Homily – December 8th, 2024 – Second Sunday of Advent

Between 1962 and 1965, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and Pope John XXIII, the Church underwent its greatest reform. We call it the Second Vatican Council. Even though it was the Roman Catholic bishops of the world who voted on final outcomes, it nonetheless sought out the opinion of other scholars and various experts, thereby making it an “ecumenical” council. Because it is 60 years in the rearview mirror, we tend to forget what a big deal Vatican ...

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Reflection – December 8th, 2024 – Second Sunday of Advent

Hope vs Expectation

In two different meetings I was in recently the conversation came up regarding the difference between hope and expectation.  In preparing for the First Sunday of Advent, where the theme is “hope”, it seemed like a natural topic to discuss.  I took the time to look up the definition of each word and this is what I found.  Expectation: a strong belief that something will happen or a belief that someone will or should achieve something.  Hope: to ...

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Homily – December 1st – First Sunday of Advent

Back in 2008, I remember being on a retreat in the foothills of California. Before being sent off to spend 8 hours by ourselves in nature, we were given a few instructions the night before. Since this was supposed to be solitary time, we were to go far enough into the forest and mountains that we couldn’t see another person. We were to draw a circle in the dirt with the heel of our shoe or with a stick, and ...

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Reflection – December 1st – First Sunday of Advent

What Advent Offers Us

We blinked, and it happened.  The year has ended, and a new one begun, because for the Church, the arrival of the season of Advent marks the beginning of the new liturgical year.  The Church asks that we live Advent in anticipation of and preparation for the arrival of the Christ child, born again as the Child in the Manger, even as we know Christ is with us now, even as we continue to await Christ’s second ...

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Reflection – November 24th – Solemnity of Christ the King

Pilgrims of Hope

Today marks the last Sunday of the year in the liturgical cycle of our Church, with next Sunday being the first in Advent. As we look towards the new year, I am reflecting on hope since not only is it is the theme for the First Week of Advent, and it also happens to be the theme for the upcoming Jubilee Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope, announced by Pope Francis in May of 2024. I have also been ...

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Homily – November 24th – Christ the King

On this last Sunday of the Church’s liturgical year, the Solemnity of Christ, King of the Universe, we have a couple of readings that are as bizarre as last Sunday’s readings. The first reading from the Book of Daniel and the second reading from the Book of Revelation fall under the category of “apocalyptic” readings. You may have heard the word “apocalypse”; it means revelations. Some truth, hidden until now, is about to be revealed. The word “epiphany”, one of ...

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Homily ~ November 17, 2024 ~ 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

I don’t know about you, but I find the Scripture readings we just heard obscure and cryptic, very hard to get my head into. They’re not the typical stories that I can easily place myself in the middle of. Readings about the end time tend to be that way.

It reminds me of a “Peanuts” cartoon. Many of us grew up as kids reading only the cartoon section of the newspaper. In this one episode, Charlie Brown is laying back on ...

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Reflection – November 10th, 2024 – 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

November – Depressing or Uplifting?

When I was young and thought time just seemed to be dragging on, my mother used to tell me that once you get out of school, time will fly.  And the older you get, the quicker it will seem to go.  Along with many other things she told me, this has certainly proven to be true.  It seems like summer just finished, yet here we are heading for the middle of November already.  I have heard ...

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Homily – November 3rd, 2024 – 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Back in 2003, while on a sabbatical year, I drove from Toronto to Tucson, Arizona to go on a retreat. What spurred me on to drive the 3600 km was the title of the retreat: “The Soul Tells A Story.” It was a retreat for writers, editors, publishers and, if you happened to be a priest, you could come too. So I went. Ever since then, I’ve had a secret passion to write. From that time on, I’ve discovered many ...

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Reflection – November 3rd, 2024 – 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

The readings today emphasize that LOVE is the greatest law  fulfilling all commandments. We are urged to love God ” with all our heart  soul , mind and strength”. Jesus also teaches that we must love our neighbours as ourselves. We are told to love God and show that love through our actions towards others. Every opportunity to love someone is an opportunity to love God.   

As a former English teacher, I’ve looked at the word “love” – is “love” ...

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