• The Incarnation and The Eucharist

    20th Sunday of O.T. (B); August 18, 2024 Prv 9:1-6 Ps 34 Eph 5:15-20 Jn 6:51-58 Deacon Jim McFadden  Today’s Gospel (Jn 6:51-58) is in many ways the climax of the discourse given by Jesus in the synagogue of Capernaum after he had fed thousands of people with the five loaves and two fishes the

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  • Encounter and Transformation

    19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B); August 11, 2024 1 Kgs 19:4-8.  Ps 34.  Eph 4:30-5:2.  Jn 6:41-51 Deacon Jim McFadden        God is always present, always available which we’re reminded in Deuteronomy 4: “For what great nation is there that has gods to close to it as the Lord, our God, is to us

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  • Why Do We Seek Jesus?

    18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B); August 4, 2024 Ex 16:2-4,12-15.  Ps 78.  Eph 4:17,20-24.  Jn 6:24:35 Deacon Jim McFadden        This Sunday we continue our reflection on the 6th chapter of John’s gospel.  After the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, the people went in search of Jesus.  At first blush, that seems like

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  • Grace Overflows

    17th Sunday in O.T. (B); July 28, 2024 2 Kgs 4:42-44.  Ps 145.  Eph 4:1-6.  Jn 6:1-15 Deacon Jim McFadden             In early June we celebrated Corpus Christi Sunday—The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.  The Church re-visits the meaning of the Holy Mass and the Eucharist by re-reading the sixth chapter of John’s

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  • Jesus: the Compassionate Redeemer

    16th Sunday in O.T. (B); July 21, 2024 Jer 23:1-6.  Ps 23.  Eph 2:13-18.  Mk 6:30-34 Deacon Jim McFadden             Mark’s gospel, the first written during the reign of Emperor Nero, is the shortest of all the Gospel accounts consisting of just 16 chapters.  There is very little teaching like we see in Matthew’s gospel

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  • Messengers of the Kingdom of God

    15th Sunday of Ordinary Time (B); July 14, 2024 Am 7:12-15.  Ps 85.  Eph 1:3-15.  Mk 6:7-13 Deacon Jim McFadden        When medical students graduate, they just don’t’ start practicing medicine, but they’ve got to go through a rigorous internship in which they get to practice the knowledge they acquired in medical school and apply

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  • Familiarity Breeds Contempt

    14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B); July 7, 2024 Ez 2:2-5.  Ps 123.  2 Cor 12:7-10.  Mk 6:1-6a Deacon Jim McFadden             One of Mark Twain’s memorable lines was “Familiarity breeds contempt…and children.”  While we know a lot about the process by which familiarity produces children, we’re a lot less informed how it produces contempt.

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  • Jesus is the Wellspring of Life

    13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B); 6-30-2024 Wis 1:13-15,2:23-24.  Ps 30.  2 Cor 8:7,9,13-15.  Mk 5:21-43 Deacon Jim McFadden             Today’s Gospel from Mark presents a beautifully crafted narrative, involving two miracles performed by Jesus, describing them as a march towards life.  Initially the Evangelist speaks about a certain Jarius, the leader of the local

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  • To Weather the Storm

    12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B); June 23, 2024 Job 38:1,8-11.  Ps 107.  2 Cor 5:14-17.  Mk 4:35-41 Deacon Jim McFadden          There is a problem-solving stratagem that is often used by corporate America, educational institutions, etc. to ameliorate corporate problems, first by  describing them, analyzing  how they got embedded in the culture,  and what

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  • Do We Walk by Faith?

    11th Sunday of O.T. (B); June 16th, 2024 Ez 17:22-24.  Ps 92.  2 Cor 5:6-10.  Mk 4:26-34 Deacon Jim McFadden          The recent storm that hit Houston left thousands of residents without power underscored that we live in a world where more and more of our devices require charging and concomitantly we have become so

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homilies

The Holy Family Were Refugees

The  Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph; 12-28-2025 Sir 3:2-6.  Ps 128.  Col 3:12-21.  Mt 2:13-15, 19-21 Deacon Jim McFadden        On this first Sunday after Christmas, the Liturgy invites us to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family…

a God who gathers

Christmas (A)  ; 12-25-2025 Is 52:1-7.  Ps 97.  Heb 1:1-6 .  Jn 1:1-18 Deacon Jim McFadden          Christmas celebrates God’s overwhelming desire to be united with us.  Sometimes we wonder, why does he bother?  He’s perfect—he doesn’t need anything since…

History is Going Somewhere and it rhymes

4th Sunday of Advent (A); December 21, 2025 Is 7:10-14.  Ps 24.  Rom 1:1-7.  Mt 1:18-24 Deacon Jim McFadden             As we enter into the 4th Sunday of Advent, let us remember that salvation history has a trajectory which comes…