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…

21 st Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); August 24, 2025Is 66:18-21. Ps 117. Heb 12:5-7,11-13. Lk 13:22-30 Deacon Jim McFadden Nearly 20 years ago an inmate at Folsom Prison approached me and said, “Deacon, I came across a number in Scripture that says only 150,000 people are going to be saved. If that’s so, I…

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); August 3, 2025 Eccl 1:2; 2:21-23. Ps 95. Col 3:1-5,9-11. Lk 12:13-21 Deacon Jim McFadden Twenty years ago Oliver Stone directed the movie Wall Street (2005) in which the main character Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, intoned the famous line “Greed is good!” as he was immersed…

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); 7-27-2025 Gn 18:20-32. Ps 138. Col 2:12-14. Lk 11:1-13 Deacon Jim McFadden The Our Father is probably the prayer most often prayed throughout the world. Within the Catholic Church, it is prayed twice during the Liturgy of the Hours—at Lauds and Vespers—which doesn’t include being recited at Holy…

The Ascension of the Lord; June 1, 2025 Acts 1:1-11. Ps 47. Eph 1:17-23. Lk 24:46-53 Deacon Jim McFadden Today we are celebrating the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven, which occurred 40 days after the Resurrection and is the culmination of the Easter season in which Jesus is “lifted up” to full participation in…
Divine Mercy Sunday (C); April 26, 2025 Acts 5:12-16 Ps 118 Rv 1:9-13,17-19. Jn 20:19-31 Deacon Jim McFadden Jesus is Risen! What a joy to proclaim this wonderful message—one that is the ultimate “game changer”! The Resurrection is THE pivotal moment in all of Salvation History. Everything has changed; everything is relative to this…
5th Sunday of Lent (A); April 6, 2025 Ex 37:12-14. Ps 130. Rom 8:8-11. Jn 11:1-45 Deacon Jim McFadden In today’s Gospel for the 5th Sunday of Lent is the Raising of Lazarus, presents a stark contrast between Jesus, who is the Lord of Life and the ruins of death. It is the context…
1st Week of Lent (C); March 9, 2025 Deut 26:4-10. Ps 91. Rom 10:8-13. Lk 4:1-13 Deacon Jim McFadden As we begin the great season of Lent, which is a time of repentance, conversion, and metanoia we intentionally return to the source of our faith and spend these 40 days allowing ourselves to be…
2nd Sunday of Lent (B); February 25, 2024 Gen 22:1-2,9a, 10-13. Ps 116. Rom 8:31b-6:34. Mk 9:2-10 Deacon Jim McFadden During the 2nd Sunday of Lent we come across a most troubling story in the first reading that is traditionally called the “Binding of Isaac.” The story is terrible, not just because it involves human…
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…
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…
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,…