What if?

What if?

Note: this homily is for the parish elementary school Mass using Is 46:6 and Matthew 6:25-33 There are two words that have more power than you imagine. These two words can make you nervous, keep you awake at night, and turn a perfectly good day into a day filled with...
Living the Cross

Living the Cross

Today we remember and celebrate the day that St Francis of Assisi was marked physically by the wounds of the cross in his body in the final years before his death. We call that the stigmata. Francis had a vision of a six-winged fiery seraph angel that transformed into...
All You Need Is Love

All You Need Is Love

In today’s first reading Paul teaches that “all you need is love” but love in a Christian sense.  He closes his reflection on the virtue of love with the statement: “So, faith, hope, love remain…but the greatest is love.”  This hymn is often used as one of the...
Our Lady of Sorrows

Our Lady of Sorrows

The readings today are from the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows which commemorates the Virgin Mary’s suffering during the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Its origins trace back to the 11th–12th centuries, with the Servite Order (founded in 1233) playing a key role in...
A Humble God

A Humble God

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.  The cross proclaims to us Jesus’ humility and sacrifice.  The second reading from Philippians brings out the way of exaltation through humility.  First the hymn proclaims the humility or self-emptying...