Friday, October 30, 2015

October 30 - Homily for Today

Today Jesus asks the Pharisees a point-blank, heart-piercing question: “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” And then followed a very significant and self-condemnatory silence.

The Pharisees have a bad conscience – they knew that they had a ludicrous preoccupation with the letter of the Judaic law while having at the same time a total disdain of the spirit of that law. The spirit would allow for healing especially on the Sabbath day – the Day of Worship of the God of Providence, Mercy and Compassion.

The Pharisees realize that their hypocritical behavior cannot be justified and this is what keeps them silent.

A very clear lesson for us that shines through this lesson is that saintliness is to follow Christ – wholeheartedly and completely – doing what he would do - and not coldly fulfilling some legal prescriptions of “religion.” The Commandments are holy because they come from God’s Wisdom, but it is quite possible to live them in a legalistic and empty way, and it is then that the inconsistency appears of pretending to follow God and ending up by betraying our very consciences, our very selves.

Let us the simple, humble ways of the Mother of God direct our lives – and make them full and vibrant, rather that false and empty.


Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?

Thursday, October 29, 2015

October 29 - Homily for Today

Jesus laments today the fact that the majority of Jerusalem is not taking seriously the message that he has brought to them of salvation and redemption that is centered in him. Historically, their lives had not been so successful under Roman leadership, and their religious leaders proved to be ineffectual in leading them to right conclusions. And so, Jesus wants so much to gather together the true children of his Father, like a hen does a brood under her wings – but they would not.

We must note in this gospel passage that the reference to the Pharisees here warning Jesus to leave the area because Herod wants to kill him, is the only positive reference to them in the New Testament. Jesus’ response was to tell them and Herod that he must do what he must do, not be deterred, and according to his own time-frame: Herod has no real power over him at all.

We read in the first reading today from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans that we have an opportunity each and every day, in fact each and every hour of the day to be gathered into the heart of Christ. He yearns to have us safely there, so that he can protect, nourish and strengthen us. And so nothing then should be able to separate us from that indomitable loving relationship: not death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth nor any creature at all.

May we rejoice in the reality of spiritual dynamics, and God’s initiative to gather us unto himself, both now and forever!


Save me, O Lord, in your mercy!

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

October 28 - Homily for Today

We celebrate the feast of two apostles today: Simon and Jude. Simon was called the Cananean, and the Zealot because of his zeal for the Jewish law, but was neither from Cana nor a member of the Zealot Party. Like all the apostles he was a convert, he being trained by St. Peter, the Apostle. He evangelized at least in Egypt and Mesopotamia, if not other places. He was a martyr for the faith but there are differences of opinion as to where that actually took place.

Jude was son of Cleophas, a cousin of Mary who stood with her at the foot of the Cross of Christ, and who anointed Christ’s body after his death. He is the brother of St. James the Lesser. Being a cousin of Jesus, Jude was reported to have looked a lot like him. He may have been a fisherman before he was called to be an apostle. Jude wrote the canonical Epistle named for him. He preached in Syria, Mesopotamia and Persia with St Simon. He was a healer and an exorcist. He could exorcise pagan idols, which caused the demons to flee and the statues to crumble. His patronage of lost or impossible causes traditionally derives from confusion by many early Christians between Jude and the traitor Judas Iscariot; not understanding the difference between the names, they never prayed for Jude’s help, and devotion to him became something of a “lost cause.”

It is important for us to remember that the very existence of our faith and our religion today stands firmly on the faith and faithfulness of the twelve chosen by Jesus and their unfailing commitment to remain close friends of his, doing what he asked them to do, evangelically, especially in the face of certain death. We too are called to live our lives and give our lives as intimate friends of Christ – for the spiritual and even physical welfare of others. Strengthened by this Eucharistic meal – as were Simon and Jude – may we be willing to bring the gospel message to everyone we meet today, one way or another!


Tuesday, October 27, 2015

October 27 - Homily for Today

Jesus came to us to do three things: to tell us about where he came from, to make it possible for us to go there and to remain with us even after, in one sense, he had to leave us. And so we have Jesus teaching about the Kingdom of heaven, we have Jesus’ astounding act of friendship and reconciliation by death on a Cross, and the amazing gift of his Eucharistic Presence which we can participate in each and every day by going to Mass and receiving Holy Communion. We can also appreciate and take advantage of that same Eucharistic Presence as it is prolonged by reservation of the sacrament in the tabernacle: we can go to a church or a chapel and spend a few minutes thinking about this Kingdom and our place in it, the great sacrifice of Christ which made it possible, and the very wondrous gift of sustaining, nurturing Eucharistic food.

While we wait for what is to come, St. Paul tells the Romans, we, because of what Christ has done for us, can wait in full hope – knowing that not only we ourselves, but all human beings, and even all of nature and creation are “groaning in labor pains” as we await fullness of adoption and redemption!

Not only the Kingdom of God, but also the Church is now like a large bush that is capable of sheltering and providing support for all people on earth; and not only the Kingdom of God, but the Church also is meant to be as yeast permeating all of society with grounded and sure joy and hope and peace – until the Kingdom in all its fullness arises and is shared in by everyone forever! O Most Blessed Kingdom! O Most Blessed and Favored Church! Be our focus and our mainstay in life!

Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.


Monday, October 26, 2015

October 26 - Homily for Today

Our readings today encourage us to live the life of faith first, and then life in the body! While these two “lives” – of spirit and body – are related of course – the predominating one, for the “child of God” as St. Paul tells the Romans – needs to be the “life in the Spirit,” the Holy Spirit – the life of faith. Sometimes this is an easy thing to do: when the Spirit fills us with consolations and good feelings – our bodies are light and airy – and we feel that we can truly do all things to cooperate in our own salvation and to encourage the salvation of others;

        but when the body weighs us down – either by illness, or disease or conditions acquired – then the spirit is tested and it is at that point that we must act as the woman in the gospel passage today did: we must look to Jesus, trust in him, and hope for his healing touch to come to us. And if our faith is strong – our belief in the divinity of Jesus – then he will reward us with health of mind, body and spirit – though in his way and time – not always instantaneously. To remove all of our illnesses and aches and pains may not be good for us – the free wheel can sometimes roll off the beaten track – but to make them manageable and allow us to focus less on ourselves and more on others – is the real goal of Jesus’ time-delayed healings!

And so today, may we pray for ourselves and for our loved ones, but be satisfied and happy that the results will be played out in God’s will and God’s way!


Beloved brothers and sisters, we are children of God, and heirs with Christ – so that if we suffer with him we may also be glorified with him!

Friday, October 23, 2015

October 23 - Homily for Today

Today Jesus is asking us to look up and watch the skies. Sometimes, with the help of highly educated weather-persons, it is easier to interpret what goes on there. We can “read the weather” like a book or a Google-map! But, on the other hand, we find it more difficult to understand the changing times in which we live: “You understand the signs of the earth and the sky, but you don’t understand the present times.” Many listening to Jesus himself could not identify him as the Son of God. They did not know the time, the hour of salvation. It was right there!

The Second Vatican Council Constitution “Gaudium et Spes” (On Joy and Hope) can be applied to today’s Gospel: “In every age, the church carries the responsibility of reading the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel… We must be aware of and understand the aspirations, the yearnings, and the often dramatic features of the world in which we live.”

When we are making history, it is not too difficult to point out the occasions lost by the Church for not having discovered the time in which we are living. But, Lord, what occasions are we perhaps wasting now for not being able to read the signs of the times, and not being able to throw light upon today’s problems with the light shed by the Gospel? Today, Jesus reminds us once more “And why do you knot judge for yourselves what is fit?”

We are not living in a world of wickedness, though there may be plenty of it. But God has not forsaken his world. As St. John of the Cross reminds us, we live in a world, which the very God treaded on and made beautiful. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta saw the signs of the times, and the times have understood Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Let her invigorate us. Let us keep on looking upwards without losing sight of our earth.


“And why do you not judge for yourselves what is fit?”

Thursday, October 22, 2015

October 22 - Homily for Today

Today, the Gospel presents us with Jesus as a person of great ambition. “I have come to bring fire upon the earth and how I wish it were already kindled.” Jesus would like to see the fire of charity and virtue already burning. He also refers, almost in passing, the fact that he has to undergo a baptism, that is, a trial of the Cross, a trial of fire, and He feels great anguish until it is all over. It is only natural, Jesus has plans, and he is in a hurry to see them accomplished. We could say that he has a “Divine Impatience.” We also have ideas and projects, and we would also like to see them fulfilled right away. Time gets in the way. “What anguish I feel until it is over!”

It is the stress of life. It is the anxiety anyone with great projects feels. On the other hand, having no desires is like remaining at a standstill, dead, restrained; it is being sad, embittered, as being one who derives pleasure from reprehending those who actually work. People who are moving and cause others to move, who are progressing and cause others to progress, are ambitious people.

Have great aspirations! Train your goals onward and upward! Seek your personal perfection, that of your family, that of your work, that of your deeds, that of the assignments you receive. The saints have always aspired to the highest goals. They have not been afraid to face efforts and stress. They have moved. Carry on, move too! Remember St. Augustine’s words: “If you say enough you are lost. Go further, keep going. Don’t stay in the same place, don’t go back, don’t go off the road. Who does not move forward, stops; who keeps thinking of the starting point, goes backwards; he who reneges goes off the road. It is better to limp along that way than to stride along some other route.” And he adds: “In wanting to be what you are not yet, you must always be displeased by what you are. For where you are pleased with yourself there you have stopped. Keep adding, keep walking, keep advancing.” Are you advancing or have you stopped?

Implore the help of the Blessed Virgin, to help you, for she is the Mother of Hope – Mary Immaculate!


“I have come to bring fire upon the earth.”

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

October 21 - Homily for Today

Our gospel passage today tells us that each person, is a best, an “administrator.” When we are born, we receive the exact share of genes and capabilities needed to fulfill ourselves in life. And we discover that these capabilities, and our very life, are just a gift from God, insofar as we have not done anything to deserve them. They are the personal, unique and nontransferable gift, which bestows our personality on us. They are the “talents” that Jesus speaks about in another place, and we should make them grow during our life time. Capabilities for our complete self-realization, but with the additional possibility to communicate and share these values with one another.

Jesus ends the first paragraph by saying “For the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.” It is our hope that the Lord Jesus will come at the end of time; but, now and here, Jesus also appears in our lives, in the simplicity and in the complexity of every moment. It is now then, with the Lord’s strength, we can live his Kingdom. St. Augustine reminds us in the words of Psalm 33 “Happy the nation whose God is the Lord, the people chosen as his very own,” so that we can be fully aware of it while belonging to this kinship.

“You must also be ready”, this exhortation implies a call to fidelity and not selfishness. It is our responsibility to know “how to react” to the goods we have received with our life. “Knowing his master’s will”, is what we identify as our “conscience”, and it is what makes us responsible for our actions. It is a matter of justice and love on our side, to generously respond to Mankind, and towards each one of its living beings, our brothers and sisters.

                                                                       “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.”

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

October 20 - Homily for Today

St Paul of the Cross was born Paul Francis Daneii at Ovada, Genoa, Italy on January 3, 1694 and died at Rome, October 18, 1775.  His parents were exemplary Catholics and instilled in young Paul a respect for the sacraments and often read aloud the lives of the saints to their numerous children. Paul’s childhood was marked with self-imposed austerities and penitence. He would sleep on the bare ground and spend long hours in prayer. He was imitated in these practices by his younger brother (by two years) John Baptist.

In the summer of 1720, in three extraordinarily vivid visions, St. Paul saw a black robe with Jesus’ name in white characters, surmounted by a white cross, emblazoned on the breast. In the third vision the Blessed Mother attired in the habit, encouraged St. Paul to found a community that would mourn continually for the passion and death of her Son. After getting authorization to follow his vocation, Paul made a forty day retreat in a triangular room at St. Charles church at Castellazza living on just bread and water. It was here, without aid of earthly guide, that he wrote the rule. After assisting at Castellazza for a short time, St. Paul made his way barefoot and penniless to Rome where he would present himself to the Vatican. As he had not thought of providing an introduction or credentials, he was turned away.

But eventually his rule was approved, and along with his brother John, St. Paul founded the Passionist Order, following his own ordination to the priesthood in Rome in 1727. The charism of the order was ministry to the sick and the dying, the reconciliation of sinners and bringing lapsed Catholics back to the Church; and so the group of priests was soon in demand in many parts of Italy. Paul’s brother John died in 1765, but after that, under Paul’s leadership there were twelve new foundations, two new provinces and six general chapters. Near the end of his life he also founded a convent of enclosed Passionist nuns at Corneto in 1771. St. Paul died at age eighty, and was canonized in 1867.

The first reading today speaks of the ultimate power of the cross which for the worldly minded was foolishness, absurdity and a stumbling block; but for those with faith, allowing the grace of God to touch and fill them – the very reality and power of God could be seen there in all of its glory – just gazing on its awful majesty!

In the gospel passage Jesus reminds us that we, disciples, like him, must lose our lives in order to be able to find them: to embrace the crosses of our lives daily, so that anything and everything is not foolishness and absurdity and a stumbling block for us – but rather a means to our salvation and life on high with God forever!


With faith, the cross of Christ gives everything meaning!

Monday, October 19, 2015

October 19 - Homily for Today

Sts. Jean de Brebeuf, Isaac Jogues, Rene Goupil, Antoine Daniel, Charles Garnier, Gabriel Lalemant, Jean de la Lande, Noel Chabanel, -  these men collectively known as the North American Martyrs – Patron Saints of North America - were canonized in 1930 by Pope Pius XI. Isaac Jogues, SJ, born in 1607 was the leader of this band of priests and laymen who came from France to proselytize the Native American Indians to the ways of Christ and the Catholic Faith. They worked successfully among the Huron Indians, but it was the Mohawk Indians of the Iroquois Nation of New York State who savagely and brutally treated these holy men, and put most of them to death near Auriesville, New York – where there stands a shrine to their memory today.

Our first reading today tells of “always carrying around the death of Christ in our bodies” so that we may live the life of his glory – this means both here in this life, but most especially in eternity. If we accept fully and wholeheartedly that sacrifice, and unpleasant encounters, and a certain amount of conflict – even of the more severe kind - are as much a part of our life as they were for Christ himself – then we can “get through” any kind of trial that comes our way – we can transform red crosses into gold ones with the help of Christ and his Spirit. This, the seven holy martyrs of North America did; this we can do.

Jesus commissions the Apostles in the gospel passage to go forth and proclaim “life through death” – the Gospel Message – “to the ends of the earth.” He promised to be with all those who do so, and he promises also to help those who hear the message to respond with faith and trust! May we be among such a group today!


Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing!

Friday, October 16, 2015

October 16 - Homily for Today

One of the characteristics of being human is the need to know that we are loved and cared about. In the gospel passage Jesus assures us that we, his brothers and sisters in faith, are very much cared for by him, and by his Father in heaven. Even the hairs of our heads have all been counted – and so we ought not be afraid of anything. The evil motivation and ill-intent of the Pharisees will one day be made known when everything will be revealed – and there will not be a secret that is unknown. This is cause for Pharisaical people of any age to sit up and take notice – and remember that it is never too late to change, to become friends of God, and allies of his people once again!

In the first reading we see that Abraham was God’s friend because of God’s gift of faith that was given him – the only work he had to do was simply to believe in God and the promises he was making to him. We too are called to – above all else, everyday – have faith in God – but also, to prove it by works of charity and love done for love of God. If this is the motivation of our hearts, then what will be revealed about us at the end will be a cause for rejoicing for us – for God will reward our good will and right action by a life of eternal joy!


I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.

Monday, October 12, 2015

October 12 - Homily for Today

The opening sentences of the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans, today, speaks of his task of bringing about, among the Roman people, “the obedience of faith” so that holiness can be achieved among these people. Then he offers them grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The obedience of faith spoken of is the elemental Christian principle of action/response. God (acts) gives the gift of the ability to see and experience everything on a deeper and supernatural level; but the gift has to be actively received and put into practice, and that is what is called faith. Faith is our grateful response to God’s offer of friendship and life.

And so not only to the Romans, but to everyone, everywhere this gift is offered – through the preaching and teaching of the ministers of the Gospel – and now today it is up to us to hear these words, to open our hearts, to respond with generosity and love and to live out what we hear.

And the grace and peace from God and Jesus will be with us too as we do it. These will be the true sign that these supernatural things are happening: not some preconceived, concocted, earthbound notion which allows the non-repentant to get a very false sense of security being a member of an evil generation that can bring anyone down in an instant.

We have someone greater than all the false gods of this age to lead us and guide us – if only we look up and away from ourselves!

May grace and peace saturate our lives today, because we are in harmony with God – and with one another!

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Sunday, October 11, 2015

October 11 - Homily for Today

Our gospel passage today needs clarification on two points. The first is that whether or not the “eye of the needle” was one of the gates of the city of Jerusalem through which, after hours, a camel could pass and gain entry into the city only after having its baggage removed and was made to get down on its knees in order to crawl through – or whether this is just a kind of hyper-analogy that Jesus used to make a point – the fact is that “getting into the city of God” – getting into the heavenly Jerusalem – is going to be a difficult thing for everyone who wants to go there no matter who – and the best way to get through the gate is baggage free and on your knees in prayer and supplication!

The other point is that all who are called to discipleship – and that is a fair number of people – are called as well not to do it the easy way: just following the commands that are learned from childhood, but sacrifice of self is also required: a giving up and away of the possessions of mind, body and even spirit that we value so highly, the things, the baggage that ties us down, so that we can be free to follow Jesus as he requests: enormous riches will be ours if we but make the initial plunge and detach ourselves completely from what is ours, even everything about our life!

Abandonment to God, full trust in him, and the wedding garment of faith and love are all that are really necessary in life: all the rest, anything that is really necessary for our lives will be given to us by a loving and doting Father-God – who loves each and every one of us beyond all telling!

The Letter to the Hebrews tells us that what is in our hearts will be exposed one day: God is able now to read our hearts, and then all will know: why not then purify what goes on there now to the best of our ability by inviting the fire of the Holy Spirit to come into us to cleanse us of what is dross, and to refine what is pure, and to refashion us into a fitting instrument for God’s glory!

This would be the prudent way talked about in the first reading from the Book of Wisdom. Wisdom to know as God knows, to love as God loves, to understand as God understands is worth more than anything, or any one, or any place! The countless riches that come from those who seek wisdom alone are beyond compare! Let us be among the wise-ones who not only seek her, but find her!


It is the poor in spirit who understand the words just spoken, it is the pure of heart who love God simply, and others freely; and it is the seeker of wisdom who will gain all the benefits of a search well rewarded: may we find ourselves in this company one fine day – it’s not as impossible as it might seem, for with God, with faith, all things are possible!

Friday, October 9, 2015

October 9 - Homily for Today

In the gospel passage today, Jesus, in a sense, addresses a lot of issues and arguments that his revolutionary way of seeing and doing things brings up. His “revolutionary way” is not really so revolutionary as it is free and clear of any prejudices and misgivings. He simply tells things like they are, in his proclamation of God as a loving God, who wants everyone to be a part of his family, free from any contrary spirits that might have affected them previously, healthy, whole and joyful!

The naysayers of course have their own theories about his words and deeds, but Jesus reminds them over and over again – “if what I say and do is from God, you may as well go along with it, because if it is not, then you will be destroyed anyway”

The first reading today tells us about the day of the Lord that will be doom and darkness for those who want it that way, for those who refuse to turn to the Lord and ask for help and protection – he is only so willing to give it, if we but humbly reorient ourselves to him and ask for it!

Today, may we welcome Jesus’ “revolutionary way” of transforming all of creation and humanity into something grand and glorious – let us stay on the right side of a healthy perspective – and live our day proclaiming the kingdom of which we are all called to belong!


The prince of this world will now be cast out; and when I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all to myself, says the Lord.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

October 8 - Homily for Today

Our gospel passage today gives us a forthright command: ask, that you might receive; seek, that you might find; knock so that the door can be opened up to you. Even though God certainly knows all of our needs before we ask him, he nevertheless wants us to use the free will that he has given us to make an act of faith and trust in him by asking, seeking and knocking: for these are the very things that Adam and Eve refused to do after they had eaten from the apple given by the serpent. They hid, and did not ask, they did not seek, they did not knock: and their relationship with God was mortally wounded.

And so, then disciplined petitioning will get results: petitions not for just anything at all, not for wealth and power – but petitions for what God already wants us to have will bring forth abundant results. “How much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

May we do thusly today, and receive the answer to all our prayers!


Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

October 8 - Homily for Today

Yesterday’s gospel (in the ordinary readings of the day) on the Lord’s prayer, and today’s on the added emphasis on persistence should be enough for us to have absolute trust in God – who already knows our needs before we ask him – but who still insists that we “go through the motion” of asking anyway! The family relationship that he wants with us is not to be the “why can’t you read my mind” kind of dysfunctional family interacting. He wants us to confidently, trustingly and lovingly ask for what we think we need, and if it is truly what we do need, we will get it. The “password” for this type of healthy family life is this: “if it be your will!” “I think I need this, Father, but what do you think, and in the end I choose what you want instead of what I might want: your will be done.”

The first reading today warns of what happens to those who count themselves out of God’s family and insist on their own everything: they will end up in a place of unquenchable fire. The just, on the other hand, the ones who are in right relationship with God – knowing they are his children, his servants in building a unique and wonderful kingdom - will be safe in a land prepared for them of cool refreshing waters, and green and luscious meadows.

Where we want to end up depends on our day-to-day decisions: either we ask God for what he wants for us, or we demand what we want – and take our chances!


Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

October 7 - Homily for Today

Today we are celebrating the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, a feast which dates back to the sixteenth century. The victory of the Christian forces over the Turks in the naval battle of Lepanto, in the Gulf of Corinth, on October 7, 1571, which happened on the first Saturday of the month that year, was attributed to Our Lady of the Rosary. The rosary itself was a devotional prayer originating in the 12 twelfth or thirteenth centuries. It began as a prayer made up of 150 Our Father’s, to match the 150 Psalms; then it was changed to 150 Hail Mary’s. In time, and under the direction of St Dominic It was organized into a structure of Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be prayers, introduced with the Sign of the Cross and the Apostle's Creed. The meditative reflections or "mysteries" contained in it, [20 of them now], are regarding the lives of Jesus and Mary.

There was an upswing in devotion to the Rosary in the nineteenth century, especially because of the Marian apparitions to Bernadette Soubrious at Lourdes. The rosary remained a highly popular devotion through most of the twentieth century. But the Second Vatican Council took great care in reorienting Catholic devotional life that had quite frankly lost its primary Eucharistic focus. There is nothing more important than Jesus in the Eucharist, so long as we are on pilgrimage back to him. Any and every other kind of prayer format is secondary. But in a prized place in those secondary forms of prayer comes the holy rosary – if it is prayed with its “Christo-centric” focus – if it places Mary as she is, not in the center, but as the Preeminent Christian and loving intercessor of us who are her children in the Church.

Perhaps a rosary said today for a very special intention will bring unexpected and joyful results!


Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you; you are blessed among all women!

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

October 6 - Homily for Today

Bruno was born in 1030 in Cologne, Germany. He was educated in Paris and Rheims, France and ordained to the priesthood around 1055. He taught theology and one of his students later became Pope Blessed Urban II. Bruno presided over the cathedral school at Rheims from 1057 to 1075. He criticized the worldliness he saw in his fellow clergy. He opposed Manasses, Archbishop of Rheims, because of his laxity and mismanagement and he became chancellor of the archdiocese. Then following a vision he received of a secluded hermitage where he could spend his life becoming closer to God, he retired to a mountain near Chartreuse in Dauphiny in 1084 and with the help of St. Hugh of Grenoble, he founded what became the first house of the Carthusian Order. He and his brothers supported themselves as manuscript copyists.

Bruno became an assistant to Pope Urban II in 1090, and supported his efforts at reform. Retiring from public life, he and his companions built a hermitage at Torre, where, in 1095, the monastery of St. Stephen was built. Bruno combined in the religious life the eremitical and the cenobitic; his learning is apparent from his scriptural commentaries. He died in 1101 of natural causes and is buried in the Church of St. Stephen.

In the first reading today we see the life of the monk reflected as a continual search for the fuller and deeper meaning of the Word of God, and knowledge of him who is the very Word of Life.  St. Paul encourages the Philippians, all monks and us to consider as rubbish all that is not about discovering who Jesus is and how to have a full and mature relationship with him!

In the gospel passage Jesus tells those who are doing so that it will not be easy, but that the effort will be greatly rewarded – and the joy that comes from full knowledge will be beyond anything imaginable.

May we, like the monks of old, spend a great deal of time, directly and indirectly, seeking God and reveling in each and every little thing we find out about him! Let it make a big difference in the smallest details of our lives!


Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Monday, October 5, 2015

October 5 - Homily for Today

The theme of our readings today is the sacrifice of love.  In the first reading Jonah was asked by God to help him deal with the Ninevites, which would involve much trial and danger because these were a rebellious people. Jonah decides to run away from God and his duties and hop a ship for Tarshish. But he found out that it doesn’t pay to run from God because an unexpected and great storm blew up and almost sunk the ship, at which point the captain decided it was time to cast his reluctant passenger overboard – this he did. But even then God had his way by swallowing Jonah up inside a whale. God has his way with us, sooner or later; it makes life so much easier for us if we go along from the start and make it sooner!

In the gospel passage Jesus is teaching about love: how loving God is most important, and how it is verified and confirmed by loving our neighbor: that is, anyone at all who needs our compassion, our ministrations, our healing, our prayers, our encouragement, our strength and our support. Sometimes priests and Levites – those professionally trained to do these things – are the very ones who find a thousand excuses for running away from their duties (like Jonah did) – but then God chooses the most unlikely, a Samaritan, a nobody, a suspicious malcontent kind of a person, to show up the professionals – and moves them to do the truly compassionate thing.

Loving is not easy: but it is quite doable, thanks to the energizing grace and strength of Jesus given us by the Holy Spirit – and enflamed each time we receive Holy Communion. May our reception today of the Bread of Life, cause us to share Life with others along the way!


I give you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you.

Friday, October 2, 2015

October 2 - Homily for Today

The term “guardian angel” refers to the belief that each person has an angel who is available to shepherd their soul through life, and help bring them to God.

Belief in the reality of angels, their mission as messengers of God, and man’s interaction with them, goes back to the earliest times. Three days ago we celebrated the feast of Sts Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, three of the seven Archangels who had and have major roles in the history of salvation; today we focus on personal or guardian angels who have long been accepted by the church. In the gospel passage Jesus himself tells us that children have angels in heaven who always see his Father’s face.

The feast of the Guardian Angels gained popularity in the Church in the middle ages, and was given a high rank by Pope Leo XIII in 1883.

It is entirely fitting for each and every Catholic to acknowledge, pray to and depend upon the inspirational help of his or her hand-picked, personally assigned, spiritual assistant – his guardian angel – we would be foolish not to!

One such prayer for us is or should be familiar to us all: it should be one of the earliest remembrances in life that a child has:

Angel of God, my Guardian dear,
to whom His love commits me here,
ever this day be at my side,
to light and guard, to rule and guide.
Amen.



The Lord has put angels in charge of you, to guard you in all your ways.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

October 1 - Homily for Today

St. Therese of Lisieux was indeed born to a very pious middle-class French family in 1873 at Alcon, Normandy, France – indeed both her father and her mother are one step away from canonization themselves. All four of her sisters became nuns. At 8, Therese was cured from an illness when a statue of the Blessed Virgin smiled at her. She was educated by Benedictine nuns of Notre Dame du Pre and confirmed at age eleven.

Just before her 14th birthday she received a vision of the Child Jesus (especially his Holy Face); she immediately understood the great sacrifice that had been made for her, and developed an unshakeable faith. With the aid of Pope Leo XIII whom she contacted personally, Therese, joined the Carmelites at Lisieux in April 1888 and took her final vows on September 8, 1890 at age 17. Due to health problems resulting from her ongoing fight with tuberculosis, her superiors ordered her not to fast.

Therese became novice mistress at age 20, and at 22 was ordered by her prioress to begin writing her memoirs and ideas, which material would turn into the book “The Story of a Soul.” Therese defined her path to God and holiness as “The Little Way” which consisted of child-like love and trust in God – in it she taught that the very simplest and meanest of tasks done for pure love of God can indeed save a soul somewhere in the world who is in need of prayer at that moment. She espoused a spirituality that was for everyone – not just the clergy and nuns, the educated and the sophisticated.

Anyone can be a saint so long as they lived forthright, honest, open, transparent lives of faith and trust in God: as any child of a loving father would do.

These simple writings qualified her to be named Doctor of the Church in 1997 by Pope John Paul II. Therese died in 1897 of TB; many miracles were attributed to her; and she was canonized in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. She made a well-known promise before her death: as long as there are any souls to be saved, I will let fall from heaven a shower of roses (something for them to reach out to for their salvation).


The greatest in the Kingdom of heaven are the childlike: we must all turn and become like little children – doing everything we do for others because we love our heavenly Father - to find our place in our heavenly homeland.

Happy New Year 202

  A Happy New Year to you all! I hope and pray I am able to keep this blog up to date now that we are entering into the New Year! I would li...