Bulletin Homilies

The blessings and woes we hear in today’s Gospel mark the perfection of all the wisdom of the Old Testament. That wisdom is summed up with marvelous symmetry in today’s First Reading and Psalm: each …

Simon Peter the fisherman is the first to be called personally by Jesus in Luke’s Gospel. His calling resembles Isaiah’s commissioning in the First Reading: confronted with the holiness of the Lord, both Peter and …

Today’s feast marks the Presentation of the Lord Jesus in the Temple, forty days after he was born. As the firstborn, he belonged to God. According to the Law, Mary and Joseph were required to …

We need background to understand what’s happening in today’s First Reading. Babylon having been defeated, King Cyrus of Persia decreed that the exiled Jews could return home to Jerusalem. They rebuilt their ruined temple and …

Think of these first weeks after Christmas as a season of “epiphanies.” The liturgy is showing us who Jesus is and what He has revealed about our relationship with God. Last week and the week …

The Liturgy last week revealed the mystery of God’s plan—that in Jesus all peoples, symbolized by the Magi, have been made “coheirs” to the blessings promised to Israel. This week, we’re shown how we claim …

An “epiphany” is an appearance. In today’s readings, with their rising stars, splendorous lights, and mysteries revealed, the face of the child born on Christmas day appears. Herod, in today’s Gospel, asks the chief priests and …

Why did Jesus choose to become a baby born of a mother and father and to spend all but His last years living in an ordinary human family? In part, to reveal God’s plan to …

My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, I understand it is sometimes difficult to see the good when we feel so overwhelmed by despair, but Christmas reminds us of something critical to keep in our …

On this last Sunday before Christmas, the Church’s Liturgy reveals the true identity of our Redeemer: he is, as today’s First Reading says, the “ruler...whose origin is from...ancient times.” He will come from Bethlehem, where …

There was a reason that thousands came out to hear John the Baptist’s preaching. It had been many hundreds of years since a prophet had spoken out and performed signs in the land of Israel. …

Luke is telling us that the story which he is sharing with us is not a myth or a legend. Luke is telling us that Christianity is an historical religion that makes very real historical …