listen!
2nd Sunday of Lent (A); March 1, 2026 Gen 12:1-4a. Ps 33. 2 Tim 1:8b-10. Mt 17:1-9 Deacon Jim McFadden Our magnificent first reading is a short passage from the beginning of the 12th chapter of the book of…
Category: Homilies
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Let’s Dance!
4th Sunday of Advent (C); 12-19-2021 Mi 5:1-4a. Ps 80. Heb 10:5-10. Lk 1:39-45 Deacon Jim McFadden The Old Testament foretells the Good News of salvation history which is fulfilled in the New Testament. It’s important to keep in mind that the Gospel writers did not write in a linear fashion, but more in…
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The Gospel of a Shared Life
Third Sunday of Advent (C); 12-12-2121 Zep 3:14-18a (Ps) Is 12. Phil 4:4-7. LK 3:10-18 Deacon Jim McFadden What struck me about the date of the Third Sunday of Advent is that when you read it from left-to-right or right-to-left, the sequence repeats itself, which is singularly unique on the calendar. But, what is…
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Waiting for Jesus
First Sunday of Advent (C); 11-28-2021 Jer 33:14-16. Ps 25. 1 Thes 3:12-4:2. Lk 21:25-28,34-36 Deacon Jim McFadden At the start of the new liturgical year, Advent begins, which prepares us for Christmas—inviting us to lift our gaze to Jesus and open our hearts to him so that he may be born within us…
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Do I Really Have to Convert?
Second Sunday of Advent (C); 12-05-2021 Bar 5:1-9. Ps 126. Phil 1:4-6,8-11. Lk 3:1-6 Deacon Jim McFadden After encountering the signs and wonders of the coming of Immanuel, Luke is going to call the community to a deeper level of conversion and surrender and he does this through the transitional figure of John the…
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“You’re gonna have to serve somebody”
The Solemnity of Christ the King (B); 11-21-2021 Dn 7:13-14. Ps 93. Rv 1:5-8. Jn 18:33-37 Deacon Jim McFadden On the last Sunday of the liturgical year, we are celebrating the Solemnity of Christ the King. For us Americans, it’s not easy to comfortably ease into this feast because we don’t particularly like kings…
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The Definitive Encounter with God
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time B); 11-14-2021 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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Let’s Be like the Poor Woman
32nd Sunday in O.T. (B); 11-07-2021 1 Kgs 17:10-16. Ps 146. Heb 9:24-28. Mk 12:38-44 Deacon Jim McFadden If some roving reporter came up to our Lord today and asked, “Jesus of Nazareth: in one succinct sound-bite, what’s your message?” In response, he may have said, “My message is my life.” Whoa, Jesus…
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Loyal Love
31st Sunday in O.T. B); 10-31-2021 Dt 6:2-6. Ps 18. Heb 7:23-28. Mk 12:28-24 Deacon Jim McFadden There is a legend contained in Talmud, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish ceremonial law, that records a fascinating story of a young gentile man who’s interested in converting to Judaism. …
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A Cry that Touches God’s Heart
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B); 10-24-2021 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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On the Road with Jesus
29th Sunday of O.T. (B); 10-17-2021 Is 53:10-11. Ps 33. Heb 9:14-16. Mk 10:35-45 Deacon Jim McFadden Jesus and his disciples are on the road. Since we are disciples of Jesus by virtue of our baptism, this setting is the Church’s journey as well: this road is about our life…about our entire history. Every…
homilies
Don’t Talk to the Divider!
1st Sunday of Lent (A); February 22, 2026 Gn 2:7-9, 3:1-7. Ps 51. Rom 5:12-19. Mt 4:1-11 Deacon Jim McFadden Each year, the Gospel of the 1st Sunday of Lent presents us with the narrative of Jesus in the…
Ash Wednesday: A Time for pruning
Jl 2:12-18. Ps 51. 2 Cor 5:20-6:2. Mt 6:1-6, 16-18 Deacon Jim McFadden People of God, we come once again, to that great season of Lent, which is a great opportunity to prune away falseness, superficiality, and indifference to…
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