Homily - Third Sunday of Advent - December 14, 2014

Phil. 4:4-7; Jn. 1:19-28

Today, is the Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, from the first words of the introit of today’s Mass, “Rejoice,” from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians.  We use the rose vestments.  We rejoice because so near is the coming celebration of our Lord’s birth.  We rejoice because the Lord is near and gives us hope.

Homily - Second Sunday of Advent - December 7, 2014

Rom. 15:4-13; Mt. 11:2-10

The 1962 Missal is filled with insights for us.  Today’s Gospel features St. John the Baptist, but it is not about him.  It is fitting, since the whole purpose of St. John the Baptist was, “He must increase, I must decrease.”  His call was to point out and prepare the way for the Messiah, and this he does even in today’s Gospel.

Homily - First Sunday of Advent - November 30, 2014

Rom. 13:11-14; Lk. 21:25-33

As you may know, the New Testament epistles were written in Greek.  The Greeks have two words for time, one is “chronos,” from which we get the word, “chronology,” which is the measure of time by minutes, days, weeks, months, years.  The other is “kyros,” or, “time measured by the fulfillment of events.”  So it is a little like my young nephew, who once asked, during the middle of November, “When is Christmas?” and someone answered, “In six weeks,” which he could not comprehend at all.  And someone said to him, “Well, first we have to have Thanksgiving, then we have to put the lights on the house, then we have to get the tree, then we will put up the Nativity, then it will be Christmas,” and he understood.

Mass, Confession & Benediction Schedule - December 2014

Note:  Benediction will now be on the first Sunday of the Month
Date	Day	Time			Calendar	Intention
7-Dec	SUN	10 am	C	B	2nd Sunday of Advent	Rose & Joseph Turco (D)
8-Dec	MON	7:30 pm			Feast of the Immaculate Conception	All Parishioners
14-Dec	SUN	10 am	C		3rd Sunday of Advent	Michael Munninger (L)
21-Dec	SUN	10 am			4th Sunday of Advent	Willie & Bertie Burke (D)
25-Dec	THU	10 am			Christmas	All Parishioners
28-Dec	SUN	10 am	C		Sunday in the Octave of Christmas	Jason Thomas Lopez (D)
1-Jan	THU	10 am	C		Octave day of Christmas	All Parishioners
"C" = Confessions available before Mass (9:00-9:45 am)
"B" = Benediction immediately following Mass
*     To request a Mass Intention, contact Brian Maddux

Homily - Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost - November 23, 2014

Col. 1:9-14; Matt. 24:15-35

Today is the thirty-fourth and last Sunday after Pentecost.  Next Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the new liturgical year and the preparation for the celebration of our Lord’s birth.  And so, naturally, the readings call our attention to the end of time.  I would like to preface my comments by pointing out a pattern in the Gospels, which you may already recognize.  The Lord calls His disciples to a very high standard of behavior.  He says love your neighbor as yourself, love your enemies.  But as high as the standard is for our actions, so profound is His mercy when we fail.  He says, go and sin no more, your faith has saved you.

Homily - Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost - November 16, 2014

Philipp. 3:17-21; 4:1-3; Matt. 9:18-26

When we read today’s Gospel with our mind’s eye, the Lord, by stages, moves from the crowd, to the few, and then into the house where he raises the child who has died.  It is a movement from the macrocosm to the microcosm, from the big picture to the individual, from the universal to the particular.  When we pair it with the words of St. Paul in the Epistle, that the Lord will remake our lowly bodies after the glory of His own in the resurrection, we realize that what he has done for the child and the woman with the hemorrhage in a moment, He does for us over a lifetime.

The Appointment - a Mother's Choice

My godson, Aaron Peters is Executive Director for this 6:32 minute Pro-Life video short which was just released 11/12/2014!  

Under the threat of interrogation, a frightened woman is forced to make a choice, with a young man's life hanging in the balance.  Juxtaposition Pictures presents The Appointment! Please enjoy the film and share with friends!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfAsNR2WXe0 

Homily - Dedication of the Archbasilica of Our Holy Savior - November 9, 2014

Ap. 21:2-5; Lk. 19:1-10

Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the Archbasilica of Our Holy Savior, departing from the Sundays after Pentecost, over which this feast takes precedence.  Whenever we celebrate the dedication of a church, we recall the foundations of our faith.  The Church is a living reality.  St. Peter says to the newly baptized in his First Epistle, that we are living stones, incorporated into Christ, the living body of the Church.  The Church is a sacred reality, formed by the saving action which takes place within the church building giving us an encounter with Christ and with salvation.  Anytime we celebrate the dedication of a church, we show our gratitude for these gifts.

Homily - Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost - November 2, 2014

Eph. 6:10-17; Matt. 18:23-35

The readings today want to keep us from hopelessness, from futility.  St. Paul is writing to the newly-baptized in Ephesus.  It was thought that human events were controlled by spirits, often hostile to persons.  That kind of fatalism would make anyone despondent.  What freedom they have in Christ, then, over Whom there is no greater power in His cross and resurrection.  We have an intellect, which God made to know the truth, and free will, which God made to choose the good.  The greatest good, is, of course, God Himself, and love is an act of the will.  People of faith are not subject to the spirits, but enlightened by faith and strengthened by grace, are able to choose God and His way.  And so St. Paul reminds them that our struggle is not against human powers, but against spiritual ones, and so we need spiritual means, spiritual tools, spiritual weapons.  These are faith, truth, and the Gospel.  With these armor, we will be able to keep our attention fixed on Christ, and so to live in true freedom and in hope.

Homily - Feast of All Saints - November 1, 2014

Apoc. 7:2-12; Matt. 5:1-12

Whenever I think of All Saints’ Day, I think of the anecdote Fr. James Stehly, the former pastor of this parish, told.  The parish school is right next door, and when the students attended Mass or gathered for prayers, it would always be in this chapel.  One year, in November, Fr. Stehly asked the students, “Who are the saints?”  He called on a fourth grade boy who had his hand up, and, perhaps thinking of the beautiful stained glass windows and the sun low on the horizon, replied, “Those are the people the light shines through.”  He is a pretty good little theologian.  The saints are not perfect, and I am not here to speak about the imperfections of the saints.  But they are faithful.  They reflect Christ.