09/26/21 Holding On: Patient and Ruthless

Homily from the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

What if the biggest obstacle to being the person you were created to be is the person you are currently choosing to be?

There are things that we need to stop holding on to if we are going to allow Christ to change our lives. Often, we know exactly what those things are. The things that our hands reach for, our eyes look at, and our feet lead us to can the exact things that are keeping us from God.

Mass Readings from September 26, 2021:
Numbers 11:25-29
Psalms 19:8, 10, 12-14
James 5:1-6
Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

09/19/21 Desperate

Homily from the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Edit, Convince, and Worry. Or Honesty, Trust, and Thanking God ahead of time.

"The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation." We do not merely desire, we have inordinate desire driven by fear. We do not merely have ambition, we have selfish ambition in which we can only envision one possible outcome. To escape this trap, we must lean into honesty, trust and thanking God ahead of time.

Mass Readings from September 19, 2021:
Wisdom 2:12, 17-20
Psalms 54:3-6 and 8
James 3:16—4:3
Mark 9:30-37

09/12/21 Not Mine

Homily from the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Faith must be lived, not merely believed.

It is wise to take responsibility for one’s own time, resources, and family. And yet, we must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. This demands faith. Real faith is more than belief, but involves renunciation of any claim we might have on our lives in favor of the absolute claim Jesus has on every aspect of our lives.

Mass Readings from September 12, 2021:
Isaiah 50:5-9
Psalm 116:1-6, 8-9
James 2:14-18
Mark 8:27-35

09/05/21 Seen. Known. Loved.

Homily from the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Transition always involves destruction.

Jesus heals the man who was deaf and mute. In doing this, He was destroying something in the man’s life…his identity. Jesus has to take away the false identity in order to tell us who we truly are.

Mass Readings from September 5, 2021:
Isaiah 35:4-7
Psalm 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10
James 2:1-5
Mark 7:31-37