Homily for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B), preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather…

Homily for the 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time (B) - this is the opening homily for a parish Eucharistic mission. To request Deacon Matt to speak at your parish, please visit https://matthewnewsome.com/

Homily for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Corpus Christi), preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on Sunday, June 2, 2024, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church.

Two of my college students received the sacrament of Confirmation on the 6th Sunday of Easter. This homily was preached at that Mass and focuses on the importance of sacraments of initiation and the role of sacramental preparation and catechesis.

In this short gospel passage, Jesus uses the word “command” or “commandment” five times and the word “love” nine times. For most of us, these two things don’t go together. We have very different reactions when we hear those words. When someone starts talking about “commands” we tense up. We don’t like being told what to do. We think of commands as …

We should honestly ask ourselves, what is the principal thing that is giving direction to my life? Whatever that is, that is your shepherd. That is your god. And if it is anything other than God our Creator, who has revealed himself to us in Christ Jesus the Good Shepherd, you have to wonder where is that false shepherd leading you? And is that rea…

God cannot spare us from death without contradicting himself. Nor can he allow death to reign without also contradicting himself. It seems like a paradox. What is God to do? Easter homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church on Sunday, March 31, 2024.

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on Feb. 25, 2024. To truly understand the Mass, to understand everything that God does for us in Christ, it is so important for us to know the story of salvation history, because this is our story. It’s a story told for us and about us — about Go…

Life is a drudgery? Days without hope? “I shall not see happiness again?” What on earth, we might wonder, is this text doing in the Bible? The Bible, as we are told, is the word of God. The Church encourages us to look to it for inspiration. We open its pages when we feel hopeless, hoping to find hope! We turn to the scripture when we are unhappy f…

Proclamation of the date of Easter and the moveable feasts and homily for Epiphany, 2024.

Today is the 4th Sunday of Advent. It is also Christmas Eve. Because this year Advent is as short as it can be, with Christmas falling on a Monday, we don’t really get a “fourth week of Advent.” We only get a 4th Sunday, and even then not the whole Sunday, with our Christmas celebrations beginning with the 4:30 Vigil Mass. Once every seven years we…

Homily for the 1st Sunday of Advent (Year B), preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. For everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven. Today begins the season of Advent; the beginning of a new liturgical year. So what is the reason for this season? Advent reminds us…

We’re sometimes tempted to think of the sin of the Pharisees as being too rigorous when it comes to religious practice. But Jesus never condemned the Pharisees for their religious observances. Rather, he condemned them for hypocrisy. The definition of hypocrisy is to hold others to standards that you don’t observe yourself. It is one of the sins th…

October is a month dedicated in a special way to the Rosary. Apart from the Holy Mass itself, the rosary is without a doubt the most iconic form of Catholic prayer. In films, if a director wants to show that a character is Catholic, all they have to do is place a rosary in their hands. In a round-about way, I can attribute my own conversion to the …

What is worship? What kind of worship does God ask of us? And how do we offer God worship in a way pleasing to him? Ancient cultures across the globe worshipped their gods by means of offering sacrifice, and God instructed the people of Israel in how to offer sacrifices to Him. But all these ancient sacrifices were but shadows or signs pointing tow…

Homily for the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A) preached by Deacon Matt Newsome on July 30, 2023, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. How many of us pay attention to the Collect Prayer during Mass? In case today’s Collect went by you without notice, here it is again: O God, protector of those who hope in you, without …

Every Christian should be familiar with the two great commandments. “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind,” (Dt 6:5) and, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lv 19:18). Jesus says that, “The whole law and prophets depend on these two commandments.” (cf. Mt 22:36-40). In today’s g…

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Sunday, June 4, 2023, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. Many struggle to understand why the doctrine of the Trinity is relevant. Sure, it might be of interest to theologians, but what does it have to do, practically, with our lives? I’ll…

Homily preached by Deacon Matt Newsome at the Chapel of Our Lady of the Annunciation at the Catholic Student Center at Western Carolina University on Sunday, May 7, 2023, for the final Mass of the semester. "Life is full of beginnings and endings. Amidst all this change, what can we hold on to? What can be our sure foundation, our rock, our refuge …

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter (Year A) preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on May 7, 2023, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church. "...this is not a funeral Mass. This is the Mass for the Fifth Sunday of Easter. And this is not a eulogy. This is a homily. And it is my Christian duty in this moment to proclaim to you the good news of t…

“Who can climb the mountain of the Lord? Who can stand in his holy place? (Ps 24:3). Who, indeed? Who can climb this mountain with Jesus? Who can approach the Temple and enter the Holy of Holies that is Calvary? Who can bear his suffering? Or who can bear his glory, for that matter? Psalm 24 gives us the answer: “The man with clean hands and pure h…

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. "When you commit murder, or steal from someone, tell a lie, or commit adultery, these things are not sins because they are forbidden by the Church. They are forbidden because they are sins. The law is there to help us st…

When we think about all the things that make Mary great, what is it that merits her the great honor of being the Mother of the Lord? Is it that she was immaculately conceived? No. Is it that she was assumed into heaven? No. Is it because she was a virgin, or that she was descended from the line of David? No. None of these things about Mary caused h…

Homily preached by Deacon Matt Newsome on Dec. 8, 2022, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church. I aim to answer three questions in this homily. 1) What is the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception? 2) Where does it come from? And 3) What does it matter to us?…

Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Advent (Year A) preached by Deacon Matt Newsome on Dec. 4, 2022, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. Advent is all about preparing for the coming of Christ; both his first coming in history in Bethlehem at Christmas, but more importantly his second coming at the end of history in glory. The rea…

A Thanksgiving Day homily from Deacon Matt. Preached at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic parish on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 2022 (the memorial of Sts. Andrew Dung-Lac and companions). In his first letter to the Thessalonians, St. Paul teaches that it is the will of God that we give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thess 5:18). All circumst…

Homily for the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C) preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on Nov. 6, 2022. The ancient Gnostics considered the soul to be the real person and the body just a shell. Salvation for them meant liberation from the body. Many in our culture — including professing…

How do we go above and beyond in our faith? Doing good is a moral obligation, but enduring evils is also something Christians are called upon to do with charity and patience, trusting in the Providence of God. Homily preached at by Deacon Matt Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on Sunday, October 2, 2022.…

When Jesus says, “Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost?” he’s not really talking about building a tower. He’s illustrating a point about Christian discipleship. Being Christ’s disciple is a major undertaking. It’s not just coming to church on Sunday. It’s about taking up your cross and following C…

When asked how many would be saved, Jesus doesn't offer a number but says that we should "strive to enter through the narrow gate." Having a narrow focus helps us achieve our goals in life in general, but especially in the spiritual life. Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome, campus minister at Western Carolina University, on Sunday, Aug. 22, …

“Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and the evidence of things not seen" (Heb 11:1). But is it reasonable to believe in things not seen? Is faith just superstition? Deacon Matt talks about the reasonableness of the Catholic faith in this homily preached at St. Mary Mother of God Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on Sunday, August 7, 2022.…

Homily preached on July 3, 2022, the 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C) at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church. Jesus sends his disciples out "like lambs among wolves" to proclaim the kingdom of God. Today, proclaiming God's kingdom means upholding the dignity of all human life, especially the most vulnerable.…

As important as the Holy Spirit is to our lives as Christians, it's safe to say that the Third Person of the Trinity remains something of an enigma to most of us. In this homily, Deacon Matt talks about why that is and helps us to relate to the Holy Spirit by exploring the Spirit's role in the life of the Trinity and in the life of the Church. Prea…

It’s very easy, after encountering Christ, to return to our usual routine and live our lives as if nothing has changed. Like Peter and the other Apostles, we sometimes need a reminder of our calling, or our mission. What is the mission of a Christian? Do we even know? Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on the 3rd Sunday of Easter, May 1, 202…

Homily preached by Deacon Matt Newsome on Easter Sunday at St. Mary Mother of God parish in Sylva, NC. "When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who ha…

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent (Year C readings) preached at the Catholic Campus Ministry chapel of Our Lady of the Annunciation at Western Carolina University on Sunday, April 3, by Deacon Matt Newsome. "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her" (Jn 8:7)

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent, using the readings from Year A for the scrutinies, preached on Sunday, April 3, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die" (Jn 11:25-26).…

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on the First Sunday of Lent, March 6, 2022.

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C), preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC on February 6, 2022.

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on December 5, 2021, for the 2nd Sunday of Advent (C).

Homily preached on November 7, 2021, by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, for the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B). "Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her pover…

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time (B), October 10, 2021, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on September 5, 2021, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. How does the "Messianic Secret" correspond with the Church's evangelical mission?

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on Aug. 1, 2021, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst” (Jn 6:35).

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on Sunday, July 4, 2021, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

Homily for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ (Corpus Christi), preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on June 6, 2021.

Preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on May 16, 2021.

Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter preached on the campus of Western Carolina University by Deacon Matthew Newsome, campus minister, at the final campus Mass of the Spring 2021 semester.

Homily for Easter Sunday preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church, Sylva, NC, April 4, 2021.

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on the 3rd Sunday of Lent (Year A readings for RCIA), March 7, 2021, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.