Homily – August 17th, 2025 – 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Homily – August 17th, 2025 – 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus said, “I came to bring fire to the earth and how I wish it were already kindled.” We better not tell that to the people of Miramichi or Irishtown or the many other places in our country alone threatened by wildfires that this is Jesus’ intention. Jesus continues with equally contentious and provocative words when he said, “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!”

What are we ...

Continue Reading →
0

Fr Phil

, , ,

Homily – August 10th, 2025 – 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Homily – August 10th, 2025 – 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

A few weeks ago, I was home, back in the Ottawa Valley, staying up late and swapping stories with my siblings about our childhood. While we were fortunate to have the parents we had and the upbringing we had, we also grew up quite poor looking back. How poor you ask?  

We were so poor our Christmas tree was a piece of broccoli. We were so poor the tooth fairy left us I.O.U.’s. We were so poor we used to ...

Continue Reading →
0

Fr Phil

, , , ,

Homily – August 3rd, 2025 – 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Homily – August 3rd, 2025 – 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

These Scripture stories, if we spend even the shortest amount of time with them, will always name what’s going on in our personal lives or in the life of the world at large. For instance, as I approach my 60th birthday in November, I’m debating whether or not to start collecting my C.P.P. (Canadian Pension Plan) at 60 or postpone it a little longer. (I’m sure I’ll get all kinds of advice from you as soon as Mass is over!).

In ...

Continue Reading →
0

Fr Phil

, , , ,

Homily – July 27th, 2025 – 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily – July 27th, 2025 – 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time

This story, about the disciples asking Jesus to teach them how to pray, begins with an observation. It begins with noticing. The disciples observed Jesus, probably from a distance, as he prays. They knew that Jesus was drawing his life, his energy, from a source that sustained him in ways that they, themselves, were not being sustained. So, they figured the key must be prayer. And if prayer sustains Jesus, then maybe they should ask how it works, so that ...

Continue Reading →
0

Fr Phil

, , , , ,

Homily – July 20th, 2025 – 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Homily – July 20th, 2025 – 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Like all gospel stories, this Mary and Martha story has many layers to it. Let’s pull back a few layers and see what it has to say to us. If it is the Word of God—the living Word of God–it should be as relevant now as it was 2000 years ago.

Layer one. I’ll just call it “Mary’s gutsy move.” Actually Mary doesn’t move at all; she sitting on her duff while Martha is doing all the work. There are two ...

Continue Reading →
1

Fr Phil

, , , , , , , , ,

Homily – July 13th, 2025 – 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily – July 13th, 2025 – 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time

There is a spirituality for the first half of our lives and a spirituality for the second half of our lives. First half of life spirituality and second half of life spirituality are very different from each other, but both are necessary. Unfortunately, most of us Catholics—including us priests—continue to operate out of a first half of life spirituality even when it is no longer serving us well. We just keep trying the same old things over and over again ...

Continue Reading →
0

Fr Phil

, , , , , , ,

Homily – June 29th, 2025 – Feasts of Saint Peter and Saint Paul

Homily – June 29th, 2025 – Feasts of Saint Peter and Saint Paul

I had the privilege twice of making it to the Holy Land and visiting Caesarea Philippi, the setting for today’s gospel story. It’s no longer called Caesarea Philippi but Banias. It was easy to be there, take in the history, and snap a few pictures, and move on. But it wasn’t so easy for Peter 2,000 years ago. Jesus dared to ask the questions, “Who do people say that I am?” and “Who do you say that I am?” If ...

Continue Reading →
0

Fr Phil

, , , , ,

Homily – June 22nd, 2025 – Corpus Christi

Homily – June 22nd, 2025 – Corpus Christi

As with every gospel story we hear, including this one, the miraculous feeding of the multitude, it’s often helpful to read the story that precedes it. It gives us context and context is always a good thing to have. Bad theology–and there’s lots of it around–doesn’t do that. People, including priests, will take a handful of lines from the entire Bible and run all of reality through those three or four lines in order to justify why they are right ...

Continue Reading →
0

Fr Phil

, , , , , , , ,

Homily – June 15th, 2025 – Trinity Sunday

Homily – June 15th, 2025 – Trinity Sunday

Before any of the great religions were established, including Christianity, there was wisdom. Cultures were guided by wisdom figures, guides, mentors—men and women who had been on some kind of spiritual journey themselves. These wisdom figures lived by a truth that was not only bigger than their little, individual truth, but also by a truth that was humbly passed on from generation to generation. Since there were no books or computers, wisdom was passed on verbally through stories but more ...

Continue Reading →
0

Fr Phil

, , , , , , , ,

Reflection – June 15th, 2025 – Trinity Sunday

Reflection – June 15th, 2025 – Trinity Sunday

The late Pope Francis, in my mind, will go down in history as one of the greatest popes ever. He was a prophet, no doubt. As with all prophets, Biblical or otherwise, they are only appreciated once they are long dead. While alive they are too disturbing to our comfortable lifestyles and ways of thinking. Prophets never fit into our neatly-constructed boxes, boxes that contain our never-changing set of certitudes and rules, the very things that nobody better call into ...

Continue Reading →
0

Fr Phil

, , , , , , , , , ,

Page 5 of 68 «...34567...»