If the full homily seems too lengthy for your pastoral and liturgical context, then two sections or “moves” are offered as alternative content. Option 1 explores a serious in-church issue while Option 2 moves out to deal with cultural and social issues evoked by the internet. Please identify which option serves best in your context and delete the other paragraph. Either way, the homily picks up at “But there is a deeper chasm…” Our Gospel Lesson at today’s Mass is bot

I’ve always been fascinated by words. And I’ve always loved questions. So, it should not surprise you that a strange word that is also a question would remain bouncing around my mind for over 30 years. The word . . . WIGIAOT. Not so much a word as it is an abbreviation. W-I-G-I-A-O-T. Where is God in all of this? This question that runs through our minds, especially in the difficult moments of life, confronts Elijah. The great prophet was told that the Lord would be passing b

Jesus’ latest journey begins in a boat. He hears about the death of John the Baptist, and seeks time to be alone. His travel soon leaves the water behind, and Jesus treks out into the desert. His disciples follow as they begin their travel by foot through the wilderness. But a huge change in plans is about to happen. The crowds learned of Jesus’ intended journey, and they follow him by foot into the desert. Now, the parallels with Israel’s Exodus become clear. Turning to the

Sometimes I want a new way to pray. Or sometimes I want another way to pray. And sometimes I do not really want to pray. And when I want something new or something more or something else, it seems that the scriptures for the celebration of the Mass have the answer. I search the Word, and I hear the voice of God. I search the Word and I hear the voices of God’s people. I search the Word and find the answer to the question that I did not even know that I was asking. I search th

Jesus often spoke in parables and metaphors, describing God, God’s action in the world, and our own journey of discipleship in images and words that engaged and challenged the imaginations of his listeners... and us. A metaphor is a figure of speech— a word or phrase that describes one kind of object in place of another kind of object, suggesting a likeness; a connection; a similarity. A pretty girl is like a melody. He has a heart like a stone. She’s as happy as a clam. They

The landscape of our childhood shapes us, in deep and often surprising ways. The exact color of green on the hillside, the way sunlight slants across the yard in winter, the very soil beneath our feet teaches us as profoundly as any textbook. I grew up in a land of red clay. Not brown soil. Not black dirt. Not ruddy hued earth, but Red. Red clay. Now, this was no timid soil, content to blend into the background or be taken for granted. No, this red menace

At this point in St. Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus offers a prayer to the Father giving thanks for revealing all things to the Son. After Jesus completes his fervent prayer, he turns to the crowd and his disciples and opens his most moving invitation. “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” Those who are worn down with the cares of the world—and even with the many laws of the Pharisees—are offered relief and rest. There are burdens that we bump i

If the Epistle Lesson sounds familiar this morning, it is because it should be. It is the same witness from St. Paul on Holy Baptism that was our Epistle reading at the Easter Vigil. At that Great Feast, this Scripture brought together the Paschal Mystery of the Lord and our own baptism into his death and resurrection. Our catechumens, the elect, were initiated into Christian life by their descent into the water and their rising up as new babes in Christ. They died to sin, St

As I get ready to leave this community to take up a new assignment, I have been reflecting on all of the events and people of the past fourteen years. In a special way, on this Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, I remember that day a fire destroyed our offices and seriously damaged the chapel and the old rectory. I remember arriving in the parking lot and seeing the fire trucks. I saw the mangled metal of the office doors. I saw the charred remains of the o

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. This passage is such Good News, that we might say, the whole of our faith is captured in that one solitary verse. It is truly Good News! But sometimes, the concrete reality of that Good News can seem mighty distant. Despite the overwhelming Good News that waits for us in God’s Word, in the Eucharist, in our community, in creation, we of

I really love the windows in this Church. I love the saints and the stories of the saints. I remember the details and the stories of the miraculous process that we went through to get the windows. I remember sitting in Church and watching the transformation the day that the windows were installed. And today, one detail on one saint in one window keeps my attention. It’s a flame, a tongue of fire. It is a reminder of the Upper Room and the tongues of fire that landed on the he

People of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?” Imagine the scene… the disciples are agonized-- overcome by the brutality of the crucifixion; haunted by their own betrayals, convicted by their weakness and fear, mourning the loss of their friend and teacher-- mourning the loss of their dreams. And then, suddenly, overwhelming joy and relief as Jesus walked through walls and held out his wounded hands to clasp. Everything shifted into clearer focus. Old ways

Where I live now, there really isn’t much of a market for “personal testimony” or Wednesday night altar calls. In fact, where I live now, religious testimony is about as welcome as an update on your cousin’s surgery or an invitation to a harmonica recital. But back home, when I was growing up, just about everyone I knew had a Christian testimony— a witness story to tell, and they told it, whether you really wanted to hear it, or not. And for me, It was “mostly not.” Where I g

There are some songs and hymns that were made for certain occasions. In fact, it would be an odd Midnight Mass in which we did not sing “Joy to the World” at Christmas. Then, too, on Easter morning, we do expect to sing “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.” But now we are well into the Great Fifty Days of Easter, and we turn to St. Peter’s letter to the new churches up in Asia Minor. It would be equally odd, given the focus of this epistle, not to sing: Christ is made the sure fo

After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, St. Matthew tells us, Mary “Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. What had been planned as a quick trip down to Jesus’ resting place, perhaps with some time there at the tomb for the kind of sadness and sharing of memories that happen at a funeral. But what they had not anticipated, in the least, was that their itinerary had already been permanently disrupted. Instead of some quiet time of tears and mem

Video homily youtube.com/watch?v=H-pZGDBT2ic&t=3s/

During Lent, one of my favorite practices of discipline is to give up my snooze button. I usually try to give up those extra 20 minutes of sleep, those precious 20 minutes broken up into five-minute naps. I love those five-minute naps, that opportunity to keep my eyes closed just a little longer. It’s the opportunity to stay in the dark just a little longer and not have to turn on those blinding lights that force me to get up and get on with the day. With or without the snooz

St. Matthew begins his account of the Transfiguration with a calendar note. “Six days later,” he starts off. (1) This means that we need to hold onto what took place six days earlier. Remember when Jesus led his disciples up to Caesarea Philippi and asked them “Who do you say that I am?” It is there that we hear Peter’s confession “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Then Jesus speaks of those images that will accrue to Peter because of this blessed knowledge: “

Homily in English and Spanish A friend of mine is a dietician. She is an expert in the treatment of eating disorders and other health issues often related to a person’s relationship with food. A few years ago, she mentioned to me some of the problems that many people experience when they hear about fasting from food during Lent. She cautioned me that while the practice of the Church, as expressed in official documents, are quite reasonable and healthy practices, many people w

The Word of God we hear today confronts us with a profound and awful truth: We are free, and our freedom matters. God says something that feels both terrifying and liberating: "I have placed before you fire and water; good and evil; life and death and you must stretch out your hand and choose." This choice is real. It is not manipulated, pre-ordained, or “given.” God does not place a thumb on the scale, load the dice, or throw a penalty flag before the play. Holiness is not f