filled with anticipation & curiosity, His eyes fixed on the hearts and burdens of the weary crowd in front of Him, BUT, also on each one of us today. You and I are called to listen to Jesus and allow His Words to lead us to True happiness, True blessedness. The Beatitudes are a way of life, where our burdens, hardships & crosses flow into eternal blessings.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the clean of heart and [in our time] the peacemakers. If we live the Beatitudes we will experience insult & persecution because of Jesus but He assures us we will “rejoice and be glad for our reward will be great in heaven.” For a few minutes think about how you will respond to Jesus call to live the Beatitudes.

May God Be Blessed.

Wednesday’s Wink from Above 01-28-2026 [Homily Cycle A 01-25-2026 Prepared for OLPH blocked by Mother Nature]

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012526.cfm

The writer, Mark Laidlow said adding one short phrase to the second sentence of any book would increase readership, & intensify the intrigue in the work. [#Laidlowsrule]

Listen to the first verse from today’s reading from Isaiah using  Mark’s suggestion, “First the Lord degraded the land of Zebulin and the land of Naphtali ” And then the murders began ….”

Wow what a difference! Laidlaw’s recommendation certainly intensifies the intrigue, BUT our Reading from Isaiah produces its own intrigue & interest because in Isaiah we heard  people are walking in darkness.

St. Paul asks us if we are following Christ or someone/something else? Then Jesus calls us to Repent & Follow Him.

Interesting & Intriguing.

What does that mean?

We need the Lord’s Light to shine more brightly in our world. A world increasingly darkened by selfishness, greed & other sins. In our Responsorial Psalm, we prayed “the Lord is my light & my salvation.”

Is the Lord your top priority; Is He your salvation & your light?

The Gospel reminds us that the Lord calls us to follow Him & make Him the center of our lives. The gifts, the talents God has bestowed on us; are to be used to build-up THE Kingdom. Most of us have very ordinary gifts  we are here on earth to use them to build-up THE Kingdom.

Maybe this story, “The Wedding Gift,” can help us understand. Among the many gifts Brandon & Kathy Gunn received at their wedding was a white box from Kathy's Aunt Alison. The card on the box read, “Do not open until first argument.” Sure enough, there were moments of tension & disagreement, but Brandon & Kathy didn’t open the gift… they believed that their love for one another could handle whatever life threw at them. 

The white box became a challenge.

In May they celebrated their ninth anniversary, [now the parents of two children] & they decided to open Aunt Alison's box…. What they found…was ordinary some money for: flowers, pizza, a bottle of wine, nothing that could really end a fight at all, just bring a moment to stop & regroup.

The real gift, the priceless gift, had been staring at them all along. 

By not turning to the box, Brandon & Kathy were forced to learn tolerance, compromise, patience, learning to listen to each other, learning from St. Francis de Sales that, “The measure of love is to love without measure.”

That was the real gift. 

They realized that the challenge is to allow God's grace to guide them. [Adopted from Connections, January 15, 2017]

Isaiah pointing to the darkness &  reminds us of the Light. Take your belief in God’s Grace & God’s Light & carve it into your heart, your soul, your entire being. Make that belief the focus of your life in the darkness of our times.

The focus of Peter, Andrew, James & John’s life was to follow Jesus do we follow Jesus in our life? We just celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. day.

Two months before he was assassinated, he preached about his funeral eulogy, let me share a few excerpts from that sermon, “I'd like someone to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others., that he tried to love somebody.

I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry… to clothe those who were naked… to visit those in prison… that I tried to love & serve humanity." He concluded with these words: I “… want to leave a committed life behind."  [www.Sermons.com]

Ordinary Time gives us a chance to reflect on our eulogy, on our life. Take a few minutes to reflect on what you are really committed too.

May God Be Praised!