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Sermons 1 to 100---2000 to 2002
Sermons 101 to 200---2002 to 2004
Sermons 201 to 300---2004 to 2006
Sermons 301 to 400---2006 to 2008
Sermons 401 to 500---2008 to 2010
Sermons 501 to 600---2010 to 2012
Sermons 601 to 700---2010 to 2014

Sermon 1 : The Holy Family : The Word of God in Our Hands : 12/31/2000

At Christmas, the Word became flesh. This means that God's own mind became a tiny child, small enough to hold in our hands. This is the poetry, the glory, the surprise of Christmas.

Sermon 2 : Gospel Family Values : Baptism of the Lord : 1/7/2001

When the Gospels talk about families, we might be a bit surprised. There is nothing sentimental in the Biblical vision of families. They are seen, not as ends in themselves, but as training grounds for the work of the Kingdom.

Sermon 3 : The Wedding of Heaven and Earth : 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/14/2001

When Jesus appears at the Wedding Feast of Cana, he signals the marriage of heaven and earth. When God moves into our experience, he transfigures humanity, elevating art, philosophy, science and politics into bearers of the sacred. He changes the water of earth into the wine of heaven.

Sermon 4 : The Living Body of the Church : 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/21/2001

The Church of Jesus Christ is not a club, not a social organization, not a collectivity of like-minded people. Rather, it is a living organism, a body composed of interdependent cells and molecules.

Sermon 5 : Christ-ening : 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/28/2001

Baptism is literally a Christ-ening, a turning of someone into Christ. This means that all baptized people must assume the three-fold office of Jesus: priest (sanctifier), king (leader), and prophet (speaker of the truth).

Sermon 6 : The Three Paths of Holiness : 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/4/2001

The Bible rather consistently lays out three ways walked by the man or woman of holiness: finding the center, knowing you're a sinner, and realizing your life is not about you. All of these are beautifully presented in the story of the call of Simon.

Sermon 7 : The Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Lively Virtues : 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/11/2001

The principle spiritual dysfunction's of human beings have been named traditionally as the seven deadly sins. In this first of a four-part series, we discuss the nature of sin and the first of the deadly sins, pride. Finally, we explore the antidote to pride, the lively virtue of humility.

Sermon 8 : The Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Lively Virtues (cont.) : 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/18/2001

Here we examine the deadly sins of envy and anger, and we explore their antidotes, admiration and forgiveness.

Sermon 9 : The Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Lively Virtues (cont.) : 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/25/2001

Here we look at sloth (the sin that some spiritual masters have called the most serious in our time) and avarice, as well as their antidotes, zeal for the mission and generosity.

Sermon 10 : The Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Lively Virtues (cont.) : 1st Sunday of Lent : 3/4/2001

We conclude our analysis by examining the least serious of the deadly sins, namely gluttony and lust. And we propose as their antidotes asceticism and chastity.

Sermon 11 : Resident Aliens : 2nd Sunday of Lent : 3/11/2001

We Christians, as Paul reminds us, have our citizenship in heaven. This means that, here below, we are "resident aliens," at work in the world, but our eyes fixed on a transcendent goal. This makes us, paradoxically enough, the best friends the world ever had.

Sermon 12 : Between Fear and Complacency : 3rd Sunday of Lent : 3/18/2001

The healthy religious life is lived out between fear and complacency. If the excessive fear of God was a problem years ago, a complacent attitude seems far more pervasive and dangerous today. What the Bible says consistently is "don't be afraid: so get going!"

Sermon 13 : Scapegoating : 5th Sunday of Lent : 4/1/2001

The New Testament frequently explores the scapegoating violence of the mob, nowhere more insightfully than in the story of the woman caught in adultery. Jesus stops the momentum of the violent crowd and forces them to see their own sin.

Sermon 14 : The Downward Momentum of the Son of God : Passion (Palm) Sunday : 4/8/2001

The Word entered into our flesh in order to bring the love and justice of God even to the darkest places. Jesus stands shoulder to shoulder with sinners in the waters of the Jordan, and, at the end of his ministry, he goes into the pain and anguish of death itself in order to save us.

Sermon 15 : Victory Day : Easter Sunday : 4/15/2001

Easter is victory day. Jesus came, in C.S. Lewis' words, as a warrior to do battle with all of the powers of darkness, from oppression and violence, to disease and death itself. On the cross, he struggled at close quarters with the enemy that most frightens us, and in the Resurrection, he won the victory on our behalf.

Sermon 16 : We know how the Story Ends : 2nd Sunday of Easter : 4/22/2001

Though we Christians do not know the story of God's providence in all its details, we do know that it is a divine comedy. This is because, in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, we know what God intends for his whole creation. Life does indeed triumph over death; hope does indeed conquer despair; God is indeed victor and ruler.

Sermon 17 : We're All in the Same Boat: An icon of the Church : 3th Sunday of Easter : 4/29/2001

At the end of his gospel, St. John presents a beautiful icon of the Church. Peter and his companions are fishing on the Sea of Tiberias. When they look to the risen Christ, they have success, hauling in a catch that symbolizes all the people of the world. This is the Church at its best: illumined by Christ, it gathers the nations into the ark of salvation.

Sermon 18 : The Strangest Book in the Bible : 4th Sunday of Easter : 5/6/2001

The book of Revelation is, literally, God's last word to us. It is the most populated, most exciting, most bizarre, bloodiest and most mysterious book in the Scriptures. I believe that the best interpretation is the simplest: it reveals that Jesus Christ is the Lord of history and that those who follow him are, despite all trials, on the winning side.

Sermon 19 : The Lion of Judah Turns Out To Be a Lamb : 5th Sunday of Easter : 5/13/2001

"As John looks into the throne room of heaven, he sees a King holding a scroll, which stands for the meaning of history. The only one in heaven or on earth who is able to open it is the "lamb standing as though slain," that is to say, Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead. He, we Christians claim, is the secret, the key, the breaker of the code."

Sermon 20 : A Book of Battles : 6th Sunday of Easter : 5/20/2001

The book of Revelation features plagues, earthquakes, disasters, famines, and battles both in heaven and on earth. All of this mayhem is meant to signal two very basic spiritual facts: the world is under divine judgment and the church of Jesus Christ will always be opposed by the power of sin. The great good news of the book of Revelation is that God's judgment conduces to a transformed world and that the church of the risen Lord will triumph. Despite all of the darkness of history, God is writing a divine comedy.

Sermon 21 : A New Heavens and a New Earth : 7th Sunday of Easter : 5/27/2001

"After the battles and judgments have passed, a brilliant city descends from the heavens: the new Jerusalem. This is a symbol of a world transformed, a place where God dwells with his people. All of history is nothing but a preparation for this place and this relationship. 'See, I make all things new.'"

Sermon 22 : The Feast of the Spirit : Pentecost : 6/3/2001

Pentecost is the feast that recalls the descent of the Holy Spirit on the first disciples. It also celebrates the ongoing presence of the Spirit among us to this day. The Church of Jesus Christ is still gifted with the charisms of healing, speaking in tongues, visions, words of knowledge, teaching, administration, and prophesying. And all of these gifts are given for one reason: for the edification of the church and the fulfillment of Christ's mission.

Sermon 23 : Our God is a Community of Love : The Holy Trinity : 6/10/2001.

The Trinity is not simply a conundrum for theologians to puzzle over. It names the very heart of the Christian faith. Our God is a community or family of love, and we are invited, through Christ, to share in that love.

Sermon 24 : The Liturgy as a Display of God's Justice : 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/17/2001

In the liturgy, we realize ourselves as the Corpus Christi, the Body of Christ. In so doing, we show forth what the whole of human society and culture ought to look like: nonviolence, forgiveness, compassion, the bearing of one another's burdens.

Sermon 25 : The Real Presence : Birth of St. John the Baptist : 6/24/2001

In the Eucharistic bread and cup, Jesus Christ is really, truly, and substantially present. This presence comes about through the creative power of the word incarnate in Jesus. What God says--is.

Sermon 26 : It is for Freedom that Christ Set Us Free : 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/1/2001

"Freedom" is one of the most ambiguous words in the religious lexicon. It can mean simply the capacity to choose this or that, to say "yes" or "no." But in a deeper spiritual sense, it means the power to follow only the right path, to say only "yes" to what God holds out to us. It is this latter type of liberty that Christ procures for us His followers.

Sermon 27 : God's Tender Providence : 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/8/2001

That God cares for us, even down to the simplest details of our lives, is a basic intuition of the Biblical authors. As Isaiah reminds us, we are, vis-a-vis God, like a child in the lap of a doting mother. This does not mean that our lives are without conflict, but it does mean that we are always under the watchful eye and provident direction of our God.

Sermon 28 : The Good Samaritan : 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/15/2001

The Fathers of the Church propose a purely Christological reading of the familiar parable of the Good Samaritan. This outsider who saves the helpless victim is none other than Christ who empties himself so that we, helpless in our sin, might be healed and lifted up.

Sermon 29 : A Passion for the Impossible : 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/22/2001

The philosopher Kierkegaard defined faith as the passion for the impossible. When we stand, like Abraham, at the edge of what we can know or control, we look out into the alluring darkness of what God can do in us and for us. To say "yes" to this invitation beyond reason is to have faith.

Sermon 30 : Rules of Prayer : 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/29/2001

The Bible seems to indicate that certain "rules" ought to govern and inform our prayer. A first is faith : we must passionately believe that God can do what we are asking for. A second is forgiveness : if we want the grace of God to flow to and through us, we must remove the resentments and angers that block it. And third is praying in Jesus' name : when we ask things of God we should do so in the stance and spirit of his Son.

Sermon 31 : All is Vanity : And That's Good News : 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/5/2001

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Qoheleth tells us that nothing here below--money, sex, power, material things, fame--is ultimately valuable, for all of it passes away. This insight shouldn't depress us, it should allow us to live in the truth. Our lives must be directed to the Good that does not pass away, that does not come and go, but rather remains unto eternity.

Sermon 32 : An Adventurous God; a Life of Risk : 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/12/2001

God, from a biblical perspective is a God of adventure and new possibilities. Faith is the response to this adventurous God, and therefore always involves risk. It is a willingness to trust that we are being led even when we cannot see clearly where we are going.

Sermon 33 : I Have Come To Set The Earth on Fire : 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/19/2001

Jesus came in order to light the world on fire with the Holy Spirit. With this fire in our hearts, we can love as God loves, forgive as God forgives, speak the truth as God speaks the truth. This, Jesus warns us, will make us unpopular. Just as he divided people by his bearing of the divine presence, so we his disciples will be divisive.

Sermon 34 : The Narrow Gate : 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/26/2001

Salvation means being conformed to Christ who is, himself, the narrow gate. We shouldn't worry inordinately about exactly who or how many will be saved; rather we should strive to imitate Jesus, becoming conduits of the divine mercy.

Sermon 35 : Taking the Lowest Place : 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/2/2001

One of the greatest obstacles to effective mission is the attachment to honors and fame. This shrinks the soul and distracts from the only thing that matters : walking with Jesus on the path of discipleship

Sermon 36 : Hate Your Mother and Father : 23th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/9/2001

"When Jesus tells us to hate mother, father, brothers, sisters, friends, he is not demonstrating a disturbing misanthropy. Rather, he is telling us not to treat those around us as our possessions. The spiritual life consists, not in controlling others for the sake of the ego, but in giving others the space to be."

Sermon 37 : 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time : The Four Mysteries : 9/16/2001

The attacks of September 11th have left us stunned and speechless. Yet our tradition brings the word of God to bear on even the darkest events. There are four mysteries that emerge from the tragedy: The mystery of wickedness; the mystery of the impermanence of the world; the mystery of salvation; and the mystery of forgiveness.

Sermon 38 : The Unjust Steward : 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/23/2001

In a puzzling parable, Jesus praises a man who is a self-absorbed cheat. What the Lord notices in the man's dubious behavior are three things of spiritual importance : he knows that he is in crisis; he makes an honest self-assessment; and, most importantly, he acts.

Sermon 39 : Lazarus and the Rich Man : 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/30/2001

A concern for social justice runs from beginning to end of the Bible, reaching its fullest expression in the prophets and in Jesus himself. It can also be discerned in the writings and sermons of the Fathers, in the speculation of the great scholastics, and in the social teaching of the modern Popes. At bottom, we are summoned to use the gifts that God has given us for the full flourishing of our brothers and sisters. The commongood must come first.

Sermon 40 : Faith the Size of a Mustard Seed : 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/7/2001

"For Jesus, faith is power. When we have linked ourselves to the God who fashions and governs the cosmos, we allow enormous power to flow through us for the transformation of the world. To have faith is to live in the 'great soul.' It is to expand the horizons of our consciousness and activity infinitely."

Sermon 41 : Naaman the Syrian : 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/14/2001

In the story of Naaman the Syrian, we see a microcosm of the spiritual life. Like Naaman, we come to God, not so much through our strength, as through our weakness. Like him, we face down obstacles to the process of healing and submit ourselves humbly to the discipline and practice of the faith. Then finally, we give ourselves, as he did, to praise and thanksgiving.

Sermon 42 : An Icon of the Church : 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/21/2001

The Old Testament story of the battle between Israel and the Amalekites is a symbolic presentation of the church. In the struggle against evil, there are fighters, pray-ers, and those who support the pray-ers. The Church is an amalgam of interdependent and mutually supporting missions.

Sermon 43 : Real Prayer : 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/28/2001

Irish writer Iris Murdoch says that the rarest and best moments in life occur when the web of our egotism and self-absorption is broken through. This can happen through great art and great compassion. It can also happen through authentic prayer, modelled by the publican in Jesus' famous parable.

Sermon 44 : Zacchaeus, Come Down : 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/4/2001

The story of the conversion of Zacchaeus is an artfully constructed tale that reveals the essential dynamics of the spiritual life. We move from curiosity, to action, to honesty about our sin, to authentic conversion, and finally to soul-expanding joy.

Sermon 45 : What About the Body? : 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/11/2001

"The Christian attitude toward the body lies beyond the extremes of hedonism (taking the body too seriously) and puritanism (taking it not seriously enough). Christians are 'eschatologically detached' from their bodies here below, precisely because they expect transfigured bodies in the age to come. We can see this Biblical attitude on display in both the Old Testament and the Gospels."

Sermon 46 : Apocalypse Now? : 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/18/2001

"Christians believe that the end of the world has occurred in the death and resurrection of Jesus. This means that the old world dominated by sin, suffering, and death has been undermined. Now we live in the "in-between-times," waiting for the definitive arrival of the new world which Jesus has inaugurated."

Sermon 47 : An Odd King : Christ the King : 11/25/2001

Christ is indeed King, but an odd one. For he reigns, not from a throne, but from a cross, and he is crowned, not with laurel leaves, but with a ring of thorns. What this feast teaches us is the meaning of true power. The power that creates the cosmos is not domination, but rather self-forgetting and self-sacrificing love.

Sermon 48 : The Lord's Holy Mountain : 1st Sunday of Advent : 12/11/2001

"As we commence a new liturgical year, the Church invites us to survey the world from the standpoint of Isaiah's holy mountain, the height to which all the nations stream. This is a beautiful image of 'communio,' of the many gathered around the one, and it is reflective of the fundamental 'communio' which is the Trinity, three persons constituting the one God. When we look at things from this perspective, we see them aright."

Sermon 49 : A Voice in the Desert : 2nd Sunday of Advent : 12/9/2001

John the Baptist is, along with Isaiah and the Virgin Mary, the great figure of Advent. We hear his voice in the desert, summoning us to repentance and readiness. When we have purified our minds and hearts, we are able to receive the one who will baptize us with the Holy Spirit, the fire of God's very life.

Sermon 50 : Patience, People : 3rd Sunday of Advent : 12/16/2001

St. James reminds us that an essential element of the Christian life is waiting. As the farmer waits for the precious yield of the earth, so the believer waits while Christ does his mysterious work in the world. Thus we must learn the virtue of patient expectation.

Sermon 51 : Joseph the Just : 4th Sunday of Advent : 12/23/2001

"One of the most popular saints in the Christian tradition is Joseph, the husband of Mary. We see in the Gospel for the fourth Sunday of Advent that Joseph is a man willing to situate the struggles and uncertainties of his life in the context of a divine plan whose contours and purpose he cannot fully grasp. He is willing to think and act 'outside the box,' and this makes him a model for us Advent people."

Sermon 52 : Christmas Surprise : The Holy Family : 12/30/2001

Everything about Luke's familiar Christmas story is surprising. Mary and Joseph, the inn, the child wrapped in swaddling clothes, the manger, the angels and shepherds--all challenge our ordinary conceptions of what is good, right, and powerful. Listen again to this story and hear it as, in the strict sense of the term, 'subversive.'

Sermon 53 : The Journey of the Magi : Epiphany Of the Lord : 1/6/2002

The journey of these wise men is a metaphor for the spiritual journeys that all of us must make. Like the magi, we must be attentive; we must be willing to act; we must expect opposition; we must give our best to Christ, and finally, we must be willing to change, 'to go back by a different route.'

Sermon 54 : An Icon of the Trinity : Baptism of the Lord : 1/13/2002

The scene of the baptism of Jesus described in the Gospel of Matthew is a theophany, a showing forth of the being of God. The Father crying out from heaven; the Son standing in the water with us sinners; the Spirit hovering.

Sermon 55 : The Disquieting Humility of God : 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/20/2002

John hesitates before baptizing the Lord, saying, "It is I who should be baptized by you. The great surprise--that we have been wrestling with for two millenia--is that God's greatness is a function of his humility, his willingness to stand shoulder to shoulder in the muck of sin with the likes of us. That we have such a God, a friend of sinners, is the reason for our hope.

Sermon 56 : The Irresistable Call : 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/27/2002

When Jesus calls his first disciples, he stirs the 'imago Dei,' the image of God, in them. They realize that they will find themselves only in surrendering to the one who will make them fishers of men. We hear the same call from the same Christ.

Sermon 57 : The Program for Freedom : 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/3/2002

At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, we hear the eight beatitudes. These are a summons to be liberated from the various addictions--to material things, to power, to good feeling, to the esteem of others--that keep us from following the will of God.

Sermon 58 : Pray, Fast, and Give Alms : 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/10/2002

"During the great season of Lent, the Church recommends three very concrete acts : prayer, fasting, and the giving of alms. These are actions that involve the body as much as the mind; and they are things that we 'do.' Lent is not so much a time to fuss about one's 'interiority'" as a time to get going!"

Sermon 59 : Jesus in the Desert : 1st Sunday of Lent : 2/17/2002

Just after his baptism, Jesus retires to the wilderness and there he faces the tempter. We enter into this experience with him, facing the same struggle. Like the Lord himself, we wrestle with the temptations to make sensual pleasure, the ego, and power the center of our lives. In resisting all three, we make the acceptance of God's will and mission possible.

Sermon 60 : That Mysterious Light : 2nd Sunday of Lent : 2/24/2002

On the mount of Transfiguration, Jesus becomes brilliantly illumined. This light signals the radiance and beauty of a world beyond this one, a dimension from which Jesus has come and to which he is luring us.

Sermon 61 : The Infinite Thirst : 3rd Sunday of Lent : 3/3/2002

"We are made for God, and therefore our hearts are restless until they rest in him. This longing is symbolized in the thirst of the woman at the well. Directing her away from all earthly goods, Jesus draws her to himself : 'I will give you water springing up to eternal life.' We hear the same invitation to the font of grace."

Sermon 62 : The Man Born Blind : 4th Sunday of Lent : 3/10/2002

Blindness is a great Biblical symbol of spiritual blindness, the darkening and distortion of our vision. Jesus salves and washes the blind man in John's Gospel in order to restore his sight. In the same way, he washes us (in Baptism) and salves us (in the other sacraments) so that we might see with his eyes.

Sermon 63 : Lazarus, Come Out : 5th Sunday of Lent : 3/17/2002

"Our God hates death. He wants us to rise from our graves. Whenever life is compromised in any way, Jesus says, 'Come out!' We are meant to see his tears of sorrow and hear his voice of command."

Sermon 64 : The One Who Journeys Into the Far Country : Passion (Palm) Sunday : 3/24/2002

On Palm Sunday, we are privileged to listen to one of the great passion narratives. In Matthew's account, we see Jesus as a still-point in the maelstrom, as God's fidelity amidst a cocaphony of sin. In the course of the passion, Jesus confronts betrayal, laziness, violence, untruth, abuse of power, self-destruction, and wanton cruelty--the whole panoply of human dysfunction. And he takes away this sin precisely by his obedience and his mercy.

Sermon 65 : The Earthquake and the Light : Easter Sunday : 3/31/2002

"In Matthew's version of the Easter story, symbols of novelty and transformation abound : it is the first day of the week, light is dawning, a stone has been rolled back, the very earth shakes, and an angel, a bearer of light, comes and speaks a word of hope. Easter is the day when everything changed, when God's mercy turned the world as we know it upside-down. We Christians are the proclaimers of this reversal."

Sermon 66 : A Portrait of the Church : 2nd Sunday of Easter : 4/7/2002

"Throughout the Easter season, we contemplate Scriptural images of the Church, for the Church is the 'place' where the risen Lord is encountered. In the Acts of the Apostles, we find the essentials of ecclesial life clearly described : the community of believers is apostolic, communal, and eucharistic."

Sermon 67 : On the Road to Emmaus : 3rd Sunday of Easter : 4/14/2002

"Luke's account of the encounter with Jesus on the road to Emmaus is one of the greatest stories ever told. It is also a vivid description of the spiritual life. We 'get' Jesus, we begin to see him, only when we allow him to break the Word and break the bread. The liturgy, in short, is the place where he becomes visible."

Sermon 68 : Proclaiming the Easter Gospel : 4th Sunday of Easter : 4/21/2002

Our reading from the Acts of the Apostles provides an account of St. Peter's great sermon on Pentecost morning. His proclamation--bold, unapologetic, evangelical, deeply challenging--is the model of all Christian preaching and public witness.

Sermon 69 : In My Father's House : 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 4/28/2002

Jesus tells us that he is preparing a place for us in his Father's house. The house or household is a wonderful image for heaven, for it is a place of action, energy, inter-dependence and mutual support. There is nothing bland or passive about life with God and the saints. Rather it is like living in an endlessly interesting and bustling city.

Sermon 70 : The Holy Spirit : Sharing the Divine Life : 6th Sunday of Easter : 5/5/2002

As Pentecost approaches, the Church invites us to meditate upon the Holy Spirit, the person who is the love between the Father and the Son. To be in the spirit is to be gifted with what Paul called 'charismata,' powers enabling us to build up the church of God.

Sermon 71 : Life in the Spirit : Prophets, Apostles, Evangelists, Pastors : 7th Sunday of Easter : 5/12/2002

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul specifies some of the great charismatic offices, including prophets who boldly speak the word, apostles who establish churches, evangelists who draw others to Christ, and pastors who order and manage the community of the faithful. Which office is yours?

Sermon 72 : The Feast of the Spirit : Pentecost : 5/19/2002

On Pentecost, the disciples heard a strong driving wind, saw tongues of flames, and then received amazing gifts of the Spirit, enabling them to proclaim and witness. The Church, throughout the centuries, has received spectacular charisms of miracle-working, healing, and the speaking in tongues. As with all manifestations of the Holy Spirit, they are given for one reason : the building up of the Body of Christ.

Sermon 73 : The Fruits of the Spirit : The Holy Trinity : 5/26/2002

"In his letter to the Galatians, Paul enumerates the fruits of the Holy Spirit, the concrete results of living the life of the Trinity. These include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control. Is someone living 'in Christ,' or 'in the Holy Spirit?' Watch for these particular signs."

Sermon 74 : Food for Eternal Life : 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/2/2002

On this feast of Corpus Christ, we reflect on the inexhaustibly rich theme of the Eucharist. The particular motif I pursue in this homily is that of the eucharist as food for eternal life. Eating the body and drinking the blood of Jesus fits us for the rarified atmosphere of a heavenly existence.

Sermon 75 : Follow Me : 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/9/2002

"One of the great conversion stories in the New Testament is the account of the call of St. Matthew. Jesus summons the worldly tax-gatherer and Matthew rises from his post to follow the Lord. In the symbolic language of the Bible, this 'rising' evokes the elevation to a higher and richer life : intimacy with Jesus."

Sermon 76 : And His Guts Were Moved : 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/16/2002

"In describing the pity that Jesus felt for the crowds, Matthew uses a distinctive Greek term that means, literally, 'his guts were moved.' God's compassion for the world is a gut-wrenching, visceral desire to address human suffering. The instrument that Jesus chooses to express this compassion are the twelve apostles, prototypes of the Church.'"

Sermon 77 : Fear No One : 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/23/2002

The Christian disciple is truly free in the measure that he is not afraid. Thomas More couldn't be compromised, precisely because he couldn't be frightened by the loss of earthly goods. Jesus tells his disciples not to be afraid even of those who can kill the body. In faith, we are connected to that power which transcends space and time, life and death.

Sermon 78 : The Demands of Discipleship : 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/30/2002

Jesus tells his followers that those who love their mothers and fathers more than him are not worthy of him. This shocking claim is not meant to encourage hatred of one's family! It is meant to force us into a clear prioritization of values : God must be first, without condition, compromise or cavil.

Sermon 79 : You Have Revealed to the Merest Children : 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/7/2002

There is nothing anti-intellectual about the Catholic tradition. It has reverenced great minds from Augustine to John Henry Newman. But the Lord reminds us that the mind can easily become arrogant, self-important, bullying. Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest geniuses who ever lived, had, by all accounts, the soul of an innocent child.

Sermon 80 : A Sower Went Out to Sow : 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/14/2002

God is a farmer who sows the seed of his love liberally, on good and bad soil, to saint and sinner alike. There is no limit to God's willingness to save. If we are the least bit cooperative, the grace of God will cause life to spring up in us thirty, sixty, or a hundred fold.

Sermon 81 : The Wheat and the Tares : 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/21/2002

One of the most mysterious and yet practically applicable of Jesus' parables is at the heart of today's Gospel. The wheat and the weeds are allowed to grow together until the harvest, just as, strangely, good and evil are allowed to exist side-by-side in the affairs of the world. Why is his true? Because God deigns to bring good out of evil.

Sermon 82 : A Treasure, a Pearl, a Net : 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/28/2002

The Kingdom of God is like a treasure that we miraculously find; it is like a pearl for which we diligently search; it is like a net that will gather us in. Jesus offers these three great images for God's reign.

Sermon 83 : Loaves and Fishes : 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/4/2002

The compassion of Jesus creates the Church. We are the instruments of the Lord's love for the world. How do we cooperate with him? By giving him even the little that we have and waiting for him to multiply it!

Sermon 84 : Walking on the Water : 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/11/2002

Peter is a symbol of the Church. In the stormy waters, he looks to Jesus and is able to walk on the waves. But when he looks away, he sinks. So with the Church across the ages : when our eyes are fixed on the Lord, we flourish even in adversity; when we look away from him, we falter.

Sermon 85 : The Witty Response : 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/18/2002

The Syro-Phoenicean woman stands for all those who are marginalized, ostracized, ignored, set aside. Through her persistance and cleverness, she obtains what she wants from Jesus. The Church must be that body of people who listen to the persistant cries of the poor and the forgotten.

Sermon 86 : Thou Art Peter : 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/25/2002

The Church of Jesus Christ is governed, not by popular opinion polls, nor even by the holiness of the saints, but by the strange grace that comes to the successors of St. Peter. Hardly the brightest or holiest of Jesus disciples, Peter was nevertheless the one who saw and understood.

Sermon 87 : Get Thee Behind Me, Satan : 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/1/2002

Last week we heard of the grace by which Peter correctly confessed the identity of Jesus. This week, we hear of his weakness. Opposing the cross, he becomes an ally of the dark powers. The Church is infallible and the Church is made up of sinners. When we forget one or the other, we fall into trouble.

Sermon 88 : Fraternal Correction : 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/8/2002

We find in the 18th chapter of Matthew's Gospel a wonderful blueprint for the resolution of difficulties in the community of Christ. Don't gossip, don't back stab, don't complain. Instead, have the courage to go to the one who is out of line and tell him or her in love.

Sermon 89 : Seventy Times Seven Times : 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/15/2002

Forgiveness is at the very heart of the teaching and lifestyle of Jesus. To forgive is actively to heal a broken relationship, to seek out the one from whom we are alienated. How often do we do it? As often as it is required, for there is nothing more important in the body of Christ.

Sermon 90 : The Off-Putting Generosity of God : 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/22/2002

"God's ways are not our ways; God's thoughts are not our thoughts. How is God's love playing itself out in the world? It isn't always easy to see, for there are so many injustices, so much innocent suffering, so much out of balance. But the dispensing of grace is God's business, not ours, and so we should ask the question 'why?' not in a spirit of rebellion, but in an attitude of awe."

Sermon 91 : May That Same Mind Be in You that Was in Christ Jesus : 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/29/2002

The second reading for Mass today contains one of the most beautiful passages in the New Testament, St. Paul's hymn to the self-emptying love of Christ. We sinners cling to godliness; the true God does not, but rather gives himself away in humility and love. The cross of Jesus is thus the undoing of the sin of Eden.

Sermon 92 : Tenants of the Vineyard : 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/6/2002

The world and its wonders are not ours to own. Rather they are given to us in trust; we are their tenants. When we forget this basic fact, we invite disaster and degenerate into moral corruption. We must remember that we are servants and God the master.

Sermon 93 : The Wedding Feast : 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/13/2002

The great parable of the wedding banquet reminds us that we are invited by God into fullness of life and that we have to respond with all of our powers to that invitation. The single greatest tragedy in human life is the refusal to answer the call to God's banquet. We must do it, before it is too late.

Sermon 94 : Caesar and Christ : 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/20/2002

We must render to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's. But we must also recall that everything belongs to God, including Caesar! Secular government and culture have their legitimate place, but they are not independent of God and God's purposes.

Sermon 95 : The Greatest Commandment : 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/27/2002

In today's Gospel, Jesus sums up the law and the prophets with the command that we must love God with our whole being and our neighbor as ourself. These two moves are absolutely basic : everything else in Christianity flows from them or comments upon them.

Sermon 96 : Woe to You Pharisees : 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/3/2002

The problem with the Pharisees is not what they teach. It is that they use religion--the very thing that is meant to take us out of ourselves--as a means of aggrandizing the ego. Law, custom, practice, religious dress, titles--all of it becomes a way of trumpeting the self.

Sermon 97 : Be Vigilant : 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/10/2002

We hear today the parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins. The former are ready for the bridegroom when he comes; the latter are not. We have no idea when Christ will come to gather us to himself : so we must be ready--through prayer, the sacraments, and forgiveness.

Sermon 98 : Life is a Risk : 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/17/2002

At the heart of the Christian moral and spiritual life is a willingness to risk. When we cling selfishly and protectively to what God has given us, we dry up. But when we risk it, give it away in love, we increase the life within us.

Sermon 99 : Whatsoever You Do... : Christ the King : 11/24/2002

Our Gospel for today is one of the most devastating texts in the New Testament. Jesus tells us that whenever we neglected to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, welcome the lonely, we failed to care for him. Dorothy Day said that everything a baptized Christian does every day should be related to the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

Sermon 100 : A People Who Wait... : 1st Sunday of Advent : 12/1/2002

The French spiritual writer Simone Weil said that the core of the Christian life is waiting, watching, expecting. We cannot save ourselves, but we can look with rapt attention to the one who can. In this sense, we are, permanently, an Advent people.

Sermon 101 : Here Comes With Power the Lord God : 2nd Sunday of Advent : 12/8/2002

The God who comes to save us is one who rules with a strong arm, who brings a reward and recompense, who gathers and feeds his sheep, who clears a highway before him. All of these rich metaphors and images are from the prophet Isaiah, the greatest of the Old Testament Advent figures.

Sermon 102 : Gaudete : 3rd Sunday of Advent : 12/15/2002

"Today is Gaudete Sunday. The word 'gaudete' means 'rejoice.' It has been said that the surest sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit in one's soul is joy. When God has made his dwelling with us, deep peace, abiding joy is the result.'"

Sermon 103 : The Fiat of Mary : 4th Sunday of Advent : 12/22/2002

The greatest of the Advent figures makes her appearance in the Gospel for today. Mary the mother of God is the new Eve, the one who, through her expectation and obedience, undid the sin of Eve and Adam. They tried to seize God's gifts; Mary accepted them as a grace.

Sermon 104 : God's Subversive Ways : The Holy Family : 12/29/2002

The Christmas story is essentially a tale of subversion. Everything the world holds up as beautiful and worthy of attention is undermined : wealth, power, privilege, comfort. The icon of God is not the mighty Caesar Augustus, but the little child of Bethlehem, too weak to hold up his own head. Real power is love : there is the subversive message of Christmas.

Sermon 105 : Breaking Open the Coffers of Your Heart : 2nd Sunday of Christmas : 1/5/2003

The Three Wise Men see the sign, they move, they overcome opposition, and then they give the new-born King the best they have. Having walked this spiritual itinerary, they then 'go back by a different route,' for no one ever comes to Christ and goes back the same way he came.

Sermon 106 : The Friend of Sinners : Baptism of the Lord : 1/12/2003

At the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus, the sinless one, stands shoulder to shoulder with sinners in the muddy waters of the Jordan River. Jesus' whole purpose is to go the lost, the sick, the forgotten, the sinful in order to bring the light of God's love.

Sermon 107 : Speak Lord, I'm Listening : 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/19/2003

The young prophet Samuel listens to the Lord's voice, seeks guidance from an elder, and then disposes himself to do what the Lord demands. In this he becomes a model of the disciple : the one who hears and obeys.

Sermon 108 : The Reluctant Prophet : 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/26/2003

Jonah hears God's invitation and refuses to cooperate. But God's providence is universal and his demand is absolute. When he has gone through the discipline of the belly of the fish, Jonah is ready. At his word, the entire city of Nineveh repents. When we hear our call to Nineveh, let us not resist!

Sermon 109 : Presentation : Presentation of the Lord : 2/2/2003

Eight days after his birth, Mary presents Jesus in the temple. Our lives take on meaning and purpose only in the measure that we make of them gifts to God. The Mass is the great act by which we, in Christ, present ourselves to the Father.

Sermon 110 : Jesus the Healer : 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/9/2003

They come to him from all sides--the lame, the blind, the fearful, the sick--and he cures them. Jesus is a conduit of the divine energy and love, a fountain of grace. True then, true now.

Sermon 111 : Seeking the Lost : 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/16/2003

Jesus seeks out even the unclean and the despised. Whenever we wander from God's love, we become deformed; whenever an aspect of ourselves--mind, will, body, imagination--loses its connection to the Lord, it becomes sick. To be clean is to be reconnected to the power of Christ the Center.

Sermon 112 : The Paralysis of Sin : 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/23/2003

God wants nothing more than for us to be fully alive. Sin cramps us, paralyzes us, prevents us from flourishing. Jesus' whole life and being is God's 'yes' to human beings. So he forgives the sin of the paralytic and then invites him to walk.' The glory of God is a human being fully alive.

Sermon 113 : The Bridegroom : 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 3/2/2003

Christ is the bridegroom and we the church are his bride. He wants to affect a union with us that is as intimate as a husband's and wife's. If we are to take in the new life that Jesus offers us, we must be transformed from within. New wine (God's life) can only be received by new wineskins.

Sermon 114 : The Angels and the Wild Beasts : 1st Sunday of Lent : 3/9/2003

Mark tells us that Jesus went into the desert and there was ministered to by angels while he lived among the beasts. One of the marks of sin is an aliention of the body and the spirit, the animal and the angelic in all of us. Jesus represents the proper balance between the two.

Sermon 115 : The Law of the Gift : 1st Sunday of Lent : 3/16/2003

Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac is a foreshadowing of God the Father's willingness to sacrifice his Son for the salvation of the world. Both reveal the terrible and wonderful law of the gift : the more you give away what you love, the more your being is enhanced.

Sermon 116 : Zeal for your House Consumes Me : Third Sunday of Lent : 3/23/2003

In cleansing the temple and announcing its destruction, Jesus shows that he himself is the new temple, the authentic dwelling place of God on earth. In the measure that we are grafted onto him, we too become temples of the Holy Spirit.

Sermon 117 : The God of the Nations : Fourth Sunday of Lent : 3/30/2003

"Though the Enlightenment taught us to privatize and interiorize our religion, the Bible has a robustly 'political' sense of God's activity. God's will is revealed in the movements and struggles of the nations. National sin (like personal sin) results in divine judgment. This deeply Biblical intuition is revealed in Lincoln's reading of the Civil War and in Karl Barth's interpretation of the First World War.

Sermon 118 : Grain of Wheat : Fifth Sunday of Lent : 4/6/2003

If the grain of wheat falls to earth and dies it bears much fruit.
When I am lifted up (on the cross) I will draw all people to myself.
The Prince (principle) of the world (self) will be driven out.

Sermon 119 : Luke reveals telling details : Passion (Palm) Sunday : 4/13/2003

Woman pours purfume over Jesus. Jesus sings. Young man runs away naked. Temple curtain is torn.

Sermon 120 : Death Undone : Easter Sunday : 4/20/2003

The Resurrection IS the Gospel, everything else is commentary.
Death is undone, it has no more power.
Easter is God's victory over death, the source of all other evils.

Sermon 121 : The New Creation : Second Sunday of Easter : 4/27/2003

The risen Jesus breaks through the locked doors of our fears and brings us the Shalom (the full flourishing) that God wants for his people. Then he breathes into us the power and joy of the Holy Spirit and he sends us out to spread the good news.

Sermon 122 : The Risen Jesus : Third Sunday of Easter : 5/4/2003

The risen Christ makes two basic moves : he shows his wounds and speaks a word of peace. In so doing, he reminds us of our sins and he assures us of his forgiveness. In this a new world opens up, for we know that nothing can finally separate us from the love of God--even the act of killing God!

Sermon 123 : The Good Shepherd : Fourth Sunday of Easter : 5/11/2003

It's all about the Voice. As a sheep hears the distinctive voice of its shepherd, so we hear, amidst the cocaphony of competing voices, The Voice of God's own Son. Following him is now the only option

Sermon 124 : I am the Vine : Fifth Sunday of Easter : 5/18/2003

John 14-17 is Jesus' Last Will and Testament.
"I am the True Vine, live on in Me."
Doctors tells how to preserve your body.
Jesus tells how to preserve your souls.
Both are just telling you the facts.
Be grafted onto Christ.

Sermon 125 : God is Love : Sixth Sunday of Easter : 5/25/2003

Let us love on another. God is Love.
Love is to will the good of the other.
We have been loved into existence.
By being grafted to Christ, we can receive the love the Father, and be God's friend.

Sermon 126 : Death Does Not Matter : Seventh Sunday of Easter : 6/1/2003

Christ is trying to lure us into a new world, where death does not matter.
God's love is more powerful than death.
Where there is division, there is sin.
The purpose of Christianty is to make us joyful.
Joy is the mark of the saints.

Sermon 127 : The Holy Spirit, Wind and Fire : Pentecost : 6/8/2003

Spiritu Sanctus - Holy Wind
Wind establishs equilibium.
Today the Church is filled with the breath of God.
Preachers have fire in their mouths.
Fire is attractive, hot, spicy, a little dangerous.

Sermon 128 : Basic reality is relationships : Solemnity of The Holy Trinity : 6/15/2003

Trinity involves confusing language--God is an infinite mystery.
God is flexible enough to let us into his life.
In the Trinity there is Lover, Beloved and the Love they share.
Basic reality is relationships.

Sermon 129 : Corpus Christi : Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/22/2003

Animal sacrifice is ended in Jesus, the ultimate and final sacrifice, sealed in His blood.
Jesus is sent out of love, not anger.
Jesus is God's sacrifice.
We are loved back into life by God.

Sermon 130 : We are called : Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles : 6/29/2003

Peter and Paul are pillars of the Church who were deeply flawed and imperfect.
Both were chosen by Jesus and made saints by God's grace.
We also are called.

Sermon 131 : Thorn in the flesh : Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/6/2003

The greater the person, the greater the thorn.
My grace is enough for you.
In weakness power reaches perfection.

Sermon 132 : Christianity is a walking religion : Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/13/2003

Jesus is on the go, like a thunderbolt. Jesus sends his diciples out after a few weeks of preaching, telling them to travel light and depend on God.

Sermon 133 : Good Shepherd : Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/20/2003

Biblical authors have a realistic view of humans.
Greatest figures are flawed.
Authors suspicious of those who wield power.

Sermon 134 : Bread of Life : Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/27/2003

The feeding of the 5000 presages the Eucharist.

Sermon 135 : Puritanism : Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/3/2003

Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine,
there is music, and laughter, and good red wine.
Danger in being absorbed in the goods of this world.
Don't make worldly things the center.
Work for food unto life eternal - the Eucharist; make it the center,

Sermon 136 : Bread for the Journey : Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/10/2003

Jesus (Eucharist) is both sustenance and goal for our journey. The Eucharist helps us become heavenly beings.

Sermon 137 : Meaning of the Eucharist : Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/17/2003

Catholicism is about relating personally to Jesus who is a God who became flesh; and of making your life a gift.

Sermon 138 : Jesus Causes Trouble : Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/24/2003

Do you want to enter into a wonderful relationship with God, or is it too much?

Sermon 139 : Essentials and Externals : Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/31/2003

The Law is the core of God's intention. Customs express the law. Embrace the Law but do not be obssessed with customs and externals.

Sermon 140 : Deaf and Dumb Man : Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/7/2003

Our Gospel story today concerns a man who is deaf and dumb. He is symbolically evocative of an Israel that had grown deaf to God's word and, accordingly, unable to speak God's truth clearly. We are meant to identify with him, for we too often allow God's voice to be drowned out by other sounds, and we too are frequently incapable of articulating our faith in a compelling way. The solution is to be plugged into Jesus, to listen to him and to allow him to speak through us.

Sermon 141 : A Christian Paradox : Triumph of the Holy Cross : 9/14/2003

Today's feast, the Triumph of the Cross, is one of those remarkable Christian paradoxes. To describe an unspeakably brutal execution as a 'triumph' seems either a bad joke or plain madness. But we Christians delight in this odd juxtaposition of agony and ecstacy, because we know the deepest truth of the cross is God's swallowing up of even the greatest sin. And so like Paul we glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. How have you perhaps sensed the triumph of the cross in your own life?

Sermon 142 : Unless You Change and Become Like a Little Child : Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/21/2003

"Children are like plants, rocks, and flowers in this sense : they don't know how to be something that they are not. They haven't yet learned to lie, dissemble, pretend, or to seek to be someone they are not meant to be. We are all, right now, being created by God for God's purposes. Childlike joy returns to us the moment we put aside all our games of self-promotion and self-deception and live in accord with God's deepest desire for us.

Have you ever found yourself in the position of the disciples in today's Gospel : wrangling over power, status, and prestige? How do you react when Jesus places before you a little child and says, 'become like him'.

Sermon 143 : God's Grace and the Structures of the Church : Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/28/2003

The structures of the Catholic religion are deeply rooted in the tradition and flow, ultimately, from the will of God. They are the ordinary channels through which the divine grace flows. However, as the Gospel for today clearly indicates, God is not restricted by the institutions and structures that he himself established, and so his grace can operate even outside of the official church. Whatever is good, true, and beautiful in culture, society or other religions is, indirectly related to Christ and thus should not be suppressed or despised.

Sermon 144 : The Two Shall Become One Flesh : Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/5/2003

The love between a husband and wife--in all of its dimensions--is one of the most powerful symbols we have of the love of God. The intimate connection between a man and woman in love is a hint of the infinitely powerful love that binds the persons of the Trinity. This is why Jesus raises marriage to such a high spiritual dignity and why that institution has been so reverenced by the Church over the centuries. By the way, does it bother you a little that there aren't more married people in the ranks of the canonized saints? It bothers me!

Sermon 145 : The Rich Young Man : Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/12/2003

The Gospel story of the conversation between Jesus and the rich young man is one of John Paul II's favorites and is featured in many of his writings. The Pope sees three great moral themes in this narrative : the objectivity of the good, the indispensiblity of the commandments, and finally, the call to radical self-gift. The rich young man accepts the first two but balks at the third--and this is his tragedy. How radically are we willing to live the moral life? Will we follow Jesus, or walk away sad?

Sermon 146 : A Ransom for the Many : Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/19/2003

What does it mean to say that Jesus died for our sins? How precisely does his cross save us? The first Christians saw sin as a sort of imprisonment, like being held for ransom, and in the dying and rising of Jesus, they experienced freedom. What freed them was God's solidarity with them in their fear, even their fear of death. How do you experience the power of Jesus' death on the cross? How does it set you free.

Sermon 147 : Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed : All Souls : 11/2/2003

The Catholic Faith inculcates in us a deep sense of our connection to the dead. They are present to us in memory of course, but also through their prayer, guidance and loving concern. We too pray for them inasmuch as they stand in need of purification before being ready to share fully the divine life. This co-inherence between us the living and the holy souls is what we celebrate on All Souls Day.

Sermon 148 : Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome : All Souls : 11/9/2003

The Catholic Faith inculcates in us a deep sense of our connection to the dead. They are present to us in memory of course, but also through their prayer, guidance and loving concern. We too pray for them inasmuch as they stand in need of purification before being ready to share fully the divine life. This co-inherence between us the living and the holy souls is what we celebrate on All Souls Day.

Sermon 149 : The End of the World : Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/16/2003

In our rather apocalypic Gospel for today, Jesus is not so much predicting the end of the space-time continuum as he is showing that a new world arrives through his death and resurrection. Apocalypse means literally 'unveiling,' and what is unveiled, revealed in the Paschal Mystery is none other than the end of an old way of being and the beginning of a new one.

Sermon 150 : Jesus is Lord, not Ceasar : Christ the King - Solemnity : 11/23/2003

The final Sunday of the Liturgical year is dedicated to Christ the King. One of the earliest forms of Christian proclamation was 'Jesus is Lord.' This was meant to be provocative, since Caesar was customarily described as Lord of the world. The first Christians were saying that Jesus is the one who must in every sense command, direct, and order our lives. Is Jesus truly the King of your life? That's the hard question which this feast raises.

Sermon 151 : Waiting : First Sunday of Advent : 11/30/2003

Waiting is a major theme in the Scriptures. Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Peter and Paul--all are compelled to wait before receiving what God wishes to give them. Why? Perhaps because they were on the wrong track; or because they weren't ready to take in what God intended them to have; or because they didn't desire grace with requisite intensity. Advent is the season when we enter into a spirituality of waiting, watching, listening.

Sermon 152 : What is Important? : Second Sunday of Advent : 12/7/2003

Everything in nature, culture, and the cosmos is passing away. Nothing here below finally lasts. Though certainly sobering, this is not, ultimately, bad news, for it orients us toward the one power that does last : the steadfast love of God. In the Gospel for today, the Word of God comes not to the mighty and powerful of the world, but to John who is living a life of renunciation and prayer in the desert. How important this message is for the setting of our priorities.

Sermon 153 : Gaudete! : Third Sunday of Advent : 12/14/2003

The third Sunday of Advent is traditionally called Gaudete Sunday, Rejoice! Sunday. God is a community of joy and the purpose of creation and redemption is to share that joy. Everything in Christian life--from law and ritual to doctrine and moral praxis--is meant to lead us into deeper joy.

Sermon 154 : Three Advent Lessons : Fourth Sunday of Advent : 12/21/2003

The readings for the final Sunday of Advent present us with three essential lessons. First, in the Biblical perspective, great things come from the small; second, never ever give up hope; and third, trust always in the power of God. These are the lessons of Micah, Elizabeth, and Mary

Sermon 155 : The Great Reversal : The Holy Family - Feast : 12/28/2003

Jesus turns upside-down a world turned upside-down by sin--and thereby sets it right. This subversive quality of the Lord is disclosed in the Luke's magnificent Christmas story. It is not to Caesar Augustus--in his pride, power, comfort, and freedom--that we should look, but rather to the humble, poor, and non-violent King, born in a stable in Bethlehem. The question that Christmas poses to us is this : which King do we follow, Caesar or Christ.

Sermon 156 : Christ and the World Religions : Second Sunday of Christmas : 1/4/2004

The Feast of the Epiphany provides a wonderful occasion for reflecting on the question of Christianity's relationship to the other great religious traditions of the world. As the Magi brought their treasures to Christ, so all of the religions are destined to bring what is true, good, and beautiful in them to Jesus. In this way, all find fulfillment in the one Lord.

Sermon 157 : More on Christ and the World Religions : Baptism of the Lord - Feast : 1/11/2004

Last week, I spoke of the many 'family resemblances' between Christianity and the other great religious traditions. This week, I look at the other side, all the points of disagreement. How do we balance all of this? Both the Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord provide clues.

Sermon 158 : The Great Wedding : Second Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/18/2004

"The prophet Isaiah expresses the conviction of ancient Israel that God wants to marry his people, which is to say, to share his life fully with them. This espousing God becomes flesh in Jesus and hence it is altogether appropriate that the Lord's first public sign in John's Gospel takes place at a wedding. He has come that we might have life and have it to the full. The 'good wine' of the wedding feast at Cana is now the 'good wine' of the Eucharist by which all of us become partakers of God's inner life.

Sermon 159 : The Lessons of Nehemiah : Third Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/25/2004

Our first reading for this week is taken from the book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament. Nehemiah returned from exile in order to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and to preside over the reconstitution of the Israelite nation. The Church, the new Israel, is a people with an identity grounded in tradition, law, word, and sacrament. When we allow those foundations to be destroyed, we are in danger of losing ourselves.

Sermon 160 : The Strange Path of Love : Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/1/2004

Our second reading for Mass this weekend is one of the most beautiful and oft-quoted in the Biblical tradition : Paul's hymn to love in the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians. Love--willing the good of the other--must undergird everything else in Christian life. Even the strongest faith, if it is unformed by love, is nothing; even the greatest pastoral outreach, if it is not for the sake of love, means nothing; even the most spectacular spiritual gifts, if they don't conduce toward love, are worthless. In light of this reading, we have the criterion by which to assess the quality of our lives.

Sermon 161 : Missing

Sermon 162 : Blessed Detachment : Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/15/2004

Detachment is a key theme in the spiritual masters. It means that we must detach ourselves from all of those created goods--sex, money, power, pleasure--that are not our ultimate good. When we do this, we experience a spiritual freedom that actually enables us to enjoy those things more. Luke's version of the Beatitudes is, I submit, all about this detachment.

Sermon 163 : Four Reasons to Love Your Enemies : Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/22/2004

One of the most challenging and disconcerting of Jesus' commands is to love our enemies. In this sermon, I will explore four reasons why this moral demand makes sense. First, it helps us to test the quality of our love; second, it tells us a great deal about ourselves; third, it makes us see that sometimes our enemies might be right; and fourth, it allows us sometimes to win our enemy back.

Sermon 164 : Temptation : First Sunday of Lent : 2/29/2004

Jesus is driven by the Spirit into the desert in order to be tempted by the devil. The three temptations--to sensual pleasure, to power, and to pride--respresent three fundamental ways that all of us can be distracted from the path that God wants us to walk. It is therefore a salutary Lenten exercise to attend carefully to the texture of Jesus' responses.

Sermon 165 : The Adventure of Faith : Second Sunday of Lent : 3/7/2004

We have a God of adventure, a God who is always out ahead of us. Faith, in the Biblical sense of the term, is not primarily the acquiesence to propositions; rather, it is an attitude of trust in the God who calls us beyond ourselves. We witness this faith in Abraham's willingness to follow where God leads, and we see it too in the disciples' willingness to follow Jesus on the path toward the cross. Do we settle for what we know and control, or do we venture into the darkness, trusting in what God promises? This is the great question that our readings for the second Sunday of Lent propose to us.

Sermon 166 : I Am Who I Am : Third Sunday of Lent : 3/14/2004

When Moses, in our first reading for this Sunday, asks God for his name, the Lord replies 'I am who I am.' God's mysterious self-designation is meant to throw Moses, and all of us, off balance. God is not someone or something that can be named, described, designated or deliminted in the usual way, for God is not a being in or alongside the world. Instead, he is that strange and alluring power that stands behind all of created existence. He is Being Itself, that which can be neither grasped nor hidden from.

Sermon 167 : Prodigal Son : Fourth Sunday of Lent : 3/21/2004

Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the most memorable, carefully crafted, and inspiring stories ever told. In some ways, the whole of the Christian 'thing' is summed up in this narrative. We have a God who invites us into the dynamism of his own life, and who relentlessly pursues us even when, in our stupidity and sin, we refuse to respond to the invitation.

Sermon 168 : All Is Loss : Fifth Sunday of Lent : 3/28/2004

In our second reading for this Sunday, St. Paul lays out his resumé. In terms of the Judaism of his time, Paul was about as accomplished as one could hope to be : he was a defender of the tradition, steeped in the wisdom of his people, and blameless under the law. But after seeing Jesus risen from the dead, Paul said that he counted all of those achievements as loss and refuse. So we, he implies, should not base our lives on our accomplishments, degrees, social status--but rather on Christ crucified and risen.

Sermon 169 : The Passion of the Christ : Passion (Palm) Sunday : 4/4/2004

In St. Luke's account of the Passion, we see what real kingship looks like. Jesus gives his entire self away in love--and in that he is Lord. The supreme irony is the sign placed by Pontius Pilate over the cross : This is the King of the Jews. Real power is not a function of money, pleasure, domination, and self-aggrandizement. Real power is self-forgetting love.

Sermon 170 : Victory Day : Easter Sunday : 4/11/2004

Easter is the dawn of a new creation. St. John tells us that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early on the morning of the first day of the week. This is meant to call to mind the first day of creation, when God said, 'Let there be light' and brought order out of chaos. From the meaninglessness of death, God brings eternal life. This is the central and revolutionary message of Easter.

Sermon 171 : My Lord and My God : Second Sunday of Easter : 4/18/2004

Despite the locked doors, the risen Jesus stands in the midst of the disciples. This is a beautiful icon of the Church, the community gathered around Jesus and filled with his spirit. When the Lord, first appears, Thomas is not there and hence does not believe. Only when he returns to the apostolic circle does he encounter Jesus and make his great confession. This detail reminds us that we see the risen Lord only in the church and through its mediation.

Sermon 172 : The Structure of Discipleship : Third Sunday of Easter : 4/25/2004

"Our Gospel for today, taken from the wonderful 21st chapter of St. John's Gospel, is filled with mystical and symbolic allusions. The disciples in the boat are evocative of the church; Jesus on the shore calls to mind the eschatological fulfillment toward which the church is journeying; Peter calls to mind both sinful Adam and the promise of redemption. In all of it, we see a picture of discipleship.

Sermon 173 : Paul the Apostle : Fourth Sunday of Easter : 5/2/2004

During the Easter season, we are reading from the book of the Acts of the Apostles. Though John, Philip, Peter, and James are all featured in Acts, the 'star' of the text is clearly Paul, missionary and evangelist. Who was this extraordinarily important figure, the man that many say, after Jesus himself, was most influential on the development of Christianity? For the next three weeks, I will be exploring the life, thought, and work of Paul the Apostle.

Sermon 174 : Paul's Message : Fifth Sunday of Easter : 5/9/2004

Last week we looked at the life and times of Paul, the person who, after Jesus himself, is the most influential figure in the formation of the Christian church. In this week's sermon, I look briefly at Paul's central teaching, which I identify as 'being in Christ.' The phrase 'en Christo,' in Christ, appears 83 times in the letters of Paul, indicating how central it is to the Apostle's teaching and preaching. Christ Jesus is a new energy field, a new power, a new way of being, and the idea, as far as Paul is concerned, is to get into it--so that ultimately you can say, with him, 'it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.

Sermon 175 : Paul's Basic Message : Part Two : Sixth Sunday of Easter : 5/16/2004

"Last week we explored the central teaching of St. Paul : to live in Christ Jesus. This week, we draw out four implications from this teaching : the corporate nature of the church, a sacramental imagination, the gifts of the Spirit, and the acknowledgement of Jesus as Lord. In emphasizing these themes, Paul gave shape to the whole of Christian theology through the ages.

Sermon 176 : The Ascension of the Lord : Seventh Sunday of Easter : 5/23/2004

"The feast of the Ascension is meant to awaken hope. In Jesus, risen from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father, our lowly human nature participates in the very life of God. In the light of the ascension, therefore, we are permitted to hope for a way of being, elevated and perfected beyond our imagining.

Sermon 177 : Come, Holy Spirit : Pentecost : 5/30/2004

The two great symbols of the descent of the Holy Spirit are wind and tongues of fire. Wind is powerful, unpredictable, destructive, like the Spirit which seizes us and takes us where we would rather not go. Tongues of fire signal impassioned speech on behalf of the Good News, a willingness to announce the Gospel publicly and even in the face of opposition. With the whole church around the world, we pray on this great feast of Pentecost for the coming of that troublesome and wonderful Holy Spirit.

Sermon 178 : The Three-Personed God : The Holy Trinity - Solemnity : 6/6/2004

This weekend, we celebrate the Trinity, a mystery which stands at the very heart of the faith. The doctrine of the Trinity is a technical way of stating what St. John said in his first letter, viz. that God is love. If God is love, then there must be within God a play of lover, beloved, and love. This is the relationality that obtains among the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Sermon 179 : Corpus Christi : Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/13/2004

Paul tells us that whenever we eat the body and drink the blood of the Lord, we proclaim his death until he comes. This means that the Eucharist involves a wonderful compression of time, past and future meeting dynamically in the present. When we gather around the Lord's table now, we call to mind the breakthrough moment of the Paschal Mystery and we anticipate the culminating moment of the end of time. In doing this, we charge the present with meaning and purpose.

Sermon 180 : They Shall Look on Him Whom They Have Pierced : Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/20/2004

"The book of the prophet Zechariah provides a sort of interpretive key for the life and ministry of Jesus. It tells us what the Messiah would do and what kind of figure he would be. The passage that we read from Zechariah for Mass this week emphasizes that the Messiah, curiously enough, would be 'pierced.' In our Gospel, Peter correctly identifies Jesus as the Messiah, but then he (and we) are given a lesson in what that means : the Son of Man must be rejected, persecuted and put to death. Jesus the Messiah saves the world precisely by being killed. To understand that is to understand everything about Christian faith."

Sermon 181 : Elijah, You're Fired! : Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/27/2004

In the stories of the prophets Elijah and Elisha we clearly see the great Biblical theme of vocation and election. Our lives our not about us; it is not finally our autonomy that matters. Rather, we are claimed and chosen and sent by God, and only in the measure that we accept this divine mission do we find true joy. When he resisted God's will and sought to justify himself, Elijah was summarily fired; when Elijah put his mantle over the shoulders of Elisha, Elisha dropped everything and followed the will of God. If you want your whole world turned upside down, read the 18th and 19th chapters of the first book of Kings!

Sermon 182 : A Portrait of the Church : Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/4/2004

Our Gospel reading for this Sunday is the account of Jesus' sending of the seventy-two disciples. In the instructions he gives them, we can discern an outline of the life and work of the Church down through the ages. At our best, we are missionary church, empowered by prayer, marked by simplicity of life, bearing health and salvation, and proclaiming the reign of God.

Sermon 183 : The Good Samaritan : Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/11/2004

The story of the Good Samaritan is not merely a morality tale, an account of the kind of life we should lead. It is that, but, at the deepest level, it is also a telling of the basic story of sin, fall, and redemption. All of us sinners are the man beaten up and left half-dead by the side of the road. We cannot be saved by law or religion or our own works, but only by Jesus Christ and his grace. This best-known of Jesus' parables is finally a narrative of salvation.

Sermon 184 : The One Thing Necessary : Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/18/2004

Both our first reading and Gospel for this week speak of the importance of keeping our attention riveted on God. The three angels visit Abraham, and he drops everything in order to receive them with hospitality; Jesus comes to her home, and Mary sits at his feet, listening to his words. When God is the absolute priority in our lives, everything else that we are worried about about falls into place. Augustine said, 'love God and do what you want.' This implies that once God is the unambiguous center of our lives, we can confidently arrange and respond to all of our particular concerns.

Sermon 185 : The Ways of Prayer : Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/25/2004

The Bible speaks often of prayer, that intimate communion and conversation with God. Our readings for this Sunday present, if I can put it this way, the rules of prayer. First, we must pray with faith and confidence; secondly, our prayer must be accompanied by forgiveness; thirdly, we must pray with persistence, and finally, we must pray in the name of Jesus the Lord. Why does our prayer not 'work?' Perhaps it's because we are not following the rules.

Sermon 186 : The Wisdom of Qoheleth : Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/1/2004

Our first reading for this Sunday is taken from the wonderful book of Ecclesiastes. This Biblical text is made up of the cranky reflections of Qoheleth, an old man who has seen it all and done it all--and finds all of it 'vanity and a chase after wind.' Why do we attend to his rather sardonic meditations? We do so because it is altogether salutary to be reminded that our ultimate joy is found in none of the goods of this world. So sit down with Qoheleth, pretend he's your curmudgeonly but loveable grandfather, and listen.

Sermon 187 : Walking the Path of Faith : Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/30/2004

Our second reading this week is from the 11th chapter of the letter to the Hebrews, and it concerns that central virtue of the Christian life : faith. To believe is not to be naive, superstitious, or uncritical. It is not opposed to reason. Rather, it is a reasonable leap into the darkness of that which transcends what we can know and control. As such, it is analogous to the 'leaps' made by a man about to marry, by a scientist embarking on an experiment the result of which he does not precisely know, by an adventurer about to embark on his journey of exploration.

Sermon 188 : The Body Matters : Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven : 8/30/2004

For Catholics, Mary is like the moon, for her light is always a reflected light. Whatever we say about Mary is meant to draw attention, not so much to her, but to Christ. Thus, for example, the claim that Mary is the mother of God is an indirect way of affirming the facticity of the Incarnation. Our feast for today--the Assumption of the Virgin--is similarly Christological in focus. It is meant to highlight the reality of Jesus' bodily resurrection from the dead. As the first and greatest disciple of the Lord, the Virgin Mary shares in the effects of this event, participating body and soul in the new life opened up by Jesus.

Sermon 189 : Training in the Divine School : Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/22/2004

In the years following the Second Vatican Council, we became very hesitant ever to invoke the category of the divine punishment. Yet, this motif can be found throughout the Bible, both Old Testament and New. How do we properly understand it? Our second reading from Mass, taken from the letter to the Hebrews, gives us some important guidance. It places God's punishment in the context of love and discipline. God punishes us, not capriciously and arbitrarily, but out of a desire to bring us to deeper life, much as a parent will, from time to time, punish a child. I'm eager to hear your reaction to these reflections on a tricky but important theme in Biblical theology.

Sermon 190 : The Trouble With Honor : Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/29/2004 Some people organize their lives around the love of money; others do so around the love of pleasure or power. Still others make honor--the esteem of others--the central value. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus criticizes all of these false gods, and in today's passage, he focuses on this last problem. The key, he suggests, is to order one's life so that winning the esteem of God is all that finally matters. Why play to the fickle, unreliable crowd? In all of your thoughts, words and actions, play to the divine audience--and you will find liberation and joy.

Sermon 191 : Spiritual Shock Therapy : Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/5/2004

The world of grasping, competition, violence, and egotism is the 'real' world, right? And if I were to suggest that we can live in radical non-violence, love, compassion, and forgiveness, you would probably suggest that I am a utopian dreamer. But what Jesus shows is precisely the illusory, phony quality of the supposedly 'real' world that we inhabit, and what he calls for is an immersion in the new universe that he calls 'the Kingdom of God.' His strategy : spiritual shock therapy. 'Hate your mother and father, your children, your wife, your very self,' he says to the uncomprehending crowds--and to us. His purpose is to shake us out of our complacency and into a whole new way of thinking, acting, and being.

Sermon 192 : A God of Relentless Mercy : Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/12/2004

The God of the Bible is infinitely demanding and infinitely merciful. Jesus said, 'Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect,' and he taught us to think of that Father as a good shepherd willing to lay down his life for his sheep. Our spiritual lives get off the rails when we exclusively emphasize one or the other of these dimensions. God hates sin--but he relentlessly, passionately runs after us sinners, eager to draw us back into friendship with him.

Sermon 193 : See, Judge, and Act : The Lesson of the Unjust Steward : Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/19/2004

Our Gospel for this week contains one of Jesus' most surprising and comical parables, the story of the unjust steward. Jesus finds something to praise in the man who is resourceful (and ruthless) enough to fend for himself when his whole world collapses. The lesson is clear : we disciples should be just as attentive, intelligent, and decisive when it comes to spiritual matters. We should see our relationship with God clearly, assess our spiritual health honestly, and act to set our lives in right order.

Sermon 194 : Amos's Challenge : Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/26/2004

We hear from the prophet Amos in our first reading for this Sunday. Amos stands at the very beginning of the great prophetic tradition of social justice. He sees that the very heart of the law is our collective concern for the orphan, the widow, the stranger, and the needy. This emphasis is continued in the writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and it comes to particularly rich expression in the words of Jesus the prophet. We must listen with attention to Amos and allow ourselves to be deeply challenged by him.

Sermon 195 : No Cowardly Spirit : Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/3/2004

We hear this week from St. Paul's second letter to Timothy. Paul, the old warrior, is passing on to his young disciple words of advice and encouragement. He tells Timothy that he has received 'no cowardly spirit,' but rather a spirit of boldness and confidence. Throughout the ages, in the saints and the martyrs, we have seen evidence of this courageous spirit that comes from the risen Christ. Did you know that the 20th century had more Christian martyrs than any other century? We can all still benefit from Paul's words.

Sermon 196 : There is No Chaining the Word of God! : Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/10/2004

This week we once more hear from Paul's second letter to Timothy. He writes to his young friend from prison, chained in place by the Roman authorities. But he boldly tells Timothy that there is no chaining the Word of God. This confidence in the power of God's word is shared by all of the great saints up and down the centuries. John Paul II had it when he preached in his native Poland in the 1980's, effectively unchaining an oppressed people.

Sermon 197 : Will the Son of Man Find Faith on the Earth? : 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/17/2004

Our Gospel for this week ends with one of the most haunting lines in the New Testament. Jesus says, 'when the Son of man returns, will he find faith on the earth?' The Christian faith has faded away, even in lands where it was once vibrant : Egypt, Turkey, North Africa, etc. Will it endure in Western Europe, in our country? The cultivation of the faith is obviously God's work first, but it is also ours. What are we doing to make sure that the Christian Gospel is successfully passed on to the next generation?

Sermon 198 : The Pharisee and the Publican : 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/24/2004

The Irish writer Iris Murdoch said that human beings are naturally self-absorbed and that what we need, consequently, are spiritual exercises that break us out of the narrow confines of our egos. Learning a foreign language can be such an exercise, as can a confrontation with real beauty. Authentic prayer--the kind exemplified in the humble petition of the Publican--also serves this purpose.

Sermon 199 : Zacchaeus, Hurry Down : 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/31/2004

The story of Zacchaeus is an icon of the spiritual life. Even the worst of us have, deep down, a hunger for God and a desire to see Jesus. When we follow the promptings of that desire, wonderful things can happen. Of course, when Jesus enters our lives, he means business : 'I am coming to stay at your house this day,' he says to Zacchaeus. Christ will not be a peripheral interest, one value among many. Once we invite him in, he will be the Lord of our lives.

Sermon 200 : Celibacy : An Eschatological Sign : 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/7/2004

There are celibates in the church because of what Jesus said in our Gospel for today. In the world to come, the Savior specified, people will not marry or be given in marriage but will rather be like angels, experiencing a communion so intense and complete that even the richest communion here below will be as nothing. It is according to God's providence, therefore, that there be certain people who, even now, live in accord with that eschatological hope. This is why the celibacy of priests and religious is a gift for the whole people of God.

Sermon 201 x : Not One Stone Upon Another : 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/29/2004

Our Gospel for this Sunday opens with Jesus' disciples admiring the splendor of the Temple, the most beautiful, important, and impressive building they had ever seen. And Jesus, as is his wont, pulls the rug out from under them : 'Not one stone of this temple will be left upon another, but it will all be torn down!' The Gospel emphasizes over and again that nothing in this world lasts, nothing here below is ultimate. Therefore we shouldn't spend our time and energy gawking at the glories of this world; rather we should see and act in the light of a glory to come.

Sermon 202 : Christ the Crucified King : Christ the King - Solemnity : 11/21/2004

Our first reading for Mass this Sunday is taken from the opening chapter of Paul's letter to the Colossians. There is no stronger statement of the absolute primacy, centrality, and importance of Jesus Christ in the entire New Testament. Jesus, Paul tells us, is the beginning and the end, the icon of the invisible God, the one in whom all things exist and for whom they are destined. And then the Gospel shows us this cosmic King nailed to the cross. This wonderful irony is at the heart of the Christian proclamation : the King of the Universe is a crucified criminal, who utterly spends himself in love.

Sermon 203 : God's Holy Mountain : 1st Sunday of Advent : 11/28/2004

The Advent season commences with a magnificent reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. The prophet dreams of a holy mountain to which all the nations will stream and on which the worship of God is paramount. This is the articulation of an eschatological hope : when God is given glory in the highest, human affairs tend to fall into harmony, and we can 'beat our swords into plowshares.'

Sermon 204 : The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit : 2nd Sunday of Advent : 12/5/2004

In the eleventh chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah, we find a description of the gifts of the Holy Spirit with which the Messiah will be embued. They include wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fear of the Lord, piety, and fortitude. The good news is that these gifts are given to all of the baptized, all those who participate in the Messiahship of Jesus Christ. What precisely are these gifts and what difference do they make in our lives? Listen in order to find out.

Sermon 205 : The Blooming Desert : 3rd Sunday of Advent : 12/12/2004

We have another great image from the prophet Isaiah this weekend : the blooming desert. So many of the Biblical heroes--Abraham, Moses, John the Baptist, Paul, Jesus himself--have to pass through the desert before they undertake their missions. It is only through this period of dryness, austerity, simplification, and spiritual prioritization that the blossoming of grace comes. Good Advent lesson for us.

Sermon 206 : The Virgin Shall Be With Child : 4th Sunday of Advent : 12/19/2004

The fourth and final Isaian image for this Advent season is the most powerful and the most mysterious : the virgin shall be with child. Never underestimate what God can do. As the angel said to Mary, 'nothing is impossible with God.' Even from our emptiness, God can bring forth salvation.

Sermon 207 : The Word Became Flesh : The Holy Family - Feast : 12/26/2004

The words of Thomas Jefferson defined our nation; the words of Abraham Lincoln strengthened its resolve at a time of unprecedented crisis; the words of Martin Luther King effected a moral revolution; the words of Winston Churchill turned back an evil empire. Words--even puny human words--pack enormous power. Imagine the power of God's Word, made flesh in Jesus Christ. It unleashed a force that, 2000 years later, continues to change the world. Christmas is the day when we celebrate that power.

Sermon 208 : Magi Came From the East : Second Sunday of Christmas : 1/2/2005

We see in the visit of the Magi to the Christ child the first hint of the internationalism of Christianity. Precisely because Jesus is the Word made flesh, the very personal presence of God, he speaks to all nations and all peoples. The Christian message is meant to overcome all of the petty divisions that characterize the human race : 'In Christ there is no Jew or Greek, no slave or free, no man or woman.'

Sermon 209 : The Baptism of the Lord : Baptism of the Lord - Feast : 1/9/2005

John the Baptist, the last and greatest of the prophets, correctly discerns that Jesus is the Son of God, but what he finds disconcerting is that this God-man comes to him for baptism : 'I should rather be baptized by you.' This reversal--still stunning 2000 years later--is indicative of the Incarnation's purpose : God's desire to enter into the state and condition of the sinner out of love.

Sermon 210 : Called, Set Apart, Sent : 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/16/2005

Cultural commentator Robert Bellah has characterized the typical American approach to religion as individualistic and driven by the desire for personal fulfillment. But this type of religiosity is inimical to the Biblical vision. Just listen to the opening line of our reading from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians : 'Paul, called by God's will to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.' Paul is not actualizing his own agenda, but rather utterly turning himself over to the higher authority who has called him, claimed him, and sent him.

Sermon 211 : They Abandoned Everything : 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/23/2005

Our Gospel passage for today, taken from the 4th chapter of Matthew's Gospel, recounts the story of the call of the first disciples. When they encounter Jesus, the Capharnaum fishermen drop everything and follow him. This represents the compelling nature of Jesus' call : nothing is more important than conforming oneself to the Word made flesh.

Sermon 212 : The Beatitudes : A Spiritual Program : 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/30/2005.

In the great opening verses of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus lays out, in short order, his ethical and spiritual program. It turns all of our customary expectations and prejudices upside down. To be 'happy,' fulfilled, we must empty the self, become meek, learn how to sorrow, hunger not for egotistic satisfaction but for justice, work for peace, and become the objects of persecution. Strange, puzzling, unnerving, counter-intuitive--and the key to joy.

Sermon 213 : Light of the World; Salt of the Earth : 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/6/2005

The purpose of the Church is essentially extraverted. It exists for the sake of sanctifying the world. Thus Jesus tells his followers to be light for the world--that which illumines and clarifies the deepest truth of things--and salt for the earth--that which preserves, spices up and frees what is best in creation. We are most fully ourselves when we are a beacon for everyone else.

Sermon 214 : The Mystery of Light : First Sunday of Lent : 2/13/2005

On this first Sunday of Lent, the Church asks us to get back to the spiritual basics. We are compelled to consider once again the story of the Fall. God wants us to be fully alive, but fullness of life comes ultimately only as a gift of grace and not an accomplishment of the will. When Adam and Eve grasped at godliness, they violated the law of the gift : your being increases in the measure that you give it away. This sin is reversed in the Gospel story of the temptation. Jesus consistently resists the devil's suggestions and makes the Father's will the center of his concerns. In Jesus' resistance, the momentum of Eden is reversed.

Sermon 215 : The Mystery of Light : 2nd Sunday of Lent : 2/20/2005

On his way to Jerusalem, where he will be crucified, Jesus is transfigured before three of his disciples. This manifestation of glory, says Thomas Aquinas, was designed to encourage the disciples during the difficult days that would follow. It gives hope to us too. On the sometimes painful journey through this life, we see in the Transfiguration of the Lord a sign of what awaits us : a glorified life with God.

Sermon 216 : The Infinite Thirst : 3rd Sunday of Lent : 2/27/2005

We are made for God, and therefore our hearts are restless until they rest in him. This longing is symbolized in the thirst of the woman at the well. Directing her away from all earthly goods, Jesus draws her to himself : 'I will give you water springing up to eternal life.' We hear the same invitation to the font of grace.

Sermon 217 : The Man Born Blind : 4th Sunday of Lent : 3/6/2005

Please click the play button above to listen now. Blindness is a great Biblical symbol of spiritual blindness, the darkening and distortion of our vision. Jesus salves and washes the blind man in John's Gospel in order to restore his sight. In the same way, he washes us (in Baptism) and salves us (in the other sacraments) so that we might see with his eyes.

Sermon 218 : Lazarus, Come Forth : 5th Sunday of Lent : 3/13/2005

Our God hates death. Through the prophet Ezekiel, he said, 'I will open your graves and have you rise from them.' Jesus came to end the reign of death, to wrestle death to the ground. In the raising of Lazarus--which anticipates his own even more glorious resurrection--he fulfills the prophecy of Ezekiel, calling the dead man from his grave.

Sermon 219 : The Passion of the Christ : Palm Sunday : 3/20/2005

Every Palm Sunday, we hear the passion narrative from one of the synoptic Gospels. This year, we are immersed in Matthew's version. Matthew shows us that, as Jesus resolutely does the will of his Father, myriad forms of human dysfunction--betrayal, sloth, stupidity, violence, scapegoating, corruption, cruelty--break out around him. This is the story of salvation : God's healing confrontation with sin; God's compassionate embrace of the sinner.

Sermon 220 : He Is Risen! : Easter Sunday : 3/27/2005

Our first reading for this Easter day is Peter's great kerygmatic speech on Pentecost morning. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter addresses the Jerusalem crowd, telling them the impossibly good news that Jesus of Nazareth, a man who moved through their ordinary towns and villages, has been raised from the dead. The Easter faith of the Church is not an abstraction, not a vague claim about God's fidelity or our hope for immortality. Rather, it is the startling assertion that God has brought this man Jesus back from the dead. May we bask in the glow of this still surprising revelation.

Sermon 221 : Falling in Love With God : Second Sunday of Easter : 4/3/2005

So many of us skeptical moderns--intellectual heirs of Descartes-- identify with doubting Thomas. We too struggle with faith, ask tough questions, want proof. And to some degree, this is praiseworthy. But the trouble with systematic and persistent doubt is that it precludes the possibility of love, for love is always a surrender. 'How blessed are those who have not seen and have yet believed,' because they have allowed themselves to fall in love with Jesus Christ.

Sermon 222 : On the Road : 3rd Sunday of Easter : 4/10/2005

The story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is one of the best-loved in the Biblical tradition. It speaks to us of the manner in which we come to see the risen Jesus. When we look through the lenses of the Biblical revelation and the Eucharistic mystery, Jesus comes into clear focus. This, of course, is the structure of the Mass, with its liturgy of the Word and liturgy of the Eucharist.

The late great John Paul II understood this dynamic in his bones--which is why he travelled so widely to speak the word and make present the Eucharist.

Sermon 223 : Redemptive Suffering : 4th Sunday of Easter : 4/17/2005

We hear this week from the Apostle Peter, speaking to the Christian community about redemptive suffering. This is the suffering that comes from doing what is right, even in the face of opposition. What it accomplishes is redemption, that is to say, 'buying back' for God the one who perpetrates the injustice. No one in our own American tradition understood this principle--and put it into practice--more thoroughly than Martin Luther King.

Sermon 224 : A Royal Priesthood : Fifth Sunday of Easter : 4/24/2005

St. Peter tells us in our second reading that all of us--all the baptized--constitute a royal priesthood. This means that we perform sacrifices, acts which reconcile divinity and humanity. The entire life of a disciple should be a sustained act of bringing people to God and God to people. We are bridge-builders, reconcilers, royal priests.

Sermon 225 : Habemus Papam : Sixth Sunday of Easter : 5/1/2005

This week and next, I reflect on the life and work of Joseph Ratzinger, the man who now leads the church as Pope Benedict XVI. Ratzinger was strongly shaped by his Bavarian Catholicism, by his struggle against Nazism, and by the 'nouvelle theologie,' the new theology inaugurated by Henri de Lubac and others. This set of influences made him a unique and powerful voice at the Second Vatican Council. More on his post-conciliar career next week.

Sermon 226 : Habemus Papam, Part II : 7th Sunday of Easter : 5/8/2005

This week I continue my exploration of the life, career, and work of our new Pope, Joseph Ratzinger. In the years after the council, a split occured in the ranks of the Conciliar progressives, some calling for deeper and broader reform and others calling for a more careful appropriation of Vatican II. Joseph Ratzinger, along with Henri de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Karol Wojtyla, belonged to this latter group. The commonality between Ratzinger and Wojtyla led to John Paul II's choice of Ratzinger as his Prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.

Sermon 227 : The Falling of the Fire : Pentecost : 5/15/2005

On this great feast of Pentecost, we reflect on the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit. God's Spirit has given to each baptized person some gift for the upbuilding of the church. When one finds that gift, he should center his entire life around it. There are three paths to the discernment of one's charismatic gift : prayer, listening to the church, and the stirring of the acorn. To find out what that last one means, listen to the sermon!

Sermon 228 : The New Pope and the Trinity : The Holy Trinity - Solemnity : 5/22/2005

In my course on the Trinity here at the seminary, I have, for many years, been using Joseph Ratzinger's book Introduction to Christianity. In the pages of that text, our new pope presents the Trinity in terms of three theses : God's transcendence of the unity/diversity polarity; God's radical personhood; and the metaphysical primacy of relationality. In this sermon for Trinity Sunday, I will spell out briefly the meaning of each of these assertions.

Sermon 229 : The Liturgy : A Play of Priest, Congregation, and Ritual : 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 5/29/2005

On this feast of Corpus Christi, I would like to reflect on the sacred liturgy, the central prayer of the Church. According to Msgr. Francis Mannion, good liturgy is the result of a balanced play between priest, people, and rite. When the first becomes exaggerated, we find the clerical abuse of the liturgy; when the second is overstressed, we encounter the congregationalist abuse; and when the third is exaggerated, we have the ritualistic problem. What counts is the balance!

Sermon 230 : The Conversion of Matthew : 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/5/2005

Our Gospel for this week is a literary and theological masterpiece. It subtly yet powerfully tells the story of the conversion of Matthew from tax collector to disciple. The call, the response, the rising up to a new form of existence, the radical re-creation of a human being, the primacy of grace, the introduction into a life of celebration : all of it is on display. Enter into this story, for it is yours.

Sermon 231 : The New Israel : 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/12/2005

In our first reading from the book of Exodus, we hear the wonderful promise of God to Moses and his people that they would constitute a holy nation, a nation of priests. For the first Christians, this promise was fulfilled in Jesus and in the twelve apostles that he gathered round him. Peter, James, John, Thomas and their companions--with all of their faults--became the core of the renewed Israel. We the baptized are, in turn, their spiritual decendants, and we have, accordingly, the same purpose : to bring the whole human race into friendship with God.

Sermon 232 : What Are You Afraid Of? : 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/19/2005

'Who or what are you most afraid of?' is, I submit, a very important spiritual question. To answer it honestly is to know how and why your life is structured the way it is. The simple message of the the Gospel for this week is that one should fear, above all, the loss of friendship with God. More than the loss of money, health, power, the esteem of others, life itself, one should be afraid of losing intimacy with God. If that is truly your greatest fear, you are not far from the Kingdom of Heaven.

Sermon 233 : Are You Not Aware? : 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/26/2005

In our second reading for this week, St. Paul reminds the Christian community in Rome that baptism means an immersion into the dying of the Lord. In his first letter to the Corinthians, he had similarly told his followers that every eucharist is a participation in the dying of Christ. Why this preoccupation with death? Because it is only through this journey into Christ's death and resurrection that we can effectively conquer the fear of death, which tends to cramp us spiritually. Once we have died witih Jesus, we can walk 'in newness of life.'

Sermon 234 : Zechariah's Strange Prophecy : 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/3/2005

We hear in our first reading from the prophet Zechariah. This post-exilic figure is trying to reassure the people that their Messiah will come and will restore their fortunes. But then he specifies the nature and quality of this hero : he will enter Jerusalem, not on an Arabian charger, but on the foal of a donkey--and he will effectively disarm the nation, destroying horse and chariot! What could this possibly mean? No one really knew until a young rabbi, some five hundred years later, rode into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey and mounted the victorious throne of a Roman cross.

Sermon 235 : The Irresistable Word : 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/10/2005

Our first reading, from the prophet Isaiah, shows that God's word is not so much descriptive as creative : it produces what it says. In the very intelligibility of the material world, we can sense this reality-producing power. We can also sense it in the Biblical word, an invitation into divine friendship. But we encounter it most powerfully in the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. To what extent do we permit this reality-changing Word to take root in us? That is the challenge of our readings for today.

Sermon 236 : The Mystery of the Wheat and the Weeds : 16th Sunday in Orinary Ttime : 7/17/2005

In our Gospel for today, we hear the parable of the wheat and the tares. Jesus speaks of the mysterious, and often frustrating, intertwining of good and evil. Don't be too eager, he says, to tear out the weeds, for you might, in the process, compromise the wheat. Listen, as I try to search out the meaning of this important and complex parable.

Sermon 237 : Both the Old and the New : 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/24/2005

At the conclusion of chapter 13 of Matthew's Gospel, the chapter of parables, Jesus says, 'the scribe who is learned in the Kingdom of God is like the householder who brings forth from his storehouse both the old and the new.' The one who is wise in the ways of God escapes the ideologies of both left and right--the idolatry of both the new and the old. Focused on God alone, he is able to see the value in both novelty and tradition.

Sermon 238 : The Loop of Grace : 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/31/2005

It all begins with grace, and it all ends with grace. Bernanos' country priest summed up Christianity with the phrase 'Toute est grace,' everything is grace. God gives graciously, gratuitously, superabundantly--and then we are called to respond with a similar exuberance. The more we give back to God, the more we get, and then we must give that back again, so as to get even more in return. This is the loop of grace which is spoken of from beginning to end of the Bible. And all of our readings for today touch on it specially.

Sermon 239 : Walking on the Water : 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/7/2005

Often in the Bible, water functions as a symbol of chaos and sin : the waters at the beginning of creation, the waters of the Red Sea, the waters of Noah's flood, etc. Just as the Spirit of God hovered over the abyss in the beginning, so the Son of God walks on the waves. This signals God's lordship over all of the forces of destruction that confront us. As long as we look to Jesus, we can walk on those same waters with him.

Sermon 240 : Testing Our Faith : 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/14/2005

The idea of testing faith is a common one in the Bible. Abraham's faith was tried on Mt. Moriah, as was Jacob's and Joseph's. The Gospel story of the Syro-Phoenician woman is a New Testament instance of this dynamic. Why is Jesus so resistant to the reasonable and loving request of the woman? He wants, not to frustrate her, but to bring out her faith in all of its breadth and depth.

Sermon 241 : Tu Es Petrus : 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/21/2005

The authority of the Church--its rockiness and reliability--comes from neither popular nor aristocratic consensus. Rather, it comes from a charismatic gift offered to Peter and his successors. The people don't know who Jesus is and neither do the apostles as a group. Peter knows--through a gracious gift of the Father. And this is why the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church.

Sermon 242 : Offer Your Bodies as a Living Sacrifice : 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/28/2005

Paul tells the Christians in Rome to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice of praise. I suggest that this Pauline image provides a very good context for thinking about the moral life. We want our bodies--our lives--to be pure offerings to the Father. We don't want to give the Lord lips that have spoken calumny, hands that have reached out in violence, feet that have walked away from the poor and needy. The moral life should be seen not primarily in a legal framework--but a liturgical one.

Sermon 243 : Fraternal Correction : 23 Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/4/2005

Both our first reading from the prophet Ezekiel and our Gospel for today speak of fraternal correction, that is to say, our responsibility to warn our brothers and sisters if they are on a dangerous spiritual path. We have an instinctual reaction against this ('it's none of your business; who do you think you are?'), but the Bible enjoins us to do it, precisely because we are all members of one body.

Sermon 244 : Seventy Times Seven Times : 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/11/2005

Our capacity to forgive others is tightly linked to our realization that we have been forgiven by God. When we try to justify an ethic of radical forgiveness on purely humanistic grounds, we will fail. But when we know in our bones that our sins have been eradicated through the cross of Christ, then we are able to forgive one another even seventy times seven times.

Sermon 245 : The Generous Landowner : 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/18/2005

The parable that Jesus tells in our Gospel for today is one of his most disturbing and confounding. Giving the same wage to those who worked for one hour and those who labored the whole day just seems unjust. The story is meant to place a question in our minds : what exactly is divine justice and how does it differ from our conception of justice?

Sermon 246 : Jesus the Slave : 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/25/2005

Our second reading, from Paul's letter to the Philippians, contains one of the oldest texts in the tradition, a 'hymn' that Paul received and adapted for his purposes. It speaks of a fully divine Jesus who was, nevertheless, willing to empty himself utterly and become a slave on our behalf. All of the drama, poetry, and power of Christianity is contained in that paradox.

Sermon 247 : The Vineyard : 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/2/2005

In this striking parable of the vineyard, Jesus lays out both God's vision for the world as well as his plan of redemption. The Lord wants us to be fully and dynamically alive, and to assure that this happens, he gives us his only Son as a redeemer. In the course of my homily this week, I try to 'decode' this wonderful story.

Sermon 248 : The Wedding Banquet : 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/9/2005

God the Father has prepared a wedding banquet for his Son, and we are all invited. That is the poetic summary of salvation that can be found in the parable that Jesus tells this week. The urgent point is this : we must respond to the invitation, and we must don the proper wedding garment. Failure to do one or the other means we miss the celebration.

Sermon 249 : Render to Caesar... : 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/16/2005

The Gospel for today raises the famously complex question of the relationship between 'religion' and 'politics.' Though there is a legitimate distinction between the two, this can never turn into a separation. We should certainly render to Caesar what is Caesar's, but we must never forget that even Caesar belongs to God.

Sermon 250 : The Greatest Commandment : 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/23/2005

'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind--and your neighbor as yourself.' This is the way that Jesus summed up the law and the prophets. Finally, it is a matter of love, and the love of God and neighbor are tightly intertwined. I try to illustrate this principle by telling the life of Rose Hawthorne, a woman who loved God precisely by loving some of the most ostracized people of her time.

Sermon 251 : The Trouble With Religion : 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/30/2005

At its best, religion orients our lives to God and moves us away from the terrible preoccupation with our own egos. But at its worst, religion reinforces the ego and actually blocks our access to God. In his great polemic against the pharisees, Jesus warns us against this dysfunctional side of religious belief and practice.

Sermon 252 : The Wise and Foolish Virgins : 32th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/6/2005

How do we wait? That is the question addressed by Jesus' parable for today. While we wait for the second coming of the Lord, we should keep our lamps stocked with oil, that is to say, we should pray, study, love, do the works of mercy, and keep vigil. In so doing, we are ready for the arrival of the Bridegroom.

Sermon 253 : Burying the Talents : 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/13/2005

All of us believers have been entrusted with a treasure : our faith. What do we do with this treasure while we await the return of the Lord? We must make it grow, precisely by giving it away. We must evangelize. The very worst thing that we can do is to bury it away in the secrecy of our hearts, endeavoring to 'keep it safe.' Privatizing the faith is the key to losing it. A challenging message for all of us this week!

Sermon 254 : Peter Maurin and Matthew 25 : Christ the King-Solemnity : 11/20/2005

Peter Maurin, the co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, took Jesus' words in our Gospel for today with consummate seriousness. He felt that the corporal and spiritual works of mercy constituted a sort of socio-economic program. Following the exhortation of Jesus, Maurin wanted to create a society in which 'it is easier for men to be good.' His example is still a challenging and compelling one today.

Sermon 255 : O How We Need a Savior : 1st Sunday of Advent : 11/27/2005

Lent is, of course, a penitential season, but Advent is as well. We get in touch with our sinfulness during Advent precisely because we want to prepare ourselves for the coming of a Savior. If there is nothing to be saved from, then there is no point in rejoicing at the arrival of Jesus the Lord. The prophet Isaiah offers us a number of powerful images for sin in our first reading for this Sunday. It behooves us, as an Advent spiritual exercise, to meditate on them.

Sermon 256 : The Gospel of Jesus : 2nd Sunday of Advent : 12/4/2005

In the very first line of his Gospel, St. Mark tells us that he is going to share with us Good News, Glad Tidings, about Jesus, the Son of God. In many ways, the rest of the text is but a playing out of the implications of that statement. In this homily, I explore the meaning of the phrase 'Good News' in connection with Jesus.

Sermon 257 : To Heal the Brokenhearted : 3rd Sunday of Advent : 12/11/2005

Our first reading for this Sunday is an especially sacred one in the Christian tradition, for it was precisely this passage from Isaiah that Jesus chose to comment upon when he first rose to speak at the beginning of his public ministry. Using Isaiah's imagery, Jesus spells out for us the meaning and purpose of his work : to heal the brokenhearted, to declare liberty to captives, to announce a year of favor from the Lord.

Sermon 258 : David and Mary : 4th Sunday of Advent : 12/18/2005

For the fourth Sunday of Advent, the Church asks us to juxtapose stories of David and Mary. David decides that he wants to build a temple for the Lord, but God does not favor his plan; Mary hears what God wants to do through her, and she acquiesces. It is always a matter of following the promptings of the divine will and not our own desires, even when we are convinced that those desires are good and holy. Thomas Merton said, 'Lord, the fact that I think I'm following your will doesn't mean that I am in fact doing so...' That acknowledgement takes great humility and spiritual perception.

Sermon 259 : A Baby Born in Straw Poverty : Christmas - Solemnity : 12/25/2005

Recently, I read an interview with Bono, the lead singer of the group U2. Asked about his religious beliefs, he replied, 'I think that there is a love and a logic that lies behind the universe. So I believe in God. I also see, as an artist, the poetic appropriateness of that unspeakable power manifesting itself as a baby born in straw poverty. And that's why I'm a Christian.' My sermon for today is just an elaboration of Bono's wonderful Christmas sermon.

Sermon 260 : Haste, Astonishment, and Treasuring : Mary, Mother of God - Solemnity : 1/1/2006

There are three words that jump out at me from our Gospel reading for today's feast : 'haste,' 'astonished' and 'treasured.' Each one says something important about the spiritual life. When we know what God wants for us, we should act without hesitation; we should 'go in haste.' When God breaks into our natural world, we should be astonished. And then, like Mary, we should learn to treasure God's revelation in our minds and hearts.

Sermon 261 : Christ and the Nations : Epiphany : 1/8/2006

Jesus Christ is God's love made flesh, a gift to all the nations. As such, he transcends the disputes and squabbles that so often characterize the relationship between nations, cultures, and peoples. This boundary-transcending quality of Christ is expressed beautifully in the story of the journey of the Magi.

Sermon 262 : Tolkien, Lewis, and the Lamb of God : 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/15/2006

In our Gospel for today, John the Baptist points out Jesus to two of his disciples with the words, 'Behold the Lamb of God.' The central claim of the Gospels is that Jesus came to offer himself in sacrifice for our sins. This idea was given dramatic expression by two great twentieth-century Christian authors, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Jesus the Lamb of God is on display in both the Lord of the Rings and the Narnia Chronicles. When you watch the movies based upon those books, think of John the Baptist's word.

Sermon 263 : Detachment Again : 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/22/2006

The familiar theme of detachment runs right through all three of our readings for this week. Paul tells the Corinthians who are married to carry on as though they were not married and those who buy and sell as though they were not buying and selling. The point is that one should orient one's life totally to the absolute good who is God. When that orientation takes place, everything else--from spouses to material goods--can be let go of, can be seen in proper spiritual perspective. This detachment is, I argue, the conversion that Jesus speaks of in his inaugural address, which is our Gospel for today.

Sermon 264 : Authority of Jesus : 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/29/2006

Jesus taught with authority.

Sermon 265 : The Compulsion to Evangelize : 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/5/2006

St. Paul tells us in our second reading that preaching the Gospel is not a matter of choice for him; it is a compulsion, a necessity. In the homily for this week, I talk about St. Peter and St. Edmund Campion, two Christians who, 15 centuries apart, felt that same pressing obligation to proclaim Jesus Christ. Do we have it?

Sermon 266 : Giving God the Glory : 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/12/2006

In our second reading, St. Paul tells us to do everything--even such simple acts as eating and drinking--for the glory of God. We should make sure that the light shines, not on us, but on God. And here's the wonderful paradox : since God needs nothing, whatever we give to him comes back magnified to us. This is why the saints shine with a special radiance, a luminosity greater than anything they could have produced on their own.

Sermon 267 : Carrying Souls to Christ : 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/19/2006

In the wonderful Gospel story for today, the paralytic gets to Jesus only because there are four friends willing to carry him to the Lord. Are there people around you--friends, co-workers, family-members--who are, for various reasons, paralyzed in regard to their relationship to Christ and the Church? And are you willing to carry them? That is the evangelical question that this Gospel poses.

Sermon 268 : New Wine and New Wineskins : 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/26/2006

The new wine that Jesus speaks of is the Gospel itself, the Good News that God has joined our human condition. In order to take in such a message and to conform our lives to it, we must expand. If we remain in the narrow confines of the old self, we won't be able to handle the richness and fullness of the Gospel message. So change! Conform yourself to the love that Christ is. Become like new wineskins.

Sermon 269 : Angels and Wild Beasts : 1st Sunday of Lent : 3/5/2006

Our readings for the first Sunday of Lent highlight the cosmic and universal nature of God's redemptive purpose. The covenant of Noah was made, not just with Noah and his family, but with 'all living things.' We see this universality on iconic display in the Gospel. Jesus goes into the desert and he is 'waited on by angels and accompanied by wild beasts.' Jesus' redemption affects all dimensions of creation, seen and unseen.

Sermon 270 : Speaking to Moses and Elijah : 2nd Sunday of Lent : 3/12/2006

For a Jew of Jesus' time, Moses and Elijah would symbolize the Law and the Prophets, the two major divisions of the Scriptures. Jesus' conversation with them during the Transfiguration symbolizes something that is emphasized throughout the New Testament, namely, that Jesus fulfills, brings to completion, both the Law and the prophets. He fulfills the promise implicit in the Old Testament.

Sermon 271 : Cleansing the Temple : 3rd Sunday of Lent : 3/19/2006

Over the centuries, spiritual masters in the Christian tradition have made a comparison between Jesus' cleansing of the temple and the Lord's cleansing of the soul of a sinner. You are meant to be a 'temple of the Holy Spirit,' but many less than savory elements have found their way into that temple. Can you allow the Lord Jesus to turn a few things over in you, to clean out what needs to be purified? Very good questions for the Lenten season.

Sermon 272 : God's Cleansing Anger : 4th Sunday of Lent : 3/26/2006

God sometimes expresses his anger at his people Israel. This is not an emotional snit into which God falls; rather, it is a way of expressing his passion to set things right. So God permits the destruction of the Temple and the carrying off of Israel into exile in order to purify and cleanse. When catastrophe befalls us, we should trust in the strange providence of God. God is always about the business of enhancing life.

Sermon 273 : Planting the Law Within You : 5th Sunday of Lent : 4/2/2006

As long as the law remains external to us, it appears as a threat and a limitation. But when we internalize the law--as does a gifted pianist or golfer--it is a means of true liberation. When Christ comes to live his life in us, the law of God becomes bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, closer to us than we are to ourselves. And this is none other than true freedom. The readings for this weekend give us this lovely Lenten message.

Sermon 274 : The Master Has Need of You : 6th Sunday of Lent : 4/9/2006

The donkey upon which Jesus rides into Jerusalem is a wonderful image for discipleship. He is a simple, humble, unassuming creature--and he is pressed into service because the Master has need of him. We like to organize our lives according to our projects and plans, but the key is allowing ourselves to be used according to Christ's needs and purposes. The whole point is to become, like the humble Palm Sunday donkey, a Christopher, a Christ-bearer.

Sermon 275 : The Disquieting Grave of Jesus : Easter Sunday : 4/16/2006

Graves are usually places of peace, repose, and meditation. We sit by a gravesite or we stroll through a cemetery in order to reflect on lives well lived or on the mystery of death. But there is nothing peaceful or meditative about the grave of Jesus, and there never developed within the Christian tradition a cult of the tomb of the Lord. This is because this grave has been robbed--and by the most intriguing grave-robber of all : the living God.

Sermon 276 : The New Creation : 2nd Sunday of Easter : 4/23/2006

In John's Gospel, we often find parallels between the work of Jesus and the work of God described in the opening chapters of the book of Genesis. As God created the world; so Jesus recreates it. God said, 'Let there be light;' and Jesus said, 'I am the light of the world.' In our Gospel for today, the risen Jesus is portrayed as the recreator of the world, the source of peace, the Lord of the Church.

Sermon 277 : The Risen Lord : 3nd Sunday of Easter : 4/30/2006

Luke paints a fascinating portrait of the risen Jesus in our Gospel for today. He stands in the midst of his disciples, gathering them as the new Israel; he shows them that he is densely, physically real, even going so far as to eat a piece of fish in their presence. Jesus is not a phantom or a dream or a disembodied ideal; he is a living person in whom we find peace.

Sermon 278 : The Good Shepherd : 4th Sunday of Easter : 5/7/2006

Jesus sums up a long Biblical tradition when he says 'I am the good shepherd.' The prophets and the psalmist had yearned for a time when God himself would come to shepherd his people Israel. This yearning is realized in Jesus himself. What makes him good? The Gospel for today specifies two things : his willingness to lay down his life for his sheep, and the fact that he knows his sheep personally, recognizing their voices.

Sermon 279 : Christ Living His Life in You : 5th Sunday of Easter : 5/14/2006

Jesus Christ is infintely more than a moral ideal, a saint whom we admire from afar. In accord with the image from the Gospel for today, he is the vine upon which we have been grafted like branches. This means that he is our life blood, the very energy of our existence. Therefore we should read our lives this way : Jesus Christ is living his life in us.

Sermon 280 : The Da Vinci Code : 6th Sunday of Easter : 5/21/2006

I don't like departing from the Scriptures in these homilies, but the appearance of the movie based upon the wildly popular novel The Da Vinci Code warrants a response. The central claim of the book--that Jesus is not divine--stands directly opposed to the central and defining claim of the Church. The Da Vinci Code argues that the divinity of Jesus was a fourth-century invention. Nothing could be further from the truth. This week and next, I will address this question and some others that arise from the Da Vinci Code.

Sermon 281 : More Da Vinci Code : 7th Sunday of Easter : 5/16/2006

This week I discuss two more themes that emerge in the Da Vinci Code : the Gnostic Gospels and anti-Catholicism. Much of the storyline of the Da Vinci Code flows from the controversial Gnostic tellings of the life of Jesus. These are, in fact, far less historically reliable than the canonical Gospels--not to mention less theologically sound. And the book as a whole should be classed in the genre of anti-Catholic screed. We shouldn't be hysterical about American anti-Catholicism, but we also shouldn't be naive about it. I promise that this is my last word about the Da Vinci Code! Next week we're back to the Scriptures.

Sermon 282 : Pentecost and the Tower of Babel : Pentecost : 6/4/2006

All the Jews in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost heard the disciples preaching in their own languages. This miracle of the Spirit is the reversal of the Tower of Babel, when God scattered the nations and confused their languages. The Holy Spirit is the solution to the spiritual problem of the one and the many. In God alone can the many come together fruitfully as one.

Sermon 283 : God Is Love : The Holy Trinity-Solemnity : 6/11/2006

On the feast of the Trinity, we reflect on the uniquely Christian definition of God : God is love. Love is not something that God does, or an attribute that God has; love is what God is. This means that God must be a play between lover, beloved, and love--between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Sermon 284 : The Mass and Sacrifice : 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/16/2006

For this feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord, I reflect on the Mass as a sacrifice. Sacrificial language runs right through all of our readings for today, just as it runs through the whole of Israelite history. In Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, God's fidelity unto death finally meets a human obedience unto death--and in that meeting, the covenant is fully realized, and salvation is accomplished. The Mass is the re-presenting of that world-changing event.

Sermon 285 : "The 'De Profundis' Prayer" : 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/25/2006

Psalm 130 begins with the words, 'out of the depths, I have cried to you, O Lord.' Throughout the great tradition, the prayer 'de profundis,' (out of the depths) has been one of the most powerful expressions of our reliance upon God. When our lives have bottomed out, when we are lost and at the end of our strength, we turn to God. The cry of the apostles in the boat, as the waves crash over the side and threaten to drown them, is a New Testament example of this prayer. Do you need to pray it today?

Sermon 286 : The Daughter of Jairus and the Book of Leviticus : 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/2/2006

In order to understand the power of our Gospel reading for this week, we must attend to the book of Leviticus. In that great rule-book of Israelite life, we hear that contact with a hemorrhaging woman or with a corpse would result in ritual uncleanliness. When Jesus touches the hemorrhaging woman and the dead daughter of Jairus, he is not made unclean; in fact he makes them clean. In so doing, he redefines what it means to be a member of the true people of Israel.

Sermon 287 : The Call of the Prophet : 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/9/2006

Every baptized person is conformed to Christ : King, Priest, and Prophet. Thus speaking the divine truth (prophecy) is not the concern of priests and bishops alone, but of all members of the church. From Ezekiel and Mark, we can discern a number of qualities of the prophetic office. First, the prophet does not speak his own word, but God's. Second, the prophet is given a difficult assignment. And third, the prophet is summoned, not to success, but faithfulness.

Sermon 288 : The Five Act Drama : 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/16/2006

For the next several weeks, we are going to be reading from Paul's magnificent letter to the Ephesians. In our passage for today, we learn that we are situated within the context of a great theodrama, written and directed by God, and designed to lead us to eternal life. The Biblical drama has five acts : creation, the fall, the formation of Israel, Jesus Christ, and the Church. We read the Scriptures in order to discern the contours of that drama and, more importantly, our place within it.

Sermon 289 : The Cross is Our Peace : 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/23/2006

We continue our reading of Paul's extraordinary letter to the Ephesians. We hear that the cross of Jesus has broken down the wall of enmity which divided Jews and Gentiles. At the very center of Christianity is the conviction that the death of Jesus on the cross represented God's victory over all the dark forces that divide us. What looked like ultimate defeat was in fact God's triumph over the power of division.

Sermon 290 : The Mystery of the Mass : 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/30/2006

This weekend, we commence our careful reading of the remarkable sixth chapter of John's Gospel, the central theme of which is the eucharist. The sixth chapter opens with John's account of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Every detail of this story is symbolically evocative of the liturgy, that great prayer in the context of which the eucharist is situated.

Sermon 291 : Myth and History : Transfiguration of the Lord : 8/6/2006

In our second reading for this weekend, St. Peter tells us that, in sharing the Christian story, he was not trading in 'cleverly concocted myths.' There is a sharp distinction to be drawn between myth and history, and it matters enormously that Christianity is not a mythic system, but an historical religion. This feast of the Transfiguration gives us the opportunity to reflect on this difference.

Sermon 292 : Bread for the Journey [REPLAY 136] : 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/13/2006

Jesus (Eucharist) is both sustenance and goal for our journey. The Eucharist helps us become heavenly beings.

Sermon 293 : My Flesh is Real Food; My Blood is Real Drink : 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/20/2006

Our Gospel for this weekend is the climax of Jesus' Bread of Life Discourse from the sixth chapter of John's Gospel. Given every opportunity to offer a symbolic interpretation of his words concerning his body and blood, Jesus intensifies the realism of his statement : 'My flesh is real food; my blood is real drink.' All Catholics must wrestle, in season and out, with the implications of this claim.

Sermon 294 : Many Went Away : 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/27/2006

The Eucharist has been, from the beginning, a source of conflict and division. This is, of course, not Christ's will, for the eucharist is supposed to be the great unifier. Nevertheless, for the past two thousand years, the radical doctrine of the real presence has compelled some to rebel. Why is this? Take a listen.

Sermon 295 : Law and Laws : 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/3/2006

Whatever we reverence--baseball, good music, golf, the spiritual life--we are surrounded with laws. Law is meant to preserve and enhance the integrity of certain basic goods. But law also carries with it a shadow side, namely, a certain legalism and fussiness. Our readings for this weekend explore these various aspects--positive and negative--of religious law.

Sermon 296 : Ephphatha : 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/10/2006

In this week's Gospel, Jesus heals a man who is deaf and dumb. When we read this account at the spiritual level, we see that he cures those who are deaf to the Word of God and hence unable to speak it clearly. How relevant this message is to our own time!

Sermon 297 : Get thee behind me Satan : 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/17/2006

We must meet hatred and violence with love.

Sermon 298 : The Warfare Within; The Warfare Without : 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/24/2006

We have been reading for the past several weeks from the letter of James, which is a treasure-trove of practical wisdom. James tells us this week that outer conflicts flow from a war of passions within each individual. How do you find the inner peace that will conduce to outer peace? Listen to the sermon!

Sermon 299 : What are you willing to sacrifice? : 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/1/2006

Jesus certainly manages to get our attention in this week's Gospel. Don't literalize his language, but feel its power. Are you willing to eliminate certain things from your life--ways of grasping, ways of walking, ways of seeing--that are compromising your friendship with God? What, precisely, are you willing to sacrifice?

Sermon 300 : The Two Become One Flesh : 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/10/2006

Our readings for this week are all about marriage. In the Catholic understanding, a married couple do not so much receive a sacrament as they become a sacrament. They realize that their marriage is not about them; rather it is a vehicle through which God's purposes are being worked out.

Sermon 301 : I Asked for Wisdom and Prudence : 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/15/2006

If an angel of the Lord stood before you and invited you to pray for one thing, what would it be? The book of Wisdom suggests today that you should pray, not for power or wealth or beauty or health, but for the wisdom that would enable you to use any and all of those gifts well. Let the first reading for this week be a sort of spiritual exercise for you.

Sermon 302 : The Voice of Ambition : 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/22/2006

James and John want to sit at Jesus' right and left when the Lord comes into his glory. What they don't realize is that his glory is the moment of his crucifixion. To be at his right and his left at his enthronement is, therefore, to be crucified with him, to be willing to give oneself totally away. Be careful what you ask for!

Sermon 303 : The Chief of the Nations : 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/5/2006

In our first reading, Jeremiah the prophet tells the Israelite people to rejoice because they are the chief of the nations. This would have struck his listeners as something of a joke. They had just returned from the Babylonian captivity, the worst calamity in Israelite history. How could they possibly be the chief of the nations? But Jeremiah is seeing with a prophet's eye, gazing toward that future which would be fulfilled in Jesus, the Messiah who would gather the new Israel (the church) and make it the light to the world.

Sermon 304 : Hear, O Israel : 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/5/2006

Our first reading for Mass this week contains the most sacred prayer in the Jewish tradition, the 'Sh'ma.' In the Gospel, when asked which commandment is the greatest, Jesus, a pious Jew, recites this prayer from the book of Deuteronomy. Listen as I explicate this central and decisive statement of Biblical faith.

Sermon 305 : Christ the High Priest : 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/12/2006

For the past several weeks, we have been reading from the extraordinary letter to the Hebrews, the principal theme of which is the priesthood of Jesus Christ. Jesus can be the ultimate bridge-builder between God and us, precisely because in his own person he reconciles divinity and humanity. True God and true man, Christ is true priest.

Sermon 306 : God's Great Cleansing Operation : 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/19/2006

For centuries, Biblical people have been puzzled/fascinated by apocalyptic language. Plagues, floods, earthquakes, the closing down of time itself : what does it mean? God is always, throughout the Scripture, in the business of cleansing and purifying a fallen world so as to make way for a new world. The ultimate apocalypse, therefore, is the dying and rising of Jesus. The cross and resurrection represent the end of an old world and the beginning of a new creation.

Sermon 307 : Pilate and Jesus : Christ the King - Solemnity : 11/26/2006

In the confrontation between Pilate and Jesus we see, according to Benedict XVI, a clash of two visions of politics. Pilate, who cynically dismisses any claim to know the truth, allows Jesus' fate to be determined by the will of the majority. But Jesus reminds Pilate that his legitimate political authority comes to him, not from the people, but 'from above,' that is to say, from certain moral values rooted in God.

Sermon 308 : The Second Coming : 1st Sunday of Advent : 12/2/2006

The readings for this first Sunday of Advent focus, not on the historical coming of Jesus at Bethlehem, but rather at his eschatological coming at the end of time. Knowing that all of history tends toward and culminates in Jesus changes radically the way we live now.

Sermon 309 : Return Home : 2nd Sunday of Advent : 12/10/2006

In our first reading for this week, we hear the prophet Baruch predicting the return of the children of Israel to Zion. God will level the mountains and fill in the valleys so as to make a highway for them. In the Gospel, John the Baptist announces a similar preparation for a similar return, but this time it is the return of Israel from the exile of sin and death, facilitated by the coming of the Messiah.

Sermon 310 : What Should We Do? : 3rd Sunday of Advent : 12/17/2006

Our Gospel for today centers around a question that is bracing in its directness and simplicity. A group of people come to the Baptist and ask 'what should we do?' The spiritual life is about a set of behaviors and practices, focused, as John the Baptist specifies, around the work of justice.

Sermon 311 : Inexhaustibly Fascinating Figure of Mary : 4th Sunday of Advent : 12/24/2006

On the final Sunday of Advent, the Church invites us to consider the inexhaustibly fascinating figure of Mary. The Mother of God is a figure of faithful Israel, the people who for so many centuries waited for the coming of the Messiah. She is, accordingly, the new Eve, the new Moses, the true Isaiah and Ezekiel. In meditating upon her, we come to a deeper appreciation of the Christ she bore.

Sermon 312 : Biblical Family Values : The Holy Family : 12/31/2006

There are family values in the Bible, but they might not be the ones you'd expect. The Biblical authors--both Old Testament and New--put a stress, not on sentiment and personal connection, but rather on mission. They see the family as a place where one's vocation from God is prioritized and cultivated. We see this theme on clear display in both the Hannah story and the account of the finding in the Temple.

Sermon 313 : Universal Significance of Jesus : Baptism of the Lord : 1/7/2007

The visit of the Magi to the Christ child signals the universal significance of Jesus. At its best, Christ's church has always been a trans-national and trans-cultural force, overcoming the political and national divisions that so bedevil us. This is why the journey of the Magi is ground for hope.

Sermon 314 : The Task of the Church : 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/14/2007

As we enter into ordinary time, we reflect with St. Paul on the ordinary task of the church : the discernment and exercise of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. How do we use the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, healing, and faith? That is the only question that

Sermon 315 : Re-building the walls : 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/21/2007

Nehemiah, the 5th century governor of Judea, has an important spiritual lesson for us today. Nehemiah led the project of re-building the walls of Jerusalem after the return from exile. Walls, which set a community apart, are essential for identity and clarity of purpose. If the church is to be a world-transforming agent, it must, first, know clearly who she is and what makes her distinctive.

Sermon 316 : What is Love? : 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/28/2007

In the thirteenth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul sings a hymn to love. He tells us that love is 'patient, gentle, kind, not snobbish' and that it 'never fails.' Love, after all, is what God is : willing the good of the other as other. When we love, therefore, we are sharing in the very life of God.

Sermon 317 : Call and mission [Not on WOF] : 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/4/2007

The Church invites us to read together the stories of Isaiah's call and Peter's call. Both are addressed by the God of gracious surprises; both are shown marvellous things; both become more not less aware of their sins; and both are sent on mission. So it goes with all of us who are addressed by the living God.

Sermon 318 : Where Do You Put Your Faith : 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/11/2007

"The readings for this weekend pose a blunt question : whom, finally, do you trust? 'Trust' is meant here in an absolute sense. Where do you base your life? In God or in the things of this world? How you answer that question determines pretty much everything else."

Sermon 319 : Enemy Love : 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/18/2007

The most troubling and challenging of Jesus' teaching is the command to love our enemies. In this homily, I explore four good reasons why it is so important to engage in this most difficult act of love.

Sermon 320 : The Three Temptations : 1st Sunday of Lent : 2/25/2007

As we once again commence the penitential season of Lent, it is good to get back to basics. We journey with Jesus into the desert, and with him, we confront the three basic temptations : sensual pleasure, power, and glory. Only when we set aside our obsessions with these three things can we be free to serve the Lord

Sermon 321 : The Father in Faith : 2nd Sunday of Lent : 3/4/2007

Abraham was chosen by God as the founder of a people who would be the means by which God would save the world. His great mark is faith, that is to say, trust. Faith is what Adam and Eve couldn't muster (they grasped at godliness) and from this followed the agony of the world. God commenced a rescue operation by setting Abraham in quest of a promised land.

Sermon 322 : The Burning Bush : 3rd Sunday of Lent : 3/11/2007

Moses sees a bush that burns but is not consumed. This is a lovely symbolic expression of the way God relates to the world. The closer God gets, the more we become radiant with his presence. God's proximity does not mean our destruction or the compromising of our integrity; rather it is the means by which we become fully ourselves.

Sermon 323 : The Greatest Story Ever Told : 4th Sunday of Lent : 3/18/2007

Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the most memorable, carefully crafted, and inspiring stories ever told. In some ways, the whole of the Christian "thing' is summed up in this narrative. We have a God who invites us into the dynamism of his own life, and who relentlessly pursues us even when, in our stupidity and sin, we refuse to respond to the invitation.

Sermon 324 : All is Loss : 5th Sunday of Lent : 4/25/2007

In our second reading for this Sunday, St. Paul lays out his resumé. In terms of the Judaism of his time, Paul was about as accomplished as one could hope to be : he was a defender of the tradition, steeped in the wisdom of his people, and blameless under the law. But after seeing Jesus risen from the dead, Paul said that he counted all of those achievements as loss and refuse. So we, he implies, should not base our lives on our accomplishments, degrees, social status--but rather on Christ crucified and risen.

Sermon 325 : The Passion of the Christ : Palm Sunday : 4/1/2007

In St. Luke's account of the Passion, we see what real kingship looks like. Jesus gives his entire self away in love--and in that he is Lord. The supreme irony is the sign placed by Pontius Pilate over the cross : This is the King of the Jews. Real power is not a function of money, pleasure, domination, and self-aggrandizement. Real power is self-forgetting love

Sermon 326 : A New Creation : Easter Sunday : 4/8/2007

Easter is the dawn of a new creation. St. John tells us that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early on the morning of the first day of the week. This is meant to call to mind the first day of creation, when God said, 'Let there be light' and brought order out of chaos. From the meaninglessness of death, God brings eternal life. This is the central and revolutionary message of Easter.

Sermon 327 : My Lord and My God : 2nd Sunday of Easter : 4/15/2007

Despite the locked doors, the risen Jesus stands in the midst of the disciples. This is a beautiful icon of the Church, the community gathered around Jesus and filled with his spirit. When the Lord, first appears, Thomas is not there and hence does not believe. Only when he returns to the apostolic circle does he encounter Jesus and make his great confession. This detail reminds us that we see the risen Lord only in the church and through its mediation.

Sermon 328 : The Structure of Discipleship : 3nd Sunday of Easter : 4/22/2007

Our Gospel for today, taken from the wonderful 21st chapter of St. John's Gospel, is filled with mystical and symbolic allusions. The disciples in the boat are evocative of the church; Jesus on the shore calls to mind the eschatological fulfillment toward which the church is journeying; Peter calls to mind both sinful Adam and the promise of redemption. In all of it, we see a picture of discipleship.

Sermon 329 : Paul the Apostle : 4th Sunday of Easter : 4/29/2007

During the Easter season, we are reading from the book of the Acts of the Apostles. Though John, Philip, Peter, and James are all featured in Acts, the 'star' of the text is clearly Paul, missionary and evangelist. Who was this extraordinarily important figure, the man that many say, after Jesus himself, was most influential on the development of Christianity? For the next three weeks, I will be exploring the life, thought, and work of Paul the Apostle.

Sermon 330 : Paul's Message : 5th Sunday of Easter : 5/6/2007

Last week we looked at the life and times of Paul, the person who, after Jesus himself, is the most influential figure in the formation of the Christian church. In this week's sermon, I look briefly at Paul's central teaching, which I identify as "being in Christ.' The phrase 'en Christo,' in Christ, appears 83 times in the letters of Paul, indicating how central it is to the Apostle's teaching and preaching. Christ Jesus is a new energy field, a new power, a new way of being, and the idea, as far as Paul is concerned, is to get into it--so that ultimately you can say, with him, "it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.

Sermon 331 : Paul's Basic Message, Part II : 6th Sunday of Easter : 5/13/2007

Last week we explored the central teaching of St. Paul : to live in Christ Jesus. This week, we draw out four implications from this teaching : the corporate nature of the church, a sacramental imagination, the gifts of the Spirit, and the acknowledgement of Jesus as Lord. In emphasizing these themes, Paul gave shape to the whole of Christian theology through the ages.

Sermon 332 : The Ascension of the Lord : 7th Sunday of Easter : 5/20/2007

The feast of the Ascension is meant to awaken hope. In Jesus, risen from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father, our lowly human nature participates in the very life of God. In the light of the ascension, therefore, we are permitted to hope for a way of being, elevated and perfected beyond our imagining.

Sermon 333 : Wind and Fire : Pentecost : 5/27/2007

The two great symbols of the descent of the Holy Spirit are wind and tongues of fire. Wind is powerful, unpredictable, destructive, like the Spirit which seizes us and takes us where we would rather not go. Tongues of fire signal impassioned speech on behalf of the Good News, a willingness to announce the Gospel publicly and even in the face of opposition. With the whole church around the world, we pray on this great feast of Pentecost for the coming of that troublesome and wonderful Holy Spirit.

Sermon 334 : God is love : The Holy Trinity : 6/1/2007

This weekend, we celebrate the Trinity, a mystery which stands at the very heart of the faith. The doctrine of the Trinity is a technical way of stating what St. John said in his first letter, viz. that God is love. If God is love, then there must be within God a play of lover, beloved, and love. This is the relationality that obtains among the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Sermon 335 : Corpus Christi : 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/10/2007

Paul tells us that whenever we eat the body and drink the blood of the Lord, we proclaim his death until he comes. This means that the Eucharist involves a wonderful compression of time, past and future meeting dynamically in the present. When we gather around the Lord's table now, we call to mind the breakthrough moment of the Paschal Mystery and we anticipate the culminating moment of the end of time. In doing this, we charge the present with meaning and purpose.

Sermon 336 : Forgiveness is always available : 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/17/2007

David, one of the greatest figures in the Old Testament was an adulterer and murderer.
Power is given for God's purpose, it was a gift.

Sermon 337 : Christ is a Liberator : Nativity of John the Baptist : 6/24/2007

The Canticle of Zechariah (Luke 1 :67-79) sums up history of Salvation.
John will point to Jesus who will set God's people free of sin.

Sermon 338 : Gospel Freedom : 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/1/2007

Our readings for this weekend are completely counter-cultural and counter-intuitive. We put a huge premium on freedom and self-determination in regard to choosing our careers. But this is not the Biblical perspective. Elisha accepts the mantle of prophecy, simply because God commands him, and he leaves everything behind. Jesus tells a man to follow him, even if that means not attending his own father's funeral. In the determination of the meaning of your life, what, or better who, finally matters?

Sermon 339 : Boasting in the Cross : 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/8/2007

St. Paul tells us in our second reading that he boasts in the cross of Jesus. To any of his hearers in the first century this would have sounded like madness. Paul can boast in this shameful thing precisely because God has raised Jesus from death and thereby placed the world-the realm of hatred, violence, and division-under judgment. Now we must have the courage to leave the world and enter into the new creation which is the body of Christ.

Sermon 340 : The Natural Law : 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/15/2007

What the church calls "the natural law" is, as Moses suggests in our first reading, close to us, in fact, written on our hearts. Thomas Aquinas said that this natural, moral law is a reflection of the eternal law of God and is, in turn, the ground for all of our positive laws. When the relationship between God's law, the moral law, and political law is lost, our society suffers.

Sermon 341 : Paul's Suffering : 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/22/2007

Paul says in our second reading that he "makes up in his own sufferings what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ." This means that Paul-and all of us-have the enormous privilege of participating in the act by which Christ saved the world, an act of suffering love. How do you interpret your own pain? Might it be a participation in the salvation of Christ?

Sermon 342 : The Lord's Prayer : 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/29/2007

Our Gospel for this week is of the utmost importance, for we hear the Son of God himself teaching us to pray. In this homily, I walk rather carefully through the major petitions of the Our Father, noting how central this prayer is to Christian life and spirituality.

Sermon 343 : Qoheleth and the Foolish Rich Man : 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/5/2007

Both our first reading and Gospel function as a slap in the face, cold water, a wake-up call. They show how passing, ephemeral, and unreliable are the goods of this world. The idea is to set our hearts, as Paul says, on the higher things, rooting our lives in God.

Sermon 344 : Trusting the Darkness : 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/12/2007

Authentic faith has nothing to do with credulity or intellectual naivte. It has everything to do with placing one's trust in the God whom we cannot, even in principle, know with clarity. It is the willingness to follow the promptings of God, even when we don't see where they might lead.

Sermon 345 : I Have Come to Cast a Fire Upon the Earth. : 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/19/2007

Jesus' words from our Gospel this week inspired the name for my program, Word on Fire. Jesus speaks of the divine judgment that will fall like a cleansing fire on the earth. This is not opposed to God's love, but is rather what God's love looks like to a fallen world.

Sermon 346 : Jacob Neusner, Benedict XVI, and the Vocation of Israel : 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/26/2007

In his new book, Pope Benedict engages in a fascinating dialogue with the American rabbi Jacob Neusner on the identity and meaning of Jesus. In this sermon, I will tease out the implications of this debate, especially in regard to the vocation of Israel.

Sermon 347 : The Addiction of Honor : 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/2/2007

The lust for honor interrupts the great banquet that God wants us to enjoy. This is why Jesus interrupts the interruption in today's Gospel, urging people purposely to take the lowest place and to entertain only those who cannot repay the favor. We must free ourselves of the addiction to honor!

Sermon 348 : The Path of Dispossession : 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/6/2007

Jesus tells us that we must get rid of all of our possessions, including the people that we have turned into possessions. It is in this sense that he encourages us to "hate our mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters." In the measure that these nearest and dearest are possessions of one's ego, they are a block to salvation.

Sermon 349 : The Reckless Abandon of God's Love : 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/16/2007

God does not love as we do, in a calculating manner. He makes his sun to shine on the good and the bad alike and his rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike. This means that he is like the Good Shepherd who seeks even the one sheep who is lost and like the father who welcomes back even the prodigal.

Sermon 350 : The Sabbath : 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/23/2007

The loss of consciousness of the Sabbath is a disaster.
The Sabbath is the presence of eternity in time.
Go to Mass! Make Sunday different.

Sermon 351 : Lazarus is still at the gate : 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/30/2007

Give some attention/time/money for the poor.

Sermon 352 : The Lament of Habbakuk : 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/7/2007

The prophet Habbakuk expresses what most of us feel at some point in our lives : how can God be so indifferent to suffering? Listen carefully to the answer he receives from the Lord.

Sermon 353 : The Lessons of Naaman : 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/14/2007

The story of Naaman the Syrian is not terribly well-known, but it contains some marvelous spiritual lessons for all of us. It tells us of the importance of patience, humility, perseverance, prayer--and above all following our weakness as it leads us to God.

Sermon 354 : The Struggle With Amalek : 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/21/2007

An awful lot of people probably find our first reading for this week offensive. We hear that Israel mowed the Amalekites down with the sword. How can this terrible story of conquest be a revelation of God's intentions? Listen as I offer the surprising interpretation that Origen of Alexandria offers.

Sermon 355 : Paul's Farewell Discourse : 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/28/2007

The second letter to Timothy is Paul's parting advice to his young colleague and spiritual son. He speaks of being poured out like a libation, of being ready for a great journey, of having fought the good fight and run the successful race. All of these images are illuminating for us as well.

Sermon 356 : Zacchaeus : 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/4/2007

The story of Zacchaeus in the Gospel of Luke is a kind of spiritual itinerary. If we attend to it carefully, we will learn the essentials of the life of grace.

Sermon 357 : Resurrection of the Body : 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/11/2007

Both our first reading and Gospel for today present the distinctively Biblical view of what happens to us after we die. We do not so much escape from the body as begin to live in a transformed and transfigured body, what Paul calls a "spiritual body."

Sermon 358 : The Birth Pangs of the Messiah : 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/18/2007

Our readings for today are apocalyptic, which means that they describe the end of an old world and the beginning of a new one. The new world in question is the world of Christ's lordship. To enter into that spiritual space, we have to go through earthquake, famine, and war. But this is, finally good news!

Sermon 359 : David and Jesus : Christ the King : 11/25/2007

Along with Moses and Abraham, David is the most important figure in the Old Testament. The first Christians read Jesus in light of these heroes of the Old Testament.

Sermon 360 : Incoming! : 1st Sunday of Advent : 12/2/2007

Advent is from the latin word adventus, which means coming or arrival. Some arrivals are positive; others are downright threatening. The Gospel for today paints a somewhat dark picture of the coming of the Son of Man, likening it to the flood of Noah.

Sermon 361 : Repent! : 2nd Sunday of Advent : 12/9/2007

John the Baptist sums up the Advent season. He lives in the desert, the place of no distraction, and he speaks a message of repentance and the confession of sin. Advent is a great time to clear away all that separates us from Christ. It is a time of repentance.

Sermon 362 : The Virtue of Hope : 3rd Sunday of Advent : 12/16/2007

Hope is not this-worldly optimism. In fact, from a purely natural perspective, pessimism is the right attitude. Hope is that supernatural virtue which orders our desire toward heaven and the things of heaven. What Isaiah talks about in our first reading is not an expectation that will be realized here below, but only in a transfigured world on high.

Sermon 363 : Ahaz and Joseph : 4th Sunday of Advent : 12/23/2007

Both Ahaz and Joseph are being summoned out of a narrow perspective and encouraged to dream big, to think of their lives within the context of God's purposes and plans. This makes them prime Advent figures.

Sermon 364 : Holy Family Values : The Holy Family : 12/30/2007

Paul lays out for the Colossians (and us) the virtues that make a family healthy. They include compassion, patience, bearing the burden of the other and, above all, love. To find out precisely what these terms mean, listen to the sermon!

Sermon 365 : Faith the Friend of Reason : Epiphany : 1/6/2008

One of the truths that is manifested on Epiphany (that's what the word 'epiphania' means) is the compatibility of faith and reason, of religion and science. The Magi were scientists, astronomers interested in tracking and measuring the heavenly bodies. But they also saw in the orderliness of the universe evidence of God. Their search for Christ symbolizes the fact that all of science leads finally to God.

Sermon 366 : The Bending Low of the Son of God : Baptism of the Lord : 1/13/2008

The feast of the Baptism of the Lord is a celebration of God's great humility. In order to rescue us sinners, God the Son bent low and stood with us in the muck and mud of our dysfuction. This was so that he could draw us up to his glory.

Sermon 367 : Behold the Lamb of God : 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/20/2008

John the Baptist's designation of Jesus as Lamb of God is, I submit, largely misunderstood. It has little to do with Jesus' meekness, mildness, or humility and everything to do with his being the victim of a sacrifice. To find out why this is such good news, listen to the sermon!

Sermon 368 : The Work of the Messiah : 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/27/2008

Our Gospel passage from the 4th chapter of Matthew's Gospel tells us, in very short compass, what the work of the Messiah was. Jesus proclaims the kingdom, commences the gathering of the tribes of Israel, and takes on God's enemies. We who are grafted on to him must do the same.

Sermon 369 : How to Be Happy : 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/3/2008

In the beatitudes, the Son of God tells us what every one of us, deep down, wants to know : how to be happy. So we must listen with great attentiveness. At the heart of the program is the beatitude : blessed are the merciful. This is because mercy is a participation in the divine life itself. All of the other beatitudes center around and relate to this one.

Sermon 370 : Back to Basics : 1st Sunday of Lent : 2/10/2008

For the first Sunday of Lent, the church brings us back to spiritual training camp and encourages us to review the basics. We are in the garden with Adam and Eve and in the desert with Jesus. When the devil approaches us, do we respond as they did, or as he did? Everything else will flow from that decision.

Sermon 371 : The Mystery of Light : 2nd Sunday of Lent : 2/17/2008

On his way to Jerusalem, where he will be crucified, Jesus is transfigured before three of his disciples. This manifestation of glory, says Thomas Aquinas, was designed to encourage the disciples during the difficult days that would follow. It gives hope to us too. On the sometimes painful journey through this life, we see in the Transfiguration of the Lord a sign of what awaits us : a glorified life with God.

Sermon 372 : The Woman at the Well : Third Sunday of Lent : 2/14/2008

We are made for God, and therefore our hearts are restless until they rest in him. This longing is symbolized in the thirst of the woman at the well. Directing her away from all earthly goods, Jesus draws her to himself : "I will give you water springing up to eternal life." We hear the same invitation to the font of grace.

Sermon 373 : The Man Born Blind : Fourth Sunday of Lent : 3/14/2008

Blindness is a great Biblical symbol of spiritual blindness, the darkening and distortion of our vision.

Sermon 374 : Lazarus Come Forth : Fifth Sunday of Lent : 3/9/2008

Jesus came to end the reign of death, to wrestle death to the ground. In the raising of Lazarus--which anticipates his own even more glorious resurrection--he fulfills the prophecy of Ezekiel.

Sermon 375 : The Passion of The Christ : Palm Sunday : 3/16/2008

Matthew shows us that, as Jesus resolutely does his Father's will, myriad forms of human dysfunction--betrayal, sloth, stupidity, violence, scapegoating, corruption--break out around him. This is the salvation story : God's compassionate embrace of sinners.

Sermon 376 : He is Risen! : Easter : 3/23/2008

Our first reading for this Easter day is Peter's great kerygmatic speech on Pentecost morning. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter addresses the Jerusalem crowd, telling them the impossibly good news that Jesus of Nazareth, a man who moved through their ordinary towns and villages, has been raised from the dead. The Easter faith of the Church is not an abstraction, not a vague claim about God's fidelity or our hope for immortality. Rather, it is the startling assertion that God has brought this man Jesus back from the dead. May we bask in the glow of this still surprising revelation.

Sermon 377 : The Mission of Easter : Second Sunday of Easter : 3/30/2008

Essential to the Easter message is mission : we are sent by the risen Jesus to do his work in the world. It is never enough that we contemplate his risen splendor; we must become his forgiveness-bearing presence to those around us.

Sermon 378 : Emmaus and the Pattern of Redemption : Third Sunday of Easter : 4/6/2008

The story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus teaches us how to see. When we listen to Christ explain the Scriptures to us, we understand the pattern of his life and death. And when we eat his body and drink his blood, we see precisely who he is : God's love made flesh."

Sermon 379 : Peter Proclaims Jesus is Lord : Fourth Sunday of Easter : 4/13/2008

Peter's sermon on Pentecost morning is the model for all evangelical proclamation. He declares that Jesus is both Lord and Messiah, and this straightforward, unambiguous confession leads to conversion on the part of the people. When our preaching about Jesus is wishy-washy, unclear, tentative, we shouldn't be surprised that no one listens.

Sermon 380 : The Priesthood of the Church : Fifth Sunday of Easter : 4/20/2008

All the readings for today are, directly or indirectly, about the priesthood, that office that all of the baptized share. To be a priest is to be a mediator between God and human beings and to be a person who offers right praise. This identity should play itself out in all that you do.

Sermon 381 : Five Signs of the Spirit : Sixth Sunday of Easter : 4/27/2008

As Pentecost approaches, the church gives us readings redolent of the Holy Spirit. Our passages for this Sunday speak in various ways of the presence of the Holy Spirit : bold speech, signs and wonders, joy, intellectual curiosity, and love.

Sermon 382 : The Dangerous Spirit : Seventh Sunday of Easter : 5/4/2008

Jesus assures his disciples that, if they pray for it, the Holy Spirit will definitely come upon them with great power. At the same time, he reminds them that the presence of the Spirit always awakens opposition and persecution. So ask for the Holy Spirit, but be prepared to suffer on his account.

Sermon 383 : One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic : Pentecost : 5/11/2008

The feast of Pentecost is the birthday of the church. Our readings show us the four major features of the church : it is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. What do these four things mean? Listen to the sermon!

Sermon 384 : Why the Trinity Matters : Trinity : 5/18/2008

There is no question more important than this one : who is God? The doctrine of the Trinity is the Christian answer to that question. The Trinity is simply a doctrinally exact way of stating the belief that God is love. If love is what God is, then in the very being of God there must be lover, beloved, and love.

Sermon 385 : Panis Angelicus : Corpus Christi : 5/25/2008

In 1264, Pope Urban IV asked Thomas Aquinas to compose the office for the newly established feast of Corpus Christi. Thomas's texts are both beautiful and profound. By studying them, we can learn much of the Church's theology of the eucharist. He tells us that Christ serves us, with his own hands, the bread of angels.

Sermon 386 : Rock or Sand? : 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/1/2008

What is the foundation of your life? How goes it with your heart? Are you building your spiritual house on sand or on rock? These are the fundamental questions that both the book of Deuteronomy and the Gospel of Matthew pose for us as we return to Ordinary Time.

Sermon 387 : Getting Straightened Out : 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/8/2008

Paul's letter to the Romans explores the great theme of justification, the process by which we become rectified or straightened out in regard to God. Key to this process, says Paul, is faith, that is to say, trust in the Lord. What has thrown us off-kilter is precisely a tendency to rely on our own powers. But when we, like Abraham our father in faith, learn to trust, then the divine life can flow into us and through us to the world.

Sermon 388 : Election : 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/15/2008

One of the key themes of the Bible is the divine election, the fact that God chooses. But God chooses, not on the basis of merit, but simply through and because of his grace. And he chooses, not to glorify those whom he elects, but rather to give them a mission of love. Accordingly, he chose Israel so that it might be a priestly nation; and he chose the twelve so that they might proclaim the kingdom, and he chose us the baptized that we might be conduits of his grace to the world.

Sermon 389 : Old Adam, New Adam : 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/22/2008

In his letter to the Romans, Paul tells us that Jesus is the new Adam or the second Adam. He means that Christ sums up the history of Israel and renews the human race.

Sermon 390 : Peter and Paul : The Indispensable Men : Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles - Solemnity : 6/29/2008

Peter and Paul were the greatest "christophers," Christ-bearers in the early days of the church. Though they were very different, they came together in their love for Jesus and their conviction that he was Lord. It is largely because of their witness that we gather still today in the name of Jesus.

Sermon 391 : Take My Yoke Upon You. : 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/6/2008

The Gospel for today allows us to overhear a conversation between the Father and the Son. We learn that the Son receives everything from his Father, that he is, in a word, yoked to the Father. When the Lord tells us to take his yoke, he is inviting us to pull with him, receiving through him the life that he receives from the Father.

Sermon 392 : The Sower : 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/13/2008

We have the special privilege of hearing Jesus himself interpret one of his parables. He tells us the three basic reasons why the Word is not accepted into our hearts : lack of understanding, lack of discipline, and lack of prioritization.

Sermon 393 : Three Parables; Three Spiritual Lesson : 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/20/2008

Jesus' parables in today's Gospel tell us how and why the Kingdom of God emerges. It does so often through struggle, quietly and clandestinely, and through infiltration rather than direct confrontation.

Sermon 394 : What Do You Want? : 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/27/2008

God says to Solomon in our first reading, "Ask for anything, and I will give it to you." What would you say if you heard that invitation? Solomon asks for wisdom and not for wealth or power or victory. Find out why that answer is so pleasing to God.

Sermon 395 : Grace : 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/14/2008

Our readings for this weekend are filled with grace, the free gift that God is. Our relationship with God gets off on the wrong foot the moment we see it in an "economic" or calculating way. God, who needs nothing from us, simply wants to share his life with us. And this is why he says, through the prophet Isaiah, "All you who are thirsty, come to the water!"

Sermon 396 : Christ, the Son of God : 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/10/2008

The Church never tires of confessing the divinity of Jesus, for in that confession, the Church finds its whole identity. Over the centuries--and in the present day--many have tried to portray Jesus as no more than an inspired teacher. But the disciples who witnessed Christ walking on the water know better. They confess "truly, you are the Son of God.

Sermon 397 : How Great Is Your Faith : 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/17/2008

The story of the persistent Canaanite woman has intrigued and puzzled Christians for two thousand years. Why would Jesus treat this pious woman with what seems like indifference, even hostility? Why does he refuse (it seems) to answer our own prayers? The solution can be found in the very Biblical category of testing.

Sermon 398 : Ekklesia : 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/24/2008

Jesus tells Peter that he will build his ekklesia on the rock of Peter's confession. The word ekklesia means "called out from." To be a member of the church is to be called personally by Christ out of the world and into a new way of being.

Sermon 400 : Fraternal Correction : 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/7/2008

The command to love compels us to engage in the difficult task of fraternal correction, but it enjoins us to do so carefully, always aware that it can slide easily enough into a game of ego-inflation. The Gospel gives us some very practical advice in this regard.

Sermon 401 : The Triumph of the Cross : 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/14/2008

We will understand the power of this feast only when we grasp how very strange it is to speak of the cross as a triumph. Paul's great hymn in his letter to the Phillipians helps us to grasp how the cross fits into the narrative of God's salvation.

Sermon 402 : As High as the Heavens... : 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/14/2008

The Biblical manner of dealing with the problem of evil is neither to deny the fact of evil nor the fact of God's existence. Rather, it is to stress the transcendence and inscrutability of God's ways. What looks like pure evil or dumb suffering to us finds its place within the providential plan of a mysterious God.

Sermon 403 : Old Adam or New Adam : 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/14/2008

Our second reading contains one of the most precious texts in the Christian tradition, Paul's description of the mind of Christ. While the old Adam clung to godliness and hence fell, the new Adam let go of his divinity and hence reversed the momentum of the fall. What does it mean to be conformed to God? It means to embrace the path of self-emptying love. Which Adam do we choose? The Old or the New?

Sermon 404 : The Vineyard : 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/14/2008

In both the prophet Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew, we find the image of the vineyard as a symbol of Israel. As Jesus develops this image, we see both the glory and the tragedy of Israel-as well as the promise that the church will emerge as the bearer of the God of Israel to the nations.

Sermon 405 : The Sacred Banquet : 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/12/2008

One of the most powerful and enduring symbols of God's intention toward the world is the sacred banquet. God wants his life to flow into us and through us to one another. The result of this is life and life to the full. The question posed by the Gospel is this : when the invitation to this banquet comes, do we answer yes or no?

Sermon 406 : Render to Caesar... : 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/19/2008

The Gospel for today raises the famously complex question of the relationship between "religion" and "politics." Though there is a legitimate distinction between the two, this can never turn into a separation. We should certainly render to Caesar what is Caesar's, but we must never forget that even Caesar belongs to God.

Sermon 407 : The Three Tasks of the Church : 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/26/2008

Pope Benedict has said that the church has three basic jobs : to care for the poor, to evangelize, and to worship. These three are on clear display in our three readings for the weekend.

Sermon 408 : The Soul : All Souls Day : 11/2/2008

Why do we speak of the "soul?" We do so because there is something in us that links us to the eternal. Though the body fades away, the core of the person does not. And therefore, we remain connected to those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith. We should pray for them in the hopes that one day we might live in communion with them.

Sermon 409 : Dedication of St. John Lateran : 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/9/2008

We celebrate today the feast of the dedication of St. John Lateran, the Pope's cathedral church as bishop of Rome. This gives us the occasion to speak of the importance of all church buildings, images of the temple in Jerusalem.

Sermon 410 : Parable of the Talents : 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/16/2008

Your being increases in the measure that you give it away. That's the law of the gift, and it can be found from end to end of the Bible. One application of this law has to do with faith itself. Your faith will grow only in the measure that you give it away, sharing it with others.

Sermon 411 : Shepherding : Christ the King : 11/23/2008

Our readings for Christ the King focus on the shepherding function of the king. Jesus calls the tribes of Israel together--and he also separates the sheep from the goats. We would do well to attend to both of these dimensions of his shepherding work.

Sermon 412 : The Potter and the Clay : 1st Sunday of Advent : 11/30/2008

Our first reading for this first Sunday of Advent gives us the master image of God as the potter and we, his creatures, as clay. St. Irenaeus said that God's provident direction of our lives is easy as long as the clay of our hearts remains supple and moist. Trouble comes only when we allow the clay to harden.

Sermon 413 : Prepare the Way of the Lord : 2nd Sunday of Advent : 12/7/2008

The theme of preparing a highway for the Lord emerges from the time of the exile. When the Babylonian captivity was coming to a close, the prophet Isaiah envisioned God making a highway in the desert to facilitate the return of his people to Jerusalem. From what captivity of ours is God leading us this Advent?

Sermon 414 : Rejoice, Pray, Give Thanks : 3rd Sunday of Advent : 12/14/2008

In our second reading from Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, we hear the strange recommendation to pray always, rejoice in every circumstance, and give thanks at all times. How is this possible? Only when our lives have been radically reconfigured around Jesus Christ.

Sermon 415 : Reading the New Testament in Light of the Old : 4th Sunday of Advent : 12/21/2008

The church fathers saw so clearly that we will never understand the New Testament without understanding the Old Testament. Our readings for this weekend show how the angel's words to Mary at the annunciation are intelligible only in light of God's promise made, ten centuries before, to David.

Sermon 416 : What Makes a Family Holy? : The Holy Family : 12/28/2008

The Bible is not particularly sentimental about families. What makes a family holy, as far as the biblical writers are concerned, is its willingness to surrender to the purpose of God. We see this in a number of key figures, including Joseph, Anna, and Simeon.

Sermon 417 : Epiphany : 2nd Sunday of Christmas : 1/4/2009

The feast of Epiphany gives us the occasion to reflect on a distinction that is much in vogue today between spirituality on the one hand and faith on the other. The Magi represent all that is good and true and beautiful in religious seeking. But they come to the tradition of Israel to find the right focus for their spiritual quest.

Sermon 418 : John the Priest : Baptism of the Lord : 1/11/2009

The Gospel compels us to come to grips with the fascinating figure of John the Baptist. John was the son of Zechariah, a temple priest. And John, baptizing in the desert, acts as a priest, cleansing the people for entry into the new temple.

Sermon 419 : The Call of Samuel : 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/18/2009

The story of the call of Samuel is illuminating for our time of corruption and cleansing. I argue that the sex abuse scandal in the church should be read through the lens of this narrative.

Sermon 420 : The Time of Fulfillment : 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/25/2009

We hear in today's Gospel Jesus' inaugural address. He tells us that the time of fulfillment is now. This means that the whole of Israelite history is summed up in his person. He is the new Temple, the true prophet, the everlasting covenant, and the definitive Torah. And this means that all people must make a decision about him.

Sermon 421 : A Prophet Like Moses : 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/1/2009

Moses promised that a prophet like himself would one day arise among the Israelites and that he would have the very authority of God. It is precisely this authority that Jesus claims. And this is why, in his regard, we have to make a choice.

Sermon 422 : The Spirituality of Pain : 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/8/2009

Why would an all-powerful and all-loving God allow his people to suffer so much? That's one of the oldest and most difficult theological questions. Our first reading from Job and our Gospel from Mark provide some fascinating answers.

Sermon 423 : Becoming Fit for Worship : 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/15/2009

In our Gospel for today, a leper comes to Jesus and asks to be healed. He is suffering, not only from a physical malady, but from ritual uncleanness, rendering him incapable of worship. Jesus the Messiah has come to gather the scattered tribes of Israel to the worship of the true God and so he reaches out to the leper. That same Christ seeks to gather so many of us who have wandered away from the worship of the true God.

Sermon 424 : God's Great Yes : 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/22/2009

Paul tells us that with Jesus Christ it was never yes and no, but only yes. This means that in Jesus all the promises made to Israel have come true. I will tell you why this great Yes of Jesus still matters for us.

Sermon 425 : Get on the Ark : 1st Sunday of Lent : 3/1/2009

As Lent commences, we are given the great image of Noah's Ark. This story is not just a charming tale that we tell to the kids; in it is contained the whole message.

Sermon 426 : The Terrible Aqedah : 2nd Sunday of Lent : 3/8/2009

The story of the Aqedah, the Binding of Isaac, haunted the Israelite religious imagination. In it is contained one of the most important spiritual lessons in the Bible : everything we are and everything we have belongs, finally, to God. Knowing this is our liberation.

Sermon 427 : The Ten Commandments : 3rd Sunday of Lent : 3/15/2009

Scott Hahn refers to these famous laws as 'our declaration of dependence.' They teach us how to center our lives radically around God and his demands. They signal our total dependence upon the Lord. How wonderful that we meditate on them in the midst of Lent.

Sermon 428 : Reading the Signs of the Times : 4th Sunday of Lent : 3/22/2009

How do we know what's going on? How do we read the signs of the times? We could do so politically, sociologically, culturally, or economically. But the Bible insists that the world should be read theologically. What precisely is God doing and why? This sermon is about how to do this.

Sermon 429 : Planting the Law Within Us : 5th Sunday of Lent : 3/29/2009

Jeremiah 31 :31 is the great prophecy that the Lord will one day place his law within our hearts. In the Old Testament, God's law was written on stone and often appreciated as an imposition, a burden. But Jesus is the Law incarnate, the Torah made flesh. Therefore, when we eat his body and drink his blood, we take the law into our hearts, and thus we realize the prophecy of Jeremiah.

Sermon 430 : Dealing With the Mess : Palm Sunday : 4/5/2009

Life is grim. It is marked by conflict, division, inextricably difficult situations. And brooding over all of it is the fact of death. How do we deal with this mess? We can't, but God can. In Christ, he takes on the dysfunction and sin of the world and takes it away through the divine mercy. Walk through the Passion narrative with this idea in mind.

Sermon 431 : The Resurrection of Jesus is Not a Myth : Easter Sunday : 4/12/2009

There are some debunkers of religion around today who want us to believe that the story of the resurrection is just another iteration of the myth of the dying and rising god that can be found in many ancient cultures. Nothing could be further from the truth. A careful reading of the Easter accounts shows that they have to do with a very particular, historical individual and with a very particular, unrepeatable event.

Sermon 432 : Resurrection and the Love of This World : 2nd Sunday of Easter : 4/19/2009

From the time of Marx, Feuerbach and Freud, we've heard the critique that religion is a wish-fulfilling fantasy, a game of "pie in the sky when you die." The readings for this second Sunday of Easter give the lie to this criticism, for they show how those who were convinced of Jesus' resurrection were also deeply commited to a more just society.

Sermon 433 : Resurrection and Metanoia : 3rd Sunday of Easter : 4/26/2009

The readings for today effect a correlation between the resurrection of Jesus and conversion. The biblical word for conversion is "metanoia" which has the sense of "going beyond the mind that you have." What would it be like to move from a death-haunted consciousness to resurrection-haunted one? It would involve a conversion.

Sermon 434 : The Shepherd's Voice : 4th Sunday of Easter : 5/3/2009

Jesus identifies himself with the figure prophesied long before by Ezekiel, the one who would definitively gather the scattered tribes of Israel. The good shepherd is the one who brings Israel together so that it might fulfill its mission of gathering the other nations of the world to the praise of Yahweh.

Sermon 435 : The Vine and the Branches : 5th Sunday of Easter : 5/10/2009

The image of the vine and the branches indicates that our relationship with Christ is greater than that of merely a teacher to his students. Instead, we are related to him on all levels of our existence because Christ is the eternal Logos through whom all things are made.

Sermon 436 : God's Marvelous Choice : 6th Sunday of Easter : 5/17/2009

Today's Gospel present the distinction between a generic spirituality which emphasizes our decision for God, and authentic Christian Faith, which is the recognition that God has chosen us in Christ. It is God's choice, his election of us in Christ, as not only his followers, but his friends, that matters most.

Sermon 437 : Feast of the Ascension : 7th Sunday of Easter : 5/24/2009

The Ascension of the Lord empowers the Church to fulfill its messianic mission : to gather the nations of the world into a relationship with the God of Israel.

Sermon 438 : Pentecost : Pentecost Sunday : 5/31/2009

The gift of the Holy Spirit leads us to the Truth and Holiness of Christ as mediated by the Church.

Sermon 439 : The Center of Our Faith : Trinity : 6/7/2009

The Trinity is not simply a theological connundrum for scholars to fuss about. It stands at the very heart of our faith, since it expresses the fact that God is love. Our whole salvation depends on this great truth.

Sermon 440 : Corpus Christi : 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/14/2009

The Eucharist is the holy meal that God wants to share with his people. It is also the sacrifice that makes that meal possible in the midst of a fallen world. To understand the eucharist, we have to keep these two dimensions in mind.

Sermon 441 : The Storm at Sea : 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/21/2009

The story of Jesus calming the storm at sea is an archetypal description of the church down through the ages. We find ourselves in the midst of storms, but as long as Christ sails with us, we can find peace.

Sermon 442 : God did not make death : 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/28/2009

The Book of Wisdom offers us the strange assertion that God did not make death, but formed humanity to be imperishable. This revelation directs us towards the truth that death is much more than merely the dissolution of the body, but is the full impact of the power of sin over our lives. This power is especially evident in our fear of death. The dormition of the Mother of God offers us a sign that Christ has given to humanity a way, that takes us, not only beyond our fear of death, but beyond death itself. The way of Christ enables us to face the power of death with trust, rather than fear.

Sermon 443 : The Mission of a Prophet : 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/5/2009

This week's scriptures illuminate the identity and mission of a prophet- a calling that belongs to all the baptized by virtue of our Baptism. God appoints the prophets to a specific mission. This mission is to speak God's word of truth. God's word of truth is not a private or personal opinion, but the Word of God communicated through human words. The prophet speaks God's word of truth to those within and those outside the Church. Prophets do not seek to proclaim a message that is easy to be accepted, but seek to speak God's word of truth, no matter how hard it might be to hear and accept. Christ is the paradigmatic example of the identity and mission of the prophet.

Sermon 444 : The Way of the Prophet : 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/12/2009

If you walk the path of the prophet, you will abandon your own "career" and learn to follow the promptings of the Spirit. Also, you will be opposed. Once you accept and internalize those two lessons, you are ready to be a bearer of God's word.

Sermon 445 : A New Shepherd; A New Kingdom : 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/19/2009

We should never seek our final security in the things that worldly rulers and kings can provide. It is only through the shepherding of Christ that we find our way to good pasture.

Sermon 446 : The Mystery of the Mass : 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/26/2009

The sixth chapter of John's Gospel, from which we will be reading these next several weeks, is a sustained meditation on the meaning of the Mass and the Eucharist. Our passage for today, when read symbolically, illumines the major movements of the Mass.

Sermon 447 : Bread of Life : 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/2/2009

Again, the Church's Gospel is taken from the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John. The principle concern of this Gospel is to provide testimony to the enduring presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This presence is foreshadowed in the mysterious "showbread' of the ancient temple of Israel. The promise that is symbolized in the "showbread" is fulfilled in the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, the Church partakes of the its own "showbread", though no longer merely a symbol, it is the "Bread of Life"- the life and presence of Christ.

Sermon 448 : Remaining Attentive to the Lord : 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/9/2009

The first reading for this Sunday is taken from the Old Testament Book of Kings. In this reading we are introduced to the Prophet Elijah, who is nearing the end of his mission. This particular scripture has much wisdom to share with us in regards to our own passage through the mid point of our lives and the necessity of remaining attentive to the Lord and open to his purposes.

Sermon 449 : Wisdom Has Built Herself A House : 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/16/2009

The Book of Proverbs features a fascinating image of God's wisdom setting before humanity a sumptuous banquet. This is an image of the Church, who sets before the world the life and presence of Christ, a source of nourishment and renewal for the world. The wisdom of Christ is not merely a matter of mind, but a way of life that must be practiced if it is to be appreciated and understood.

Sermon 450 : You Gotta Serve Somebody : 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/23/2009

The Book of Joshua provokes us to consider one of the most important questions of the spiritual life- whom will you serve? Will it be the Lord or some other concern? Making something finite the ultimate concern of one's life is a grave spiritual predicament. Only is the Lord is ultimate and it is only when we recognize this truth that the other concerns of our life can be properly ordered and become spiritually fruitful.

Sermon 451 : The Dilemma of the Law : 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/30/2009

One of the great tensions in the spiritual life is between loving the law and being free of the law. I argue in this homily that learning to swing a golf club is a very good analogy in this regard. Listen and find out why.

Sermon 452 : Missing

Sermon 453 : The Way of the One : 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/13/2009

Peter's magnificent confession of faith in the Lord Jesus illuminates, not only his divine identity, but it provides for us a great spiritual lesson in regards to how necessary it is to curtail the self striving of the ego in its need comfort and glory. In this regard, Christ invites, not only Peter, but all of us, into a new way of being in which negation of the ego and the practice of self denial enable us to grow in our capacity for love.

Sermon 454 : The Way of the Child : 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/20/2009

The gesture of the Lord in today's Gospel calls to mind the spirituality of Saint Therese of Lisieux, whose "little way" is essentially a disposition of child-like trust in the Lord. This trust might be likened to the capacity of children to find profound joy in the simplest experiences of life. There are few better models to describe the soul's relationship with Christ than this "little way" of St. Therese.

Sermon 455 : Missing

Sermon 456 : The Theology of Marriage : 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/4/2009

Marriage is not just some secular act or social arrangement. Rather, it is brought about by God for God's purposes. Marriage is properly understood, first and foremost, as a theological act. The purpose and meaning of marriage is revealed in the mystery of God's own life (the Trinity) , in God's relationship to creation, and in Christ's relationship with the Church.

Sermon 457 : The Necessity of Spiritual Heroism : 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/7/2009

Today's Gospel identifies the spiritual itinerary of discipleship, the movement from living out the Faith in accord with merely what is basic and the challenge of applying oneself to the demands of spiritual heroism. Christ does not let us remain comfortable with what amounts to only an adequate response to his call, he asks for more, and our relationship with him is expressed in our response.

Sermon 458 : The Suffering Servant : 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/14/2009

This Sunday's readings highlight the idea of redemptive suffering. The revelation of Christ changes our disposition towards the difficulties of life, filling these experiences with the potential for goodness. In his Incarnation, Christ did not evade the often harsh realities of human experience, but he accepted them, knowing that he would be with us in all things. The challenge for us is that in the face of the inevitable challenges of life is this : will we accept hardship as an occasion to grow in holiness and deepen our relationship with the Lord.

Sermon 459 : Called From Darkness into His Light : 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/25/2009

The story of Bartimeaus is a model of the spiritual journey. The desire for Christ engenders in us spiritual healing, which is delivered in a profound illumination of Christ's identity, the acceptance of which leads us into the Church.

Sermon 460 : The Communion of Saints : Solemnity of All Saints : 11/1/2009

The magnificent diversity of the Saints indicates to us that we have been called to holiness. Holiness is about more than a kind of humanisn, but a deliberate and sincere discipline of life by which we imitate Christ and accept his presence in all the circumstances of our lives.

Sermon 461 : A Tale of Two Widows : 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/8/2009

Today's scriptures highlight two widows and two very important biblical principles : God reveals himself precisely at that moment of our greatest vulnerability and need, and that the grace in your life will increase in the measure that you give it away.

Sermon 462 : The Last Battle : 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/15/2009

The scriptures for this Sunday represent a biblical genre called "apocalyptic", which means "unveiling" or "revelation." The extraordinary revelation of these particular scriptures is that in the death and resurrection of Jesus, the battle against the fallen powers of heaven and earth has been won and a new age has begun, the age of the Church.

Sermon 463 : There's a New King in Town... : Our Lord Jesus Christ The King : 11/22/2009

Christ's kingship cannot be properly understood outside Israel's expectations for the Messiah. Jesus of Nazareth fulfills these expectations, yet in surprising and unexpected ways.

Sermon 464 : The End of the World as We Know It... : 1st Sunday of Advent : 11/29/2009

The apocalyptic imagery of this Sunday's scriptures directs us to appreciate the finite nature of all worldly things and the truth that the only reality that endures in this world of inevitable change and loss is the Lordship of God in Christ.

Sermon 465 : Be Ready! : 2nd Sunday of Advent : 12/6/2009

The prophecy of Baruch finds its fulfillment in the revelation of Christ, who brings the troubled history of God's people to its fulfillment and reveals God's eternal purpose for Jerusalem, the Temple, the Messiah and for Israel itself.

Sermon 466 : The Message of John : 3rd Sunday of Advent : 12/13/2009

John the Baptist insists that preparation for the coming of the Messiah entails moral transformation. When the Messiah comes, all will face his judgment, but oddly enough, this judgment will be good news.

Sermon 467 : Joy Before the Ark of God : 4th Sunday of Advent : 12/20/2009

The image of John the Baptist leaping in joy in the womb of his mother at the sound of the greeting of the Blessed Virgin Mary hearkens back to the Old Testament image of David, leaping and dancing before the Ark of the Covenant. The New Testament is properly understood when one references patterns or events that are described in the Old Testament.

Sermon 468 : What Makes A Family Holy : Feast of the Holy Family : 12/27/2009

Today the Church calls our attention to not simply the importance of family life, but the necessity that our families be holy. Holiness is discovered in the realization that our lives are not about ourselves, but are meant as a gift for others. The families that embody this radical gift of self to each other imitate the Holy Family of Christ.

Sermon 469 : Religion, Science and the Journey of the Magi : Feast of the Epiphany : 1/3/2010

The story of the Magi illuminates important dynamics in the relationship of religious conviction and scientific investigation. There need not be any necessary conflict between the religion and science, as wise men of every age are drawn, not only to investigate the wonders of creation, but to draw closer to Christ, through whom all things have been made.

Sermon 470 : Christ and the World Religions : The Baptism of the Lord : 1/10/2010

Although Christianity is the fullness of Truth, other religions, to a certain degree, participate in that Truth. The Magi, coming from Gentile cultures, seek the truth and find it in Christ.

Sermon 471 : The First of the Signs : 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time : 1/17/2010

The communion of humanity and divinity in Christ's divine person can be likened to a marriage. Sin effects a kind of divorce between God and humanity, a break up of the marriage of God and his people. How wonderful, therefore, when the Messiah offers the first sign of his identity and mission that it as at wedding. This is an indication that the relationship of God and humanity will be transformed, reconciled and renewed in Jesus Christ.

Sermon 472 : Learning Who We Are : 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/24/2010

The dramatic scene presented in the Book of Nehemiah presents a people who had forgotten their identity and learning, as if for the first time, who they really are. It is the mission of all those who remain invested in the Faith of the Church to give testimony to their brothers and sisters in Christ, reminding all, that in Christ, we have received a unique and wonderful identity- and it is only when we know who we are that will be able to find our purpose and accomplish the mission that Christ has given to us.

Sermon 473 : A Messiah For All the Nations : 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/31/2010

Today's scriptures clarify that the mission of the Messiah will not just be for the benefit of Israel, but for all the nations. Through the Jesus the Messiah, the Lord offers all peoples a share in his own divine life.

Sermon 474 : Shaking the Foundations : 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/7/2010

Grace shakes us to the foundations, provoking in us a keen awareness of our own sinfulness, and offering us the liberating power of the forgiveness of our sins. Once transformed by God's grace, we are sent out on mission and through our mission, we share with others the Grace that we have received.

Sermon 475 : Whom will you trust? : 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/14/2010

Our life takes shape in relation to that which we are willing to trust. What then is worthy of our trust? Worldly powers can disappoint and will all ultimately fail us. The Scriptures insist that we trust in the Lord's promises, promises that are proved to be true through the Resurrection of Jesus from dead.

Sermon 476 : The True and the False Messiah : 1st Sunday of Lent : 2/21/2010

Today's Gospel presents the dramatic scene of the Lord Jesus' confrontation with the evil one. The evil one attempts to frustrate the Lord's mission by tempting him to become a "false" messiah by succumbing to sensual desire, exercising worldly power, and using the power of God for ego driven purposes. These temptations are intended, not just to frustrate the Lord in his mission, but our own mission as well.

Sermon 477 : Transfigured Prayer : 2nd Sunday of Lent : 2/23/2010

The startling event of the Transfiguration displays a model of prayer. The mountain represents the place of Divine encounter, the radiance of the Lord displays the interior life of the soul in relationship to the Divine life, the conversation with the prophets is a symbol of the communion of saints. All this culminates is a sending forth in mission.

Sermon 478 : A Tale of Two Trees : 3rd Sunday of Lent : 3/7/2010

Today's scriptures present stories of two trees : the burning bush, that represents the reality of a soul that is receptive to God's presence, and the fig tree, which represents God's presence resisted and refused.

Sermon 479 : The Father and The Sons : 4th Sunday of Lent : 3/14/2010

The parable of the prodigal son is a portrait of God's gracious love and two negative responses to that love. Both sons, in their own ways, indicate the disposition of the soul in estrangement from God.

Sermon 480 : All Is Loss : 5th Sunday of Lent : 3/21/2010

In our second reading for this Sunday, St. Paul lays out his resumé. In terms of the Judaism of his time, Paul was about as accomplished as one could hope to be : he was a defender of the tradition, steeped in the wisdom of his people, and blameless under the law. But after seeing Jesus risen from the dead, Paul said that he counted all of those achievements as loss and refuse. So we, he implies, should not base our lives on our accomplishments, degrees, social status--but rather on Christ crucified and risen.

Sermon 481 : Which King? Whose Kingdom? : Palm Sunday : 3/28/2010

Today the Church proclaims the Passion of Christ. The story of the Lord's suffering and death haunted the minds of the first Christians. All the Gospels center around it and find their fulfillment in it. The special emphasis in this years account, taken from the Gospel of Luke, is Christ's struggle with the false kingdoms of the world.

Sermon 482 : The Impossibly Good News of Easter : Easter : 4/4/2010

The Church's Easter proclamation is the strangest message ever delivered : Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. His resurrection is not merely a symbolic statement about Christ's historical importance or the affirmation that his cause goes on. Nor is the resurrection simply about some change in the the apostle's minds in regards to Christ after his death. The resurrection is about the real body of Jesus.

Sermon 483 : My Lord and My God : 2nd Sunday of Easter : 4/11/2010

Despite the locked doors, the risen Jesus stands in the midst of the disciples. This is a beautiful icon of the Church, the community gathered around Jesus and filled with his spirit. When the Lord, first appears, Thomas is not there and hence does not believe. Only when he returns to the apostolic circle does he encounter Jesus and make his great confession. This detail reminds us that we see the risen Lord only in the church and through its mediation.

Sermon 484 : The Structure of Discipleship : 3rd Sunday of Easter : 4/18/2010

Our Gospel for today, taken from the wonderful 21st chapter of St. John's Gospel, is filled with mystical and symbolic allusions. The disciples in the boat are evocative of the church; Jesus on the shore calls to mind the eschatological fulfillment toward which the church is journeying; Peter calls to mind both sinful Adam and the promise of redemption. In all of it, we see a picture of discipleship.

Sermon 485 : The Lordship of Jesus : 4th Sunday of Easter : 4/25/2010

The first reading for this Sunday, taken from the thirteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, recounts the expulsion of Paul and Barnabas from Antioch. Paul's radical message of the Lordship of Jesus subverts all other power and authority. It is a public proclamation that is a challenge to all.

Sermon 486 : A New Heaven and A New Earth : 5th Sunday of Easter : 5/2/2010

The second reading for this Sunday, taken from the twenty-first chapter of the Book of Revelation, completes the Biblical story. The Bible tells us that the world will be transformed into a new heaven and a new earth through the One who "makes all things new."

Sermon 487 : The Guidance of the Holy Spirit : 6th Sunday of Easter : 5/9/2010

The first reading for this Sunday, taken from the fifteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, is about the Council of Jerusalem that allowed Gentiles into the Church. This Council, like all councils, is full of disputes. But it must never be forgotten that the Holy Spirit is guiding and directing the Church.

Sermon 488 : Participation in God's Way of Being : Ascension : 5/16/2010

Fr. Barron clarifies the Church's belief in Christ's Ascension as heralding our elevation into God's way of being. Rather than forgetting about the world, this eschatological hope properly orientates us to the concerns of the world.

Sermon 489 : The Holy Spirit that Awakens : Pentecost : 5/23/2010

Pentecost celebrates the awakening of the Holy Spirit within the disciples thus forming the Church. As the Holy Spirit unites the Church closer and closer to Christ, it pushes the faithful into a realm beyond self-determination. The more you allow the Holy Spirit to work in you, you paradoxically become both smaller and greater.

Sermon 490 : God Has Spoken : Trinity Sunday : 5/30/2010

Karl Barth said, "The central claim of Christianity is that God has spoken." The uniqueness of this claim has lead Christians to refer to God as a Trinity. The Trinity denotes God as speaker, the Word spoken (i.e. Christ) and the interpreter of the Word (i.e. Holy Spirit). It is always better to have the author interpret his word for you when reading his works. This is how the Church und

Sermon 491 : Gift of the Eucharist. : Corpus Christi : 6/6/2010

The Church comes from the Eucharist for it is the sacrifice that makes saints. The Eucharist is essentially the fullest act of gratitude prefigured in Melchizedek finding its fulfillment in the sacrifice of Christ. Every Mass is a participation in and celebration of this sacrifice, but the feast of Corpus Christi is a time to be especially aware of the gift of the Eucharist.

Sermon 492 : Sin and Grace : 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/13/2010

The Gospel present two tales of sin and grace, Christ's encounter with a repentant woman and the parable of the two debtors. Both illuminate for us not only the necessity of personal conversion, but our willingness to forgive those who have sinned.

Sermon 493 : Christ's Identity and Mission : 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/20/2010

Today's Gospel presents Luke's version of the famous conversation that the Lord Jesus had with his disciples concerning his identity and mission. Authentic acceptance of Christ's identity and mission engenders in us a willingness to accept in our own lives the necessity and saving power of the cross.

Sermon 494 : Elisha and the Nature of True Freedom : 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/27/2010

Freedom is not self-determination, but finding and doing what God wants you to do. Biblical figures did not choose their God-given role; God chose it for them. Thus, in order for us to fulfill our mission perfectly we have to get rid of all obstacles to freely following Christ. This means that we have to get rid of all that prevents us from perfectly loving God, neighbor, and self.

Sermon 495 : Being American, Being Catholic : 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/4/2010

We Americans embrace freedom. However, a proper understanding of freedom must inform our celebration of it. In both classical philosophy and the Bible, "freedom is not so much individual choice as the disciplining of desire so as to make the achievement of the good, first possible, then effortless." This freedom may seem confining, but it is actually liberating for it aligns oneself to the truth. In Christ, by whom we are created equal in dignity, we become free. As Catholics, we can embrace America's protection of equal rights, but we must be critical of modern interpretations of freedom.

Sermon 496 : Hearing the Voice of God : 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/11/2010

During the 20th century, moral relativism was in vogue in elite cultural circles, but now it is the dominant moral outlook of the broader culture. Against this, C.S. Lewis argued for "the universality and inescapability of the moral law." Although there are subtle moral differences between cultures, if we look close enough, we can discern fundamental moral agreements. The Catholic tradition says that this moral bedrock is a reflection of the Eternal Law in the mind of God. It is the voice of God within us. Listen to that voice.

Sermon 497 : Martha, Mary and the Attitude of Discipleship : 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/18/2010

Although the little story of Martha and Mary has been interpreted throughout the centuries as a parable dealing with the "active" and "contemplative" approach to the spiritual life, it can be read as Christ's invitation to all people to partake in his inner circle of discipleship. Christ overturned the social conventions of his time by summoning all people to discipleship. Thus, we must remove all barriers to discipleship for all people.

Sermon 498 : Jesus' Kingdom Prayer : 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/25/2010

How central is the Lord's Prayer to Christianity! Basically this prayer is about ordering ourselves to God and letting his way of being order all levels of our lives. But we must not think that we will easily orientate ourselves to God. There are powerful forces that resist this, and we must not be naive about them. The Lord's Prayer is the itinerary for our spiritual journey.

Sermon 499 : To Have and To Be : 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/1/2010

Maturity comes in facing the reality of death and the transient nature of the world. In this regard, the Book of Ecclesiastes is full of wisdom : "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity"; Everyone who thinks they are going to find their happiness in possessing the goods of the world will eventually have to face the truth that they will not. All passes away. Therefore, spend your time building a good spiritual disposition for you never know when your life will be demanded of you. My advice : devote yourself to love.

Sermon 500 : Giving and Receiving : 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/8/2010

In the twelfth chapter of the Gospel of Luke, Christ assures us not to be afraid. Fear is a spiritual state that causes us not to trust in the lordship of God and to play master of our lives. However, with the awareness that God has given all to us, we'll realize that we are basically a gift. Gifts are meant to be given, so confidently give yourself away. Do not fear that you will become nothing by giving yourself away for by doing this the divine life fills you anew.

Sermon 501 : Mary the Warrior : 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/15/2010

In contrast to our conventional view of the Virgin Mary as a shrinking violet, the book of Revelation presents her as a warrior who has brought into the world a new way of dealing with worldly power : Christ (i.e. Love itself). If we do not approach the world as a battlefield between love and violence, we will become spiritually blind. But the Virgin Mary, as warrior, helps us see this reality while assuring us that her Son has already conquered.

Sermon 502 : The Narrow Gate : 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/22/2010

To gain eternal life is to participate to the fullest degree possible in the very life of God. It is to walk the path of love, surrendering to grace and allowing this grace to flow through you to the wider world. Is this an easy task? No. The Gospel of Luke tells reminds us that the gate is narrow precisely because it is in the very shape of Jesus Himself, and entrance through the gate involves conformity to his state of being. The path of love is traveled by taking up one's cross every day.

Sermon 503 : The Hopeful Vision of the Mass : 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/29/2010

The Letter to the Hebrews is a sustained reflection on the Mass as the source and summit of the Christian life and the pivot around which history turns. Writing from a developed understanding the Temple, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews shows how Christ's sacrifice on the Cross is the sacrifice that has and will restore the communion between God and creation. As a re-presentation of this act, the Mass makes present to us our final destiny : communion with God through Christ.

Sermon 504 : The Cost of Discipleship : 23rd week in Ordinary Time : 9/5/2010

Let's move beyond playing with religion and take up the tough work of following Christ. He desires disciples who are completely devoted to God's kingdom. This entails living in the way of non-violence, forgiveness, self-gift, and other-orientation. This way is counter to the way of the world and will be met with resistance. Are you ready to walk this way?

Sermon 505 : Logic of Justice; Logic of Grace : 24th week in Ordinary Time : 9/12/2010

The God Jesus describes does not operate according to the same logic we do. In fact, He seems to be crazy. If God is supposed to be like the Shepherd who abandons the ninety-nine to find the lost one and the woman who diligently searches her whole house for a penny, then he must be crazy. But that is not so. God operates according to the logic of grace, defying our logic of justice. Being a Christian is learning how to operate according to God's logic.

Sermon 506 : A Warning Bell in the Night : 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/19/2010

Most of us spur into action when we believe that our financial state is in dire straits. Why don't we act in the same way in regards to our spiritual state? Today people need the same spiritual concern that people had in the past. They need to want to establish a relationship with God, that which is of paramount importance. So wake up, and place God at the center of your life!

Sermon 507 : Rich Man, Poor Man : 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/26/2010

Most of us find the homeless to be unnerving and annoying, telling ourselves not to give them money because they might use it for drinks or drugs. But think of the story of Lazarus and the rich man, and did they have different fates! Lazarus was carried to Abraham's bosom and the rich man to the nether world, where he was tormented. The torment for the rich man began by locking himself in his narrow ego, going against his calling to give. As Catholic social teaching remind us, we cannot remain indifferent to the poor. They must always be taken into consideration or else we go to hell.

Sermon 508 : The Lament of Habbakuk : 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/3/2010

The prophet Habbakuk expresses what most of us feel at some point in our lives : how can God be so indifferent to suffering? Listen carefully to the answer he receives from the Lord.

Sermon 509 : Naaman the Syrian : 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/10/2010

From the worldly perspective, the worst thing a powerful person can do is admit his/her weaknesses to others. If done so, the person loses his/her position of power. Naaman the Syrian, a man of power, is an example of humility. He does not let embarrassment stand in the way of admitting to his weakness. By doing so, he is healed and offers right praise to God. Like Naaman, admitting one's weaknesses is the first step to proper worship.

Sermon 510 : Moses and Amalek - An Icon of the Church : 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/17/2010

The church militant is the church at war with all the destructive powers that want to undermine its unity. The Israelites battle the people of Amalek, a battle that symbolizes the spiritual warfare that each of us, as members of the church, personally undergoes. There is no escaping this reality, and so we must fight. But our fighting is unusual : we fight with peacemaking, forgiveness, education, etc. Our fighting is only sustained through prayer and the prayers of others. Please pray that the Church is strengthened in its fight against evil in the world.

Sermon 511 : Finding Justification : 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/24/2010

Religion serves a unitive purpose. In uniting the person to God, religion unites people together. However, many religious people forget religion's purpose. They like to puff up their egos, reveling in their ability to live according to the Law. Seeing themselves as better than the rest, they forget that grace only comes to those who realize they are sinners. The tax collector, realizing he is a sinful man, does not focus on himself, but focuses his gaze and hunger on God - the source of salvation. Justification comes to those who do likewise.

Sermon 512 : Salvation Has Come to This House : 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/31/2010

Zacchaeus is a man who has wandered far from God. But, often enough, people like Zacchaeus come back, again and again, to God because they cannot eliminate their hunger for Him. Once they open themselves to Christ he places himself in the most intimate parts of themselves, living there. Christ does not enter just a fragment of your life; he enters the whole thing! This is salvation. Let Christ shake and transform you.

Sermon 513 : Eternal Life : 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/7/2010

Today's Gospel reading tells us about the Sadducees trying to lead Jesus into a ridiculous conclusion. To them the Jewish teaching on marriage seems irrational. However, Jesus shows us that not everything that appears cloudy to our intellect is sub-rational. Rather, some times it may be supra-rational - beyond the finite intellect - making it rational, but the rationality of another dimension. The claims of Faith may not be comprehensible to our intellects now, but we believe that they will once we are in his eternal presence.

Sermon 514 : What Remains? : 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/14/2010

All things pass away. Political and religious institutions, the family, bodily health; nothing lasts. Everything dies. So often we seek our fulfillment and salvation in these things. But Christ is telling us not to. He is telling us to seek the one thing that will last : Himself. So long as we cling to Him will our lives be secure. He is the rock of our salvation.

Sermon 515 : The Beginning and the End : Christ the King : 11/21/2010

Our first reading for Mass this Sunday is taken from the opening chapter of Paul's letter to the Colossians. There is no stronger statement of the absolute primacy, centrality, and importance of Jesus Christ in the entire New Testament. Jesus, Paul tells us, is the beginning and the end, the icon of the invisible God, the one in whom all things exist and for whom they are destined. And then the Gospel shows us this cosmic King nailed to the cross. This wonderful irony is at the heart of the Christian proclamation : the King of the Universe is a crucified criminal, who utterly spends himself in love.

Sermon 516 : God's Holy Mountain : 1st Sunday of Advent : 11/28/2010

Thomas Merton once wrote, "Man is not at peace with his fellow man because he is not at peace with himself. And he is not at peace with himself because he is not at peace with God." Only when we are in communion with God will we be in communion with ourselves and our fellowman. This simple formula summarizes Israel's mission of gathering all peoples in right praise to God on Mt. Zion. Although the world is divided in countless ways, Israel's gathering mission is realistic because Christ, the Messiah, is Lord, and all things will be gathered in himself. For this we wait in joyful hope.

Sermon 517 : The Bracing Figure of John the Baptist : 2nd Sunday of Advent : 12/5/2010

The first step in the spiritual life is simple : you must see your life not as your own project but as a vehicle for God's purposes. However, we are all absorbed in our own lives, forgetting that the road to God is one of self-forgetfulness. This disposition helps us to focus on Christ and his mission. But in order for us to do this we must be cleansed of all attachments and baptized in the fiery love of God.

Sermon 518 : The Virtue of Hope : 3rd Sunday of Advent : 12/12/2010

Hope is not this-worldly optimism. In fact, from a purely natural perspective, pessimism is the right attitude. Hope is that supernatural virtue which orders our desire toward heaven and the things of heaven. What Isaiah talks about in our first reading is not an expectation that will be realized here below, but only in a transfigured world on high.

Sermon 519 : Ahaz, Isaiah, and Joseph - Dreaming Big : 4th Sunday of Advent : 12/19/2010

The problem with our world is that most people do not dream big. In experiencing hardship, we have a tendency to assume the worst, thinking narrowly. The Biblical vision is the opposite of this. Biblical figures see the world through the infinite possibility of God - based in their faith in the Lord. Ahaz refused to be surprised by God's possibility. Isaiah was ready to be surprised. This confidence in God allowed him to dream big.

Sermon 520 : Herod and Joseph : Feast of the Holy Family : 12/26/2010

It seems as if those in worldly power rule the day. King Herod tyrannically ruled his territory, making sure he was always the most powerful. Any apparent threat to his power was quickly squashed. Herod represents all who assert themselves over and against others. He seeks the death of the other. Joseph represents those who support the other and do not see Him as a threat. By basing themselves in God, other people are not threats but brothers and sisters. Christianity will always be foolish to those who aspire to power.

Sermon 521 : Herod and the Magi : Feast of the Epiphany : 1/2/2011

Herod sees all from the confines of his ego, trying to make the world conform to his plans. The Magi look outside of themselves, looking for an order that they will conform to. By focusing their attention away from themselves, they are spiritually liberated to follow the star of Bethlehem. This is the liberation that Christ grants us. He allows us to escape the jail cell of our egos to join the liberating current of his love, leading us closer to eternal life.

Sermon 522 : Priest, Prophet, and King : The Baptism of the Lord : 1/9/2011

All the baptized participate in Christ. Since Christ is the fulfillment of the priest, prophet, and king that means that all the baptized are those as well. Although this statement may seem odd since we do not naturally think of ourselves this way, we must become more conscious of what it means to be grafted onto Christ. Our baptism grafts us onto the Body of Christ, making us all share in His Person. If his Person is priest, prophet, and king, then so are we.

Sermon 523 : Paul's Opening Words to the Corinthians : 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time : 1/16/2011

In Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, he highlights the beauty of baptism and how it sweeps the baptized person into God's great theo-drama. God calls us out of the world of our narrow egos to partake in his redeeming plan of love of which the Church is the vehicle. Follow Christ, and peace will be given to you.

Sermon 524 : Following The Lord : 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time : 1/23/2011

All of us want to live to the fullest. However, most of us never find the one thing that will inspire us to dedicate our whole lives to it. It is amazing to hear of how the first people who responded to Christ dedicated their whole lives to him. Their encounter with Christ sent them on a path they never dreamed of. Paradoxically, this path was marked by great joy and suffering; but, nevertheless, they lived life to the fullest.

Sermon 525 : Blessed Are We : 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time : 1/30/2011

The Beatitudes reveal the true path of joy is found not in grasping at power but in the willing surrender to God's mysterious grace.

Sermon 526 : Salt and Light : 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/6/2011

Christ's apt use of the metaphors of salt and light as images of the spiritual life help us to appropriate and understand the expectations of discipleship.

Sermon 527 : Preaching the Radical Word : 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/13/2011

Like a good healer, Jesus has not come simply to behaviorally modify us; he has come to heal us at the root of our being, eradicating all dysfunction from our most basic core.

Sermon 528 : Be Perfect : 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/20/2011

Jesus calls us to love. But few consider the radical nature of this calling. It entails loving the other, even our enemies, regardless of the response of the one who is loved. If you fail, and you often will, turn to God for the grace to live out this strange way of Christ.

Sermon 529 : Seek Ye First : 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/27/2011

"Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and the rest will be given to you." Make God the center of your life, and you will be spiritually ordered in Christ's image. If you make wealth and security your center, you will be empty. You make the choice : will God be your center?

Sermon 530 : Building on Rock : 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 3/6/2011

Christ does not desire merely admirers of his word; he wants practitioners of his word. If we do not practice his teachings we will be like those who build their houses on sand. In order to build your house (self) on rock, act upon love. Your life will not flourish if it is not grounded in love.

Sermon 531 : The Lord Your God Shall You Worship and Him Alone Shall You Serve : 1st Week of Lent : 3/13/2011

The source of our greatest suffering is the deification of the will. We make ourselves God. However, once this move is made everyone else, in a self-defensive stance, tries to be God. The product of all of this is isolation, self-consciousness and self-protectiveness. Do not put up walls of self-protection, but become servants of the will of God.

Sermon 532 : Christ's Metamorphosis : 2nd Week of Lent : 3/20/2011

The story of the Transfiguration has beguiled artists, poets, spiritual masters and the faithful for centuries. The meaning of this extraordinary revelation is in the haunting details that the Gospel presents.

Sermon 533 : One who is greater than our father Jacob... : 3rd Week of Lent : 3/27/2011

The story of Christ's encounter with the Samaritan woman is a kind of template by which we can understand our own encounter with the Lord.

Sermon 534 : Coming to Spiritual Vision : 4th Week of Lent : 4/3/2011

The healing of a man blind from birth is an archetypal story of coming to spiritual vision. Sin prevents us from seeing clearly. Christ is the light and he wants us to walk in his light. But we resist. Fortunately, if we stop resisting, Christ will enable us, like Adam in Eden, to walk in easy fellowship with God.

Sermon 535 : Lazarus and the Power of Death : 5th Week of Lent : 4/10/2011

Death is not a condition God desires for us. Rather, God wants us to have life. However, death is a reality; but it is not the final word. Christ is the final Word - namely, the life-giving Word. Christ brings Lazarus back to life. He desires to do the same for us.

Sermon 536 : The Passion of the Christ : Palm Sunday : 4/17/2011

Matthew shows us that, as Jesus resolutely does his Father's will, myriad forms of human dysfunction--betrayal, sloth, stupidity, violence, scapegoating, corruption--break out around him. This is the salvation story : God's compassionate embrace of sinners.

Sermon 537 : He is Risen! : Easter : 4/24/2011

Our first reading for this Easter day is Peter's great kerygmatic speech on Pentecost morning. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter addresses the Jerusalem crowd, telling them the impossibly good news that Jesus of Nazareth, a man who moved through their ordinary towns and villages, has been raised from the dead. The Easter faith of the Church is not an abstraction, not a vague claim about God's fidelity or our hope for immortality. Rather, it is the startling assertion that God has brought this man Jesus back from the dead. May we bask in the glow of this still surprising revelation.

Sermon 538 : The Risen Christ in the Midst of His Church : 2nd Sunday of Easter : 5/1/2011

Jesus has come to bring us the divine life. Under his influence we become peaceful, unafraid, evangelizing, and forgiving. Through the Church, saints are made. This is because Christ is at the very center of the Church.

Sermon 539 : The Road to Emmaus : 3rd Sunday of Easter : 5/8/2011

Like the two disciples walking towards Emmaus, a symbol of worldly power and security, and away from Jerusalem, the center of sacrifice, we need to be stopped in our tracks. Christ appears to them, but they do not recognize him. They do not recognize him because they are walking the wrong way. The recognition of the pattern of Christ's life does come until the Eucharistic act which presents the pattern of sacrificial love. Then they immediately go back to Jerusalem, the place of suffering love.

Sermon 540 : The Shepherd's Voice : 4th Sunday of Easter : 5/15/2011

God speaks to us in many ways, especially though the conscience. Since God is a Person, his voice will reach our consciences and lure us to conform our lives to the life of his Son, Jesus Christ. In addition to listening to Christ thought the scriptures, through the teachings of the Church, through the lives of the saints, and through the liturgy, listen to Him speaking to your conscience. He will set you free.

Sermon 541 : The Co-Inherence of the Mystical Body : 5th Sunday of Easter : 5/22/2011

No man is an island. One of the messages of the Gospel is that all reality is interconnected. Jesus is the Vine and we are the branches. How organic the Bible is! This view of reality is the exact opposite of the American individualism that currently pervades our culture.

Sermon 542 : The Spirit of Power and of Truth : 6th Sunday of Easter : 5/29/2011

The Scriptures for this Sunday offer some glimpse of the Holy Spirit in advance of the great feast of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is the heavenly grace that enlivens the Church in all aspects of its mission.

Sermon 543 : The Meeting of Heaven and Earth : Ascension : 6/5/2011

The mysterious and wonderful feast of the Ascension of the Lord which celebrates Christ glorified "at the right hand of the Father". The key to unlocking the marvels of this event is to recover a specifically Biblical understanding of the relationship of heaven and earth.

Sermon 544 : Drink of the Holy Spirit : Pentecost : 6/12/2011

Everyone thirsts for the divine life. No one is content without it, even proclaimed secularists. Christ has come to give us that life and he calls us to seek it in him. Although no one will be fully satisfied in this life, the more we partake in the person of Christ, the more we will be fulfilled.

Sermon 545 : The God Who is Love : Trinity Sunday : 6/19/2011

God is Trinity. He is fundamentally a relationship : a lover, a beloved and the love between them. In other words, God is a complete openness and receptivity to the other. He is love. Now, we believe we are made in the image of God. Thus, we become fully alive to the degree that we imitate God.

Sermon 546 : Bread in the Desert : Feast of Corpus Christi : 6/26/2011

All of us are on a spiritual journey from sin to salvation. Like the Israelites longing for a return to Egypt, many of us occasionally desire our old addictions, providing the anxious ego with comfort and security. Far from Egypt, the Promised Land is the spiritual space of complete dependence upon God. But the Israelites are not there yet. They need to eat the manna from heaven. For Catholics, this is the Eucharist. It is the means to getting God's divine life within us.

Sermon 547 : The Little Ones : 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/3/2011

The purpose of Jesus' teachings is that we allow the divine life to surge through us so that we become transformed in Christ, making us more like Him. All our knowledge should serve this end. However, some learned people can use their knowledge to puff up their egos and put others down. The "Little Ones" are the people whose entire life is about helping others participate in the divine life so they may fully flourish.

Sermon 548 : The Prodigal Sower : 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/10/2011

God sows his Word into each of our hearts liberally. He does not solely give his grace to those he knows will bear fruit. He sows the Word in everyone, but it doesn't flourish for each person due to circumstances (secularism, anxiety, the allurement of the world), but strive to counter that by letting the Word open you to the implications of his Lordship. God is always giving himself to you, listen and act.

Sermon 549 : Three Parables; Three Spiritual Lessons : 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/17/2011

Jesus' parables in today's Gospel tell us how and why the Kingdom of God emerges. It does so often through struggle, quietly and clandestinely, and through infiltration rather than direct confrontation.

Sermon 550 : What Do You Want? : 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/24/2011

God says to Solomon in our first reading, "Ask for anything, and I will give it to you." What would you say if you heard that invitation? Solomon asks for wisdom and not for wealth or power or victory. Find out why that answer is so pleasing to God.

Sermon 551 : The Loop of Grace : 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/31/2011

It all begins with grace, and it all ends with grace. Bernanos' country priest summed up Christianity with the phrase "Toute est grace", everything is grace. God gives graciously, gratuitously, superabundantly--and then we are called to respond with a similar exuberance. The more we give back to God, the more we get, and then we must give that back again, so as to get even more in return. This is the loop of grace which is spoken of from beginning to end of the Bible. And all of our readings for today touch on it specially.

Sermon 552 : Elijah and Peter : 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/7/2011

Elijah is a contemplative who has the eyes to see and the ears to listen. God does not appear in the glory of the world. Rather, he appears in a silent way. Weed out of your heart all of those fears and desires that prevent you from discerning the silent presence of God.

Sermon 553 : Strength Through Resistance : 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/14/2011

Discipleship is not easy. It takes focus, a strong will, and the willingness to undergo training. Christ is the spiritual master and we must be ready to die to self in order to apprentice to him.

Sermon 554 : The Gates of Hell : 21st Week of Ordinary Time : 8/21/2011

In the eyes of the world, the Christian way of being is strange. All Christians are called out of the world and into a new way : Christ's way. Christians must be very clear about how they are different from the world and confidently proclaim it. They must stop trying to fit into the ways of the world and rather tell the world to conform to Christ. Christ will break down the Gates of Hell and invade all that resist his Love.

Sermon 555 : "But For Wales...?" : 22nd Week in Ordinary Time : 8/28/2011

All must be aware of the possibility of losing one's soul in pursuit of gaining the world. One will inevitably face opposition from the world. Will you give in? Christ's demand of love is difficult and many do not want to follow it because it entails suffering. But in order to follow Christ you must consciously and purposely walk the path of suffering love.

Sermon 556 : "If Your Brother Sins Against You..." : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time : 9/4/2011

Catholics are always called to confront sin, even the sins of those closest to them. But they should never spread gossip about other's sins. Rather, they should go directly to the person who is sinning and try to get them on the right path. The Catholic way of handling problems is by always doing as much to directly fix the problem instead of announcing the problem to the world before fixing it.

Sermon 557 : September 11th, 2001 - Anger and Forgiveness : 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time : 9/11/2011

While we are justified in our anger at perpetrators of 9/11, we must ultimately move to a stance of forgiveness. Christians must always remember Christ's command to forgive always. Forgiveness is the act by which you bring the other into the matrix of love. It is very difficult but necessary. Hopefully we can do this for those who committed the grievous crimes of 9/11.

Sermon 558 : Seeing the World from God's Perspective : 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/18/2011

Sometimes Christ does not seem fair. The Parable of the Day Laborers evokes this sense of injustice. Those who do not work as long and hard as the others get the same reward. However, Christ wants us to move beyond our sense of justice and see all according to love, God's perspective. Gratitude for the gift transforms our natural disposition to judge who deserves what into a disposition of thanksgiving.

Sermon 559 : To Let Go Rather Than to Grasp... : 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/25/2011

The magnificent hymn in the Letter to the Philippians reveals that at the heart of the Gospel is the mystery that the Lord Jesus did not grasp or cling to the prerogatives that properly belonged to him as God, but emptied his divine glory into our humanity so that we might share in his divine life.

Sermon 560 : Parable of the Tenants : 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/2/2011

The parable of the tenants is an allegory that presents the relationship of Israel to Christ, but more than this it reveals a necessary truth about the spiritual life : that we are "tenants" in regards to the gifts that God has given us, and when we construe our relationship to God's gifts as being that of "owners", rather than "tenants", the consequences can be quite dire.

Sermon 561 : The Wedding Feast : 28th Week in Ordinary Time : 10/9/2011

Jesus tells the story of a King who is inviting people to the wedding banquet for his Son. Some ignore it. Some actively kill the messengers. But this does not deter the King from inviting all to the banquet. Listen to the invitation of the Lord and actively respond to it. That is a decision you will not regret.

Sermon 562 : Caesar and God : 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/16/2011

Jesus places everything in its proper relationship to God. But he also chastises those who are involved in power games. God is ultimately in charge and rules over even Caesar.

Sermon 563 : Three Tasks of the Church : 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/23/2011

Christ calls us to worship the Father, teach and evangelize in his name, and serve and care for him in the poor. The Church is the Body through, in and with which we do these things. But the meaning of this all is placing God at the center of our lives.

Sermon 564 : Priesthood - Darkness and Light : 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/30/2011

The reading from the Book of the Prophet Malachi is an address to all priests, especially when they go bad. What causes this corruption? When they stop giving glory to God. God places a curse on wicked priests. We see this happen throughout Church history, especially today. But the only remedy to this is walking in the ways of Christ and allowing God to make you into a gift for all peoples.

Sermon 565 : The Wise and Foolish Virgins : 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/6/2011

How do we wait? That is the question addressed by Jesus' parable for today. While we wait for the second coming of the Lord, we should keep our lamps stocked with oil, that is to say, we should pray, study, love, do the works of mercy, and keep vigil. In so doing, we are ready for the arrival of the Bridegroom.

Sermon 566 : The Great Spiritual Law : 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/13/2011

The great spiritual law is the law of the gift. Although counter-intuitive, it is the way of the Spirit. Giving your life away for love increases life within you. You partake in the flow of the divine life. Hence, happiness is found in loving acts.

Sermon 567 : Language Fit for a King : Christ the King : 11/20/2011

Fr. Barron comments on the new Roman Missal. This new translation is more fit for the celebration of the liturgy because it helps us address Christ in language befitting a King.

Sermon 568 : The Potter and The Clay : 1st Sunday of Advent : 11/27/2011

Our first reading for this first Sunday of Advent gives us the master image of God as the potter and we, his creatures, as clay. St. Irenaeus said that God's provident direction of our lives is easy as long as the clay of our hearts remains supple and moist. Trouble comes only when we allow the clay to harden.

Sermon 569 : Prepare the Way of the Lord : 2nd Sunday of Advent : 12/4/2011

The theme of preparing a highway for the Lord emerges from the time of the exile. When the Babylonian captivity was coming to a close, the prophet Isaiah envisioned God making a highway in the desert to facilitate the return of his people to Jerusalem. From what captivity of ours is God leading us this Advent?

Sermon 570 : A Not Very Cozy Advent - The True King is Coming : 3rd Sunday of Advent : 12/11/2011

Christ proclaims himself as the King of everything. This is a bold claim for it puts everything under him. However, he is a very different King than what we typically expect. So with the arrival of this King, we must change all our expectations.

Sermon 571 : Adam, David, and Jesus - Three Kings : 4th Sunday of Advent : 12/18/2011

Adam had a kingly mission. However, he became a bad king. David was meant to restore kingship to its proper form. However, he failed too. But Christ, the Lord, is the King who sets everything aright and restores creation. His kingdom rivals all others.

Sermon 572 : In the Beginning was the Word : Christmas : 12/25/2011

The Prologue of the Gospel of John sums up the whole of the Christian message. It tells the story of a re-creation through the Word made flesh. All will be restored to union with the Godhead. This is the good news Christians continue to proclaim.

Sermon 573 : The Face of the Living God : Mary, Mother of God : 1/1/2012

Looking into the face of another is a very intimate experience. It evokes many strong feelings : shame, liberation, joy, etc. Like Adam and Eve, we typically hide from the face of God fearing his anger. But Jesus, the Face of God, first appears as a baby. A baby's face is a non-threatening face. It is the peaceful face of God.

Sermon 574 : Herod and the Magi : Feast of the Epiphany : 1/8/2012

Herod sees all from the confines of his ego, trying to make the world conform to his plans. The Magi look outside of themselves, looking for an order that they will conform to. By focusing their attention away from themselves, they are spiritually liberated to follow the star of Bethlehem. This is the liberation that Christ grants us. He allows us to escape the jail cell of our egos to join the liberating current of his love, leading us closer to eternal life.

Sermon 575 : Staying With the Lord : 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/15/2012

When we witness something beautiful, something important, we desire to share it with others, just as St. John did when he said to his disciples, "Behold the Lamb of God" - and just as those disciples did when they spread the good news of the Messiah. We quest to know God, to follow God, but more im

Sermon 576 : The Spiritual Drama of Jonah : 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/22/2012

A divine calling, whether the meaning is revealed in this life or the next, always requires our biblical heroes to do more than they feel they are capable. But all of us must answer, regardless of the call. Jonah provides a very "human" example of how difficult the work may be, and how the result might not be what we anticipate, but that it is always worthwhile and reflects God's will that we enact the purpose that brings our life to its proper fulfillment.

Sermon 577 : He Speaks With Authority : 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/29/2012

In Mark's gospel, we see find Jesus exorcising an unclean spirit from a man in the temple, doing so as both the messenger and the message. Jesus unites the divided, purges the false, and fulfills the teachings. He is the authority - the truth - we seek.

Sermon 579 : All Are One in God : 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/12/2012

The leper in Mark's gospel, a feared presence to the ancient Israelites, is made clean by Jesus' benevolent touch. A connection is formed, to each other, to God, that reminds us all of the comforting power of communion, the healing nature of our Creator.

Sermon 580 : I Am Doing Something New! : 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/19/2012

This Sunday's Gospel tells the story of the paralytic man whom Jesus forgave and commanded to walk. Paralysis is an effective allegory for sin-how it traps and immobilizes us. God's desire for us is movement, for his love can shatter our paralysis and free us from our sinful past. God is not a "no", but a resounding "Yes."

Sermon 581 : Jesus Among the Angels and the Beasts : 1st Sunday of Lent : 2/26/2012

Lent begins with a passage about Noah and flood. It's representative of not only sin, but of God's good grace. It's also a fitting entree into Jesus' journey into the desert, also symbolic of sin, and how his presence there infuses a forgotten, desolate place with life and goodness. When we are racked with sin, it is Christ who can infuse us with life and goodness.

Sermon 582 : Listening to Him : 2nd Sunday of Lent : 3/4/2012

One of the most unsettling accounts in the Bible, that of Abraham being asked by God to sacrifice his son, ironically shows His goodness and love for us. If we put our faith in God, if we listen to God, if we obey God, we will be rewarded. A few of Jesus' disciples witnessed it with the Transfiguration, and we too can witness it if we trust in God's will for us, if we have faith.

Sermon 583 : Cleansing the Temple : 3rd Sunday of Lent : 3/11/2012

The moral framework of the 10 Commandments are intended to keep us pure of heart, to keep God the center. Jesus' actions in the temple, making a whip out of cords and driving the money changers away, are intended to keep hearts pure, keep God the center. It's a sort of "house cleaning" we need to consider as we let distracting "false gods" enter our hearts, a place that should be devoted to keeping Him the center.

Sermon 584 : Reading the Signs of the Times : 4th Sunday of Lent : 3/18/2012

How do we know what's going on? How do we read the signs of the times? We could do so politically, sociologically, culturally, or economically. But the Bible insists that the world should be read theologically. What precisely is God doing and why? This sermon is about how to do this.

Sermon 585 : Planting the Law Within Us : 5th Sunday of Lent : 3/25/2012

Jeremiah 31 :31 is the great prophecy that the Lord will one day place his law within our hearts. In the Old Testament, God's law was written on stone and often appreciated as an imposition, a burden. But Jesus is the Law incarnate, the Torah made flesh. Therefore, when we eat his body and drink his blood, we take the law into our hearts, and thus we realize the prophecy of Jeremiah.

Sermon 586 : The Return of the King : Palm Sunday : 4/1/2012

Entering Holy Week, we see numerous stirring examples of Jesus' fulfillment of Old Testament prophesies. From the direction he enters Jerusalem to his mode of transport, we find again and again how he is the one intended to reclaim the temple and prove to the world that he is indeed the son of God, chosen to save us through his revolutionary example of love and forgiveness.

Sermon 587 : The Impossibly Good News of Easter : Easter : 4/8/2012

We have heard the proclamation "Jesus is risen" for so long now, that we aren't aware just how strange it was to Christ's contemporaries. Beliefs on what happened after death ranged from the traditional Jewish thought that humans descended into an underworld of gloom and boredom, to the intellectual idea that the soul would escape from the body and dwell elsewhere. But the shock of the disciples, the level of detail in today's Gospel, demonstrate how remarkable this occasion was-Jesus, who they had seen die on the cross, is again flesh and blood. He is risen.

Sermon 588 : Life in the Church : 2nd Sunday of Easter : 4/15/2012

The resurrected Jesus appears to his disciples, fearful they were to be targeted next, to deliver a message of peace with a mission. This is the mission of the Church, to proceed in spreading the news about Christ imbued with the life-affirming, sin-forgiving power of the Holy Spirit. It's a mission that will connect us to God.

Sermon 589 : Resurrection and the Forgiveness of Sins : 3rd Sunday of Easter : 4/22/2012

St. Peter's impassioned sermon in the temple precincts condemned the people for killing the "author of life", but further explains that Jesus' resurrection means that he is forgiving the people for their sin. His return heralds his rescuing us, if we let him. We are inseparable from God's love, and will be forgiven for our sins.

Sermon 590 : The Shepherd's Voice : 4th Sunday of Easter : 4/29/2012

Jesus identifies himself with the figure prophesied long before by Ezekiel, the one who would definitively gather the scattered tribes of Israel. The good shepherd is the one who brings Israel together so that it might fulfill its mission of gathering the other nations of the world to the praise of Yahweh.

Sermon 591 : The Vine and the Branches : 5th Sunday of Easter : 5/6/2012

The image of the vine and the branches indicates that our relationship with Christ is greater than that of merely a teacher to his students. Instead, we are related to him on all levels of our existence because Christ is the eternal Logos through whom all things are made.

Sermon 592 : Love Both Conditional and Unconditional : 6th Sunday of Easter : 5/13/2012

We are often mistaken in thinking that we have to love God in order for God to love us. That's not the case. God doesn't need our love; his love for us is unconditional. But in order to get more out of God's love, we have to give it away. The more we give, the more we have - "a delightful stream of grace" that spreads joy among us.

Sermon 593 : Seated at the Right Hand of the Father : The Ascension of the Lord : 5/20/2012

Jesus was the meeting of heaven and earth. His Ascension returned him to God in order to reign as the world's new king, and his orders to the disciples to build his church were to be done with his leadership and assistance. And this is our mission - much like that of the disciples - finding what it is t

Sermon 594 : Living the Flesh, Living the Spirit : Pentecost : 5/27/2012

St. Paul illuminates what it means to live in the Holy Spirit, acting and living out of love, and what it means to live outside of it, acting and living out of selfishness, hatred, immorality and impurity. Every step we take to deny the forces outside of the Spirit affirms our home inside of it. And the more we live inside the Spirit, the closer we are to the Kingdom of God.

Sermon 595 : Life Lived in the Spirit : Trinity Sunday : 6/3/2012

The Holy Spirit thrives on the actions we take and decisions we make out of love, joy, peace, patience and more. These aren't abstract ideas that result in an internal satisfaction, they have concrete ramifications, rippling out into the world and affecting real, good change. When we choose light over darkness, participate in the sacraments, the Holy Spirit fill us.

Sermon 596 : The New Temple : Feast of Corpus Christi : 6/10/2012

To truly understand the significance of the Mass, we must understand the importance of blood sacrifice to Judaism in Jesus' time. On Yom Kippur, the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies and sacrifice a goat, upon which he would symbolically place the sins of the people, and a sheep. The blood would then be sprinkled around the sacred space and over the people. Jesus offering his body and blood at the Last Supper was a deliberate extension-fulfillment-of this offering. He was the sacrificial lamb, the scapegoat, upon which the temple is rebuilt-upon which reconciliation is offered.

Sermon 597 : Walking By Faith and Not By Sight : 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/17/2012

Sometimes God does things we can't understand. This is where our need to walk by faith and not by sight comes in play. We trust in God's purpose, and his purpose often manifests itself in the least likely of sources-the mustard seed, for example. A young man on a cross, dying alone and mocked, was the mustard seed out of which a global religion, one billion strong, grew. This is the story of so many other influential Christians, such as Francis of Assisi, Charles Lwanga and Mother Teresa. They could have been easily overlooked, forgotten, ignored, but instead they sprouted into among the most revered in our history. This is a lesson of not giving up. It's a lesson of walking by faith, and not by sight.

Sermon 598 : He Must Increase; and I Must Decrease : 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/24/2012

John the Baptist is one of the most important figures in Christianity, and provides a window into the tradition of the Jewish priesthood and the historical context of the day. John chose the river Jordan to baptize, a conscious move to display the forgiveness of sins against the backdrop of the Jewish history of Exodus and liberation. Yet while he was baptizing in the desert, likely an exercise in protest of the corruption in the Temple in Jerusalem, he was heralding the coming of Christ, one who will "baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

Sermon 599 : Faith and the Law : 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/1/2012

The Book of Leviticus outlines laws, practices and directives of things, people and animals that are unclean and shouldn't be touched. But Jesus decisively touches the unclean, allows himself to be touched, and sets about a new course for those who follow him. The new laws ask followers to believe in him, trust in him, and become a part of his community.

Sermon 600 : A Thorn in the Flesh : Why We Suffer : 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/8/2012

Saint Paul conveys a unique and powerful perspective on suffering. What he called a "thorn in the flesh," was a suffering so great that it burdened him, prompted him to beg God for relief. But it is in this sort of suffering that we most acutely understand God's love. When all falls away, we have him, we cling to him and we are saved. And when we bear suffering leveled by others and offer it to Christ, we absorb it, we take it out of circulation, and ease the burden for others.

Sermon 601 : The Twelve and the New Israel : 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/15/2012

This week, Mark relays the story of Jesus giving the Twelve Apostles their "marching orders," the instructions on how they would go out and spread the word to the world. Notably, he tells them to go "two by two," laying the foundation for the communal nature of the Church. They are to bring nothing but the simple tools to keep them moving forward, and they are be resolute in fighting the demons of the world-injustice, corruption and dysfunction. These were as much instructions for the Apostles as they are instructions for us to fulfill the mission of the Church today.

Sermon 602 : A New Shepherd; A New Kingdom : 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/22/2012

We should never seek our final security in the things that worldly rulers and kings can provide. It is only through the shepherding of Christ that we find our way to good pasture.

Sermon 603 : The Mystery of the Mass : 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/29/2012

The sixth chapter of John's Gospel, from which we will be reading these next several weeks, is a sustained meditation on the meaning of the Mass and the Eucharist. Our passage for today, when read symbolically, illumines the major movements of the Mass.

Sermon 604 : Bread of Life : 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/2/2012 {447}

Again, the Church's Gospel is taken from the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John. The principle concern of this Gospel is to provide testimony to the enduring presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This presence is foreshadowed in the mysterious "showbread' of the ancient temple of Israel. The promise that is symbolized in the "showbread" is fulfilled in the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, the Church partakes of the its own "showbread", though no longer merely a symbol, it is the "Bread of Life" - the life and presence of Christ.

Sermon 605 : The Bread of Life, The Body of Christ : 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/12/2012

Today's readings are from First Kings and the sixth chapter of John's Gospel. Our passage for this weekend discusses the Eucharist as the necessary antidote for spiritual exhaustion. We all need the Body of Christ to nourish our souls and keep us in communion with God.

Sermon 606 : The Word of God Made Flesh : 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/19/2012

Today's Gospel comes again from the sixth chapter of John. Here Christ discusses the necessity and reality of the Eucharist as the Word of God made Flesh.

Sermon 607 : Really, Truly and Substantially Present : 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/26/2012

The Lord Jesus is not speaking metaphorically about eating his flesh and drinking his blood - he has come to make of his own Body and Blood real food and drink. This revelation was and continues to be a stumbling block for many, but the faithful accept the mystery of the gift of Christ's Real Presence that is given to the Church in the Blessed Sacrament.

Sermon 608 : The Dilemma of the Law : 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/2/2012

One of the great tensions in the spiritual life is between loving the law and being free of the law. I argue in this homily that learning to swing a golf club is a very good analogy in this regard. Listen and find out why.

Sermon 609 : The Deafness of Secular Man : 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/9/2012

The healing of the deaf mute indicates not only a display of Christ's divine power to heal, but provides an image of how ideological secularism dulls our spiritual senses and inhibits our capacity to receive God's life and presence. Faith in Christ empowers us to become sensitive to the life and presence of God as he makes himself known in our lives and in the world.

Sermon 610 : Faith Perfected by Love : 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/16/2012

Today's second reading from the letter of James discusses the relationship between faith and love. We need a strong faith, but faith without love is lifeless so we must respond to grace and faith with acts of love.

Sermon 611 : Envy and Ambition : 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/23/2012

The danger of jealousy and envy is that it is as much damaging to others as it is to ourselves. When we are envious, or even ambitious for the purpose of outdoing others, it knocks us off our center and we lose our orientation toward Christ. To his disciples, Jesus presented the model of a child - one who thrives under authority, strives for obedience, and lives in the present. Envy lives in the past and the future, but God's grace is available now.

Sermon 612 : Would that Everyone Could be a Prophet : 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/30/2012 {455}

Our first reading from the Book of Numbers and the Gospel reading from Mark both highlight a very interesting spiritual predicament, one that is presented numerous times throughout the Bible. It might be summed up as the inclination for members of the Church to subvert the mission of the Church because of their own ego driven desires and pre-occupations.

Sermon 613 : Sexuality, Love and Marriage : 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/7/2012

This week's readings offer a reflection on human sexuality, love and marriage. These readings show us that sexuality is a good, joyful thing when it is ordered towards, and transfigured by, love.

Sermon 614 : The Rich Young Man and the Hunger for Eternal Life : 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/14/2012

In today's Gospel we hear the story of the rich young man who desires eternal life. We all have a hunger for God and goodness. Jesus teaches us that, in order to attain friendship with God we must be disciplined and must give up the things that keep us from satisfying our desire for God.

Sermon 615 : True Ambition : The Desire to be with Christ in His Glory : 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/21/2012

In today's Gospel, the apostles James and John ask Jesus to be given positions of glory in Christ's kingdom. Jesus reminds us that His moment of glory is His death on the Cross, and that if we want to partake in this glory we must commit to a self-sacrificing love, not a self aggrandizing ambition.

Sermon 616 : Seeing the World Anew : 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/28/2012

This Sunday's Gospel presents the extraordinary story of Christ's healing Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus is blind. Christ gives him not only the ability to see the world, but to see the world anew through the revelation of his Grace. The Christian way of life is best described as a new way of seeing and it is through this vision, illuminated by the light of Christ, that we are invited to know and see the world as God in Christ intends.

Sermon 617 : Hear, O Israel : 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/4/2012

Our first reading for Mass this week contains the most sacred prayer in the Jewish tradition, the "Sh'ma". In the Gospel, when asked which commandment is the greatest, Jesus, a pious Jew, recites this prayer from the book of Deuteronomy. Listen as I explicate this central and decisive statement of Biblical faith.

Sermon 618 : A Tale of Two Widows : 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/11/2012

Today's scriptures highlight two widows and two very important biblical principles : God reveals himself precisely at that moment of our greatest vulnerability and need, and that the grace in your life will increase in the measure that you give it away.

Sermon 619 : The Good News of the Apocalypse : 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/18/2012

Today's readings deal with the end of time and the great cosmic battle. In the Gospels, Christ fights against the powers of darkness, defeats them through the Resurrection, and brings His people together.

Sermon 620 : True Kingship : Christ the King : 11/25/2012

At the end of the liturgical year, we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. But Christ's kingship is different from any with which we're familiar - his kingdom "does not belong to this world." His kingship doesn't demand violence, but truth. Following him brings us closer to God's grace.

Sermon 621 : Look to the Son of Man : 1st Sunday of Advent : 12/2/2012

At the start of this new liturgical year, we hear Luke's account of Jesus speaking about the end to all we believe to be permanent - the earth, the sky and order will all be disrupted. This isn't meant to scare us, but to remind us of what is permanent, on what we can depend. Jesus is the link to this stability and truth, and in this realization we may find unending peace.

Sermon 622 : Be Ready! : 2nd Sunday of Advent : 12/9/2012

The prophecy of Baruch finds its fulfillment in the revelation of Christ, who brings the troubled history of God's people to its fulfillment and reveals God's eternal purpose for Jerusalem, the Temple, the Messiah and for Israel itself.

Sermon 623 : The Message of John : 3rd Sunday of Advent : 12/16/2012

John the Baptist insists that preparation for the coming of the Messiah entails moral transformation. When the Messiah comes, all will face his judgment, but oddly enough, this judgment will be good news.

Sermon 624 : A New Ark for a New Covenant : 4th Sunday of Advent : 12/23/2012

The greatest and most revered of Israel's kings was David. It is from the family of David that the Messiah would come into the world and to the surprise of Israel and of the world, the Messiah who is born from the House of David, is the God of Israel himself! Mary, the Mother of God, is therefore to be likened to a new Ark of the Covenant, for in her womb, the God of Israel dwells and makes himself not only Israel's Messiah, but in wonder of the Incarnation, he becomes for us a new and everlasting covenant.

Sermon 625 : What Makes a Family Holy : Feast of the Holy Family : 12/30/2012

Today the Church calls our attention to not simply the importance of family life, but the necessity that our families be holy. Holiness is discovered in the realization that our lives are not about ourselves, but are meant as a gift for others. The families that embody this radical gift of self to each other imitate the Holy Family of Christ.

Sermon 626 : Religion, Science and the Journey of the Magi : Feast of the Epiphany : 1/6/2013

The story of the Magi illuminates important dynamics in the relationship of religious conviction and scientific investigation. There need not be any necessary conflict between the religion and science, as wise men of every age are drawn, not only to investigate the wonders of creation, but to draw closer to Christ, through whom all things have been made.

Sermon 627 : Vitae Spiritualis Ianua : Baptism of the Lord : 1/13/2013

The first Sacrament one can receive in the Church, Baptism, defines our relationship with Christ. In it, we are reborn as part of his mystical body, and are gifted the grace of God's love. Baptism lays the foundation for every other Sacrament we are to receive, and inextricably links us with the Trinity.

Sermon 628 : The Wedding Banquet That Overflows With Wine : 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 1/20/2013

Please click the play button above to listen now. We begin Ordinary Time with the wedding at Cana, a rich, spiritual story with great implications for the Church. Both weddings and wine are consistently used symbols in scripture, and each is utilized to a powerful degree to explain the Incarnation, grace, the Sacraments, and the fulfillment of God's love for us.

Sermon 629 : Walls and Bridges : 3rd Ordinary Time : 1/27/2013

This week's reading from the book of Nehemiah provides a reflection on the importance of keeping firm our religious identity and finding strength in our religious identity so we can go out into the world with confidence and grace. By keeping our strength in God we can go out into the world and Christify it.

Sermon 630 : The Primacy of Love : 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/3/2013

This week we hear from St. Paul's brilliant meditation on Love. Everything in religion and theology revolves around Love. It is at the heart of everything. Nothing matters without Love, because God is Love. Putting Love at the center is the best way to organize and prioritize our entire lives.

Sermon 631 : Duc In Altum! : 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 2/10/2013

This week's reading from the Gospel of Luke shows us that our encounter with Christ is an invasion of grace and that we must be ready to welcome that grace and go out into the depths, and ascend to the heights, at its calling.

Sermon 632 : Three Questions from the Desert : 1st Sunday of Lent : 2/17/2013

Lent is a time of paring down - a time spent in the desert, if you will - as exemplified by Jesus' 40 days of fasting in these arid, barren lands. He was tempted three times by Satan, and rejected each attempt, giving glory to God at every turn. This is the lesson for us, that we make God the center of our lives and not test him. We are here to do his will, which is clarified through our own Lenten sacrifices.

Sermon 633 : The More : 2nd Sunday of Lent : 2/24/2013

There are moments in life when we sense that there is something more real, important and enduring than anything we normally experience. The story of the Transfiguration is a moment when The More breaks through. In these moments we feel God's presence strongly, and we must be awake when these breakthroughs happen.

Sermon 634 : A Tale of Two Trees : 3rd Sunday of Lent : 3/3/2013

Today's scriptures present stories of two trees : the burning bush, that represents the reality of a soul that is receptive to God's presence, and the fig tree, which represents God's presence resisted and refused.

Sermon 635 : The Prodigal Son : 4th Sunday of Lent : 3/10/2013

In this week's Gospel reading we hear the story of the Prodigal Son. Here, Christ provides a reflection on the nature of love and our relationship with God. God gives us gifts; we must receive them and give them back. Only when we accept grace freely and give it away will we live in a proper relationship with God.

Sermon 636 : Every Saint Had a Past Every Sinner Has a Future : 5th Sunday of Lent : 3/17/2013

. This week's scriptures present the hope of moving forward. All of us have sins and vices in our past. Christ offers us the possibility for forgiveness and a bright future in grace no matter how sinful our pasts are.

Sermon 637 : Which King? Whose Kingdom? : Palm Sunday : 3/24/2013

Today the Church proclaims the Passion of Christ. The story of the Lord's suffering and death haunted the minds of the first Christians. All the Gospels center around it and find their fulfillment in it. The special emphasis in this years account, taken from the Gospel of Luke, is Christ's struggle with the false kingdoms of the world.

Sermon 638 : The Impossibly Good News of Easter : Easter Sunday : 3/31/2013

The Church's Easter proclamation is the strangest message ever delivered : Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. His resurrection is not merely a symbolic statement about Christ's historical importance or the affirmation that his cause goes on. Nor is the resurrection simply about some change in the the apostle's minds in regards to Christ after his death. The resurrection is about the real body of Jesus.

Sermon 639 : My Lord and My God : 2nd Sunday of Easter : 4/7/2013

Despite the locked doors, the risen Jesus stands in the midst of the disciples. This is a beautiful icon of the Church, the community gathered around Jesus and filled with his spirit. When the Lord, first appears, Thomas is not there and hence does not believe. Only when he returns to the apostolic circle does he encounter Jesus and make his great confession. This detail reminds us that we see the risen Lord only in the church and through its mediation.

Sermon 640 : Fishers of Men : 3rd Sunday of Easter : 4/14/2013

Today's reading from the Gospel of John offers a compelling meditation about the importance of Christ for the activities of the Church. Christians are meant to be fishers of men, but when we operate according to our own agendas and efforts we will catch nothing. We must act under the Lord's direction. If we follow Christ we will do great good indeed.

Sermon 641 : Victory and Struggle : 4th Sunday of Easter : 4/21/2013

This week's readings are about the struggle for grace. Although Christ has already won the definitive battle for salvation, the struggle continues to this very day. Faithful Christians deal with all sorts of difficulties in their effort to follow Christ's footsteps, including the possibility of martyrdom, and we must overcome these obstacles every day.

Sermon 642 : The Great Story Comes To Its Climax : 5th Sunday of Easter : 4/28/2013

As we come to the end of the Easter season, we read from the end of the book of Revelation. Here John sees the great ending of the great story : a new heaven and a new earth that are made possible by the resurrection of Christ and his commandment to his people to "love one another."

Sermon 643 : No Temple in the New Jerusalem : 6th Sunday of Easter : 5/5/2013

In this week's reading from the Book of Revelation the narrator describes the arrival of the Holy City of the New Jerusalem. The visionary sees a great city and notes that there is no temple because the whole city has become a temple, a place of right praise. God created the whole world to shine in the divine light, and the visionary sees the fulfillment of this hope.

Sermon 644 : Participation in God's Way of Being : Ascension of the Lord : 5/12/2013

Fr. Barron clarifies the Church's belief in Christ's Ascension as heralding our elevation into God's way of being. Rather than forgetting about the world, this eschatological hope properly orientates us to the concerns of the world.

Sermon 645 : Pentecost and Sinai : Pentecost Sunday : 5/19/2013

This week is the great feast of Pentecost. Christ rules his Church from Heaven by sending his Spirit into the Church all over the world. We participate in the reign of Christ whenever we act in accordance with the Spirit.

Sermon 646 : God Has Spoken : Trinity Sunday : 5/26/2013

Karl Barth said, "The central claim of Christianity is that God has spoken." The uniqueness of this claim has lead Christians to refer to God as a Trinity. The Trinity denotes God as speaker, the Word spoken (i.e. Christ) and the interpreter of the Word (i.e. Holy Spirit). It is always better to have the author interpret his word for you when reading his works. This is how the Church understands the Holy Spirit in helping her understand God's Word.

Sermon 647 : The Gift of the Eucharist : Corpus Christi : 6/2/2013

The Church comes from the Eucharist for it is the sacrifice that makes saints. The Eucharist is essentially the fullest act of gratitude prefigured in Melchizedek finding its fulfillment in the sacrifice of Christ. Every Mass is a participation in and celebration of this sacrifice, but the feast of Corpus Christi is a time to be especially aware of the gift of the Eucharist.

Sermon 648 : Making Something From Nothing : 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/9/2013

This week's readings are for the people who feel that they have no hope. Even in the darkest of times, God can create something from nothing and can bring grace back into our lives. In the first reading, the prophet Elijah brings the old widow's son back from the dead; in the Gospel, Christ does the same thing; and in St. Paul's letter, he recounts his conversion from a fierce persecutor of Christianity to its great advocate. In every case God made something from nothing and injected grace back into someone's life, and He can always do the same for us if we are open to Him.

Sermon 649 : The Sin of David : 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/16/2013

Today's first reading describes the sin of David with Bathsheba, David's attempts to cover up his crime, and the subsequent punishment for his sin. Even God's chosen king fell into terrible sin. Each person must always be on their guard against temptation for although God offers grace, it is not cheap grace.

Sermon 650 : Zechariah's Story : 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/23/2013

Our first reading for this Sunday is from the fascinating book of the prophet Zechariah. Zechariah wrote when the Israelites were returning to Jerusalem from the Babylonian exile to find their city and temple in ruins. Zechariah writes a message of hope predicting the redeemer, Jesus, who will gather in the scattered tribes to the temple to praise God. We are a part of the great crowd that God has gathered from the ends of the earth.

Sermon 651 : Elisha and the Path of True Freedom : 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 6/30/2013

The first reading this week from the first book of Kings introduces us to the prophets Elijah and Elisha. These two Old Testament figures are fine examples of believers who made the most important conversion we are all called to make : the shift from self-centeredness to God-centeredness. Elisha, at the prompting of Elijah, gives up his whole life to the service of God. Although not everyone is called to such a radical move, we are all called to make God the center of our lives.

Sermon 652 : Boasting in the Cross : 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/7/2013

St. Paul tells us in our second reading that he boasts in the cross of Jesus. To any of his hearers in the first century this would have sounded like madness. Paul can boast in this shameful thing precisely because God has raised Jesus from death and thereby placed the world-the realm of hatred, violence, and division-under judgment. Now we must have the courage to leave the world and enter into the new creation which is the body of Christ.

Sermon 653 : Hearing the Voice of God : 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/14/2013

During the 20th century, moral relativism was in vogue in elite cultural circles, but now it is the dominant moral outlook of the broader culture. Against this, C.S. Lewis argued for "the universality and inescapability of the moral law." Although there are subtle moral differences between cultures, if we look close enough, we can discern fundamental moral agreements. The Catholic tradition says that this moral bedrock is a reflection of the Eternal Law in the mind of God. It is the voice of God within us. Listen to that voice.

Sermon 654 : Martha, Mary and the Attitude of Discipleship : 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/21/2013

Although the little story of Martha and Mary has been interpreted throughout the centuries as a parable dealing with the "active" and "contemplative" approach to the spiritual life, it can be read as Christ's invitation to all people to partake in his inner circle of discipleship. Christ overturned the social conventions of his time by summoning all people to discipleship. Thus, we must remove all barriers to discipleship for all people.

Sermon 655 : Kingdom Prayer : 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 7/28/2013

How central is the Lord's Prayer to Christianity! Basically this prayer is about ordering ourselves to God and letting his way of being order all levels of our lives. But we must not think that we will easily orientate ourselves to God. There are powerful forces that resist this, and we must not be naive about them. The Lord's Prayer is the itinerary for our spiritual journey.

Sermon 656 : The Great Yes and The Great No : 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/4/2013

Very often we find ourselves drawn towards extremes : puritanism or hedonism, idolizing the world or demonizing the world. The proper Catholic balance involves a balance - a yes and a no - to both extremes. We should enjoy the world we have been given while understanding that it is not as important as the God who gave it.

Sermon 657 : Faith and the Reasoning of the Religious Mind : 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/11/2013

God cannot be analyzed scientifically the way one would study the things of the world, but God can be approached through religious reasoning, or Faith. Faith is often criticized as unintelligent tomfoolery. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Catholic tradition reveals that Faith is a rational reaction to God in the religious person. It is the reasoning of the religious mind.

Sermon 658 : I Have Come to Cast a Fire Upon the Earth : 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/18/2013

Jesus' words from our Gospel this week inspired the name for my program, Word on Fire. Jesus speaks of the divine judgment that will fall like a cleansing fire on the earth. This is not opposed to God's love, but is rather what God's love looks like to a fallen world.

Sermon 659 : The Narrow Gate : 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 8/25/2013

To gain eternal life is to participate to the fullest degree possible in the very life of God. It is to walk the path of love, surrendering to grace and allowing this grace to flow through you to the wider world. Is this an easy task? No. The Gospel of Luke reminds us that the gate is narrow precisely because it is in the very shape of Jesus Himself, and entrance through the gate involves conformity to his state of being. The path of love is traveled by taking up one's cross every day.

Sermon 660 : Humility The Queen of the Virtues : 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/1/2013

This week's readings focus on the importance of humility. Humility is the foundation for the whole of spirituality. In order to truly pursue truth and goodness, it is necessary to let go of the ego and realize that everything we have and are is a gift from God.

Sermon 661 : The Awful Gospel of the Cross : 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/8/2013

This week's Gospel contains one of the greatest challenges Jesus ever offered to his disciples : "If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." Here Christ is emphasizing the great spiritual principle of detachment. In order to live healthy spiritual lives we must love Christ most of all, with everything else finding its meaning in relation to God.

Sermon 662 : Logic of Justice; Logic of Grace : 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/15/2013

The God Jesus describes does not operate according to the same logic we do. In fact, He seems to be crazy. If God is supposed to be like the Shepherd who abandons the ninety-nine to find the lost one and the woman who diligently searches her whole house for a penny, then he must be crazy. But that is not so. God operates according to the logic of grace, defying our logic of justice. Being a Christian is learning how to operate according to God's logic.

Sermon 663 : A Warning Bell in the Night : 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/22/2013

Most of us spur into action when we believe that our financial state is in dire straits. Why don't we act in the same way in regards to our spiritual state? Today people need the same spiritual concern that people had in the past. They need to want to establish a relationship with God, that which is of paramount importance. So wake up, and place God at the center of your life!

Sermon 664 : Rich Man, Poor Man : 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 9/29/2013

Most of us find the homeless to be unnerving and annoying, telling ourselves not to give them money because they might use it for drinks or drugs. But think of the story of Lazarus and the rich man, and did they have different fates! Lazarus was carried to Abraham's bosom and the rich man to the nether world, where he was tormented. The torment for the rich man began by locking himself in his narrow ego, going against his calling to give. As Catholic social teaching remind us, we cannot remain indifferent to the poor. They must always be taken into consideration or else we go to hell.

Sermon 665 : The Just Shall Live By Faith : 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/6/2013

In this week's reading the prophet Habbakuk questions the ways of God, quite understandably. The evils throughout the world can be discouraging, but even though wickedness can seem unjustifiable and suffering can seem utterly meaningless God is in charge and is working His purpose out. The right response to suffering and evil is faith.

Sermon 666 : Humility and the Healing Power of God : 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/13/2013

This week's reading from 2 Kings 5 contains some wonderful lessons on humility and obedience. We all suffer from some pestilence, whether it be physical, spiritual, or emotional, and we all seek healing. We need to find the humility to accept God's cure for our spiritual ailments, just like the general Naaman does when Elisha orders him to wash in the river Jordan to cure his leprosy.

Sermon 667 : The Hard Texts of the Old Testament : 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/20/2013

The Old Testament is full of violent accounts that seem contradictory to the idea of the merciful, compassionate God of the New Testament : Joshua exterminates the tribes living in the Promised land, Samuel hacks the helpless Agag to pieces, and God orders Saul to kill every living thing when he conquers the Amelikites, to name but a few. The key to interpreting these texts is the figure of Christ as the sacrificed lamb in the Book of Revelations. If we keep Christ in mind then we will know that we have misread the Bible if we read it in such a way that it encourages violence or hatred.

Sermon 668 : Finding Justification : 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 10/27/2013

Religion serves a unitive purpose. In uniting the person to God, religion unites people together. However, many religious people forget religion's purpose. They like to puff up their egos, reveling in their ability to live according to the Law. Seeing themselves as better than the rest, they forget that grace only comes to those who realize they are sinners. The tax collector, realizing he is a sinful man, does not focus on himself, but focuses his gaze and hunger on God - the source of salvation. Justification comes to those who do likewise.

Sermon 669 : The Love of Predilection : 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/3/2013

In Luke's Gospel we read the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus, as chief tax collector, was considered a very bad man in first century Israel, but Christ greets him with love. It is the love of God that causes everything to be, and comes before everything we do. God does not love us because we do good; we do good because God loves us.

Sermon 670 : The Resurrection of the Body : 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/10/2013

This week's reading from second Maccabees and Luke's gospel are wonderful meditations on the resurrection of the body. In second Maccabees seven brothers are executed for refusing to violate their religious laws, but they express hope and faith that they will get their bodies back in a glorified state after death. In the gospel Christ upholds the hope for a glorified redemption and resurrection of the body.

Sermon 671 : Apocalypse and the Resurrection : 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : 11/17/2013

As the liturgical year comes towards its end the Church considers apocalyptic Scriptures. This week's Gospel from Luke reveal the full significance of the Resurrection. The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead was a world changing event that altered everything in the human experience from religion to politics to nature.

Sermon 672 : March in the Army of the True King : Christ the King : 11/24/2013

It is extraordinarily significant that the liturgical year ends with the feast of Christ the King. The fact that Christ is the King is the culmination of the whole story the Bible tells from Genesis to Revelation.

Sermon 673 : The Mountain of the Lord : 1st Sunday of Advent : 12/1/2013

This week we enter into the great season of Advent. Our first reading from the prophet Isaiah describes how every nation streams towards God's holy mountain. As you enter the Advent season, think about this holy mountain. Is the mountain of the Lord higher than every other mountain for you? Do you stream toward it with your whole being?

Sermon 674 : Eden, The Mountain, the One Who Baptizes with Fire : 2nd Sunday of Advent : 12/8/2013

This week's readings take us to chapter 11 of the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah looks back to the garden of Eden and the world in right alignment with God, and then looks forward to the Messiah who will set right what has gone wrong in God's world. Sin interrupts right order, justice, and goodness. The righteous king will restore justice when he rules on his holy mountain.

Sermon 675 : The Virtue of Hope : 3rd Sunday of Advent : 12/15/2013

Hope is not a worldly optimism. In fact, from a purely natural perspective, pessimism towards worldly things is the right attitude. Hope is that supernatural virtue which orders our desire toward heaven and the things of heaven. What Isaiah talks about in our first reading is not an expectation that will be realized here below, but only in a transfigured world on high.

Sermon 676 : The Slave of Christ : 4th Sunday of Advent : 12/22/2013

This week's second reading is the beginning of st. Paul's letter to the Romans. Paul identifies himself as the slave of Jesus. His has given his entire life and will over to Christ. He exists to serve the purposes of Christ, and reminds us that we all share in that mission.

Sermon 677 : Herod and Joseph : Feast of the Holy Family : 12/29/2013

It seems as if those in worldly power rule the day. King Herod tyrannically ruled his territory, making sure he was always the most powerful. Any apparent threat to his power was quickly squashed. Herod represents all who assert themselves over and against others. He seeks the death of the other. Joseph represents those who support the other and do not see him as a threat. When one bases one's self in God, other people are not threats but brothers and sisters. Christianity will always be foolish to those who aspire to power.

Sermon 678 : Herod and the Magi : Feast of the Epiphany : 1/5/2014

Herod views the world from the confines of his ego and tries to make the world conform to his plans. The Magi look outside of themselves by looking for an order that they can conform to. By focusing their attention away from themselves they are spiritually liberated to follow the star of Bethlehem. This is the liberation that Christ grants us. He allows us to escape the jail cell of our egos to join the liberating current of his love and leads us closer to eternal life.

Sermon 679 : Priest, Prophet, and King : The Baptism of the Lord : 1/12/2014

All the baptized participate in Christ. Since Christ is the fulfillment of the priest, prophet, and king that means that all the baptized are those as well. Although this statement may seem odd since we do not naturally think of ourselves this way, we must become more conscious of what it means to be grafted onto Christ. Our baptism grafts us onto the Body of Christ, making us all share in His Person. If his Person is priest, prophet, and king, then so are we.

Sermon 680 : Isaiah and Paul : 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time : 1/19/2014

This week's readings reveal Isaiah and Paul as missionaries, as evangelists. Isaiah's mission is to unite the people of Israel, and then spread the same light the the rest of the world. Paul recognizes that Christ is the fulfillment of Isaiah's mission and offers himself as a servant of that fulfillment.

Sermon 681 : Land of Zebulon, Land of Naphtali : 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time : 1/26/2014

This week's reading from the prophet Isaiah emphasizes God's tendency to bring the best from the worst situations, light from the darkness. Throughout the Bible we see wonderful things come from the most unexpected places, and this is reflected in our own lives as well. Very often our greatest goodness can come from the darkest places of our beings.

Sermon 682 : The Presentation of the Lord : Feast of the Presentation : 2/2/2014

This week we celebrate the feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple. In ancient Israel the Temple was the most important place in the world. It was the dwelling place of the Lord; it was where divinity and humanity embraced. But the nation of Israel had gone away from right worship of God. The Christ child is the divine and human in one and thus brings humanity back on line with God.

Sermon 683 : Salt, Light, and a City Set on a Hill : 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time : 2/9/2014

At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus compares his disciples to salt, light, and a city set on a hill. All these things exist not for themselves, but for something else. In the same way, Christians are meant to make the world a better place. Christians are meant to be salt, light, and a city on a hill.

Sermon 684 : Extreme Demand, Extreme Mercy : 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time : 2/16/2014

In this week's Gospel, Jesus intensifies the moral law and raises the bar higher than it ever had been. Christ's goal, and the Church's goal, is to make saints. His moral demands are great, but so is his mercy. He always offers grace and forgiveness when we falter so that we can always have hope in our stuggles for sanctity.

Sermon 685 : Be Perfect : 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time : 2/23/2014

This week's Gospel includes Christ's call to "be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." God demands that we go past the limits of human endeavors and strive for perfection in the moral life. It is easy? Of course not. That is why God provides grace to us.

Sermon 686 : Seek Ye First : 8th Sunday of Ordinary Time : 3/2/2014

"Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and the rest will be given to you." Make God the center of your life, and you will be spiritually ordered in Christ's image. If you make wealth and security your center, you will be empty. You make the choice : will God be your center?

Sermon 687 : What Is The Matter With Us? : 1st Sunday of Lent : 3/9/2014

The first reading for this week is the section of Genesis which describes the creation of humans and their fall from grace. The readings in the first week of Lent remind us to revisit the spiritual fundamentals. The story of the Fall reminds us to let what belongs to God remain with God and not to set ourselves up in opposition to God.

Sermon 688 : Christ's Metamorphosis : 2nd Sunday of Lent : 3/16/2014

The story of the Transfiguration has beguiled artists, poets, spiritual masters, and the faithful for centuries. The meaning of this extraordinary revelation is in the haunting details the Gospel presents.

Sermon 689 : One Who Is Greater Than Our Father Jacob... : 3rd Sunday of Lent : 3/23/2014

The story of Christ's encounter with the Samaritan woman is a template by which we can understand our own encounter with the Lord.

Sermon 690 : Coming To See : 4th Sunday of Lent : 3/30/2014

This week's Gospel from John tells us the story of the man born blind. Jesus offers the blind man healing and the man accepts Jesus and is conformed to him.

Sermon 691 : Treating Death As A Trifle : 5th Sunday of Lent : 4/6/2014

This week's Gospel tells the story of Lazarus and how Jesus raised him from the dead. In this story we learn that sin is a kind of death, and that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Through Jesus, death is not the end.

Sermon 692 : The Passion of the Christ : Palm Sunday : 4/13/2014

Matthew shows us that, as Jesus resolutely does his Father's will, myriad forms of human dysfunction - betrayal, sloth, stupidity, violence, scapegoating, corruption - break out around him. This is the salvation story : God's compassionate embrace of sinners.

Sermon 693 : The Great Hope of Easter : Easter Sunday : 4/20/2014

Easter Sunday represents God's great yes to humanity. Throughout history, humanity has turned its back on God, but the Lord has constantly sent rescue operations to bring us back into community with him. The resurrection of Christ is the definitive rescue operation and is our great hope for salvation.

Sermon 694 : The Risen Christ in the Midst of His Church : 2nd Sunday of Easter : 4/27/2014

Jesus has come to bring us the divine life. Under his influence we become peaceful, unafraid, evangelizing, and forgiving. Through the Church, saints are made because Christ is at the very center of the Church.

Sermon 695 : The Road to Emmaus : 3rd Sunday of Easter : 4/30/2014

Like the two disciples walking towards Emmaus, a symbol of worldly power and security, and away from Jerusalem, the center of sacrifice, we need to be stopped in our tracks. Christ appears to them, but they do not recognize him. They do not recognize him because they are walking the wrong way. The recognition of the pattern of Christ's life does come until the Eucharistic act which presents the pattern of sacrificial love. Then they immediately go back to Jerusalem, the place of suffering love.

Sermon 696 : The Shepherd's Voice : 4th Sunday of Easter : 5/11/2014

God speaks to us in many ways, especially though the conscience. Since God is a Person, his voice will reach our consciences and lure us to conform our lives to the life of his Son, Jesus Christ. In addition to listening to Christ thought the scriptures, through the teachings of the Church, through the lives of the saints, and through the liturgy, listen to Him speaking to your conscience. He will set you free.

Sermon 697 : Temple Talk : 5th Sunday of Easter : 5/18/2014

This week's readings all have to do with the holy temple in Jerusalem. The temple was the meeting place of divinity and humanity and was the focal point of Jewish life in Israel. We should all be living temples in our own way and bring God to the rest of the world.

Sermon 698 : The Spirit of Truth : 6th Sunday of Easter : 5/25/2014

This Easter season, the Church has asked us to meditate on the Acts of the Apostles. Today Jesus tells us to wait for the coming of the Spirit, which will descend upon them and empower them in their work. It is up to Christians today to continue the work of the apostles and spread the mission of Christ.

Sermon 699 : The Meeting of Heaven and Earth : Ascension Sunday : 6/1/2014

The mysterious and wonderful feast of the Ascension of the Lord which celebrates Christ glorified "at the right hand of the Father". The key to unlocking the marvels of this event is to recover a specifically Biblical understanding of the relationship of heaven and earth.

Sermon 700 : Drink of the Holy Spirit : Pentecost Sunday : 6/8/2014

Everyone thirsts for the divine life. No one is content without it, even proclaimed secularists. Christ has come to give us that life and he calls us to seek it in him. Although no one will be fully satisfied in this life, the more we partake in the person of Christ, the more we will be fulfilled.

Sermon 701 : The God Who is Love : Trinity Sunday : 6/15/2014

God is Trinity. He is fundamentally a relationship: a lover, a beloved and the love between them. In other words, God is a complete openness and receptivity to the other. He is love. Now, we believe we are made in the image of God. Thus, we become fully alive to the degree that we imitate God.

Sermon 702 : Bread in the Desert : Feast of Corpus Christi : 6/22/2014

All of us are on a spiritual journey from sin to salvation. Like the Israelites longing for a return to Egypt, many of us occasionally desire our old addictions, providing the anxious ego with comfort and security. Far from Egypt, the Promised Land is the spiritual space of complete dependence upon God. But the Israelites are not there yet. They need to eat the manna from heaven. For Catholics, this is the Eucharist. It is the means to getting God's divine life within us.