Made Known

The Audit (Sept 22, 2013)

Are worldly people working harder for their money than we are for our salvation?

The audit is coming.  

The perplexing parable of the Dishonest Steward challenges us to learn this lesson:

To win others' favor FOR the master is an excellent way to win the favor OF the master for ourselves.  

Yet another reason to enter into the mission of the Church to Evangelize - to bring the Good News of salvation to the ends of the earth.  

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Am 8:4-7

1 Tm 2:1-8

Lk 16:1-13

Does the Parable of the Prodigal Son Make You Feel Good? (Sept 15, 2013)

The favorite Gospel for many of us - the Parable of the Prodigal Son!

It should be.  But let's read it again.  It has more to say, each time we read it.

"We do not really want a religion that is right where we are right.  What we want is a religion that is right where we are wrong."  GK Chesterton, The Catholic Church and Conversion

Humility, Awe, and the Liturgy (Sept 1, 2013)

If you're full of yourself, you can't be full of God.  Humility is the foundation of all virtue.

We need humility to enter in to the Liturgy.  Cultivating the sense of the sacred helps us enter into God's presence with humility.  

"You have not approached that which could be touched..."  Rather, "you have approached the city of the living God..."  Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, for He (and only He) can lift you up.

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29

Heb 12:18-19, 22-24a

Lk 14:1, 7-14

Faith: Abraham's Realization and Evidence of Things Not Seen (Aug 11, 2013)

The Letter to the Hebrews famously defines faith as "the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen."  In this Year of Faith, we delve more deeply into our understanding of what faith is.  Today, Abraham is our guide.  

"Faith is no refuge for the fainthearted." -Pope Francis, Lumen Fidei 53

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Wis 18:6-9

Heb 11:1-2, 8-19

Lk 12:32-48 

A comfortable life? (Aug 4, 2013)

So often we are motivated by our pursuit of "just a bit more?"  When are we satisfied with this?  

Like the rich man who stored up his goods, we find that greed keeps us from being "rich in what matters to God."  

"Without a life of the spirit our whole existence becomes unsubstantial and illusory." - Thomas Merton

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Yr C

Eccl 1:2, 2:21-23

Col 3:1-5, 9-11

Lk 12:49-53

Martha and Mary (July 21, 2013)

Listen before you act!

The key to not getting "carried away."

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Gn 18:1-10a

Col 1:24-28

Lk 10:38-42

Fathers: Life and Love

Jesus came to reveal the Father to us. Fathers are life-givers and are meant to defend life like the geneticist Dr. Jerome Lejeune. Fathers give unconditional love and forgiveness, as Jesus shows us in today's Gospel (Lk 7:36-50). Article cited:  http://www.humanumreview.com/articles/view/life-is-a-blessing1

Homily - July 16 - St. Paul's Outline of the Spiritual Life

My most recent homily.

Homily - Sept 11 - Forgive Them

The Gospel reading for the 10th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks was Mt 18:21-35. Jesus leaves us with a great challenge.

Homily - Sept 4 - It's Not Okay

Sunday's Gospel: Mt 18:15-20 "If your brother sins against you..."