homiletics
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Exodus and Repentance
The readings this Sunday focus on baptism, Exodus, and repentance. The Exodus of the Old Testament is the story of Moses leading the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt through the waters of the Red Sea. Christians see in that passage through the Red Sea a prefiguring of the waters of baptism. It Continue reading
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The Blessed Life in Christ
The gospel this morning is taken from the sixth chapter of Luke, and it is a continuation of Jesus’ preaching on the Beatitudes. We get the word Beatitudes from the scriptures because Jesus makes a number of statements in which he starts with the words, “Blessed are you if…” St. Thomas Aquinas explains beatitude this Continue reading
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The Body of Christ
The readings today give us an opportunity to think about the Church: to think about what it is, how it works, and what it does. The Church is the mystical body of Christ, as St. Paul explains to the community in Corinth. From the Creed we profess as Mass, we know the Church is the Continue reading
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An Ordinary Holy Family
God comes into the world as one of us on Christmas day, which we just celebrated. Technically, we are still celebrating Christmas Day, as we are in the Octave of Christmas, in which we celebrate for eight days the major feast day. In the modern Church calendar, only the Octave of Easter ranks higher. This Continue reading
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Christ Our King
The feast of Christ the King was added to the church calendar in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. The Pope explained that while everyone agrees that Christ is King and he reigns in the hearts of men, he also reigns in reality and has the title and the power of King as a man because Continue reading
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Servant Leadership
The readings today remind us what Jesus did for us, and they suggest that he should be the model for our lives. We first get from the prophet Isaiah a description of the suffering servant, which is what Jesus will be many centuries later. It says: If he gives his life as an offering for Continue reading
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What Must One Do to Get to Heaven?
What is the job of a prophet? Is he or she a fortune teller? Do we hear from a prophet what the economy is going to do next year? No. A prophet is not someone with supernatural forecasting talents. A prophet is one who speaks the word that God wants spoken at the time God Continue reading
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Thou Givest Them Their Meat in Due Season
In today’s readings, we have two similar stories of miraculous feeding. And the Psalm refrain today is, “the hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.” The Psalm and St. Paul both speak about hope, and all of this speaks to how we might try to live our lives as Christian disciples. Continue reading
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God Has a Plan and It’s a Good Plan
Father Neil preached last week on suffering and gratitude, and I would like to continue to look at those today. Both suffering and gratitude are at the heart of the crucifix. We call it a crucifix because it is a cross with the body of Jesus attached to it. The crucifix is supposed to be Continue reading
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There is a God and You’re Not Him
Preaching on the Trinity is tricky because the doctrine of the Trinity issimply beyond human understanding. Look at how the Church hasdecided to address the doctrine in the readings today. The Old Testamentreading is all about God the Father; the Epistle is all about the HolySpirit; the Gospel is all about the Son. One might Continue reading
Bound in Love 