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…

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!”…

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…

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…

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…

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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…