The Resurrection of Our Lord Easter Sunday, 2018 Acts 10:34,37-43; Ps 118; Col. 3:1-4; Jn 20:1-9 Deacon Jim McFadden Today we are celebrating the apex of the liturgical calendar: The Resurrection of the Lord is the be-all and end-all of our Christian faith. It really comes down to this: if Jesus was not raised…
4th Sunday of Lent (B); March 11, 2018 2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23; Ps 137; Eph 2:4-10; Jn 3:14-21 Deacon Jim McFadden “God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). These words should fill us with joy…
Third Sunday of Lent (B); March 4, 2018 Ex 20:1-17; Ps 19; 1 Cor 1:22-25; Jn 2:13-25 Deacon Jim McFadden; (New) Folsom Prison The core of our faith is the Paschal Mystery, which refers to Jesus’ death and resurrection and their saving significance for us. The adjective paschal derives from the Hebrew verb pasach,…
6th Sunday in O.T.; February 11, 2018 Lv 13:1-2,44-46 Ps 32 1 Cor 10-31-11:1 Mk 1:40-45 Deacon Jim McFadden Last Sunday we saw that in his public life Jesus healed many sick people, revealing that God wants us to be well—indeed, that our joy may be full; that we live life to its fullness.…
Pax et Bonum Mass; January 31, 2018 Sir 50:22-24 Ps 145 Eph 1:3-14 Jn 16:20-22 Deacon Jim McFadden; St. Francis High School I first came across the greeting Pax et Bonum 50 years ago as a young man entering a Franciscan monastery in upstate New York to discern whether I had a vocation to…
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); 9-17-17 Sir 27:30-28:7; Ps 103:1-4,9-12; Rom 14:7-9; Mt 18:21-35 Deacon Jim McFadden; St. John the Baptist C.C. Last week’s readings spoke of reconciliation. This week we consider the same theme, but from the perspective of forgiveness. We all know how difficult it is to swallow our pride…
23rd Sunday in O.T. (C); September 4, 2016 Wis 9:13-18b Ps 90 Phlm 9-10,12-17 Lk 14:25-33 Deacon Jim McFadden; (New) Folsom Prison Luke tells us that great crowds were following Jesus; he was a very popular man, a fascinating figure. If Jesus were physically with us today, he’d be all over the Internet, the…
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); 2-7-16 Is 6:1-8 Ps 138 1 Cor 15:1-11 Lk 5:1-11 Deacon Jim McFadden; Folsom Prison One of my spiritual heroes is the Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer who once wrote that Christianity without discipleship is cheap grace. He walked the talk as he sacrificed his life in his…
Cardinal Roger Mahoney of Los Angeles once said, “It is not so much that the Church has a mission; it is rather more that the mission has a Church.” What is the mission of the Church? According to Lumen Gentium (The Dogmatic Constitution of the Church), the mission is to be a…
4th Sunday of Advent (C); 12-22-12Mi 5:1-4a Ps 80 Heb 10:5-10 Lk 1:39-45The image of John the Baptist leaping for joy in the womb of his mother at the sound of the greeting of the Blessed Virgin Mary harkens back to the Old Testament image of David, leaping and dancing before the Ark of the…
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,…
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