Immaculate Heart of Mary | St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Homily – December 24, 2023, Fourth Sunday of Advent

At every Eucharistic celebration you have ever participated in, you heard the priest say during the Eucharistic Prayer, “The Mystery of faith.” “Mystery” refers to God’s eternally conceived but hidden plan. In other words, God had, and still has, a plan, a purpose in mind for everything and everyone, including you. That plan, that Mystery, is not given in a single moment, but it unfolds over time, a long period of time. We couldn’t handle the entire mystery of our ...

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24
DEC
2023

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Fr Phil

4th SUnday, Advent, Eucharist, Fourth Sunday, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Jesus, Mary, Mystery, Phil Mulligan, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Homily – December 17th, 2023 – Third Sunday of Advent

John the Baptist, to put it mildly, is an interesting character. He was a prophet, and according to Jesus, the greatest of all the prophets (Lk. 7:28). Prophets have always, and still do, want more for us than what we want for ourselves. Once I get comfortable in my little kingdom, my little control tower, I really don’t want anyone else rattling my little world even if the rattling come with a promise of a bigger and better world, like ...

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18
DEC
2023

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Fr Phil

3rd Sunday, Advent, Fr. Phil, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Jesus, john the baptist, Phil Mulligan, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, Third Sunday

Reflection – December 17th, 2023 – Third Sunday of Advent

The Consoling Joy of the Gospel¹

In a world that has not enough of any, the themes of Advent are significant – hope, peace, joy and love. This Sunday the focus is on joy. The prophet Isaiah, a key character of the season, reminds us of the ‘good news’ which he has been sent to proclaim, for which he is ‘greatly rejoicing.’ Mary, on arriving at her cousin Elizabeth’s home, responds to Elizabeth’s greeting with her beautiful Magnificate – a prayer ...

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14
DEC
2023

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Ellen Bennett

3rd Sunday, Advent, ellen bennett, Gabriel, Immaculate Heart of Mary, isaiah, Joy, Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, Third Sunday

Homily – December 10th, 2023 – Second Sunday of Advent

Two of my favorite books of all time, The Shack (William Paul Young) and The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom) were both turned into movies. I don’t find this very often, but I did find these two movies were every bit as good as the books that spawned them. While they are both pure fiction, they nevertheless include deep truths about life, faith, forgiveness, and love that give you reason to do some self-reflection before moving on ...

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11
DEC
2023

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Fr Phil

2nd sunday, Advent, Fr. Phil, god, Immaculate Heart of Mary, isaiah, Phil Mulligan, second sunday, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Reflection – December 10th, 2023 – Second Sunday of Advent

The Wilderness of 2023

As we observe the Season of Advent amid the wilderness of 2023, we are reminded to not get ahead of ourselves and celebrate Christmas before spending time reflecting and preparing. This is good advice. I do not think we are meant to move from Halloween directly into celebrating Christmas without preparation. But depending on how you look at it, I feel like there is a lot of stuff going on.

How many of you have ...

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11
DEC
2023

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Trevor Droesbeck

2nd sunday, Advent, christmas, Immaculate Heart of Mary, john the baptist, second sunday, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, wilderness

Homily – December 3rd, 2023 – First Sunday of Advent

I remember being at a talk 30 years ago, given by John Shea, who was invited to speak at St. Paul’s University in Ottawa. John Shea is a theologian from Chicago, and the best storyteller I have ever heard. One of the things he said–and for some reason I remembered it 30 years later–was, “The key to gospel spirituality is not to look at Jesus but to look with Jesus. You’ll learn very little, if anything at all, by looking ...

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4
DEC
2023

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Fr Phil

Advent, first sunday, Fr. Phil, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Jesus, new eyes, Phil Mulligan, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Homily – November 26, 2023 – Christ the King Sunday

As we say “good-bye” to gospel writer Matthew, who has been our guide this last liturgical year, we end with a reading that summarizes Jesus’ entire life among us. If we were to read and try to apply just this gospel reading alone, I’m convinced it would be more than enough to convert us and change the world forever. When I take this gospel passage seriously in my own life, I realize I have more blow opportunities, more sins of ...

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27
NOV
2023

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Fr Phil

Advent, Christ the King, Fr. Phil, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Phil Mulligan, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, Truth

Reflection – November 26th, 2023 – Christ the King Sunday

Fear or Love – What is our Starting Point?

As I sit to write this reflection I am just back in the office after one week’s holidays. While it is always nice to have some time to relax and re-energize, the one thing a week’s holiday makes crystal clear to me is that I am nowhere near ready for retirement. While my birth certificate is telling me that I am coming to a time in my life where that will be ...

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23
NOV
2023

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Mark Mahoney

Christ the King, fear, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Love, Mark Mahoney, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Homily – November 19th, 2023 – 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Once again Jesus gives us a parable that does not tie things up in a neat package with a bow around it. Parables are meant to stretch us, to take us out of our small worlds, our small kingdoms and invite us to consider what the Kingdom of God is like. We will only let go of our little kingdom if we are convinced we are getting a bigger kingdom in exchange. But letting go has never been our strong ...

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20
NOV
2023

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Fr Phil

33rd Sunday, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Joy, l'arche, Phil Mulligan, Properity Gospel, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, Talents

Homily – Sunday, November 12th, 2023 – 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

As is the case with so many of our Sunday Scripture readings, there is a common theme, an overlap, between the first reading and the Gospel passage. Both deal with “wisdom.” In the first reading, from the Book of Wisdom itself, the author presents wisdom as a strikingly attractive woman. Wisdom in the gospel, however, is preparedness and not alertness. All 10 bridesmaids fall asleep. None of them remain alert, but five were considered wise because they were prepared.

Is anyone ...

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13
NOV
2023

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Fr Phil

32nd sunday, foolish bridesmaid, Fr. Phil, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Phil Mulligan, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, wisdom

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