Homilies

Some movies have certain scenes that are iconic without even needing any dialogue. There is the T Rex foot slamming down into the mud in “Jurassic Park,” Rocky training for his fight on the steps of the Philadelphia museum of art, Charlton Heston as Moses parting the waters of the Red Sea, and so many […]

Are we able to bargain with God?  Can we make a deal with Jesus?  Well, a quick reading of today’s Gospel passage might make us think that maybe we can.  The Canaanite woman seems to persist in working on Jesus until he changes his mind and grants her what she wants.  And let’s be honest—how

The past week and a half I was blessed to be the chaplain on a men’s retreat called Wilderness Outreach in the mountains of northern California. It was a great week of prayer, good brotherly discussions about faith, and daily Mass at an altar we created out in the woods. Our last night in the

Once there was a father who had a young son. The son got really into LEGOs, much to the delight of his father, who was also a LEGO lover. One day his son came to him beaming with pride, showing him a car that he had made. There was one small problem: the wheels were

Between 1940 and 1949, Pope St. Pius XII authorized crews to undertake excavations underneath St. Peter’s basilica. Renovation work on the lower level of the basilica had uncovered the remains of an ancient Roman necropolis on which the original basilica was made during the time of Constantine. Tradition held that this was the site where

There is a scene from the movie “The Wizard of Oz” where Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion finally arrive at the end of the Yellow Brick Road in Emerald City and were about to meet the Wizard.  They all came with a request that they thought only the great and

I’m guessing that most of you have heard of the Iditarod, the annual sled race in Alaska where teams of sled dogs compete to cover the almost 1,000 miles between Anchorage and Nome. It has been run yearly since 1973. Let me tell you the story of the event that inspired the race. It was

I’m a big fan of the original Star Wars trilogy. I grew up watching the first movie on a VHS tape. This was from back in the day where movies would occasionally air on network TV. So when Star Wars came on TV, my mom and dad popped in the tape and hit record. I

Let me tell you a story about Bob and Tony. They were brothers who decided to order a kit car and build it together. They both were car enthusiasts and thought it would be a great way to bond with each other. So they put in the order and waited. Initially, the company they ordered

Several times during the course of the Mass, we are presented with something, and then we are asked to respond.  To start the Mass, the priest greets the people saying, “The Lord be with you,” to which we reply, “And with your Spirit.”  During the first part of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Word,