Today is December 31st. It is the end of our secular year 2012. Tomorrow will be January 1st and mark the beginning of a New Year. Just a few weeks ago we marked the end of the last liturgical year and the beginning of a new on the First Sunday of Advent. Christmas was a new …
Today, December 28th, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents. The story of the Holy Innocents is found in Matthew 2:13-18. Herod was king of the region and had heard from the Magi that a new king had been born to the Jews. Herod saw this as a threat to his power. He had …
3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C Zephaniah 3:14-18a Philippians 4:4-7 Luke 3:10-18 December 16, 2012 Zephaniah calls us upon the people to shout for joy, be glad, and exult. He writes before the Babylonian Exile when the Kingdom of Israel was about to fall and the people are lamenting. They are in fear …
Continue reading ‘Sunday Homily – December 16, 2012 – With Reference to Sandy Hook’ »
Another tragic shooting has happened in our country. Yesterday (Friday, December 14, 2012) a man went into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut. Twenty children are dead along with six adults at the school (including the principal who working to help the children), the alleged shooter, and his mother. Any murder is a tragedy …
2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C Baruch 5:1-9 Philippians 1:4-6, 9-11 Luke 3:1-6 December 9, 2012 As we ended the last liturgical year and began our season of Advent our readings pointed to the End Times. We called to do so with hope of the glory of Heaven but we don’t always feel that …
After the Sunday morning Masses, I had the opportunity to join our two parish youth groups (Middle School & Senior High) for a joint session where they had the opportunity to ask me questions. I went in with no set text to talk about and there were no restrictions on the questions except that they …
Yesterday our parish office was closed to give our staff a long weekend with the Thanksgiving Holiday. I had no special plans when I stopped in the office for a little while to check my email. I had been thinking about going to the hospital to make some routine visits. I had reason to believe …
Today we celebrate a national holiday, Thanksgiving. It has been part of our history since before we were even a nation of our own. The pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts in 1620. They arrived in winter and faced great difficulties. Native American Indians came to their help and helped learn local farming. At the first harvest …
31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B Deuteronomy 6:2-6 Hebrews 7:23-26 Mark 12:28b-34 November 4, 2012 Moses calls for the people to “keep all God’s statutes and commandments.” It is something we all desire in some way. After all, Moses says that if the people keep God’s commandments, the people will grow and prosper. The …
This week I passed the 100 day mark as pastor. It has been a very busy 100 days. When I was preparing to leave my last assignment as the Parochial Vicar at Our Lady of the Lakes, a few people said to me that as pastor, I would end up working even more hours. I …
