Scripts

Homilies

February 14, 2010
It’s a strange Valentine good wish card we get from Jesus today. We know what the Hallmark cards say --- Oh, I hope you are always happy, always full of life’s good things, always understood and loved by everyone around you. Jesus comes and says: The Father and I want your holiness. Our love for you is deeper than just some weak desire
you avoid any difficulties. We want your holiness. So, I hope sometimes you let your own sorrow, the sorrow of others and the deep sorrow of the world come and wound you … so you’ll seek God. The Father and I want your holiness. So I hope sometimes you feel empty inside --- it will, if you let it, lead you to God, who can fill you fuller than food or money. Finally, I hope your life, with God absolutely first, is so strange and enigmatic that people think you’re crazy... 
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February 7, 2010
Mark Matthews (we’ll call him) left a message for me three weeks ago. Fr. Mike, you knew me back in Watsonville a long time ago. Call me because I’ve got something to tell you... 
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January 31, 2010
The Nazareth crowd turned so ugly a reporter covering the story considers flight. But how can he leave without at least one interview … so he walks, cautiously, to an older woman. Cautiously, because her face is clenched and she has a rock in her hand... 
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January 17, 2010
The bible accounts of Mary of Nazareth, the Mother of Jesus, a powerful, dazzling woman of faith. Don’t let your familiarity with this Cana story lull you to sleep through what just went on there!
A wedding has run out of wine. Disappointing for guests, embarrassing for the host families, a very bad omen. The Messiah’s worthy mother does not say, “O well, it must be the will of God. Let’s just grin and made the best of it.” She’s an activist, an engager, an initiator … anything but a passive victim. She walks over to her son like a women on a mission. “They have no wine”... 
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January 10, 2010
And two great things happen for us on this last holy day of Christmas. First, water goes through a conversion. Water that had been so cruel to the human grace in the great flood. Today Jesus enters the water, very much like Jesus enters your mouth at holy communion --- and the water … changes. It becomes the benefactor of the human race, the sacramental, the primordial way our sins are washed away and we get grafted, welded, fused forever to the Savior. The great mosaic at St. Mark’s in Venice shows Jesus putting his foot in the water, and simultaneously, all upstream and downstream, fish jump, animals frolic, vegetation flourishes. Catholics love water and are holy water people... 
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January 3, 2010
Joseph was a saint, but he was a man too and he had anger. Anger against Herod. Not by nature a political person --- what good would it have done him? --- he did not normally waste energy liking or disliking power figures. But this time the distant King of Judea had trespassed into his personal life. Herod, God’s dream revealed, wanted to kill the Bethlehem baby... 
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December 20, 2009
Most kids know their parents buttons well. If we wanted to get mom’s attention immediately … all we had to do was get a balloon and start blowing it up slowly, slowly. It was a torture really. Slowly, slowly the pressure increase, the balloon expanded. She would pretend not to notice. Bigger, bigger … until came the loud pop and the bursting... 
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December 13, 2009
The man went to his rabbi to complain: “Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. What can I do?” The rabbi answered, “Take the goat into the room with you.” The man was incredulous, but the rabbi insisted: “Do as you’re told and come back in a week.” A week later the man came back, half dead. “We can’t stand it. The goat is noisy and filthy.” The rabbi said: Go home now and let the goat out, and come back in a week.” It was one radiant man who returned seven days later. “Life is beautiful, rabbi,” he beamed. We enjoy every minute. No goat, only the nine of us.” (George Mikwes). 
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December 6, 2009
Today’s Gospel begins with a careful list of all the power structures in place in the time of John the Baptist and Jesus. Like most power structures --- each one looked unchangeable and invincible. First is the supreme power: Emperor Tiberius Caesar. He was an infamous lunatic sadist, who enjoyed throwing people off the 1000 foot cliff of his Capri villa for fun, when he wasn’t molesting little boys he called minnows in heated swimming pools while his adoring court looked on.. 
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november 29, 2009
“Pray that you may have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent.” Tidal waves, roaring of the sea, threatening signs in the sun, the moon and the stars, earthquakes. We usually try to keep these things at a distance from our consciousness. But sometimes things feel so foreboding we expect the worst and make movies like 2012. 
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november 22, 2009
The freshly-graduated reporter was in heaven. She’d landed the interview of the century --- with Jesus Christ the King! “Show up at such and such an address next Monday at noon for transportation to the heavenly palace,” said the invite. And there it was now … a limo with impossibly tinted windows, the rear door opened by a servant. 
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november 1, 2009
On this wonderful feast of all saints, one of the elders in the first reading asks: Who are these wearing white robes? The answer comes: These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress. 
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October 25, 2009
We have a wonderful variety of people that come to this parish --- among them Lilly and Millie --- it could just as easily be Billy and Willy. About Lilly. She keeps a beautiful house … everything shiny clean, polished and in its place. She has beautiful things – expensive, or in perfect taste, or with a treasured family history. She is OK with visitors, but not if they’re going to break things or bring in dirt or cause disorder. Lily’s emotional household, is similar. She likes people that are orderly, without too many problems … and if they are neurotic they have the good manners to keep it hidden under a surface of good manners. Lily likes her world and her morality clear and orderly. There’s little place for confusion or ambiguity. 
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October 18, 2009
A sick man had just absorbed some very bad news. “Doctor, I’m afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side.” Very quietly came the answer, “I don’t know.” “You don’t know? You’re a Christian. How can you not know what’s on the other side!” Just then came a scratching on the door. It was the patient’s dog. “Do you hear that scratching?” said the doctor. “That’s your dog isn’t it? He’s never been in this office before. He has no idea what it’s like. The only thing he knows is that his Master’s here. And that’s enough. I don’t know what heaven is like. How could I? But I know the Master who’s loved and taken care of me every day of my life is on the other side of that door when I die … and that’s enough. (cited in A FUNNY THING by William Jarema p 24.). 
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October 11, 2009
See if you can imagine this. Some early morning movement wakens you, your eyes open and there sitting at the foot of your bed is God. “It’s about time, sleepy-head,” God smiles. And at a movement of his hand there you are on your feet, all dressed, and ready. 
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August 23, 2009
Have you missed being in our Church building for Sunday Mass these last two weeks? Look around a moment and appreciate what we have. Our present basilica-style building was blessed by Bishop MacGinley in l928. It cost $90,000. If someone asks what’s the most important part of the building, what would you say? The altar? The tabernacle? Maybe. But you couldn’t get to the altar or tabernacle unless there were doors. And you couldn’t reach the doors without the steps. And wouldn’t you be afraid to enter the building if there weren’t a strong foundation holding everything up. And you couldn’t spend much time in peace here, unless there were walls to keep out the wind, or the roof to keep out the sun and rain. And how could you keep the roof up except for the pillars. 
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August 9, 2009
One wonderful experience of my life was a pilgrimage 13 years ago to Mount Athos. Holy Mountain, as Greek Orthodox call it, is a 27 mile long, 3 mile wide peninsula sticking out into the Aegean Sea that has been considered the garden of the Virgin Mary for over a thousand years. An ancient wall separates the peninsula from the rest of the
world, and the population is male monks and monks in training. They live in one of the 20 or so ancient ancient monasteries, or in huts or ancient caves as hermits, or in the lone tiny village called Karies. Their life is complete prayer and contemplation … and the physical work necessary to live a very simple life. 
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july 12, 2009
(Many of these ideas are from DYNAMIC PREACHING, XXV, 3, pp. 15-17) Twenty-two years ago, at the Brandenburg Gate right in front of the Berlin Wall, Ronald Reagan gave his famous speech. “General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” 
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july 5, 2009
Not a good day for Jesus. As happens sometimes, family and friends who should know you best, understand your least. Jesus is so completely thrown by his home town’s lack of faith he temporarily loses focus. St. Mark says he can do no mighty deed there. 
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june 28, 2009
He calmed the Sea of Galilee last week. Now Jesus goes to people like us. Normal on the outside, but maybe with oceans of inner problems. A woman bleeding blood and money. A panicky parent. A dead little girl. Later to lepers and many public sinners. These wonderful healings show Jesus’ astonishing ability to give life. And today’s
Gospel gives us a special insight into part of the reason he had so much power. Among many other amazing abilities, Jesus knows, very well, how to … disregard. 
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june 21, 2009
It’s a gift, being a good sleeper. I’m the best sleeper I know. I can sleep almost anyplace, and very quickly. My parents loved to tell is how when I was 10 my friend Ricky Blake and I camped out in the back yard. A freak electric storm swept through the county about 2 AM. It scared everybody to death, and Ricky’s mom came running to take us inside. But she couldn’t wake me. She tried … that’s what she said. The next morning I woke up, the tent collapsed around me, all by myself. 
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june 7, 2009
I’ll bet you’ve done this: Look closely at a face, scrutinize it, to try and grasp what’s going on behind the surface. We look at a baby’s face, and wonder what kind of thinking of feeling or consciousness is going on there. Or a teenager’s face, or the president’s face on TV. To really look into a face, and try to figure out what’s going on in there, and what is the personhood of that person …what makes them tick, what are their worries, fears, conflicts, hopes, aspirations … that’s a very powerful spiritual thing to do. Sometimes at a vigil or rosary, with the person laid out there, I have watched people pondering the face, in just this manner. 
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May 31, 2009
Here’s a doll. I’m going to breathe into it. Nothing happens. But at the beginning, the Hebrew Scriptures say God made a doll out of clay, and breathed into it his breath of life… and the doll opened its eyes and became a human being. God has a powerful breath! 
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May 17, 2009
We’ve all heard good words from our diocesan Catholic Charities appeal. And we’ll have a second collection for Catholic Charities, right after the first collection. And you’ll find joy in the giving... 
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May 10, 2009
“We are sitting at lunch,” says this reflection from an anonymous mom, “when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of ‘starting a family.’ ‘We’re taking a survey,’ she says half-joking. ‘Do you think I should have a baby?’ ’It will change your life,’ I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral. “’I know,’ she says, ‘no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations ….’. 
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May 3, 2009
In his book The One and Only You, Writer Bruce Larson shares a hilarious letter from a friend who had to deliver seven new-born sheep while her husband was out of town. “Never again,” goes the letter, “can I think of the Good Shepherd without knowing that he must love us beyond measure if we are like sheep to him. 
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April 19, 2009
In Richmond, Ind., where I was raised, nothing was more predictable than what we ate: chicken, pork, hamburger, macaroni, canned tuna or spaghetti. That was it, unless you splurged and went to Cincinnati. But even there, we usually ordered chicken, pork, hamburger, macaroni,
tuna or spaghetti. Someone told us people on the west coast ate squid. The very thought was nauseating. Once we moved here, we saw squid on the menu. None one ever tried it. We hoped we wouldn’t see it. Till one day, someone invited me to their house and served something delicious. Do you know what it was? 
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March 29, 2009
Quite a few years ago I had dinner with a single mom and her three little ones. Mom had a lingering disease, and once the kids were excused from the table, I asked if she was in pain. “Yes, it hurts bad tonight,” she confided. The doctor gave me some pills, but they make me so groggy I’m not really there for the kids, so I just do without them.” 
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March 22, 2009
We just heard in the first reading, the most horrible single sentence in the whole bible. They mocked the messenger of God, despised his warnings and scoffed at his prophets until the anger of the Lord against his people was so inflamed there was no remedy.. 
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March 15, 2009
A-N-G-E-R. Extreme displeasure, hostility, indignation or exasperation, often accompanied by the need to retaliate. Some people get angry a lot, some don’t. Some get angry in a cold way: punishing with the silent treatment, withholding affection. Other’s anger is hot, in your face, direct and without excuse. 
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March 8, 2009
Abraham returned to his wife and tents a very changed man. Everyone could tell, just from his face. But they had learned not to pester the old man with questions. He would say what he needed to say, when he needed to say it. Still, Sara (the wife) was happy when several days later he finally turned to her with an opened mouth. 
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March 1, 2009
The readings today talk about conflict. There’s the great flood. Great floods are things too big to hide from: social upheaval, collapses of government or economic systems, natural catastrophes. We have to rely on God. Then there’s the spiritual struggle between obeying God or disobeying. And there’s the conflict each person has … even Jesus … with his, with her, own temptations. 
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February 22, 2009
A few years ago an English soccer team won the local League Cup championship --- a very big deal. They were so happy they took teammate Steve Morrow, and tossed him into the air. Unfortunately, they failed to catch him when he came down, and poor Steve had to be carried off on a stretcher with a broken arm and an oxygen mask. (Dynamic Preaching XXV, I, p.55.) 
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February 1, 2009
The man with the unclean spirit convulsed, let out a loud cry and then became completely still … which for some reason was the scariest of all. Service concluded quickly, and people almost ran out, careful to walk way around the poor fellow and not look at him. Finally the leader of the service said goodbye to the last fleeing worshipper and returned. “Son, what in the world just happened?” he asked, putting a hand on the man’s shoulder. 
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January 25, 2009
The story is that back in the early 1900’s Church of God pastor George Went Hensley was preaching in backwoods Tennessee. “They will pick up serpents with their hands,” he thundered … at which time some dark-looking toughs stomped down the aisle and emptied a large box right in front him. The content: rattlesnakes. Not missing a beat, the story goes, he bent down, picked them up and returned them to the container.......    
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January 18, 2009
Nervy nervy nervy St. Paul. It’s not that he went to ancient Sparta to rail against militarism. Or to Wall St. to condemn greed. He went to the Las Vegas of the Roman empire --- swinging two-ported sailor-overrun Corinth, rife with prostitution, fornication, adultery, licentiousness, incest, sodomy --- that’s the short list --- and preaches about purity, sex limited to marriage, and bodily holiness......    
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January 11, 2009
No homily from Fr. Mike this week:
Fr. Tuan Pham of the Redemptorists made an appeal for Liguori magazine......    
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January 1, 2009
Shinichi Suzuki, the world famous Japanese musician, teacher and educational theorist had the biggest AHA experience of his life on a visit to a huge hall used for commercially incubating songbirds --- larks. Many thousands of eggs were placed into this large warm “nest.” And … all was kept quiet except for one sound. As the tiny songbirds broke through their shells they heard the perfect singing of a specially chosen adult lark......    
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December 24, 2008
Brian Abel Ragan’s father told him the same story every year, growing up. About a little boy so poor he had nothing but one toy: a little beat-up plastic car with two wheels and a broken windshield. It was Christmas, and at midnight Mass in that village people would put gifts around baby Jesus in the crib --- jeweled chalices, fat checks, baskets of food and so on.....    
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December 21, 2008
If today’s happening was life-transforming for Mary of Nazareth … and for us and for the history of all human beings … it was also life-transforming for someone else. When Gabriel returned to heaven his glorious head of light listed to the side, and he wore a far-away grin that was almost silly. At first the other angels pretended not to notice. They were used to each other getting caught up in one or another aspect of God’s incredible beauty and goodness, and going semi-hypnotic … and they would be discrete, letting each other be, as this one or that one was absorbed in prayer and contemplation. But Gabriel’s case was lasting longer than usual, so a lesser spirit who had a special love with Gabriel gently touched his shoulder. “Are you alright, creature of light?”....    
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December 14, 2008
There was great predictability in the plays put on every year in my old college. My best friend and I always auditioned. My best friend always landed a big part. I was always a foot soldier. The director also was predictable. The same one, year after year, he always began as a sweetheart at the start, who became a bossy dictator as opening night loomed. Understandable. Directors get more directive as the big day approaches … and God gets more insistent as God’s big day, and the Messiah’s big day, and our big day, draws near....    
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December 7, 2008
Baptizing flesh and blood people with the Holy Spirit. What an amazing thing you are about to do, great Father of light.” It was a bright upwardly mobile angel who spoke. “I know you’re about to send a messenger with the announcement of this good news. And I have figured the way. A colossal media event … with lots of press coverage… with the right back-drop, an interesting mix of the world’s best personages. Time of day is essential, the right light. Great make-up for the messenger: I have sketches. And, of course, the city. The city is essential. Jerusalem, Rome, Paris, Beijing, New York?...    
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November 9, 2008
Three people came up from the crowd Jesus had been addressing, and asked for a moment’s quiet conversation. They looked concerned.

Master, said the first. I have spent most of my adult life rejecting other people. It was my family culture, to look down on the people around us --- because they weren’t as rich, or as nice looking, or as liberal or as conservative or as morally squeaky clean. I’m not sure whether we got this way from an inferiority complex, or jealousy, or fear that if we dared stop looking down at others and looked into our own hearts, we’d see we were a mess...    
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October 26, 2008
20 years ago it was an important enough story to get into the New York Times: Can Elizabeth Taylor’s Passion compete with her friend Calvin Klein’s Obsession? It was a story about perfumes, of course. ...    
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October 19, 2008
The Gospel tells us … often … to give God what’s God’s. But today it says something else. Give God what’s God’s … and give Caesar what’s Caesar’s.

Caesar is … the government. Governments come in many forms. They are good, bad, in between. But if we use government services … roads, libraries, civil protection, safety enforcement, due process of law courts … we owe the government something back...    
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October 5, 2008
One of the seniors at the legal advice session stood up and said: I think I’ve decided what to do with my money. I’m going to hand it off to my children with the understanding that if I ever need it back for anything they’ll give it to me. ...    
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September 21, 2008
Homilies during stewardship season are shorter than usual, so we have time to enjoy the witness talks. But this story Jesus tells today surely bears some comment.
First of all, I guess when it comes to working a full day for God, beginning from dawn and not slouching off till evening ---the one worker who bore the whole heat of the day working for God was Jesus. ...    
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September 7, 2008
Protestant pastor Truit Gannon tells how as a teenager he loved to drive the big wine-colored Harley Davidson with hydroglide fork that belonged to Hugh, a young employee of his father. One day he asked … again … Hugh, can I drive your wheels. And he remembers a very special answer. “Sure. You can drive it anytime you want, and anywhere you want, and as often as you want. Just remember to drive it like it was mine and not yours.” ...    
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august 31, 2008
Navy Commander J.P. Wilkins and crew were working feverishly to repair a plane in time for an important flight. They held their breath while Wilkins conducted the final inspection. As he reached behind an equipment box, he skewered his finger on the exposed end of a safety wire. The cut bled profusely. Sticking his head out of the plane to ask for a first-aid kit, he noticed two crew members studying a small red pool beneath the aircraft. “That’s my blood!” he called out. Two faces brightened. “What a relief,” one said. “We thought it was the hydraulic fluid!” (Dynamic Preaching XXIV, #3, p. 53)...    
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august 24, 2008
I’ve been to the Caesarea Philippi. It gathers at the base of an impressive sheer rock cliff, with a hole near the bottom, out of which gushes this spring of crystal clear water that forms the beginning of the Jordan river. Very beautiful, and a perfect place to relax, think, pray and have an intimate conversation...    
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august 3, 2008
Two men looked out through prison bars. One saw mud; the other saw stars. On almost any day of your whole life, you can see two things: mud and stars. Mud is the stuff that’s sticky, ugly, and makes the going rough. The mud is problems, issues, obstacles, aches, pains, stresses...    
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july 27, 2008
In the Guadalajara Art Museum sits the painting I love above all others. Large, colonial, religious theme --- it’s not famous … but I’ve seen it four separate times … and each time it reaches out and grasps me and almost won’t let me go. I’ve tried to get a poster of it, thinking if I had a copy in my room to look at every day, I’d be a better person...  
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july 20, 2008
I can barely believe what Jesus said about the weeds. I mean, he’s a religious reformer. Religious reformers know the dangers of complacency. They want everything holy, right and pure. They want the weeds out, and they want them out now....   
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july 6, 2008
The scribes and Pharisees left in a huff after Jesus’ exuberant proclamation today.

“The nerve of that hayseed from Nazareth,” muttered Zadoch. “I spent six years in school getting my credentials, and I’ll be crucified if I swallow that malarkey about little ones grasping God’s hidden mysteries quicker than the wise and the learned. Why does he think the Holy One gave us minds! His sayings are a trifle too convenient and self-serving. Compared to us, he’s a little … so he’s trying to make that a virtue....   
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june 29, 2008
Most of you know the World War 1 story of the statue of Jesus in the bombed Church. The trunk was still there, but the two outstretched arms had been shattered. At the bottom a soldier had written: He has no arms but yours...   
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june 15, 2008
The auditorium erupted with thunderous applause. Msgr. O’Malley had just finished giving his final scripture speech. The text was … the opening line of today’s Gospel. “At the sight of the crowds, troubled and abandoned like sheep without a shepherd, the heart of Jesus was moved with pity for them.”   
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june 8, 2008
The Pharisees didn’t have enough integrity to take their problem with Jesus to Jesus. They went griping to his disciples. Maybe they thought they had a better chance of intimidating them than intimidating the Master...   
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june 1, 2008
(from Dynamic Preaching, XXIII:2, 57) An elderly woman walked up to a little old man rocking in a chair on his porch. Weathered and feeble, he had the most content smile. “I couldn’t help noticing how happy you looked,” she said. “What’s your secret?” “Well, he said, “my philosophy is, if it feels good, do it! I smoke three packs of cigarettes a day,” he gestured with a wrinkled yellow hand, “and I drink a case of whiskey a week, eat fatty foods, and never exercise.” “That’s amazing!” said the woman. “So … how old are you?” Came back the raspy voice: “Twenty-six.”   
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may 11, 2008
A wise story from Ghana says three women dearly wanted children, but it wasn’t happening. Finally near despair they went to the local medicine man. “Yes, you can be helped with this. But you need to think carefully, because there’s a condition attached. On the day you give birth … you will go mad.”  
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May 4, 2008
Jesus, we don’t want you to go!

Jesus replies: But I must go to the Father. The Father is greater than I. I love him, I am his second self, and I will be seated at his right side. If you love me, you’ll be happy for me that I’m going.  
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april 13, 2008
Some people simply are not sure --- not sure of what they think, not sure of what they feel, not sure of who they are. This was never a problem with Jesus of Nazareth. He is calmly, quietly sure about what he feels, what he thinks, and above all who he is … and he’s not shy about expressing it. 
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april 6, 2008
The Emmaus Gospel is all about a profound spiritual activity we don’t do nearly enough. Emmaus is all about having a good conversation. Conversations are powerful proofs we’re spiritual. In a real conversation, our lips form funny air vibrations and somehow our partner intuits what’s inside us. I begin to grasp what’s in you; you start to understand what’ in me. Conversations make us laugh, cry, get mad, make peace. They may be light or heavy, surprising or predictable. At their best, they change us. 
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march 30, 2008
Consistent tradition says that years after today’s event, Thomas the apostle ended up a missionary to India. I see him evangelizing there, telling today’s story, one of the climaxes of John’s Gospel, again and again. 
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march 23, 2008
Pastor Cameron Smith tells the story of maybe the only white man in Georgia buried in an all black cemetery. He had lost his mother as a baby, and his dad hired a profoundly Christian black woman named Mandy to help raise him. 
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February 17, 2008
“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all.” That’s what Snow White’s step-mother, the wicked queen, used to ask her magic mirror. And the mirror replied. 
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February 10, 2008
Since college days Mary Frances had always been fascinated by the Adam and Eve story. There were so many interpretations: literal, psychological, psychoanalytical, mythical, historico-critical. When I die, I’m going to ask that couple some questions! she laughed.
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February 3, 2008
At election time we hear from our politicians. It’s good to know who they are. Everyone knows that Arnold Schwerznegger is our governor. And his wife is … Maria Shriver. What you may not know is that Maria’s father was one of the greatest and most creative politicians of his generation.
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January 27, 2008
When Jesus spoke to him James straightened up as in a trance.  “Get back to work and stop paying attention to him,” growled his father.  But the young man whose life seemed like a puzzle with no solution had heard his own soul sigh.  Jesus had said only a few words: “James, I know what you need.  Come after me.”  He dropped the net … and his old life with it … and followed.
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January 20, 2008
Everyone coming to our church over the past several weeks got to see large Christmas trees twinkling with lights, a forest of poinsettias, the antique gold hanging on the altar, and red, white and gold banners and flags all over the place.  Beautiful!  But come to Church this Sunday and maybe you feel, especially after all the visual holiday fuss, a little disappointed and let down.  It’s all so bare.  It’s all so … ordinary. 
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January 13, 2008
On my day off, maybe half the time I go visit MOMA.  Not Momma, m-o-m-m-a, who lives in far-off Torrance, near LA.  I visit MOMA, m-o-m-a --- the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.  It does something amazing for me.  
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December 9, 2007
The trees of the forest were having their morning chat. “Are you done with your Christmas shopping.” “Mostly. This year, it’s electronic gadgets, and may be a sweater or two.” “Are you going to think much about God?” “No, not much. I may go to Mass, but I don’t want serious thoughts about God to spoil my holidays. God hasn’t sent any prophets for 400 years. I think God doesn’t care much what we do. He’s finally willing to leave us in peace.” There was laughter. (Man starts coming up aisle with ax)
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December 2, 2007
Sleep walking. A disorder that occurs when a person walks or does another activity while they are still asleep. The University of Maryland says sleep walking can have to do with fatigue, lack of sleep, anxiety, mental disorders, reactions to drugs, or medical conditions. When someone sleep walks, they may look awake and do complex activities like move furniture, go to the bathroom, dress and undress, even drive a car … but they’re asleep.
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November 25, 2007
(from Dynamic Preaching, XXII, 4, pp. 55-56) Fred Craddock tells of a family out for a drive who saw a stray kitten stranded on a traffic island. The three little ones in the car all started the chorus: “Stop the car. There’s a kitty out there, crying his heart out!” Stop the car. Stop the car.”

The family already had too many pets, and the kitten might be diseased. But dad pulled to the side of the road, and got out. When he reached for it, sweet little kitty spat, scratched and bit his hand till it bled! Fighting an instinct to strangle the ungrateful little beast, he carried it to the car and put it in the back seat with the kids.
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November 4, 2007
I celebrated my 40th birthday by climbing 14,495 ft. Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the US outside Alaska. Don’t think it was Mt. Everest. There’s a trail.

How I hated that trail! It refused, again and again, to take the easy obvious way. You’d see an easy stretch. It would turn away and drag you up an icy ridge. There was a stream to follow. It left the stream and made your sides ache again as you climbed, climbed.
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October 21, 2007
A young black man in South Africa asked his minister why blacks had to suffer so much poverty, hardship and oppression. “Why doesn't God do something? he wailed. “He has,” came the answer. “He created you.” (Dynamic Preaching: XXII, 4, 18) The young man took the answer to heart. He was the future Archbishop Tutu, and he helped get rid of apartheid.

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October 14, 2007
The Samaritan Jesus healed in today's reading later became, after Christ's death and resurrection, a baptized Christian. The apostle John ran into him seven or eight years later. He was very sad to discover he'd contracted another disease and was now permanently bed-ridden.

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September 23, 2007
Every week, it seems, someone new gets caught embezzling … swindling … the government or shareholders or gullible seniors. When Jesus starts this steward story, about an incompetent steward who turns into an embezzler, we know where he's headed. He's going to denounce dishonesty, and insist we be fair and transparent, especially with other people's money.

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September 9, 2007
An old piece of business wisdom says: Failure to plan is planning to fail. If your business goal, and strategies to get there, aren't clear and planned, you'll fail.

Jesus was a great believer in future planning. If you build a tower, sit down, make plans, calculate expenses. If you're thinking of engaging in war, be clear what success you want, what resources you have … and determine in advance whether it's feasible. Plan.

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August 26 , 2007
Praise God from whom all cyclones blow
Praise him when rivers overflow
Praise him when lightning strikes the steeple
Brings down the church and kills all the people.

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August 19 , 2007
When Emily was a little girl, her parents looked deep into her brown eyes and repeated what seemed like a million times: “Don't get into trouble. Emily, don't get into trouble.”

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August 12 , 2007
Granny J had lived in the same house for 75 years. The ramshackle place with its well used furniture, throw rugs and old lace doilies, was now in the inner city. Despite the fact that she shared her neighborhood with winos and dope addicts, Granny never locked a door. She would listen calmly to the pleas of her family to be more sensible, but her answer was always the same: “If anyone is in need, they can take what they want.”

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August 5, 2007
The Father of light gathered all his angels around him. “It's time for me to make my will,” he said.” “Father,” one of them replied, “does that mean you're going to die?” .

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July 29 , 2007
When I get to heaven (knock, knock), I'm going to say, Father Abraham, I admire your moxy. You bargained with God … and got God down from sparing Sodom and Gomorrah for fifty innocent people all the way down to ten.”

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July 15 , 2007
Thank God for good Samaritans! Moved with pity for a fellow human being, they embrace and inconvenience, leave their circle of convenience took a risk, embraced an inconvenience … instead of waiting and hoping someone else would do something. We can't take care of everybody. But for sure, from time to time, everyone should help take care of somebody. And first on our list: beat up strangers no one seems to care about.

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July 8 , 2007
Mom and I spent last week in that most splendid, uniquely American New York City . We saw where George Washington took his oath of office, his desk, the pew he used in St. Paul 's chapel, old Fraunces tavern where he said farewell to his officers after the war. We saw the Statue, fireworks, the Empire State Building … and the World Trade Center .

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June 24 , 2007
Finding the right name for a child can be a big deal.

Some psychologists think naming is a powerful part of giving identity. Strong names, artistic names, mystical names, saint's names … will predispose a young person to follow a path. For some cultures an unnamed child is not yet fully human. And have you ever known this to happen: a couple picked out a baby's name months before the birth, but as soon as they see the little one, they settle on something completely different. “This just isn't a Madeline, they say. This just isn't a Frederick .”

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June 17 , 2007
In one of his conferences, A O'Brien says: So many people… are loved by no one and feel that no one cares for who they are!... (They) feel that, if they are sought out, it is only because of the use other people can make of them: economic benefit, commercial connection, passing pleasure or sexual dalliance, never because of what they are themselves…How can you find happiness if you are not recognized, esteemed, and finally loved for who you are? … And who can tell you that you, with your hope for love, are not a bizarre being, abnormal, living by chance … but a subject known and loved from all eternity by the one who created you: God, whose image you bear. Who will tell you this, if not Jesus Christ . (cited in Days of the Lord , vol. 6, p. 87)

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June 10 , 2007
Catholics have always felt that the miraculous multiplication of loaves takes place weekly, every Sunday. Hundreds of millions gather with bread … in Belgium and Boston , Tanzania and Texarkana , Somalia and Salinas , and everywhere in between, and after we pray the bread gets multiplied … inwardly and outwardly. And the hunger of millions of human hearts … and there's nothing hungrier than a human heart … the hunger of hundreds of millions of human hearts gets fed.

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June 3 , 2007
The ancient Assyrians, Sumerians, Greeks, Romans, etc. --- almost all looked and saw that life was full of movement. Winds, sparks, tides, seasons, rises, falls, motions, forces, give, take, attack, retreat. How to explain it? There must be many many gods.

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May 27 , 2007
In my hand is a shower-head. It has very little value if it stays on the shelf of the hardware story. But if it's connected to a water line (connect to hose), it's amazing what it can do! (from Robert Schuller: cited by Dynamic Preaching , vol. XXII, no. 2, p. 65)

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May 20 , 2007
They were continually in the temple praising God.

“Thank you, God,” said Peter, “for the true friendship of Jesus. He didn't abandon me, even though three times I abandoned him. I know now there's someone I can always count on … even when that someone isn't me!”

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May 9 , 2007
The joy of Catholics at Jesus' resurrection is so great we celebrate Easter for 50 days. And in the second readings of all those post-Easter Sundays, we feast on the part of the book of Revelation that describes our assured future, now that Jesus has triumphed.

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April 29 , 2007
Back in the 2 nd century this is how a non-Christian named Aristides tried to describe Christians to the Emperor Hadrian: Christians love one another. They never fail to help widows; they save orphans from those who would hurt them. If one of them has something, he gives freely to the one who has nothing. If they see a stranger, Christians take him home and are happy, as though he were a real brother or sister. They don't consider themselves brothers and sisters in the usual sense, but brothers and sisters instead through the Spirit, in God. And if they hear that one of them is in jail or persecuted for professing the name of their redeemer, they all give him what he needs …. This is really a new kind of person.

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April 22 , 2007
We love Peter because he's the poster boy for conversion. We watch him turn from an impulsive, silly, pompous weakling who yells love but folds when the cross comes … to the visionary, centered, courageous rock of the church who faces down the high priest and assembly, spits in their eye as he says calmly: We must obey God rather than men.

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April 15 , 2007
The Gospel just said: Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. If you're a certain kind of protestant, you don't care much about these other signs. The signs in the bible are beautiful, compelling and sufficient.

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April 1 , 2007
It was the worst plague the world had ever seen. Other diseases attack the nervous system, the muscles, the lungs, the complexion. This virus attacked the soul inside people. It twisted us, hardened us, robbed us of humanity, of compassion. It was sin, the sins of the world . and sin disfigures and maims till we stop resembling God.

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March 25, 2007
During Gospel group of men, carrying/brandishing rocks, enter sanctuary with "woman caught in adultery." (She has a rock concealed in her pocket.) They menace. Then, as Gospel continues, they noisily put their rocks down and leave. Woman kneels down with her hand on the altar. She looks up and listens to the priest during homily.

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March 18, 2007
No, Father. We didn't have to do anything. But I'll tell you what we should have done. We should have acted as if obedience, respect for parents, moral sexual behavior and religious values mattered. We should have taken some sort of stand to prevent the continuing slide of values. We should have tried to be just.

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March 11, 2007
You could call the readings of this Sunday a tale of two trees.

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March 4, 2007
This is my passport. I carry this with me when I travel. It proves I'm an American citizen. It guarantees me certain rights and privileges and advantages. I feel confident when I have it. My American government guarantees me social services, if I work I'm guaranteed a minimum wage, and I have certain civil liberties as well.

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February 4, 2007
At every Mass we say, “Lord, I am not worthy. ” Sometimes we mean it and feel and sometimes probably we don’t. In all three readings today we see people who mean it. Isaiah has a powerful vision during temple liturgy. He sees God shaking the whole build ing and his robes filling the temple. “Woe is me! I am unclean. Lord I am not worthy…”

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January 28, 2007
Anyone who reads the Gospels knows that Jesus was a person of prayer. He prayed in the desert, on the holy mountain, by the lake, while walking, in the middle of chatting with people. He prayed memorized prayers (the psalms) and he prayed spontaneously. In addition to this he prayed, emphatically and weekly … in the synagogue. Like today…

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January 7, 2007
If Herod was greatly troubled at first, the secret interview with the Maji left him peaceful and cocky. Shrewd judge of character, he sensed immediately that Caspar, Melchor and Balthasar were without guile --- harmless, the way all truly good people are harmless…

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November 5, 2006
His friends couldn’t wait to pounce on the scribe who asked today’s Gospel question. “Ruben, you’re an imbecile. You were supposed to ask Jesus a question that would trip him. Instead, you made him look like he was a prophet or something. You stood there, stupid and adoring, and then told him he had spoken well and was surely right…”

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October 29, 2006
He was supremely expressive --- Jesus. His words, his gestures communicated ideas and feelings, God’s ideas and feelings, with power and beauty. His pithy little parables, swallowed so innocently, sometimes exploded like bombshells inside his listeners later. Part of his power was: he was so succinct. No needless words…

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October 22, 2006
James and John want the head table and the big office. They have ambitions and goals. They are A-type people on a mission, highly motivated people with a dream…

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October 15, 2006
It’s not such a strange thing to wonder, is it. It’s so human. Peter says to Jesus, I’ve given up quite a bit to come follow you. What’s in it for me? What will I get out of it?

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October 8, 2006
Driving one of those long lonely stretches in northern Arizona, Sally saw an elderly Navajo woman walking on the side of the road. She offered a ride to get some company … but once in, the lady said almost nothing. She just looked at everything intently. Finally the lady surprised her by pointing to the large brown bag on the seat…

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October 1, 2006
You may not remember his name --- Aron Ralston --- but I bet your remember his story. He was rock climbing alone in Utah back in 2003 when his arm got hopelessly pinned under an 800 lb. boulder. 10 hours of chipping away at unmovable rock only made a tiny dent. He was in the middle of nowhere. Days passed. He was going to die…

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September 24, 2006
For the last three weeks we’ve been mediating on the virtue of stewardship. Stewardship is 50% gratitude. Through prayer, through mediation, through communion with Jesus a person’s consciousness emerges to the point where you realize down to your gudgeons that everything you have is form God … and you are very very grateful…

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September 17, 2006
In the snack bar on the train a beat up old man came and took the chair on the other side of the table. Ignoring him, the lady reached out and opened the package of cookies in the middle of the table and ate one. To her amazement, he also helped himself to one…

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August 27, 2006
Ivan the Terrible, Tsar of 12th Century Russia, had a problem. What with all the murder and massacre, his advisors had to find him a wife --- a beautiful princess of the Greeks. But she was a devout Greek orthodox who would not marry him if he wasn’t baptized…

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August 20, 2006
The old lady looked around nervously to make sure no one was watching through the bedroom window. Then she removed a large framed photograph of her late husband and started twisting the knob of the concealed wall safe. Four to the left, eighteen to the right … seven more numbers and the metal door screeched and offered a faded black velvet box with the very last remnant of her Tom’s piled up wealth…

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July 23, 2006
It’s difficult and frightening for us priests to hear today’s first reading! God yells angry words to those appointed to be shepherds who aren’t doing a good job. “Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock ... I will take care to punish your evil deeds…

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July 16, 2006
Mostly priests talk about the Gospel in Sunday homilies, but this week I couldn’t get by four words in the first sentence of the first reading. These four words form a phrase very rude … but also so dire and self-destructive … that any country that says them, any city, any church, any parish, any individual who says them and means them … inevitably itself starts to shrink, shrivel and slide down the road to total extinction…

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January 8, 2006
Epiphany is one of those days when the Catholic way of celebrating Christ really shines. I mean the playfulness and pageantry of special food, songs, 3 kings prancing around, gold vestments, fancy cups and plates, incense, festive processions with banners, gifts…

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January 1, 2006
When a new baby comes, close family and friends rush to the hospital and make over the little one. “Oh, he is so cute, isn’t she a little doll!” … and then … the next stop is always mom. Mom’s nine months of low energy, hormones, moods swings, morning sickness, distended shape and now childbirth … have surely earned her some TLC…

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