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…
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You are more than what you have
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A Dwelling Place for God
4th Sunday of Advent (B); December 24, 2023 2 Sam 7:1-5,8-12,14,16. Ps 89. Rom 16:25-27. Lk 1:26-38 Deacon Jim McFadden As Christmas is nearly upon us–indeed, we’ll be celebrating our Lord’s birth tomorrow!—the 4th Sunday of Advent focuses our attention on the notion of a dwelling place for God. In our first reading…
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Yee-Haw: The Apostles are the Ones Sent
11th Sunday of Ordinary Time (A); June 18, 2023 Ex 19:2-6a. Ps. 100. Rom 5:6-11. Mt 9:36-10:8 Deacon Jim McFadden This Sunday we are again faced with the themes of call and discipleship. Today’s readings involve a slightly different perspective in which the demands of discipleship lead to being sent: to be an apostle.…
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Bear Witness to Jesus
2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (A); 1-15-2023 Is 49:3,5-6. Ps 40. 1 Cor 1:1-3. Jn 1:29-34 Deacon Jim McFadden We are now in Ordinary Time, where we move from being in control of our clock with all of our purposeful controlled activity, to simply hanging out with Jesus as we reflect on what it…
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Why Are the Saints Happy?
Why are the Saints Happy? All Saints (C); November 1, 2022 Rv 7:2-4,9-14. Ps 24. 1 Jn 3:1-3. Mt 5:1-12a Deacon Jim McFadden Last month I was watching an episode from HBO’s The Wire, in which a detective, by the name of Freeman (more of a description than a proper name), said to the…
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To the Rich and Comfortable: “Come Down!”
31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); 10-30-2022 Wis 11:22-12:2; Ps 145; 2 Thes 1:11-2:2; Lk 19:1-10 Deacon Jim McFadden Zacchaeus is the “chief tax collector,” the head honcho of those who were despised because he lined his own pockets with money extorted from his fellow Jews and who was a quisling of Rome as…
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Addicted to Honor
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); August 28, 2022 Sir 3:17-18, 20,28-29. Ps 68. Heb 12:18-19,22-24a. Lk 14:1.7-14 Deacon Jim McFadden At the mid-point of the ‘90s blockbuster film Titanic, the Leonardo DiCaprio character, spread-eagled with his arms extended on the stern of the ship, boasts loudly, “I am the King of the…
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Everyone is Called to Discipleship
Everyone is Called to Discipleship 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); July 17, 2022 Gn 18:1-10a. Ps 15. Col 1:24-28. Lk 10:38:42 Deacon Jim McFadden This vignette of Martha and Mary has a way of bugging us. Let’s face it: most of us are not contemplatives in the same way that say, Trappist monks are;…
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You Can’t Believe in Jesus w/o Faith in the Trinity
One of the more challenging units in the Frosh theology course that I teach is the doctrine of the Trinity. Trying to explain the Trinity to a 14 year old is no easy task. When I ask them, “Do we believe in the Father-God, the Son-God, the Holy Spirit-God,” they intuitively say “No.” When I…
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If You Want to be Happy, be Merciful!
7th Sunday in O.T. (C); 02-20-2022 1 Sm 26:2,7-23. Ps 103 1 Cor 15:45-49. Lk 6:27-38 Deacon Jim McFadden The Sermon of the Mount, which may be construed as Jesus’ State of the Kingdom address, is in two parts: (1) the Beatitudes, which describes what it’s like to live in the Kingdom of God…
homilies
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…
Respect a Person’s Dignity!
6th Sunday of Ordinary Time (A); February 15, 2026 Sir 15:15-20. Ps 119. 1 Cor 2:6-10. Mt 5:17-37 Deacon Jim McFadden It can begin with the smallest gesture: an interested glance across a classroom, the brushing of a hand,…
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