homilies

God Always Provides a Path Back to Himself

Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year B

Fr. Jim homily

3 minute read

Good morning. Today is Laetare Sunday, which marks the halfway point through Lent. Laetare means rejoice, but since today is also Daylight Savings, and we all had to sacrifice an hour of sleep, I’ll just say, “woohoo.” But, given we are about halfway through Lent, perhaps it would be good to reflect on how we are doing with our Lenten promises. They say it usually takes about twenty-eight days to establish a habit, so have the sacrifices we have been making these last four weeks become more…

Jesus Gives us the Words of Everlasting Life

Third Sunday of Lent, Year B

Fr. Jim homily

3 minute read

The Responsorial Psalm tends to receive little attention in preaching, save for a few words quoted here and there to drive home a point. But, we do well, to give it our full attention, as we would any of the other readings, because the psalms, like any other text in Sacred Scripture, are indeed the inspired words of God. And we are quite fortunate here to have a music ministry that makes these words sound so beautiful. And while the singing is perhaps not as much as some of us would prefer right…

Christ is the prophet promised by Moses, He is the Word of God

Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B

Fr. Jim homily

2 minute read

Today, Moses promises the Israelites that the Lord will raise up a prophet from among them, who will tell the people everything the Lord commands him. We could say that Moses is ushering in a new age of prophets, who, just like Moses, act as mediators between God and the people. The Hebrew word for prophet, nevi’im, means “spokesperson for the Lord,” and while the many prophets throughout salvation history all spoke the words of God, there is only one whom we acknowledge as the…