Posts Tagged 'Immaculate Heart of Mary'

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

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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Fr Phil

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

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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Trevor Droesbeck

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

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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Fr Phil

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Homily – November 26, 2023 – Christ the King Sunday

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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Fr Phil

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

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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Mark Mahoney

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

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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Fr Phil

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

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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Fr Phil

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Reflection – November 5th, 2023 – 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reflection – November 5th, 2023 – 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

On Consulting the Faithful

In his “Apologia Pro Vita Sua” John Henry (Cardinal) Newman explained that he converted to Catholicism because he recognized that the Catholic Church was the closest to that of St. Athanasius.  I was inspired by Newman’s sentiment and chose “The Logos in the Theology of Athanasius” to be the topic of my PhD dissertation.  Life got in the way and I never completed it.

However, I also learned that after his conversion Newman narrowly missed being excommunicated for ...

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Agnes Beirne

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Homily – November 5th, 2023 – 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Homily – November 5th, 2023 – 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

There are a couple of warning shots fire over our heads in the readings today. They warn us against hypocrisy. The first shot is taken by the prophet Malachi. Even though Malachi lived about 500 years before Jesus, notice how his words are similar to Jesus’ words. Malachi says, “O priests, this command is for you. Your hearts don’t give me glory. You’ve corrupted the covenant of Levi, and you cause many to stumble by your instructions.” Jesus, 500 years ...

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Fr Phil

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Reflection – October 28th-29th – 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reflection – October 28th-29th – 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Love is the Greatest Commandment

¯Love, love, love … all you need is love. ¯

The multitudes of songs and poems which talk about love is endless.  As a reader, I can attest that it is also a common theme in many books, a universal concept, understood and lived out in a variety of ways.  Love really does appear to make the world go round, as someone once said.  We are a society which is consumed by various interpretations of love, the ...

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Ellen Bennett

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