Homilies

In my last year of seminary, I had the joy of checking off a bucket list item along with my brother Billy. That summer and fall, we trained together for the Columbus Marathon. It worked out perfectly, because it just so happened that on Wednesdays my class schedule was completely free. Besides prayer times, I […]

I always get fired up in a movie when I see someone who is a warrior. One of my favorite warrior characters is Gandalf from the “Lord of the Rings” movies. I love the fact that he is a gentle and caring father figure to so many in those movies, but when push comes to

There’s a common phrase that I’ve heard many, many times over the years; I know I’ve used it often enough.  I’m sure everyone here has heard it and probably even used it yourself.  When someone makes a mistake, does something wrong, maybe even in a sinful way, there is a tendency to say to that

Today as we allow Jesus to challenge us through the readings we just heard, I have two fairly different people on my mind–Bob Ross and Michael Jordan. I can remember many nights being mesmerized by the basketball feats of Michael Jordan as I watched him win championships with the Chicago Bulls. A different kind of

Recently I found a video on YouTube entitled, “Best Play in College Football History.” With that title, you would think it would be a video clip of some wide receiver making a seemingly impossible catch, or maybe a running back slipping an impossible number of tackles to get to the endzone, or maybe an offense

Let’s invite the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts today as we reflect on the Good News together: +Come, Holy Spirit; Come, Holy Spirit; Come, Holy Spirit.+ It always amazes me to see how God works. As I look back on my own life, I could never have predicted the people God would use

I’m sure many of you have the experience of not being able to celebrate Christmas with some family members on Christmas Day, so you wait until the following weekend or whenever you can get together to celebrate this wonderful occasion with a meal and exchanging gifts.  Maybe you forgot to get a Christmas Card right

A really funny scene from the move Return to Me is on my mind because of our readings today. For those who haven’t seen it, Return to Me is a very sweet romantic comedy from the year 2000, which follows the story of a construction manager, Bob Rueland, as he mourns the sudden passing of

First, I want to wish all of you a very blessed and merry Christmas. It’s always a joy to be able to come together as a parish family and celebrate this great solemnity. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts on this day where we commemorate the birth of our Savior. +

When I was in seminary, many fun community events marked the passing of each year. At the beginning of the school year, we had a field day style event which we called the Pontifical Olympics. Later on in the Fall was the Mud Bowl, an aptly named flag football game which pitted the older seminarians