A number of years ago someone gave me a gift. It was a circle of cloth with the letters T W I T in the middle of the circle. The object was called a round to it. It was for procrastinators. How often have we heard ourselves saying, I’ll get around to making that phone call, I’ll get around to sending that email, I’ll get around to visiting, I’ll get around to doing whatever. I’ll get around to it. Remember Harry Chapin’s song ‘the cats in the cradle’ and its refrain ‘we’ll get together then son, you know we’ll have a good time son’- of course it never happened – I’m very busy but we’ll get around to it. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Homily’ Category
Homily – June 30, 2013
Sunday, June 30th, 2013All Are Welcome – Homily – June 23, 2013
Sunday, June 23rd, 2013In Paul’s letter to the Galatians he stresses a very important truth. Because of our baptism there can be no distinctions in the Christian community. Our baptism makes us sons and daughters of God, by God’s grace we have clothed ourselves in Christ, or as Paul puts it in another of his letters “we have put on Christ” and we are meant to grow to full maturity in Christ. Because of baptism there is to be no distinction between Jew and Greek, slave or free, male or female. We are all one in Christ Jesus. (more…)
He Had Compassion – Homily – June 9, 2013
Sunday, June 9th, 2013We’ve all had the experience of going to visit a family at a wake. We walk in, and because of the circumstances of the person’s death or the age of the deceased the grief in the room is tangible. We wish we had the power, the ability to turn things around. We wish we could say, “young man, young woman arise.” We wish we had the ability to turn this time of grief into a time of joy. Both Elijah and Jesus did just that in our first reading and in the gospel. (more…)
Not Too Nice a Weekend – Homily – June 2, 2013
Sunday, June 2nd, 2013I read an article years ago in which the author said that there is one group of people in the early church whom we have failed to thank, the drunks of the church in Corinth. He goes on to say that is was their scandalous behaviour that caused Paul to write this letter to the community in Corinth. Just before today’s reading Paul wrote: “now in the following instructions I do not commend you because when you come together it is not for the better but for worse.” We have to remember that the Eucharist of Paul’s time had little in common with the way we celebrate Eucharist today. In Paul’s time the Eucharist was at a community meal, something like a pot luck dinner at which people shared their food. At some point is this community meal the scriptures were read – that would be the Hebrew scripture because ours weren’t written yet – and the action of Jesus at his last supper was repeated and communion was celebrated. (more…)
Undivided Unity – Homily – May 26, 2013
Sunday, May 26th, 2013Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Trinity. This is a mystery basic to our faith as Christians – this is the mystery that separates us from the great faiths of Judaism and Islam. They too believe in the one God, the Father of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But we believe that the “God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob loved the world so much He sent His Son to the world – not to condemn the world – but in order that the world might be saved through him.” We believe that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob sent the Holy Spirit to us at Pentecost to complete the work of Christ on earth and bring us to the fullness of grace. (more…)
Founded by St. Paul of the Cross, every Passionist takes a special vow to spend his or her energies in promoting remembrance of the sufferings of Jesus, the memory of the Cross, and reflection of the meaning of the Cross for the world.
