Homily – 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time – June 25th, 2023

It’s a pretty safe statement for me to say that every one of us has experienced doubts, discouragement, and fears. I hope every one of you has also had moments of hope and people on your life journey who have spoken words of encouragement to you. The Scripture readings we are given today are so realistic, echoing both discouragement and encouragement. If you spent just a little bit of time with the Prophet Jeremiah, our first reading, or with the ...

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Reflection – Never settle for the path of least resistance

Well this I am certain of, as I am not certain of much else: thank God I do not have the same friends as Jeremiah. “All my close friends are watching for me to stumble” he tells us.  Maybe it is a little delusional of me, but I would like to think that my friends are always rooting for my success.  

Jeremiah was born in the mid 600’s BC in Anathoth, near Jerusalem, the son of one of the priests who lived ...

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Homily – 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time – June 18th, 2023

Sometimes when I read gospel stories, especially stories that are so familiar, my mind automatically jumps ahead and says, “I know where this story is going.” Jumping to the conclusion is not a good way of entering into any scripture story. The revelation that the story is trying to enlighten our minds with is not the same thing as walking the path of the revelation. Anybody can say, “Jesus is Lord.” I believe that’s true, but it won’t get me ...

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Reflection – Enlarge the Space in Your Tent

Exodus’ telling of the Israelites camping in the desert, coupled with Jesus’ missioning of the 12 disciples to “go out to the lost sheep of the House of Israel,” brought to mind the ongoing Synod on Synodality underway in our Church and its implications for how we as a Church might become less polarized and exclusive, while at the same time becoming more compassionate, loving, and hospitable to everyone Jesus invited to the table. I do not mean my personal ...

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Homily – The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ – June 11th, 2023

There are at least two, if not three, acts of faith we are called to make every time we share in the Eucharist. The first act of faith is to believe that these simple, unassuming materials of bread and wine have become the Body and Blood of Christ. This first act of faith leads to the second act of faith which asks us to believe, that in receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, we are to become Christ’s Body ...

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Reflection – With love, there are no boundaries

Today’s reading is about Jesus who died to give us life.  The Eucharist is a great gift of Love for us in the image of the body and blood of Christ.  Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

This sacrament of love is given to us to receive the very person of the risen Christ.  This is food for our faith journey. The spiritual nourishment we receive in the ...

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Homily – The Most Holy Trinity – June 4th, 2023

There is a part of us that prefers neatly packaged, clearcut answers over and against going on journeys to seek answers. And usually the answers we prefer, if we are honest, are the ones that justify a position we already hold and are not willing to budge from. That way we don’t have to change or grow or consider another opinion but just sit in our self-constructed security and always see the world out of the same lens. Jesus never ...

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Reflection – May They All Be One

If you have ever accompanied a person approaching their own death, you know the words they share with you are among the most important words you will ever hear from them.  When someone is withing hours or days of death, what preoccupies their hearts and minds tends not to be about last night’s Blue Jays game or the price of broccoli.  They want to make things right.  It’s their last chance to say what they always wanted to say.  They ...

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Homily – Pentecost Sunday – May 28th, 2023

The feast of Pentecost is part of our Judeo-Christian heritage.  It was a Jewish festival long before it was celebrated as a Christian feast.  For our Jewish ancestors in faith, Pentecost was called the Festival of Weeks.  It was a week (7 days) of weeks (7 days) plus one day, totaling 50 days.  In the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) Pentecost was celebrated 50 days after the great Feast of Passover.  It was a festival celebrating the first harvest of grain.  With the harvest in mind, you ...

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Reflection – Eventually, words need to become actions…

“Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

It has been mentioned to me by wife on more than one occasion that she may need to point out a task that needs to be done more than once to get any results.  Guilty as charged in some instances.  If I am being honest, the tasks I don’t tackle right away are the ones I either don’t want to do, or don’t feel I can ...

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