“Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”           St. Matthew records the worst turnaround in the Scriptures. Last Sunday, we saw Peter’s dramatic confession of faith. He said not what flesh and blood would reveal – what human beings would […]

Read more "The Stumbling Block to Christ’s Power — Sermon for the XXII Sunday through the Year, A.D. MMXXVI"

Dominica XXI per annum 23 August, A.D. MMXXVI + A.M.D.G. + “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgements and how unsearchable his ways!”             There are few judgements of the Lord more inscrutable – more difficult to justify by human reason – than His choice […]

Read more "Dogma Penetrates Reality — Sermon for the XXI Sunday through the Year, A.D. MMXXVI"

“All who keep the sabbath free from profanation and hold to my covenant, them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer.”           Our Lord has some harsh words for this Canaanite – non-Jewish – woman in today’s Gospel. Why would He treat her so severely? His words, […]

Read more "The Lord’s Day, not Your Day — Sermon for the XX Sunday through the Year, A.D. MMXXVI"

“Why spend your money for what is not bread; your wages for what fails to satisfy? Heed me, and you shall eat well, you shall delight in rich fare.” “Give them some food yourselves.”           Different cultures have different ways of eating. Most of the world uses food to eat their food, rather than silverware. […]

Read more "Ultra Processed Religion — Sermon for the XVIII Sunday through the Year, A.D. MMXXVI"

            The past three weeks, our Lord has been explaining the Kingdom of Heaven using different images or parables, and we have been exploring what each of these representations of the Kingdom can teach us about prayer, since it is through prayer that the Kingdom begins growing in our hearts. Today we arrive at the […]

Read more "The Goal of Prayer — Sermon for the XVII Sunday through the Year, A.D. MMXXVI"

          Our Lord continues today explaining the Kingdom of Heaven in parables. Last Sunday, we saw a prodigiously generous sower who scatters seed even where it doesn’t seem likely to grow. We saw how the different kinds of soil represent different responses to receiving the Word of God – Christ Himself – through prayer.           […]

Read more "“Real Patience” — Sermon for the XVI Sunday through the Year, A.D. MMXXVI"

          Today’s parable about the sower and the seed is quite familiar. We are used to hearing about the different kinds of soil, and how we can be the good soil that enables us to grow spiritually. But in focusing on the soil, we can lose track of what is actually doing the growing – […]

Read more "“How the Seed Grows in Prayer” — Sermon for the XV Sunday through the Year, A.D. MMXXVI"

          At the beginning of the Rite of Baptism, the priest asks an important question: “What do you desire?” The traditional rite directs the godparents to respond on the part of the child, “Faith.” The priest then asks a second question, “What does faith give you?” And the godparents reply, “Eternal life.” The modern rite […]

Read more "“Buried So We Might Live” — Sermon for the XIII Sunday through the Year, A.D. MMXXVI"

“How much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many.”           We’ve been talking a lot lately about the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Just over a week ago, we joined Catholics around the United States in consecrating ourselves and our country to the […]

Read more "“The Gifts of the Sacred Heart” — Sermon for the XII Sunday through the Year, A.D. MMXXVI"