Homily Cycle I 04-03-2025 – Offered at OLPH

Today we learned that God told Moses to go to the people; the Lord talked to Moses & then Moses implored the Lord NOT to punish the people.

In our Gospel John claimed that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures [what we call the Old Testament].

The Light of God here to show us the Way & the Truth – Lent is a time to each one of us to focus on that Light, that Way & that Truth.

God is faithful & Our Hope is in the Lord who fulfills His Covenant Promises. In this Jubilee, Year of Hope we should renew our Hope in God’s Promises.

Today give thanks to God for the Gift of Hope.

 

May God Be Praised.

Homily Cycle I 04-02-2025 Offered at OLPH

 

The prophet Isaiah proclaims God is faithful in His love for His people.

God will not forget you; in our Responsorial Psalm we prayed, “The Lord is gracious & merciful.”

Jesus finds opposition from the Jewish authorities increasing, and Jesus proclaims His union with The Father, “I cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgement is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the One who sent me.”

Jesus gives us a glimpse into The Trinity, The Trinity of Love.

Lent offers us the opportunity to reflect on our call to do God’s Will not for God’s sake, but for our sake.

 

May God Be Praised.

Homily Cycle I 04/01/2025 - Offered at OLPH Daily Mass

 

To be clear this morning, my homily is not an “April Fools” joke.

Both Readings today, Ezekiel and the Gospel of John remind us of our Baptism, the gift of our entrance into the Church and the beginning of our Discipleship.

 

And, in today’s Gospel Jesus tells the “ill” man to “Rise, take up your mat & walk.” He waited 38 years for help; among other things Jesus wants to be patient with His timetable for answering our prayers.

Keep in mind as you reflect on your discipleship what the great 20th century French philosopher Jacques Maritain said.

 Only three questions had to be answered:

1.       Who am I?

2.       Where am I?

3.       Where should I be going?

Since we just passed the halfway mark of Lent let’s take some time to focus on those three questions.

1.       Who am I?

2.       Where am I?

3.       Where should I be going?

Your answers are important.

May God Be Praised.

Blog Post 03-31-2025 Swimming Against the Tide

 

Salmon are anadromous fish, they hatch in fresh water, swim to the ocean to live their lives, but return to fresh water to spawn. They swim upstream [against the tide] to reach their spawning grounds.

What does that mean for us? It reminds that we swim [live] against the tide of our me-first, get even culture, a culture focused on the material things. We are called  to love our enemies and to put others ahead of ourselves.

Lent is our time to return to our roots as Christians and seriously look at how we are living as disciples of Jesus.

 

 

May God Be Praised.

Blog Post 03-30-2025 Reviewing our 2025 Lent

We are past the halfway mark in our Lenten Journey let us reflect on this excerpt from Ecclesiastes,

“There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens.
A time to be born, and a time to die;

 a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.
A time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to tear down, and a time to build.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them;

a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.
A time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away.
A time to rend, and a time to sew;

a time to be silent, and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to hate;

a time of war, and a time of peace.”  [From the Book of Ecclesiastes]

Father in Heaven, grant us the wisdom and love you have revealed in Your Son, we ask that they be given to us through His grace.

Help us to be like him in word and deed, for he lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.

 

May God Be Praised.