Don’t Talk to the Divider!
1st Sunday of Lent (A); February 22, 2026 Gn 2:7-9, 3:1-7. Ps 51. Rom 5:12-19. Mt 4:1-11 Deacon Jim McFadden Each year, the Gospel of the 1st Sunday of Lent presents us with the narrative of Jesus in the…
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addicted to honor
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); August 31, 2025 Sir 3:17-18, 20,28-29. Ps 68. Heb 12:18-19,22-24a. Lk 14:1.7-14 Deacon Jim McFadden At the mid-point of the ‘90s blockbuster film Titanic, the Leonardo DiCaprio character, spread-eagled with his arms extended on the stern of the ship, boasts loudly, “I am the King of the World!”…
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Jeremiah and Jesus: Cause for Division
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); August 17, 2025 Jer 38:4-6,8-10. Ps 40 Heb 12:1-4. Lk 12:49-53 Deacon Jim McFadden In today’s first reading Jeremiah is in the middle of a national crisis, political power plays, and civic turmoil. (I know, somethings just don’t change.) Jeremiah has incurred the animosity of those in power…
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Fear not and be Vigilant!
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); August 10, 2025 Wis 18:6-9. Ps 33. Heb 11:1-2,8-19. Lk 12:32-48 Deacon Jim McFadden Many of our Gospel readings this summer have been about the Call to Discipleship, which necessarily flows from our Baptism. Today’s passage notes that once we’ve made the transition from the Ego-drama (my…
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Greed is not good!
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); August 3, 2025 Eccl 1:2; 2:21-23. Ps 95. Col 3:1-5,9-11. Lk 12:13-21 Deacon Jim McFadden Twenty years ago Oliver Stone directed the movie Wall Street (2005) in which the main character Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, intoned the famous line “Greed is good!” as he was immersed…
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Jesus is Present in a New Way
The Ascension of the Lord; June 1, 2025 Acts 1:1-11. Ps 47. Eph 1:17-23. Lk 24:46-53 Deacon Jim McFadden Today we are celebrating the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven, which occurred 40 days after the Resurrection and is the culmination of the Easter season in which Jesus is “lifted up” to full participation in…
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Holiness is always “original”
5th Sunday of Easter (C); May 18, 2025 Acts 14:21-27. Ps 145. Rv 21:1-5. Jn 13:31-35 Deacon Jim McFadden A former teaching colleague of mine, a consecrated religious, had a sign in her classroom which blasted: “If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” That raises…
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The True Shepherd Who Always Stays With Us
Fourth Sunday of Easter (C); May 11, 2025 Acts 13:14,43-52. Ps 100. Rv 7:9,14b-17. Jn 10:27-30 Deacon Jim McFadden In today’s Gospel from John, our Lord Jesus is presented to us as the true shepherd of the People of God. As such, the relationship that binds Jesus to us, the sheep of his flock,…
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“Do You Love Me?”
3rd Sunday of Easter (C); May 4, 2025 Acts 5:27-32,40b-41. Ps 30. Rv 5:11-14. Jn 21:1-19 Deacon Jim McFadden We continue to read from the pages of John’s Gospel which recounts the third time the Risen Christ appears to the Apostles. It is a meeting that takes place in the Sea of Tiberius (aka…
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The Source of our Joy
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Overcoming Fear Leads to Mission
Divine Mercy Sunday (C); April 26, 2025 Acts 5:12-16 Ps 118 Rv 1:9-13,17-19. Jn 20:19-31 Deacon Jim McFadden Jesus is Risen! What a joy to proclaim this wonderful message—one that is the ultimate “game changer”! The Resurrection is THE pivotal moment in all of Salvation History. Everything has changed; everything is relative to this…
homilies
Ash Wednesday: A Time for pruning
Jl 2:12-18. Ps 51. 2 Cor 5:20-6:2. Mt 6:1-6, 16-18 Deacon Jim McFadden People of God, we come once again, to that great season of Lent, which is a great opportunity to prune away falseness, superficiality, and indifference to…
Respect a Person’s Dignity!
6th Sunday of Ordinary Time (A); February 15, 2026 Sir 15:15-20. Ps 119. 1 Cor 2:6-10. Mt 5:17-37 Deacon Jim McFadden It can begin with the smallest gesture: an interested glance across a classroom, the brushing of a hand,…
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