Month: February 2021

Second Sunday of Lent

In the Lenten Series on this past Wednesday evening, I talked a little bit about the Satan – the prosecuting attorney in Hebrew. Like Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, this being […]

02/28/2021 Homily
First Sunday of Lent

“The reign of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel.” That’s the meaning of this Lenten season. It’s simple. Or is it? The meaning of the Scriptures is […]

02/21/2021 Homily
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Why do we care about this nameless leper? After all, the gospels tell us that Jesus cured many people — perhaps hundreds — over the years of his ministry. Of […]

02/14/2021 Homily
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Let’s talk about healing this morning. In Mark’s gospel, Jesus comes to Simon and Andrew’s home where Simon’s mother-in-law is sick with a fever — and he cures her. In […]

02/08/2021 Homily
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“What have you to do with us, you who are reading this? I know who you are — a Holy One of God!” How does that make you feel when […]

02/08/2021 Homily

Reversing Course

May we ever confess to the glory of God the Father, Jesus Christ is Lord.
Is Your Eye Evil?

God doesn’t operate within a merit economy where everyone gets exactly what’s due them. God operates within a grace economy, where everyone receives not only what’s due, but more. The question was never whether the landowner was fair. The question is: is your eye evil because he is good?
Compassion, Love, and Mercy

The debt forgiven was billions; the debt refused was thousands. Jesus’s parable isn’t only about an ungrateful servant — it’s about compassion received and compassion withheld. Failures in compassion are, in the end, failures in gratitude. And the torturers we’re handed over to wear our own face.
Sin and Punishment

Punishment purchases compliance at the cost of resentment. It cannot bring about metanoia. Before we confront someone’s wrong, we have to ask: does it need to be said? Does it need to be said by me? Does it need to be said now? Correction, rightly practiced, seeks conversion, not vengeance.
The Fundamental Option

Give in to the voice that says you’re too weak, not good enough, settle for the easier way — or take up your cross and go through your fears into the life of the Spirit. Karl Rahner called it the fundamental option. For all of us, the choice is the same: death or life. Choose life.
Living with Uncertainty

Peter confesses, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” — but did he even understand what he was saying? Between Shebna and Eliakim, between Pan and Yahweh, between the good popes and the self-serving ones, Scripture keeps handing us dichotomy rather than clarity. Growth doesn’t come from certainty, but from the willingness to sit with what we don’t fully understand.