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Homily - 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time "The Good Shepherd"

  Homily 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time June 14, 2026 No one likes to be told what to do. We husbands smile through our “honey-do” lists, but the truth is, it stings. Most of us have bosses, and we must answer to them. I have several bosses, depending on what I’m doing at that moment. I have two in here right now! Even bosses answer to bosses, and even the self-employed answer to markets and customers. My two-year-old grandson embodies our shared rebellion. When my wife tells him to pick up his toys, he squares his shoulders and announces, “You don’t tell me what to do!” My wife says that was actually me saying that, not him; I don’t remember it that way. We laugh because we see ourselves, grown-up versions still clinging to the illusion of defiant independence.   Yet today’s readings confront that illusion with tender but unrelenting truth. In the first reading, God speaks to a people freshly delivered from slavery, “You have seen for yourselves how I treated the Eg...
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Homily - The Ascension of the Lord

  Homily The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord Sunday, May 17, 2026   Happy Easter! Today we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord, forty plus three days after the Resurrection. More days than Lent. More days for a reason. We can’t have the suffering, death and resurrection without the Ascension. Today, we stand with the Resurrected and Ascended Christ. The suffering is over; the celebration begun. Soon, we will return to Ordinary Time, a time where we reflect on the life and ministry of Jesus. But that is then and this is now.   Today, we stand with the disciples on the Mount of Olives and watch as Jesus is lifted up into heaven. The cloud receives Him, and He disappears from their sight. At first glance, it feels like an ending, a farewell that leaves us feeling lost, behind, without. But the Church has always understood the Ascension not as absence, but as presence in a new and more powerful way. Jesus has not left us. He has gone where He belongs, to th...
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Homily - Third Sunday of Easter

  Homily Third Sunday of Easter April 19, 2026   Happy Easter! “Alleluia! Christ is risen!” We proclaim it again today, on this radiant Third Sunday of Easter. The joy of the Lord’s victory is still fresh. The tomb is empty. Death has been conquered. The light of the Resurrection continues to flood our hearts and our world. And yet… how easy it is, even now, almost halfway into the Easter Season, to miss the victory right in front of us.   Look at the two disciples on the road to Emmaus in today’s Gospel (Luke 24:13-35). I believe there is a good reason we are hearing this narrative again when we just heard it on the Wednesday in the Octave of Easter. They are trudging away from Jerusalem, heads down, hearts heavy. They confess to the stranger walking beside them, “We were hoping that he would redeem Israel,” They keep replaying the past: the betrayal, the trial, the cross, the burial. The women’s report of the empty tomb and the angels sounds too good to them...
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Homily Third Sunday of Lent

  Homily Third Sunday of Lent March 8, 2026   What do you crave? If I were strong enough, rich enough, smart enough, to get anything I wanted and got it, I would still crave; it would never be enough. There is only one thing that can truly satisfy our greatest longings, our most ardent desires.   As we continue our journey through this holy season, the Church places before us images of thirst and satisfaction that speak directly to our deepest cravings. In the desert wanderings of the Israelites and the noonday encounter at Jacob's well, we can see ourselves. Today, we ponder how the water flowing from the rock struck by Moses and the living water offered by Christ remain relevant even today. Moreover, how can we, sitting here, relate to the Samaritan woman's transformative meeting with Jesus? These two stories invite us to recognize our own cravings, our deepest thirsts and turn to the One who quenches them eternally.   In the first reading, the Isra...
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Homily - 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

  Homily Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time February 8, 2026   We are the salt of the world. You and I are the salt of the world. What does that mean?   We are the light of the world. You and I are that city set on a mountain lighting the way. How are we to understand this? It must be important. Light, or reference to the Greek word phos, meaning light, lamp, torch, fire, the sun, any source of illumination, is mentioned over 400 times in the bible. Salt is mentioned around 40 times as a sign of preservation, purity, permanence, as in Covenant.   To try to understand this, let’s start at the beginning. God is the source of everything. All that we know, all that we see, all that is, comes from God. God is Light. God is Pure. God is Love. And we are made in His image and likeness.   Now here is the kicker; God does what He wills. He can do whatever He wants. He is God. And when He made us, He gave us that same gift of free will. We get to choose whate...
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Homily The Baptism of the Lord

  Homily The Baptism of the Lord January 11, 2026   In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.   This is such a graceful action; a simple gesture with a powerful meaning; the Sign of the Cross is a prayer in itself. We start prayer with it. We begin Mass with it, the greatest prayer. It invokes the Blessed Trinity and reminds us of our Baptismal vows.   When we are Baptized, we make a vow. During Easter, we renew our Baptismal vows. These vows are to reject sin and embrace our Catholic Faith – belief in the Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and acceptance of our membership in the Body of Christ, as children of God.   As we enter this beautiful Cathedral, we bless ourselves with Holy Water while making the Sign of the Cross. Now, I’m not saying everyone should do this, but I have Holy Water fonts in my home that Fr. Maher assures me grants me a plenary indulgence every time I use them. Right Fr.?  ...
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  Homily The Third Sunday of Advent December 14, 2025   Happy Advent! Grace and peace be with you on this Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday—the day the Church lights the rose candle and tells us to rejoice. This is why our presider and I are wearing rose colored vestments. Tell me please – be honest; who wears it better; me or the candle? The Church drapes herself in the color rose to remind us that joy is breaking through the purple of penance, like the rays of dawn piercing the darkness of night. Yet true joy is not the superficial and fleeting happiness of a good meal or a festive song; it is the deep, unshakable confidence that God is near, that Emmanuel is coming.   We just spent the first two of four weeks in preparation for the coming of our Lord. Similar to Lent, we pray more fervently, we cut back on extras, we give generously to those we don’t know. This third Sunday of Advent is a time to rejoice as our preparations are beginning to pay off. We...
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