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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
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Transfiguration and Satisfaction
On the second Sunday of Lent, the gospel is always about the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor, where the three leading apostles are shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that this Jesus they have been following is more than a Rabbi or even the Messiah anointed by God. The Transfiguration manifests the reality Continue reading
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Something’s Coming
In the 1950s musical West Side Story, the lead character Tony sings a song called “Something’s Coming” which shares the sense of excited expectation we should have on the fourth Sunday of Advent. Tony sings, “Something’s coming, something good. Something’s coming, I don’t know what it is but it’s going to be great.” Here in Continue reading
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Babylonian Captivity
The prophet Jeremiah was sent by the Lord to warn the Hebrews about the impending Babylonian exile. He served as a prophet for more than 40 years. There are 52 chapters of Jeremiah, which is immediately followed by five chapters of his Lamentations. His message was so sad, he was called the weeping prophet and Continue reading
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Fire Pits
Here on the 26th Sunday in ordinary time, the readings have a seriousness of tone that will continue through the first couple of weeks of Advent. In the reading from Saint James, and in the teaching from Jesus in the gospel, we are challenged to take seriously the reality of Gehenna. So what is Gehenna? Continue reading
Bound in Love 