• Gospel of a Shared Life

    Advent: Week Three (C); December 16, 2018 Zep 3:14-18a Ps/Is 12 Phil 4:4-7 Lk 3:10-18 Deacon Jim McFadden; St. John the Baptist C.C. What struck me about today’s Gospel was hearing that so many people from all walks of life and from the whole spectrum of social strata—tax collectors, soldiers, ordinary people—are flocking to hear…

    Continue reading →

  • Get Ready!

    Advent: Week Two (C); December 9, 2018 Bar 5:1-9   Ps 126   Phil 1:4-6,8-11 Lk 3:1-6 Deacon Jim McFadden; (New) Folsom Prison   After encountering the signs and wonders of the coming of Immanuel, Luke is going to call the community to a deeper level of conversion and surrender and he does this through the transitional…

    Continue reading →

  • There’s Something About Mary!

    Immaculate Conception of the BVM; 12-8-18 Gn 3:9-15   Ps 98   Eph 1:3-6 Lk 1:26-38 Deacon Jim McFadden; St. John the Baptist C.C.               In the beginning of the school year, we do a brief Introduction to Catholicism since many of our incoming Freshmen do not come from feeder Catholic schools.   When asked about major…

    Continue reading →

  • “Gotta Serve Somebody”

    The Solemnity of Christ the King (B); 11-25-18 Dn 7:13-14   Ps 93   Rv 1:5-8   Jn 18:33-37 Deacon Jim McFadden; (New) Folsom Prison   On the last Sunday of the liturgical year, we are celebrating the Solemnity of Christ the King. For us Americans, it’s not easy to comfortably ease into this feast because we don’t…

    Continue reading →

  • The Battle Is Waged On The Cross

    The Battle is Waged on the Cross 33rd Sunday in O.T. (B); November 18, 2018 Dn 12:1-3   Ps 16   Heb 10:11-14,18   Mk 13:24-32 Deacon Jim McFadden; (New) Folsom Prison & SJB               It’s that time of year again: skies are grey, days are getting short, leaves are changing their color and dropping to the…

    Continue reading →

  • Are There Values Worth Dying For?

    Veteran’s Day; 11-12-18 Titus 1:1-9   Ps 24   Luke 17:1-6 Deacon Jim McFadden; Historical Church at Folsom               Veteran’s Day is a good occasion to remind ourselves as to what is ultimately important. The men and women who either risked their lives or actually sacrificed them for the greater good had to come to terms…

    Continue reading →

  • Give All You’ve Got

    Give All You’ve Got! 32nd Sunday in O.T. (B); November 11, 2018 1 Kgs 17:10-16   Ps 146   Heb 9:24-28   Mk 12:38-44 Deacon Jim McFadden               If some roving reporter came up to our Lord today and asked, “Jesus from Nazareth: in one succinct sound-bite, what’s your message?” In response, he may have said, “My…

    Continue reading →

  • Love is Everything!

    31st Sunday in O.T. (B); November 4, 2018 Dt 6:2-6   Ps 18   Heb 7:23-28   Mk 12:28-24 Deacon Jim McFadden               The Talmud, an expansive body of ceremonial law and legend of the Jewish religion, records a story of a young gentile man who’s interested in converting to Judaism. He approaches Rabbi Shammai (a contemporary…

    Continue reading →

  • Communion of Saints–Me,Too?

    Feast of All Saints (B); November 1, 2018 Rev 7:2-4,9-14   Ps 24   1 Jn 3:1-3   Mt 5:1-12 Deacon Jim McFadden; St. Francis H.S./SJB                   French theologian Leon Bloy once wrote “The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in a life is not to become a saint.” Troubies, on the…

    Continue reading →

  • “I Want to See”

    30th Sunday in O.T. (B); October 28, 2018 Jer 31:7-9   Ps 126   Heb 5:1-6   Mk 10:46-52 Deacon Jim McFadden; (New) Folsom Prison               Today, we have the familiar story in the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, of Jesus healing the blind man, Bartimaeus. The eye is the organ of sight and this man simply…

    Continue reading →

homilies

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…

“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,…