Mary, Mother of the Church
Monday after Pentecost Gen 3:9-15,20. Ps 87. Jn 19:25-34 Deacon Jim McFadden As Vatican II was coming to a close, St. Pope Paul VI bestowed upon Mary the title of Mother of the Church, which is celebrated on the…
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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…
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The Messiah: the Things of God
24th Sunday in O.T. (B); 9-12-2021 Is 50:5-9a. Ps 116. Jas 2:14-18. Mk 8:27-35 Deacon Jim McFadden We know this scene well: Jesus is the area of Caesarea Philippi and asks his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” (Mk 8:27). After the report of the common consensus, he probes further by asking…
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The Eucharist: Food for the Journey
19th Sunday in O.T. (B); 8-8-2021 1 Kgs 19:4-8. Ps 34. Eph 4:30-5:2. Jn 6:41-51 Deacon Jim McFadden 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 and remind us that we…
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Game On!
15th Sunday in O.T. (B); July 11, 2021 Am 7:12-15. Ps 85. Eph 1:3-15. Mk 6:7-13 Deacon Jim McFadden When college and NFL coaches prepare for the upcoming game, they just don’t wing it, especially if they want to keep their lucrative jobs! Rather, they develop very specific game-plans, working with their offensive and…
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Do We Walk by Faith?
11th Sunday of O.T. (B); June 13th, 2021 Ez 17:22-24. Ps 92. 2 Cor 5:6-10. Mk 4:26-34 Deacon Jim McFadden The recent cyber- attacks on our country—such as on Colonial Pipeline in May which led to gas shortages and even dangerous situations caused by panic buying and on JBS meat processing which lead to…
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The Risen Christ is Still Wounded
2nd Sunday of Easter (Mercy Sunday); April 11, 2021 Acts 4:32-35. Ps 118. 1 Jn 5:1-6. Jn 20:19-31 Deacon Jim McFadden The seven weeks between Easter Sunday and Pentecost constitutes the Easter season. While lest well known than Advent or Lent—people will give you quizzical looks when you say “Happy Easter” well into May—the…
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Driving Out Junk Religion
3rd Sunday of Lent (B); 3-7-2021 Ex 20:1-17. Ps 19. 1 Cor 1:22-25. Jn 2:13-25 Deacon Jim McFadden In today’s Gospel, in the second chapter of John, Jesus goes to the temple in Jerusalem and finds merchants selling oxen, sheep, and doves to sacrifice as well as money-changers sitting at their tables. Using a…
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The Binding of Isaac/Jesus
2nd Sunday of Lent (B); 2-28-2021 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 sacrifice,…
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Jesus Among Wild Beasts and Angels
1st Sunday of Lent (B); 2-21-2021 Gn 9:8-15. Ps 25. 1 Pet 3:18-22. Mk 1:12-15 Deacon Jim McFadden Each year the Church admonishes us to turn our faces once again to the mystery and heart of our faith: The Paschal Mystery of the living, dying, and rising of Jesus and our own living, dying,…
homilies
the other guy
Pentecost Sunday (A); May 24, 2026 Acts 2:1-11. Ps 104. 1 Cor 12:3-7,12-13. Jn 20:19-23 Deacon Jim McFadden When I was a boy in the very distant past, the 3rd Person of the Trinity was referred to as the…
our faith is increased by the Lord’s Ascension
Ascension of the Lord (A); May 17, 2026 Acts 1:1-11 Ps47 Eph 1:7-23 Mt 28:16-20 Deacon Jim McFadden For the last two Sundays, we reflected upon Jesus Farewell Discourse which was his last will and testament; there, the nucleus of…
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