Month: October 2021

Seeing the Image of God

“’Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone!’”

10/31/2021 Homily
What do you want?

Last week, Jesus addressed that question to James and John who wanted places of honor in God’s kingdom. Today, he addresses it to a blind man…and to us.

10/24/2021 Homily
What Makes a Christian?

For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

10/17/2021 Homily
Passing through the Eye of a Needle

Scripture Reading Jesus drives a hard bargain. In today’s gospel, we find a man who apparently had it all: he was young, he was enthusiastic, he was spiritual, he was […]

10/10/2021 Homily
When’s a Marriage Not a Marriage?

In his private talk with his disciples, Jesus is quoted as being more forthright. He calls divorce and remarriage adultery. At the same time, this stance contradicts our nearly universal human experience. Can we resolve this contradiction? Obviously, Jesus is appealing to an ideal of marriage. We have to ask, is every committed union of two people—even a solemnized commitment—a real marriage? What is a marriage, anyway?

10/03/2021 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.