Homily from the Third Sunday of Advent

In seasons of waiting, do we complain or praise?

While we are waiting, it can feel like nothing is happening. And yet, faith tells us that God is at work even when we can't yet see the fruit. Rather than complaining while we wait, there is another option.

Matthew 11:2-11

Homily from the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

This feast day of the Immaculate Conception is not just a privilege for Mary: it's a prophecy for us.

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception reveals God's plan to conquer sin not just by repairing what is broken, but by preparing a path where grace triumphs first. This Advent we are invited to enter into the "Sacrament of the Present Moment", where God offers real, life-changing grace in each moment we choose to be present to Him. Mary's unique "yes" reminds us to stop waiting and to respond to God's already-given grace with a wholehearted and immediate "yes".

Luke 1:26-38

Homily from the Second Sunday of Advent.

We worry while we wait.

Advent teaches us not just to wait, but to trust while we wait. When we surrender worry and remember who God is, waiting becomes a place of grace instead of frustration.

Matthew 3:1-12

Homily from the First Sunday of Advent.

The process is the point.

When we are waiting, we often want to be "done". We want to be "there". We want our waiting to be over so that we can start living. But life happens right here and right now. And God is doing something right now. We do not simply endure waiting, we engage during the waiting. The declaration of faithful waiting is: I am confident that this moment is crucial.

Matthew 24:37-44

Homily from The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

The moment of victory is the moment of vulnerability.

We often think that we win by being strong, or beautiful, or clever, or powerful. But Christ wins by another means. Christ the King, Lord of the Universe wins by choosing to empty Himself of all that we think we need to win.

Luke 23:35-43

Homily from the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Would you rather be admired? Or loved?

The Day of the Lord is coming. When everything that is true about our hearts will be revealed. What should not be there must be burned up or transformed so that we can be fully known...and fully loved.

Luke 21:5-19

Homily from the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome.

If you were what you were meant to be, you would set the world on fire.

There are some things that are dedicated...consecrated to be something special. They are meant to be something unique. Others merely used to be something unique. Which one am I?

John 2:13-22

Homily from the Commemoration of All the Faithfully Departed (All Souls).

By the end of this Mass, some things will be changed forever.

Purgatory is an essential teaching of Christianity. It highlights that salvation is both an event and a process. Purgatory is God's gift on continuing the process of making our hearts like His that He began in this life.

John 6:37-40