A priest of the Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Illinois offers his thoughts on the Word of God as proclaimed throughout the world, Sunday after Sunday.
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Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 7, 2024
8:15
8:15
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First Sunday homily with, perhaps, better audio quality. On standoffishness and its opposite.
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Using a new app for recording MP3 files.
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Heaven will be beyond our imagining ... and also very familiar.
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Second Sunday of Easter, also known as Divine Mercy Sunday, April 7, 2024
10:06
10:06
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Our faith does depend upon the testimony of witnesses.
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Understanding is superior to seeing.
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Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, March 24, 2024
3:46
3:46
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The consciousness of Jesus and his self-emptying.
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"Christ learned obedience from what he suffered." This statement from Hebrews may be hard to accept. But Jesus' experience of suffering allows us to bear our own.
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Anger and love can and, very often, do go together.
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Anger.
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Fasting from words.
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Peace is one of the gifts of the season of Lent.
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Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 11, 2024
9:24
9:24
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There are many indications in Mark's Gospel of an aspect of Jesus' personality: that he is eager for solitude and quiet.
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Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 4, 2024
10:33
10:33
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Each of us is more than what we do. The same goes for Jesus.
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Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 28, 2024
8:21
8:21
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The deacon preached on January 21. -- Can we appreciate the peace and calm arising from being freed from mental illness?
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Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 14, 2024
7:48
7:48
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The touching call of Samuel gives all of us hope that we will hear the call of God, even if many times we mishear it.
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Ephesians: The nations beyond the Chosen People inherit the Good News of Jesus' death and resurrection.
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On the Fourth Sunday of Advent, I left the recording device behind, and when I remembered it, I said to myself that I would be mad to run home for it on this absolutely crazy weekend, with Christmas on Monday. -- We'd like to see around the bend, beyond our capacities. But we remember: "Lord, your words have been fulfilled."…
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We make many decisions about who we think is impressive and attractive. We might want to re-think our criteria.
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I remember why December 3 did not get recorded. My recording device had a dead battery. -- Where are we to find comfort and joy?
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"The least" is not Jesus' concept. It is something we have devised so we can tell ourselves to whom to pay attention. Jesus confounds our strategies.
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Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 19, 2023
8:42
8:42
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I cannot recall why I did not record November 12. -- There is more to life than being industrious.
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Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 5, 2023
7:46
7:46
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A focus on today's psalm, 131, about the peace which all profess to desire.
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Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 3, 2023
9:41
9:41
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We must heed St. Paul's words: "Be transformed by the renewal of your mind."
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Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 27, 2023
7:22
7:22
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Peter professes faith in Jesus ... having no idea what his adherence to Jesus will mean.
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Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 20, 2023
7:43
7:43
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I cannot recall why I have no recording for August 13. -- I reflect on a discussion of the nature of interfaith friendship. These words seem quite prescient as we consider the agony in Gaza/West Bank and Israel.
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We consider the feelings of Peter, James and John as they behold their Master transfigured.
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Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 30, 2023, again!
10:26
10:26
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10:26
It appears that I recorded myself twice this Sunday.
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Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 30, 2023
10:29
10:29
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I regret that next Sunday's feast of the Transfiguration keeps us from hearing "What can separate us?" (Romans 8.) So I have included what we otherwise would have heard the following Sunday!
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Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 23, 2023
7:19
7:19
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Do you often rebuke temerity? Are you frustrated by a lack of explanation of Jesus' parables? Why does prayer seem to be so much like groaning?
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Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 16, 2023
8:18
8:18
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I was on vacation on July 9. -- We must open ourselves to the gift of insight, a way of seeing more deeply the meaning of life.
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Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 2, 2023
10:59
10:59
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My best guess is that the deacon preached on June 25. -- A return to Romans 6 and the core teaching on baptism.
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Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 18, 2023
8:18
8:18
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We read from Romans that our salvation is sheer gift.
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Reflections on the Eucharist in light of the death of a man who built an altar.
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Even the First Letter of Peter contains imagery of sheep and shepherding.
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The First Letter of Peter thinks about Jesus' death and resurrection as our "ransom" from eternal death.
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Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy), April 16, 2023
7:57
7:57
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We must take note of the First Letter of Peter, our second reading for the Sundays of Easter this year. There are many statements of encouragement which make us feel more alive.
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Are we, in fact, ready for the gift of resurrection?
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The ninth chapter of John's Gospel causes us to ask: Who is really blind?
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The raising of Lazarus was a sign of the coming resurrection -- and also a provocation.
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On the Second Sunday of Lent, the deacon preached. -- We must be aware of our various thirsts.
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Considering distraction as a major element of temptation leading to sin.
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Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 19, 2023
15:09
15:09
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This homily ran a lot longer than usual, mainly because of late word of the homicide by firearm of an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles. The focus is mainly on our misunderstanding of what Jesus means when he says we are to be "perfect."
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Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 12, 2023
8:16
8:16
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A discussion of the reality of free will.
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Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 5, 2023
10:35
10:35
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Jesus says, "Let your light shine"; but he also says "Don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." Does he contradict himself?
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Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 29, 2023
8:53
8:53
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Jesus begins his Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes: promises that we will be happy even if it seems we are out of step with what most of the world is doing.
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Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 22, 2023
8:04
8:04
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8:04
This is the Sunday of the Word of God, and we begin our year-long reading from the Gospel of Matthew with Jesus' choosing of his first four disciples.
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Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 15, 2023
8:28
8:28
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We are getting started with the long expanse of Ordinary Time and particularly with a continuous reading from Paul's first letter to the Christians of Corinth, Greece.
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The Bishop of Rome Emeritus, Pope Benedict XVI, died yesterday. His resignation in 2013 provided an example to all of us that we all must acknowledge our limits. Mary's identity as "Mother of God" means that she is pointing to her Son and encouraging us to greater amazement at his identity as truly God and truly human.…
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Christmas Mass during the Day, December 25, 2022
10:21
10:21
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In our age of information, the Scriptures for Christmas Day are all about the Word who says everything to us.
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Advent points us to completion and fulfillment. What do we think such fulfillment will look like?
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