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…
Category: Homilies
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John the Baptist Doesn’t put up with duplicity
2nd Sunday of Advent (A); December 7, 2025 Is 11:1-10. Ps 72. Rom 15:4-9. Mt 3:1-12 Deacon Jim McFadden On the second Sunday of Advent, Matthew calls us to encounter the intriguing figure of John the Baptist, a gritty, down-to-earth, ‘in your face’ prophet. The text says that John “wore a garment of camel’s…
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“Turn your swords into plowshares
1st Sunday of Advent (A); November 30, 2025 Is 2:1-5. Ps 122. Rom 13:11-14. Mt 24:37-44 Deacon Jim McFadden The first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of our preparation for the celebration of Christmas. Today’s readings offer us a vision, which suggests that Advent is a time of hope and challenges. This vision…
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My own special possession
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); November 16, 2025 Mal 3:19-20a. Ps 998. 2 Thes 3:7-12. Lk 21:5-19 Deacon Jim McFadden “And they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, my own special possession…and I will have compassion on them” (Mal 3:17): these words come to us from the last page of the…
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why be catholic?
The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica; 11-09-2025 Ez 47:1-2,8-9,12. Ps 46. 1 Cor 3:9c-11,161-7. Jn 2:13-22 Deacon Jim McFadden Today we celebrate the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, which was dedicated by Pope St. Sylvester in 324 who was the 33rd pontiff (314-335). Sylvester honored the episcopal seat of the pope as the bishop…
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“He beat his breast”
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); October 26, 2025 Sir 35:12-14,16-18. Ps 34. 2 Tm 4:6-8; Lk 18:9-14 Deacon Jim McFadden The Old Testament passage from Sirach 35 in our first reading summarizes the recurrent biblical conviction that God gives special consideration to the prayers of the oppressed and needy and those who seem…
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Pray always and stick with it!
Ex 17:8-13. Ps 121. 2 Tm 3:14-4:2. Lk 18:1-8 Deacon Jim McFadden Today’s Gospel concludes with a troubling question that Jesus poses to us: “…when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (LK 18:8b). While Jesus is referring to the 2nd Coming, he’s also saying to us right here, right…
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Just say “thank you”
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); October 12, 2025 2 Kgs 5:14-17. Ps 987. 2 Tim 2:8-13. Lk 17:11-19 Deacon Jim McFadden Someone once said that “By the time you turn 75 years of age, the only words that should come out of your mouth is “thank you!” Being over that age group, I’d…
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waiting in the silence
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); October 5, 2025 Hb 1:2-3; 2:3-4. Ps 95. 2 Tm 1:6-8,13-14. Lk 17:5-10 Deacon Jim McFadden The prophetHabakkuk is having a really bad day. His life and that of is historical situation is falling apart with political intrigue, rampant idolatry that once again had engulfed the small kingdom…
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Who is on your doorstep?
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); September 28, 2025 Am 6:1a,4-7. Ps 146. 1 Tm 6:11-16. Lk 16:19-31 Deacon Jim McFadden Today’s Responsorial Psalm reminds us that God, “the maker of heaven and earth,” upholds the anawim, Old Testament code for the stranger, the widow, and the orphan—the most marginalized in a kinfolk society. …
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what’s your plan?
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); September 21, 2025 Am 8:4-7. Ps 113. 1 Tm 2:1-8. Lk 16:1-13 Deacon Jim McFadden The parable in this Sunday’s Gospel is about a shrewd, dishonest steward, who was charged to watch after his master’s goods, but instead ripped him off by squandering his property. He is about…
homilies
“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,…
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