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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A Servant’s Heart
A Servant’s Heart 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B); 10-21-18 Is 53:10-11; Ps 33; Heb 3:14-16; Mk 10:35-45 Deacon Jim McFadden; St. John the Baptist CC. If you look at exercise video ads, the sell typically looks like this: work hard, sweat a lot (i.e., suffer), and the prize you get is a…
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The Glance of Christ
28th Sunday in O.T.; October 14, 2018 Wis 7:7-11 Ps 90 Heb 4:12-13 Mk 10:17-30 Deacon Jim McFadden; St. John the Baptist C.C. Have you ever been in a room full of people and suddenly your eyes meet the eyes of another person, and you’re a little embarrassed—you want to go over to the…
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We’re Not Meant To Be Alone
27th Sunday in O.T. (B); October 7, 2018 Gn 2:18-24 Ps 128 Heb 2:9-11 Mk 10:2-16 Deacon Jim McFadden During the ‘60s, the rock group Three Dog Night, had a pop-hit, One is the Loneliest Number, that addresses the pain associated with isolation. That’s why solitary confinement in maximum security prisons is so soul-deadening…
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Let’s Get Serious!
26th Sunday in O.T.; Sept. 30, 2018 Num 11:25-29 Ps 19 Jas 5:1-6 Mk 9: 38-43, 45, 47-48 Deacon Jim McFadden; (New) Folsom Prison; SJB In 2010 there was a film, 127 Hours, starring James Franco, about the outdoorsman Aron Ralston who fell into a crevice while on a canyoneering venture in southeastern…
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Following Jesus Is Not Easy
Following Jesus Is Not Easy 24th Sunday In O.T.; September 16, 2018 Is 50:5-9a Ps 116 Jas 2:14-18 Mk 8:27-35 Deacon Jim McFadden; St. John the Baptist C.C. Today’s Gospel presents us with a scene we know well: Jesus is on his way towards Caesarea Philippi and he asks the disciples: “Who do…
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Ephphatha!
23rd Sunday in O.T. (B); September 9, 2018 Is 35:4-7a Ps 146 Jas 2:1-5 Mk 7:31-37 Deacon Jim McFadden; (New) Folsom Prison In this week’s Gospel, taken from Mark, we have Jesus healing a deaf man who also has a speech impediment. As always, we have to look at the surface, literal description…
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What Makes a Good Christian?
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time; Sept. 2, 2018 Dt 4:1-2,6-8 Ps 15 Jas 1:17-18,21b-22,27 Mk 7:1-8,14-15,21-23 Deacon Jim McFadden; St. John the Baptist C.C. One of the great tensions in the spiritual life is between observing the Law and abiding by the Law of Love. Are we a religion of the Law with…
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The Real Presence
21st Sunday in O.T. (B); August 26, 2018 Jos 24:1-2a,15-17b,18b Ps 34 Eph 5:21-32 Jn 6:60-69 Deacon Jim McFadden Today, we come to the end of that extraordinary Eucharistic discourse, which has been our focus for the last several weeks. Jesus is speaking at the Capernaum synagogue and his speech is the most remarkable…
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The Eucharist: The Way and the End
19th Sunday in O.T. (B); August 12, 2018 1 Kgs 19:4-8 Ps 34 Eph 4:30-5:2 Jn 6:41-51 Deacon Jim McFadden; (New) Folsom Prison Homer’s Odyssey…Herman Melville’s Moby Dick…Jack Kerouac’s On The Road—all have something in common: as the main characters make their way through their respective narrative, they point to the journey of life…
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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