God proposes: he doesn’t impose
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); October 11, 2026 Is 25:6-10a. Ps 23. Phil 4:12-20. Mt 22:1-14 Deacon Jim McFadden The parable we hear in today’s Gospel tells us a lot about the Kingdom of God, which is likened…
Category: Homilies
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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…
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why did the father permit the crucifixion?
The Exaltation of the Cross; September 14, 2025 Nm 21:4b-9. Ps 78. Phil 2:6-11. Jn 3:131-7 Deacon Jim McFadden In 1988 there was a beautifully crafted drama film about twin brothers, Dominick and Eugene. Dominick played by Tom Hulce just off his sterling performance in Amadeus, has an intellectual disability due to an accident…
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A slap in the face
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); Sept. 7, 2025 Wis 9:13-18b. Ps 90. Phlm 9:10,12-17. Lk 14:25-33 Deacon Jim McFadden This Sunday’s Gospel from Luke is really hard to take. Jesus—the one we associate with love fully incarnate—is telling the crowd, is telling us, that we must hate people. Not just anyone, but our…
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Holiness is always “original”
5th Sunday of Easter (C); May 18, 2025 Acts 14:21-27. Ps 145. Rv 21:1-5. Jn 13:31-35 Deacon Jim McFadden A former teaching colleague of mine, a consecrated religious, had a sign in her classroom which blasted: “If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” That raises…
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The True Shepherd Who Always Stays With Us
Fourth Sunday of Easter (C); May 11, 2025 Acts 13:14,43-52. Ps 100. Rv 7:9,14b-17. Jn 10:27-30 Deacon Jim McFadden In today’s Gospel from John, our Lord Jesus is presented to us as the true shepherd of the People of God. As such, the relationship that binds Jesus to us, the sheep of his flock,…
homilies
The wicked tenants: Ungrateful and greedy
27th Sunday of Ordinary Time (A); October 4, 2026 Is 5:1-7. Ps 80. Phil 4:6-9. Mt 21:33-43 Deacon Jim McFadden The parable about the mismanagement of the vineyard tells us a lot about the Kingdom of God, the choices we…
the road home
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); September 27, 2026 Ez 18:25-28. Ps 25. Phil 2:1-11. Mt 21:28-3 Deacon Jim McFadden In a past issue of the Catholic Herald (September/October 2020), the newsmagazine for the Diocese of Sacramento, there is a…
