Category: Homilies

  • “Master, to whom shall we go?

    21st Sunday in O.T. (B); August 25, 2024 Jos 24:1-2a,15-17b,18b.  Ps 34.  Eph 5:21-32.  Jn 6:60-69 Deacon Jim McFadden             Today, we bring to closure our extraordinary Eucharistic discourse, which has been our focus for the last several weeks as we’ve pondered the precious revelation of the sixth chapter of John’s gospel.  Previously, Jesus had…

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  • 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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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,…