• No Half Measures

    2nd Sunday of Advent (C); December 8, 2024 Bar 5:1-9.  Ps 126.  Phil 1:4-6,8-11.  Lk 3:1-6 Deacon Jim McFadden             The beginning of Luke’s gospel chapter 3 seems a bit pedestrian.  As we plow through all the details of rulers and their territories, we feel a bit impatient with all this historical detail.    If Luke…

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  • The Lord is Coming!

    1st Sunday of Advent (C); December 1, 2024 Jer 33:14-16.  Ps 25.  1 Thes 3:12-4:2.  Lk 21:25-28,34-36 Deacon Jim McFadden        There is much anticipation in the air.  At the start of a new liturgical year, Advent begins as we eagerly await the Christ child among us and all the blessings and transformations that this…

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  • Who Are You Going To Serve?

    The Solemnity of Christ the King (B); 11-24-2024 Dn 7:13-14.  Ps 93.  Rv 1:5-8.  Jn 18:33-37 Deacon Jim McFadden             The last Sunday of the Liturgical Year ends with the affirmation by Jesus who says, “I am a king” (Jn 18:37).  He utters these words in front of Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator of Palestine,…

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  • The Definitive Encounter with God

    33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B); 11-17-2024 Dn 12:1-3.  Ps 16.  Heb 10:11-14,18.  Mk 13:24-32 Deacon Jim McFadden          Many decades ago as a graduate student at Tulane University in New Orleans, I was out for an evening jog in the grassy area near the dorms.  Behind me, I hear this abrupt command: “Stop where…

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  • The Poor Widow Gave Everything She Has

    32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) November 10, 2024 1 Kgs 17:10-16.  Ps 146.  Heb 9:24-28.  Mk 12:38-44 Deacon Jim McFadden             The scene in today’s Gospel takes place inside the Temple of Jerusalem, where Jesus is looking at what’s happening in this most sacred place in Judaism, where heaven and earth are supposed to…

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  • The Word of the Lord Must Resonate within Us

    31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (B); November 3, 2024 Dt 6:2-6.  Ps 18.  Heb 7:23-28.  Mk 12:28-34 Deacon Jim McFadden        Mark’s gospel, the first written  in the mid-60s,  is the shortest of the four gospels consisting of only 16 chapters and is one of breath-taking action after another.   As such, not a word, sentence,…

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  • A Cry that Touches God’s Heart

    30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B); 10-27-2024 Jer 31:7-9.  Ps 126.  Heb 5:1-6.  Mk 10:46-52 Deacon Jim McFadden             Today, we have the familiar story in the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, of Jesus healing the blind man, Bartimaeus.  The eye is the organ of sight and this man simply can’t see, which causes him…

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  • Is Life about Jesus or about Ourselves?

    29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B); October 20, 2024 Is 53:10-11.  Ps 33.  Heb 9:14-16.  Mk 10:35-45 Deacon Jim McFadden             The Gospel for today’s Holy Mass (Mk 10:35-45) narrates that two disciples, James and John, ask the Lord to one day sit beside him in glory as if they were key figures of his…

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  • Faith arises from a gaze of love

    28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B); October 13, 2024 Wis 7:7-11.  Ps 90.  Heb 4:12-13.  Mk 10:17-30 Deacon Jim McFadden        Today’s Holy Mass offers us the encounter of Jesus and the man who “had many possessions” (Mk 10:22) and he goes down in history as “the rich young man.”  Interestingly, we do not know…

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  • A Family Affair

    27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B); October 6, 2024 Gn 2:18-24.  Ps 128.  Heb 2:9-11.  Mk 10:2-16 Deacon Jim McFadden        Today’s readings offer reflections on humanity’s unitive  relationship with God, one another, and the created order—all of which obtain in the Holy Mass:  we are meant to be together!  The readings also show an…

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homilies

the center cannot hold without god

The Most Holy Trinity (A); May 31, 2026 Ex 34:4-9.   Dn 3:52-5.    Cor 13:11-13.    Jn 3:16-18 Deacon Jim McFadden          For the last several years, our country has been going through a period of chaos,  turmoil, disruption, and tearing apart. …

Mary, Mother of the Church

Monday after Pentecost Gen 3:9-15,20.  Ps 87.  Jn 19:25-34 Deacon Jim McFadden          As Vatican II was coming to a close, St. Pope Paul VI bestowed upon Mary the title of Mother of the Church, which is celebrated on the…

the other guy

Pentecost Sunday (A); May 24, 2026 Acts 2:1-11.  Ps 104.  1 Cor 12:3-7,12-13.  Jn 20:19-23 Deacon Jim McFadden        When I was a boy in the very distant past,  the 3rd Person of the Trinity was referred to as the…