Second Sunday of Advent Homily
THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT 4 December 2016 Homily People try to sell me a lot of things. Several years ago a man called to sell me a new kind of snow melt. “It’s cheaper,” he said, “and it won’t make a mess in your buildings and ruin your carpets.” I’ve always been a little leery of those kinds of phone calls, but the man somehow knew how to pronounce my name, that got him a hearing. In the end I agreed to buy a couple of pails of the stuff. He said, “Ordinarily, I can only sell these in four pail lots, but for you I’ll make a special deal since you’re a new customer wanting to be careful...
Read MoreFirst Sunday of Advent Homily
ADVENT I 27 November 2016 Homily What was the best Christmas present you ever received? I’m always tempted to go back to my childhood when I think of the best Christmas present. Christmas was so magical then. Christmas meant that your wishes were fulfilled–you actually got presents you wanted– besides the underwear and socks you need. And Christmas meant that there were wonderful surprises. I received presents I never expected, didn’t even know existed. One such Christmas I received a set of army trucks. As I began to open the multiple boxes I didn’t quite understand...
Read MoreChrist the King Homily
FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING 20 November 2016 Homily A story: After a few years of suffering, oppression, and persecution, the Jewish people designated a man named Jacob to go to heaven and speak to the Almighty about their plight. So Jacob journeyed up to heaven and found himself face to face with God. “Excuse me, O Holy One, but the Jewish people on earth have sent me up here to ask you a question,” Jacob began. “Ask away,” said God. “Well, Holy One,” Jacob asked, “Is it really true that the Jews are the chosen people?” “Yes,” God replied, “the Jews are the chosen people.” Jacob paused,...
Read MoreThirty-First Sunday of the Year
THIRTY FIRST SUNDAY OF THE YEAR 30 October 2016 Homily Gabe Huck who used to work for Cardinal Bernadin in Chicago wrote that he had been struck while visiting a church in California by what was written on the front of the altar. He said, “We’re used to seeing familiar texts on the fronts of altars like ‘Take and eat,’ or ‘Do this in memory of me.’” In the church he was visiting there was no familiar quotation. He said, “This altar had the words, ‘This fellow eats and drinks with sinners,’ on it. The words come from Chapter 15 of Luke’s gospel which we read earlier this year. The words are...
Read MoreThirtieth Sunday of the Year Homily
THIRTIETH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR 23 October 2016 When you were a kid, who didn’t you want to be like? I didn’t want to be like the only other George in Hatley–for lots of reasons. And, I didn’t want to be like some of the crabby pastors we had at St. Florians. They were never as kind and friendly as I thought they should be. The hard lesson of old age is that not wanting to be like someone else, doesn’t mean you won’t be. Actually, I think we single out people we don’t want to be like because we are very often afraid we already are like them. Everyone here would like to think we are not like the...
Read MoreTwenty-Ninth Sunday of the Year Homily
TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR 16 October 2016 C.H. Dodd, a biblical scholar, once said: “The distance traveled from the slaughter of one’s enemies in the name of God, to Jesus’ teaching to love one’s enemies is a measure of how far the Christian journey should take us.” Wouldn’t you think, from the time of Moses in the desert lifting up his arms and Joshua mowing down Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword, to this Christian era, we should have somehow advanced beyond the sword. We should have taken the words of Jesus to heart as a civilization. There should be no more war...
Read MoreTwenty-Eighth Sunday of the Year Homily
TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR 9 October 2016 Homily As is so often the case, it’s the tiniest things that are said or left unsaid in the gospels that sometimes gives us a clue to the depth of the message. Ten lepers ask Jesus for healing. They are sent away by Jesus and as they are on their way to the priests–what happens? They are “cleansed.” And then, one of them turns around, and goes back to Jesus. He gives thanks. He’s the hero. Now that’s a nice story. It reminds us to be grateful right? But there is more. We’re told, in the quietest of ways, what makes the man grateful. Did you...
Read MoreTwenty Seventh Sunday of the Year Homily
TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR 2 October 2016 Homily As a child we always had chores. As a bigger child, I was warned that someday–sooner rather than later–I’d have to get a job. When I was in sixth grade, my parents told me that coming summer I’d be shipped off to my uncle’s farm to work. After two summers of hell on the farm–for lots of reasons– I decided I’d find my own job the next summer. I lucked out though and got a job helping a carpenter build houses. Now, I really didn’t know diddle at that stage in my life about those things. I had to learn all those types of things the...
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