Homilies

In his risen body Jesus bears the marks of his passion to show us that when we admit our failures and our brokenness in light of his resurrection, they can lead to life.

The angel appears to Mary and begins with a beautiful greeting: “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” Why then does the next line tell us that Mary was greatly disturbed?

The scriptures do not tell us how many wise men came to honor the Christ Child. But the Christian imagination concluded that if there were three gifts, there were three magi. This insight has deep spiritual meaning.

The story of Samuel asks us not to be prepared in case God calls us but to recognize signs in our life that God has already called us.

It is said that as Jesus comes out of the water, the Spirit of God descends on him like a dove. But scholars cannot figure out what the dove is meant to signify.

The Book of Jonah is a fable written by a Jew to tell us that we should never believe that God hates our enemies as we do.

What if Peter’s mother-in-law was “burning up” not with a fever but emotionally? If she was really upset about something, it would change the nature of Jesus’ miracle.

There are different kinds of time. Greek uses two words to distinguish them: “chronos” and “kairos.” Advent is “kairos time.”

Sometimes we imagine that we can separate ourselves from others without any consequence to ourselves. But the gospel understands that when we choose to build walls, they are just as likely to hurt us as to protect us.

What is an unclean spirit doing in a synagogue? We can certainly presume that he did not come to listen to Jesus’ teaching!

My prayer for all of us is that we would celebrate this Christmas not as tourists but as pilgrims. And what is a pilgrim? There are two possible definitions, and both of them apply.