Homily for All Saints, Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14 There is probably no book of the Bible more misunderstood than Revelation. Mention the word and people start scanning the news for the Antichrist, decoding beasts, and calculating when the sky will fall. Some treat it like a coded newspaper: this politician is the beast, that treaty is … Continue reading The Corwd That Can’t Be Counted
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A. Exod 22:20–26, Ps 18, 1 Thess 1:5c–10, Matt 22:34–40. I learned something important about human nature on a trip to Greece. You can stand in the middle of one of the great achievements of Western civilization and still be thinking about lunch. After morning Mass at the cathedral … Continue reading When Your Feelings Aren’t the Final Word
Every time I come across Hilary of Poitiers’s name, my brain sees Harry Potter. Hilary is known as “Hammer of the Arians,” not someone you want to be on the bad side of. Not a nickname you earn by bringing cookies to the parish council meeting. There’s a name for this condition, and it’s not … Continue reading The Gloria and Gryffindor
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A (October 11, 2026) Isa 25:6-10a, Ps 23, Phil 4:12-14, 19-20, Matt 22:1-14 I flew home from Athens, which is a beautiful city with ancient ruins still standing and a new airport that has already fallen apart. If you’ve never been through that airport, I’ll save you the trouble. … Continue reading Still Swimming
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A · Philippians 2:1-11 Everybody says they admire humble people. We say it about the star player who thanks his offensive linemen. We say it about the boss who remembers the janitor’s name. Then we go home and check how many people liked our post on Instagram. You know … Continue reading The Form of a Slave
My friend Crazy Eddie has been carrying a laser down the road that he must travel for forty years. This is not as alarming as it sounds. Knowing Eddie, it probably should be. I should probably explain. In everyday English, the word mercy has wandered a long way from the biblical cry that gave it its … Continue reading Mercy: It’s All Greek to Me
Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Sir 27:30—28:7; Ps 103; Rom 14:7–9; Matt 18:21–35 Picture Jerusalem around 180 B.C. For more than a century and a half the Greeks have run the eastern Mediterranean. Greek is the language of contracts, classrooms, and anyone who wants to look important. Jewish life is being quietly squeezed—not by swords … Continue reading Ben Sira’s House Rules
Homily: Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Many years ago, there was the grill incident. Miss Knott-Albright, who was going to be a new teacher in the fall for our school, moved in on the next street over. The house came with a grill that has been one grease fire away from the evening … Continue reading Harden Not Your Charity
Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Jer 20:7-9, Ps 63, Rom 12:1-2, Matt 16:21-27. You made it. Some Sundays that is a minor miracle and should be listed among the corporal works of mercy. Somebody found the car keys under a pile of permission slips. Somebody squeezed into last spot next to the minivan … Continue reading The Living Sacrifice (And Other Things Nobody RSVPs To)
Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time — Year A Geography can have theological significance. Caesarea Philippi is not a Jewish town. It’s intriguing that this is where Jesus asks the apostles who people say that he is. The city sits at the foot of Mount Hermon at the northern end of modern Israel. Water flows from … Continue reading Who do You Say That I Am?
