Videos from selected homilists; Transcript excerpts from Fr. Hawkswell, Fr. Fleming, Fr. Chama, Msgr. Pellegrino, Fr. Sigma, Fr. Kavanaugh’s homilies; Bishop Barron podcasts; Life Issues; Doctrinal Homily Outlines
Rev. Richard Mullins (Pastor, St. Thomas Apostle ParishI) preaching homily for 13th Sunday in Ordinary time on July 1, 2018 in the Crypt Church at the Basilica of the National Shrine in Washington DC.
June 27, 2021 | July 1, 2018 | June 28, 2015 | June 28, 2009
B.C. CATHOLIC | 2021
“God did not make death,” says this Sunday’s First Reading. He “created man for incorruption.” In the Gospel Reading, Jesus actually reverses death.
Only God has everlasting life by nature. However, “just as the Father possesses life in himself, so he has granted it to the Son to have life in himself,” Jesus said. The Son is begotten, not made; he has the nature of his Father.
In contrast, we are made by God, not begotten. We do not have God’s nature. However, from the beginning, says the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “man was destined to be fully ‘divinized’ by God in glory.” That is, God planned to make man divine, like himself: to give man his own nature.
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA | 2018
One of the most ideal times to go sightseeing in a temperate country would be during Autumn. You would not just be confronted with the white snow-covered branches of the trees in winter or the various hues of green in spring and summer. The highlight of Autumn, a thing of great beauty, is to see the magnificent changing colours of the foliage. It is as if God Himself took His palette of gorgeous colours to paint His entire creation anew. But let’s not overlook the obvious. As the colours come alive, the reality is that nature is going dormant, even dying, and paradoxically, nature does not get any more beautiful than at the moment of its dying. This cycle of nature is foreshadowing our own deaths. Nature serves as an important reminder which funerals occasionally do, that “all things passes, only God remains.” (St Teresa of Avila)
Nobody has ever discovered a means to avoid death despite advances in computer-chip implant technology and blueberry super antioxidant nutrition. Even those in perfect health must recognise that their health can fail in a heartbeat. The best we can hope for is to somewhat extend our lives. But the blunt and painful truth is that we will all die, and the uncertainties surrounding how we will die, are disquieting. Death may be a perfect muse for poetry but when it hits too close to home, there is really nothing poetic about it. The prospect of death can haunt us like a bad dream. This is because the certainty of death brings with it another inevitability. We will be separated forever from the things of this world and death will seal our fate for eternity. The obituary section of newspapers awaits us all. So it is important for our peace of soul to consider these facts in more detail.
A CONCORD PASTOR COMMENTS | 2015
Today we get a gospel “twofer”– two healing stories for the price of one, one inserted in the other. In the first story, Jairus, the synagogue official, doesn’t hesitate to step forward and in front of a large crowd to plead that Jesus come to his house to heal his daughter who is critically ill. As that same crowd follows Jesus to Jairus’ house, the woman suffering from hemorrhages quietly, anonymously, comes up behind Jesus and touches his cloak, praying softly that she be healed.
I suspect that gathered in this church right now are many folks, like the synagogue official, unafraid to approach Jesus to ask for some healing and quick to invite family and friends to join in that prayer as well.
And there are others here, too, I’m sure, who desire some healing but who aren’t sure how to ask or how to pray for it,
who aren’t sure if the Lord hears or listens to their prayers. Like the woman in the crowd, these folks might slip into church here hoping to get close enough to Jesus to somehow touch him and even if they don’t know the words to pray,
to let him know they need his help.
DIOCESE OF ST. PETERSBURG | 2021
Fear destroys our capacity for faith. When we have faith, we know that no matter what the outcome of a situation may be in this world, there is infinitely more to life than what our eyes see. There will be a better outcome than we could ever imagine. If we have faith, we know that if a situation does not work out, we will still be a better person for having been in that situation. The old hack that it is better to love and lose than never to love is true. People enter into marriage, or in my case become priests, or women become sisters, because they have faith that God is leading them in a direction which will only turn out positive in the long run no matter what the immediate result is. I spent 14 years in a religious congregation. Priesthood was always right for me, but I was not a good fit for the religious congregation. Still, I am a better priest because of those 14 years and because of that congregation, the Salesians of St. John Bosco. I was blessed by not being afraid to join the Salesians, and then blessed by not being afraid to take a step from the secure life they gave me. My story is no different than the story of anyone who refuses to give in to fear. St John of the Cross wrote something that every husband here and every wife here and every one of us must have the courage to live in our lives. St John of the Cross wrote, “I went without discerning to that for which my heart was yearning.” We must have faith in God to guide us and not be slaves to fear.
God Did Not Make Death (2018)
The Results of Sin (2015)
The Compassionate Lord (2012)
Some Deep Thoughts About Death (2009)
Some Deep Thoughts About Death (2006) – PDF
BUILDING ON THE WORD | 2006
A woman had heard that one of her favorite TV personalities was making a rare personal appearance at her neighborhood mall and she was determined to see him. But when she arrived at the mall, she realized that several hundred other people had a similar idea. There was no place to park. For twenty minutes she drove her car around the mall looking for a place without success. Finally, in desperation, she raised her eyes to heaven and said: “Lord, help me. If you provide a parking space for me, I promise I will put $300 in the collection next Sunday. When she turned into the next row, there, miraculously, was an empty space. She raised her eyes to heaven again and said: “Never mind, I found one.”
When we are desperate, we turn to the Lord. But it is clear that for most of us we would rather handle things ourselves. When we have no other options, when we have painted ourselves into a corner, when we are at our wits end, we cry out to the Lord to help us. But when things are running smoothly, when our finances and our relationships are healthy and productive, we congratulate ourselves on how our earnest efforts and wise decisions have led to our success.
Adjusting the Plan (2012)
Re-Thinking What is Necessary (2015)
THE REASON FOR OUR HOPE | 2018
The Gosple talks about healing and life. And how this is what God wants to do. He gives us healing and life. Now sometimes people sit there and think of God as just wanting us to suffer. You know I once had a, one of my spiritual directees, he says “Father, I don’t suffer enough. I’m going to pray that I suffer more.” I said “don’t you dare. I forbid you to pray that you get more suffering in your life.” Well he disobeyed me, of course, and God got him. He might‘a had hangnail or something and he cried for three weeks. You know we think that we need more suffering in our life. If you think you need more suffering, come up here, I’ll hit ya. Ya got it? I’ll give ya some suffering. That’ll be as simple as it is. Don’t ever pray for suffering! Pray for healing and life. Now suffering will come to all of us, it’s part of love. Love of God and love of neighbor. If you give your life away, you’re gonna suffer. But it’s a joyful suffering. We don’t go and have this suffering that keeps us focused on ourselves.
SUNDAY WEB SITE | 1997
St. Paul’s message of grace is about Mev Puleo. I first met her when she was a college student—vivacious, intelligent, and wonderfully on fire. There was a splendor to her joy. Energy sparked her writings, her talk, her photographic genius. Later, in the hope that others might see her work, I proposed a book called Faces of Poverty, Faces of Christ—my words, her pictures worth a thousand words.
This was only a small part of her labors. Mev was a theologian, like her husband, Mark Chmiel, at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California, and her photography graced journals and newspapers. She attended to the poor, especially of Central and South America. She revealed their faces. She recorded their voices.
But then it was Mev who is poor. She who was rich, as St. Paul writes, “in every respect, in faith and discourse, in knowledge, in total concern,” was powerless before the threat of death. Her brain hosted an incurable malignancy allowing only a 40 percent chance of living three short years. The poor then has to speak for her.
GOD DID NOT MAKE DEATHby Bishop Robert Barron . July 1, 2018 .
The Book of Wisdom offers us the strange assertion that God did not make death, for he formed humanity to be imperishable. This revelation directs us towards the truth that death is much more than merely the dissolution of the body; it 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.
FAITH AND THE LAWby Bishop Robert Barron . July 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.
THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS AND THE BOOK OF LEVITICUSby Bishop Robert Barron . July 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.
Friends, in today’s Gospel, we hear the marvelous story of the healing of blind Bartimaeus—an icon of tremendous power and a sacred picture of the spiritual life and the process of salvation. We all find ourselves, in our need of Christ, in this image, as our own blindness distorts our vision of spiritual reality and the meaning of life.
The themes of salvation and faith are intertwined in the two inter-related miracles. Jairus believed that at Jesus’ touch his daughter would be “made well” and the woman was convinced that touching the garments of Jesus would “make her well.”
The Bible tells us that true Christians are easily recognized. They are the generous ones, the ones who support their neighbor, no matter what the nationality of their neighbor may be. And Jesus tells us that we have to decide: are we or are we not true Christians?
At the risk of being misunderstood, a believer in Jesus cannot be anything else but one who does something to ease suffering. It is an essential part of his life in obedience to and in friendship with Jesus.
The Lord Jesus touches us through our brothers and sisters. He touches us through the sacraments and He touches us in a deeply personal way by sending us the Holy Spirit to sustain us on our earthly journey.
There is the amusing story of a man who was suffering from a disease of the legs so that he could not walk. Some relatives insisted on his being treated by a doctor. Other relatives wanted the local “herbolario” or medicine man. To keep the peace, the man decided that the doctor treat one leg and the indigenous healer treat the other leg. What leg got healed first is your end of the story.
The only lectionary translation approved for Mass in the United States; also used in Catholic dioceses of the Philippines.
This lectionary translation is used for Mass in dioceses for the majority of the English-speaking world outside the U.S. and Canada.
The Revised Common Lectionary NRSV translation is used in Christian worship. Text provided by Vanderbilt Divinity School.
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