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Homily, 9-8-24; 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Ephphatha!—Be opened! Be open; have eyes to see and ears to hear. We hear this theme often in the gospels. Being open to the Word of God is very important, but it is only the first step; we must share the knowledge we obtain with others. We hear… Continue reading Ephphatha!

Homily, 8-26-24; Monday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time: Today we hear about two different struggling congregations. We have the Jewish community suffering under the teachings of the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees. And we have the Thessalonians suffering persecution for following the teachings of Paul and Silvanus and Timothy. Both are suffering, but they… Continue reading Being a Catholic is a Struggle

Homily, 8-18-24; 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time: At the offertory at this Mass, Fr. Hurley will bless the bread, the hosts, and then bless the wine that I will have mixed with water. Then, during the Eucharistic Prayer, he will call down the Holy Spirit upon the gifts on the altar in preparation for the… Continue reading Understanding is a Gift

Homily, 8-12-24; Monday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time: In his book, Rome Sweet Home, Scott Hahn discusses his struggle with accepting the doctrine of Purgatory during his conversion process to Catholicism. But finally he was able to come to grips with the differences between the destructive power of fire in Hell, the purifying… Continue reading Evidence of God’s Existence

Homily, 8-5-24; Monday of the 18th Week of Ordinary Time: In our first reading today, we heard about the prophet Jeremiah and the prophet Hananiah. Jeremiah was a true prophet. Hananiah was a false prophet. People didn’t want to hear what Jeremiah had to say; they preferred listening to Hananiah’s message. God speaks through whom… Continue reading False Prophets

Homily, 7-29-24: Monday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time: Each year, Michigan State holds a viticulture field day at their experimental vineyard in Benton Harbor. At the field day they give tips on growing and caring for grapes. We heard about it last year and made the drive out to attend for the first… Continue reading Tighty Whitey

Homily, 7-28-24; Sunday of the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B: The large crowd that had followed Jesus up the mountain did so “because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.” They were chasing after miracles, not searching for the truth. St. John Chrysostom comments: “Though favored with [His] teaching, they… Continue reading Miracle Chasers

Homily, 7-15-24; Memorial of St. Bonaventure: Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Bonaventure, and so I asked Mary Kay to read the optional readings for his feast day. She had the challenge of reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians. It was a challenge because today’s passage was one long run-on… Continue reading Live Rightly to Discern God’s Will

Homily 7-8-24; Monday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time: The Pharisees were filled with pride. They also had a lot of strict rules to follow with regard to cleanliness. Coming in contact with a woman who was bleeding or touching a corpse, made one ritually unclean. In today’s gospel passage, Jesus disregards both of… Continue reading Faith in Jesus, not our Actions

Homily, 7-1-24; Monday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time: Our reading from the Prophet Amos begins: “Thus says the LORD: For three crimes of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke my word.” Previous to our passage, Amos uses the same language to say that God has condemned six of Israel’s enemy nations… Continue reading For Three Crimes, and for Four