• Love Your Enemies…in Prison?

    7th Sunday in O.T. (A); February 23, 2014 Lv 19:1-2, 17-18; Ps 103; 1 Cor 3:16-23; Mt 5:38-48 Deacon Jim McFadden; Folsom Prison            Last Sunday we reflected upon Jesus’ challenge not to seek revenge upon those who have hurt us.  Today, he goes further by calling us to love our enemies.  How can…

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  • Pax et Bonum: Slogan or Challenge?

    Pax et Bonum Mass; January 29, 2013 (A) 2 Sm 7: 4-17   Ps 89   Mk 4:1-20 Deacon Jim McFadden; St. Francis High School   Pax et Bonum is the traditional Franciscan welcome and goodbye that our patron saint, Francis of Assisi, favored.  He often began and ended his sermons and letters with this powerful statement. …

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  • Keepin an Eye out for Turtles & Troubies

    Friday of the First Week of Advent; 12-6-13 Isaiah 29:17-24   Ps 27   Matthew 9:27-31                             Deacon Jim McFadden; St. Francis High Scho0l             In her Advent & Christmas daily reflections, Joy Cormier references Nora Gallagher’s The Sacred Meal which tells the story of a newbie bishop, who began his ministry…

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  • Catholic Trends–Winter, 2013

                  Pope Francis debunks ‘trickle down’ economics, plutocracy, and the idolatry of money. Our Holy Father’s first Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, is going to be challenging reading for Catholics on both the right and the left—two groups he wishes to bring together: melding ‘right to life’ concerns with the left’s advocacy of  social justice. …

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  • All Saints: “We Are Family–in Jesus!”

    All Saints (C);  November 1, 2013 Rv 72-4,9-14  Ps 24  1 Jn 3:1-3  Mt 5:-1-12a Deacon Jim McFadden; St. Francis High School            Riffing off of Sister Sledge, We Are Family—the community of St. Francis High School.   But,  as we gather in worship,  we know that we are part of a greater family: the…

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  • Catholic Educator as Formator

                 Cardinal Roger Mahoney of Los Angeles once said, “It is not so much that the Church has a mission; it is rather more that the mission has a Church.”  What is the mission of the Church?  According to Lumen Gentium (The Dogmatic Constitution of the Church), the mission is to be a…

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  • The Cost of Discipleship

    23rd Sunday in O.T. (C); September 8, 2013 Wis 9:13-18b   Ps 90   Phlm 9-10,12-17   Lk 14:25-33 Deacon Jim McFadden; Divine Savior Catholic Church Luke tells us that great crowds were following Jesus; he was a very popular man, a fascinating figure.  If Jesus were physically with us today, he’d be all over the Internet, the…

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  • Catholic Trends–Fall (2013)

    Catholic Trends—Fall 2013   Mission & Vision key to parish giving.  For the past fifty years, studies on charitable giving have consistently shown that  American Catholics are the least likely than the rest of the population to report giving 10% or more of their income as voluntary contributions, and are less likely to report donating…

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  • Jesus: A Cause for Division

    20th Sunday in O.T. (C); August 18, 2013 Jer 38:4-6,8-10     Ps 40     Heb 12:1-4     Lk 12:49-53 Deacon Jim McFadden; Folsom Prison               In today’s first reading Jeremiah is in the middle of a national crisis, political power plays, and civic turmoil.  Jeremiah, speaking in God’s name, advocates that the people surrender to the their…

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  • Christian Life is about Following Jesus!

    Solemnity of the Assumption/Welcome School Mass Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a,10ab    Ps 45      1Cor 15:20-27      Lk 1:39-56 Deacon Jim McFadden; St. Francis High School               How appropriate that our Welcome School Mass occurs on the wonderful  celebration of the Assumption, which honors the Blessed Virgin Mary’s role in salvation history.  In Mary’s Assumption into heaven, body…

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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,…