Sunday Homilies Weblog

Gospel Homily for 5th Sunday of Easter, Year C

2005-11-24T01:14:00.000-08:00

The Gospel-based homily for this Sunday is entitled The Christian Identity .

The renowned artist Paul Gustave Dore once lost his passport while travelling in Europe. When he came to a border crossing, he explained his predicament to one of the guards. Giving his name to the official, Dore hoped he would be recognized and allowed to pass. The guard, however, said that many people attempted to cross the border by claiming to be persons they were not. Dore insisted that he was the man he claimed to be. "All right," said the official, "we'll give you a test, and if you pass it we'll allow you to go through." Handing him a pencil and a sheet of paper, he told the artist to sketch several peasants standing nearby. Dore did it so quickly and skilfully that the guard was convinced he was indeed who he claimed to be. His action confirmed his identity. ... Read more

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Gospel Homily for Christ the King, Year A

2005-11-07T19:11:00.000-08:00

The Gospel-based homily for this Sunday is entitled True Subjects of the Kingdom .

The Salvation Army does not believe in baptism, in the Eucharist nor in the priesthood. Yet you never hear anybody criticizing them. Why? Because what they do speaks so loudly that no one cares what they believe. They provide soup kitchens for the starving. They clothe the naked on our streets. They rehabilitate those addicted to drug and alcohol. They are there wherever disaster strikes. As far as people are concerned these are the things that count. The Parable of the Last Judgment in today's gospel shows that these are the things that count before God as well. For in the Last Judgement no mention whatsoever is made of people's church beliefs but only of the practical help they gave or did not give to the needy and the disadvantaged of this world. ... Read more .

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Gospel Homily for 32nd Sunday in OrdinaryTime, Year A

2005-11-04T06:38:00.000-08:00

The Gospel-based homily for this Sunday is entitled Lamp Without Oil Is Dead .

Imagine the bridesmaids leaving their homes to go and await the arrival of the bridegroom. The following conversation takes place among them:
"Do you think we need to take some extra oil?"
"Why? The bridegroom will arrive at sunset anyway. That's what the program says."
"But what if he is delayed. Then we shall not have enough oil for the night?"
"C'mon! Why are you so negative? Why do you always complicate things? You want us to carry extra oil that we are not going to use? Why can't you see the bright side of things?"
"Yes, but you never know! Me, I am taking extra oil, just in case..."

We know the rest of the story. The bridegroom is delayed and the bridesmaids who took extra oil prove to be the wise ones. Wisdom here has little to do with personal intelligence or IQ. Wisdom is a choice -- a choice to do all it takes to prepare for the worst while hoping for the best. The foolish ones only hope for the best and do not prepare for the worst possibility. ... Read more .

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Gospel Homily for 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

2005-10-27T09:34:00.000-07:00

The Gospel-based homily for this Sunday is entitled In Christ, All Brothers and Sisters .

A group of African missionaries were sent to work in a diocese in Zambia. On arrival they discovered that almost all the missionaries in the diocese were Americans. The American missionaries called the bishop, who was African, by his first name. The newly arrived African missionaries thought that this was inappropriate and decided to change it. They taught the people to call the bishop “My Lord.” This was new to the people but they were ready to learn. One day a woman came to see the bishop and the person she met was one of the American priests. She asked him, “Where is Our Lord?” to which the priestly gleefully replied, “Our Lord is in the tabernacle.” ... Read more .

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Gospel Homily for 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

2005-09-30T18:26:00.000-07:00

The Gospel-based homily for this Sunday is entitled Giving God His Due .

Two brothers went treat-or-tricking and collected some eggs. The elder said to his younger brother, “I will give you one dollar if you let me break three eggs on your head.” The little boy knew it was going to be a painful experience, but because he needed the dollar he agreed. The bigger boy then went on to break an egg on his brother’s head. His brother took it with an “Ouch!” Then he broke the second egg on his little brother’s head. This time it really hurt and his little brother cried out in pain. But the young lad was determined to get his dollar. So he braced himself for the third and last egg, but his senior brother walked away laughing. “Come on, bring on the third egg,” said the little boy. “Nope!” said the bigger brother, “I don’t wanna lose my dollar.” ... Read more .

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Epistle Homily for 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

2005-09-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

The Epistle-based homily for this Sunday is entitled Why Worry When You Can Pray? .

The story is told of one of Napoleon’s generals, Massena, who with his army of 18,000 soldiers besieged an Austrian town that had no defences whatsoever. The town council met to discuss how to surrender. Just then an elderly man, the dean of the town church, reminded the council that it was Easter and suggested that they hold the usual Easter services and put the problem in God’s hands. The council took his advice, went to the church and rang the church bell to assemble the townsfolk for worship. Napoleon’s forces heard the joyful ringing of the bells and concluded that the Austrian forces had arrived to rescue the town. Immediately, they broke camp and beat a retreat, and the town was saved. ... Read more .

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Gospel Homily for 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

2005-08-24T09:05:00.000-07:00

The Gospel-based homily for this Sunday is entitled No Cross, No Crown .

A nun was explaining the Stations of the Cross to her class. They got to the fourth Station were Jesus on the road to Calvary meets his mother. The nun explained that even though they could not talk to each other, mother and son spoke just using their eyes. “What do you think they said to each other?” she asked the pupils. The class gave many different answers. One kid suggested that she said, “This is unfair.” Another kid suggested that she said, “Why me?” Finally a sickly little girl raised her thin hand, got up and said: “Sister, I know what the Blessed Mother told Jesus. She said to him, ‘Keep on going, Jesus!’” Why would a mother encourage her only son on the way to crucifixion to keep on going? Because the mother understands the Christian principle of “no cross, no crown.” ... Read more .

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Epistle Homily for 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

2005-08-24T09:01:00.000-07:00

The Epistle-based homily for this Sunday is entitled Offering Living Sacrifice in Spiritual Worship .

A story is told of the Medieval Italian poet Dante Alighieri. One day during a church service, Dante was deeply immersed in meditation and failed to kneel at the proper time. His enemies hurried to the bishop and demanded that Dante be punished for his sacrilege. Dante defended himself by saying, “If those who accuse me had had their eyes and minds on God, as I had, they too would have failed to notice events around them, and they most certainly would not have noticed what I was doing.” Dante is right. True worship of God is not simply a matter of performing certain actions at certain times. It is first and foremost, a matter of the heart. ... Read more .

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Gospel Homily for 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

2005-08-16T20:09:00.000-07:00

The Gospel-based homily for this Sunday is entitled Building the Church of Christ .

John XXIII was pope during the turbulent 1960s when it seemed that everything was falling apart. The priesthood was in crisis, religious life was in crisis, marriage was in crisis, faith was in crisis, the church was in crisis. The pope worked long and hard hours trying to address these problems. One evening, after an exhausting day in the office, he went to his private chapel to do his daily Holy Hour before retiring but he was too exhausted and too stressed out to focus or pray. After a few minutes of futile effort, he got up and said, “Lord, the church belongs to you. I am going to bed.” Difficulties might have driven the Pope to acknowledge that the church belongs to Christ. But Jesus himself said it 2000 years ago: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18)." ... Read more .

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Epistle Homily for 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

2005-08-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

The Epistle-based homily for this Sunday is entitled How Inscrutable Are God’s Ways .

St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica is one of the most important theological books ever written. For many centuries it remained for Catholics the beginning and end of theology. What many people do not know is that St Thomas did not complete that work. You see, Thomas was a theologian as well as a mystic. Toward the end of his life, Thomas had a mystical experience in which he was granted a glimpse of the divine glory. In comparison with what he saw, he felt that what he wrote about God in the Summa was thrash. His theological treatise was such a poor representation of the mystery of God that Thomas wanted to burn the book. Fortunately, his brother friars prevented him from doing so. ... Read more .

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Gospel Homily for the Assumption of Mary

2005-08-12T07:50:00.000-07:00

The Gospel-based homily for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Sunday is entitled The Gospel of Jesus and Mary .

There is an old story about a workman on a scaffolding high above the nave of a cathedral who looked down and saw a woman praying before a statue of Mary. As a joke, the workman whispered, "Woman, this is Jesus." The woman ignored him. The workman whispered again, more loudly: "Woman, this is Jesus." Again, the woman ignored him. Finally, he said aloud, "Woman, don't you hear me? This is Jesus." At this point the woman looked up at the crucifix and said, "Be still now, Jesus, I'm talking to your mother." Why do Catholics treasure Marian devotions and doctrines that their non-Catholic brothers and sisters do not? It is because, I think, the Catholic Church is trying to tell the full story, to proclaim the full gospel. ... Read more .

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Epistle Homily for 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

2005-08-12T07:47:00.000-07:00

The Epistle-based homily for this Sunday is entitled God's Love Is Irrevocable .

According to a Jewish story, Rabbi Joshua ben Hanania once went to Athens to dispute with the Greek philosophers. There they asked him many questions and he was able to answered them all. One of the questions they asked him was: "Where is the centre of the earth?" Rabbi Joshua pointed with his forefinger to a spot on the ground where he stood and said, "Here." They said to him, "How do we know that you are right?" He answered, "Bring your measuring rods, and measure it for yourselves." ... Read more .

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Gospel Homily for 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

2005-08-12T07:39:00.000-07:00

The Gospel-based homily for this Sunday is entitled The Faith of the Canaanite Woman .

Mahatma Gandhi in his autobiography tells how, during his student days, he read the Gospels and saw in the teachings of Jesus the answer to the major problem facing the people of India, the caste system. Seriously considering to embrace the Christian faith, Gandhi attended church one Sunday morning intending to talk to the minister about the idea. On entering the church, however, the usher refused to give him a seat and told him to go and worship with his own people. Gandhi left the church and never returned. “If Christians have caste differences also,” he said, “I might as well remain a Hindu.” ... Read more .

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Gospel Homily for 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

2005-08-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

The Gospel-based homily for this Sunday is entitled Walking on the Sea .

Visitors to the Holy Land like to take a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee, the sea on which Jesus walked. A certain tourist wanted such a ride and the boatman told him the fare was fifty dollars. “Fifty dollars!” exclaimed the tourist, “No wonder Jesus walked!” A proper understanding of the gospel story of Jesus walking on the sea has a lot to teach us about who Jesus is, but also about the church in its journey through the world, and about the life of faith of the individual believer. ... Read more .

Click on 'Comments' below to share your thoughts on the homily or to read what others have to say about it. Shalom!"

Gospel Homily for 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

2005-07-25T14:01:00.000-07:00

The Gospel-based homily for this Sunday is entitled Our Five Loaves and Two Fish . It is a reflection on the Miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand, and underlines the need for us to contribute our own two cents in order for God's miracles in our lives and in our world to be realized. Click on 'Comments' below to share your thoughts on the homily or to read what others have to say about it. Shalom!"

Gospel Homily for 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

2005-07-15T09:39:00.000-07:00

The Gospel-based homily for this Sunday is entitled Let Both of Them Grow Together. It is a reflection on the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds in which Jesus taught that this is a world of siants and sinners but that only God Himself knows who is who. Click on 'Comments' below to share your thoughts on the homily or to read what others have to say about it. Shalom!"

Gospel Homily for 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

2005-07-08T08:25:00.000-07:00

The Gospel-based homily for this Sunday is entitled Hearing and Understanding God's Word. It is a reflection on the Parable of the Sower in which Jesus compared the different hearers of the word of God to seed that is sown on four different soil. Click on 'Comments' below to share your thoughts on the homily or to read what others have to say about it. Shalom!"

Gospel Homily for 13th Sunday of in Ordinary Time

2005-06-23T07:21:00.000-07:00

The Gospel-based homily for this Sunday is entitled Giving and Receiving Love. It is a reflection on Jesus' teaching to his disciples in Matthew 10:39: “Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” Click on 'Comments' below to share your thoughts on the homily or to read what others have to say about it. Shalom!"

Homily for Birth of John the Baptist

2005-06-23T07:14:00.000-07:00

The Gospel-based homily for the Solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist is entitled Our God-Given Names. It is a reflection on the specicial calling of John and that of every child of God. Click on 'Comments' below to share your thoughts on the homily or to read what others have to say about it. Shalom!"

Gospel Homily for Father's Day

2005-06-16T09:01:00.000-07:00

The Gospel-based homily for Father's Day is entitled Who Needs Fathers These Days?. It is a reflection on Christian vocation of being a father. Click on 'Comments' below to share your thoughts on the homily or to read what others have to say about it. Shalom!"

Gospel Homily for 12th Sunday of in Ordinary Time

2005-06-16T08:56:00.000-07:00

The Gospel-based homily for this Sunday is entitled Looking Unto Jesus. It is a reflection on Jesus' instruction to his disciple's not to be afraid. Click on 'Comments' below to share your thoughts on the homily or to read what others have to say about it. Shalom!"

Gospel Homily for 9th Sunday of in Ordinary Time

2005-05-25T22:49:00.000-07:00

The Gospel-based homily for this Sunday is entitled Counterfeit Spiritualities. It is a reflection on that all-important statement of Jesus, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Matt 7:21). Click on 'Comments' below to share your thoughts on the homily or to read what others have to say about it. Shalom!"

Gospel Homily for Corpus Christi

2005-05-25T22:34:00.000-07:00

The homily for the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) is entitled We Become What We Eat. It is a reflection on the importance of the Holy Eucharist in our Christian endeavour to become other Christs. Click on "Comments" below to share your thoughts on the homily or to read what others have to say about it. Shalom!

Homily for Mothers Day

2005-05-04T07:02:00.000-07:00

The homily for Mothers Day or Mothering Sunday is entitled Mothers Are Preachers . It is a reflection on the crucial role of mothers in the Christian family. Click on "Comments" below to share your thoughts on the homily or to read what others have to say about it. Shalom!

Gospel Homily for 7th Sunday of Easter

2005-05-04T06:54:00.000-07:00

The Gospel-based homily for this Sunday is entitled This Is Eternal Life. It is a reflection on that important statement of Jesus "And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (John 17:3). Click on "Comments" below to share your thoughts on the homily or to read what others have to say about it. Shalom!

Homily for Ascension of the Lord

2005-05-04T06:46:00.000-07:00

The Gospel-based homily for the Ascension is entitled Making Disciples of all Nations. It is a reflection on the final mandate or the great commission which gave to his disciples before his final departure from them. Click on "Comments" below to share your thoughts on the homily or to read what others have to say about it. Shalom!

Epistle Homily for 6th Sunday of Easter

2005-04-28T05:52:00.000-07:00

The Epistle-based homily for this Sunday is entitled Accounting for the Hope in Us. It is a reflection on the challenge given us in the second reading, "Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you" (1 Peter 3:15). Click on "Comments" below to share your thoughts on the homily or to read what others have to say about it. Shalom!

Gospel Homily for 6th Sunday of Easter

2005-04-28T05:42:00.000-07:00

The Gospel-based homily for this Sunday is entitled The Paraclete: Our Divine Coach. It is a reflection on Jesus' promise to send his disciples another "paracletos" which can be variously rendered in English as helper, comforter, consoler, counsellor or advocate. Click on "Comments" below to share your thoughts on the homily or to read what others have to say about it. Shalom!

Gospel Homily for 5th Sunday of Easter

2005-04-20T07:09:00.000-07:00

Our Gospel-based homily for this Sunday is entitled "Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled". It can easily be modified for a community where people are "troubled" over the elevation of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI. Click on "Comments" below to share your thoughts on the homily or to read what others have to say about it. Shalom!

Homilies for 4th Sunday of Easter, Year A

2005-04-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

Upcoming Sunday is Good Shepherd Sunday or World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Our Gospel-based homily, simply entitled The Good Shepherd develops the theme. Click on "Comments" below to share your thoughts on the homily or to read what others have to say about it. Shalom!

Homilies for 3rd Sunday of Easter, Year A

2005-04-05T22:28:00.000-07:00

Two homilies have been posted this week, one on the gospel, titled "Meeting Jesus in the Stranger" and another on the epistle, titled "Our Time of Exile." If you have any insight on either homily, that you think will be of help to those who read or preach this homilies, please feel free to share them here. You may also ask a question and anyone in the group can help answer it. Shalom!