The cross is the way home
The Cross is the Way Home 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); August 30, 2026 Jer 20:7-9. Ps 63. Rom 12:1-2. Mt 16:21-27 Deacon Jim McFadden After establishing Peter as the rock of his Church, Jesus then begins to speak…
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The cross is the way home
The Cross is the Way Home 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); August 30, 2026 Jer 20:7-9. Ps 63. Rom 12:1-2. Mt 16:21-27 Deacon Jim McFadden After establishing Peter as the rock of his Church, Jesus then begins to speak to his disciples about his Passion. Along the path to Jerusalem , he openly explains…
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“Who Do You say that i am?”
21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); August 23, 2026 Is 22:19-23. Ps 138. Rom 11:33-36. Mt 16:13-20 Deacon Jim McFadden Midway through his public ministry, Jesus ventured with his disciples to the northern reaches of the Promised Land, to the region of Caesarea-Philippi, near the present-day Golan Heights, and there he poses a most basic…
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“Lord, Help Me”
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); August 16, 2026 Is 56:1,6-7. Ps 67. Rom 11:13-15,29-32. Mt 15:21-28 Deacon Jim McFadden Today’s Gospel (Mt 15:21-28) presents us with a unique example of faith in Jesus’s encounter with a Canaanite woman, a foreigner to the Jews. The scene unfolds as Jesus leaves God’s own holy land…
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“Come to the quiet”
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time; August 9, 2026 1 Kgs 19:9-13a. Ps 85. Rom 9:1-5. Mt 14:22-33 Deacon Jim McFadden 46 years ago John Michael Talbot released a remarkable faith-filled album, Come to the Quiet, which was a collection of serene meditations, focusing primarily on the Psalms, one of which was Psalm 131. We…
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Do I Feel Compassion or Do I Look Away?
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); August 2, 2026 Is 55:1-3. Ps 145. Rom 8:35,37-39. Mt 14:13-21 Deacon Jim McFadden This Sunday’s Gospel presents us the miracle of multiplication of the loaves and fishes. The account illustrates two opposite ways of thinking and behaving: namely, do I have compassion for others or do I…
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just one thing
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); July 26, 2026 1 Kgs 3:5,7-12. Ps 119. Rom 8:28-30. Mt 13:44-52 Deacon Jim McFadden The Christian existentialist Soren Kierkegaard once said, “The saint’s life is about one thing.” The Dane didn’t mean that a saint’s life would be a monotonous existence—a “been there, done that” type of…
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the problem of evil
Weeds Among the Wheat 16th Sunday in O.T. (A); July 19, 2026 Wis 12:13,16-19 Ps 86 Rom 8:26-27 Mt 13:24-43 Deacon Jim McFadden The parable of the weeds among the wheat continues Jesus use of parables to announce the Kingdom of God to the crowds. Among those in today’s Gospel, there is a rather…
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Jesus is the sower; we’re the soil
Jesus is the Sower; We’re the Soil 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); July 12, 2026 Is 55:10-11. Ps 65. Rom 8:18-23. Mt 13:1-23 Deacon Jim McFadden Today’s Gospel is about the parable of the Sower, which has been painted by a number of artists, most notably Vincent Van Gogh. As you reflect upon…
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The Father has revealed hidden things to babes
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); July 5, 2026 Zec 9:9-10. Ps 145. Rom 8:9-13. Mt 11:25-30 Deacon Jim McFadden In today’s Gospel Jesus is addressing his Father and, in so doing, is offering us the view of the inner life of God and he is inviting us to share in this eternal and…
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there’s no true love without the cross
There’s No True Love Without The Cross 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); June 28, 2026 2 Kgs 4:8-11, 14-16a. Ps 89. Rom 6:3-4,8-11. Mt 10:37-42 Deacon Jim McFadden John the Evangelist began his Gospel by proclaiming the Word of God became Flesh in Jesus, which means Jesus is divine. The first line in Mark’s…
homilies
“Who Do You say that i am?”
21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); August 23, 2026 Is 22:19-23. Ps 138. Rom 11:33-36. Mt 16:13-20 Deacon Jim McFadden Midway through his public ministry, Jesus ventured with his disciples to the northern reaches of the Promised Land, to the…
“Lord, Help Me”
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); August 16, 2026 Is 56:1,6-7. Ps 67. Rom 11:13-15,29-32. Mt 15:21-28 Deacon Jim McFadden Today’s Gospel (Mt 15:21-28) presents us with a unique example of faith in Jesus’s encounter with a Canaanite woman,…
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