Reflections on the Sunday readings from the Catholic Lectionary for Mass. Includes homilies, sermons, and other thoughts.
A Heavenly Peace…and Justice Jesus gives us many difficult examples in the Gospel today. “Turn the other cheek” best sums up all of them. He tells us when someone wrongs …
Be Open to Hear the Word of God We all know that Jesus performed many healings in his public ministry, most of which were not recorded anywhere. Why then, among …
Being With Jesus In today’s Gospel the Pharisees criticize the apostles for picking heads of grain and eating them on the Sabbath. Jesus responds by reminding them of the time …
The Image of the Love of God We often hear that “God is love.” Yet, this can be a hard thing to understand in the abstract. Love is a concrete …
Catholic Rapture Perhaps you’ve heard various Protestant groups refer to something they call “The Rapture.” It can all be rather confusing as they speak of hoping to be “raptured” away …
The Uncomfortable Call of the Prophet We often think of a prophet as someone who foretells the future. Yet, the primary job of a prophet is to speak not about …
Learning from the Life of St. Augustine Today we celebrate a saint that had perhaps the most famous conversion in the history of the Church. Yet, there were many other …
Lessons from the Lunar Landing [The following homily was given at the opening all-school Mass at Hayden High School in Topeka. It represents a summary of three talks given the …
God Sees Us The Apostle Bartholomew is believed to be the same Apostle also called Nathaniel. Today’s gospel speaks of how Philip brought Nathaniel to Jesus just as we all …
Finding Freedom Through Commitment We are so blessed in this country to have many choices. We have the freedom to choose everything from where we worship, where we live, and …
God Works Through the Unexpected Today and tomorrow our first readings are taken from the Old Testament book of Ruth. This short book tells the story of a very important …
The Need for Personal Lawncare The classic 1954 movie “On the Waterfront” with Marlon Brando has a scene that is very similar to today’s gospel. All the longshoremen show up …
Making the Right Choice One of the things we Americans love most is our freedom and our ability to make choices. Yet, sometimes having to make choices can be very …
The Sadness of Being Ordinary When the Israelites finally enter the promised land, their mission was to be an example to the pagan people they encounter (or else, in some scriptures, …
How can this man give us his flesh to eat? In today’s gospel, Jesus commands us to eat his body and drink his blood. He tells us that his flesh …
Our Bodies Are Holy and Destined for Heaven [This homily was given at the archdiocesan Pro-Life Mass held each month at Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church in Kansas City, KS] …
Tending Well the Fire of God The antiphon for today’s psalm exclaims, “Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!” We often used this image of fire to describe …
Cheerfully Knowing Where You’re Going The words of Jesus in today’s Gospel can sound harsh as he tells us, “Whoever hates is life in this world will preserve it for …
Another New Evangelization The story of the early Church is filled withthe tales of the apostles going out and spreading the faith all over the world. Little by little, the …
Glimpses of God to Keep Us Going Jesus gave Peter, James, and John a great gift on Mt. Tabor. For a brief moment, they saw the divinity of Jesus as …
Mother of God and Our Mother The Council of Ephesus in the year 431 officially affirmed what the Church had always believed, that Mary is rightly called Theotokos or “Mother …
I Saw God in a Man When Peter sees Jesus walking on the sea, he briefly forgets all the trouble they are in on account of the storm. Instead, he …
Moses Learns How to Lead Moses takes on the weight of leading God’s people and finds it too heavy. God reminds him that he’s not supposed to be carrying it …
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass Last week in part 1 of a 4 part series on the Eucharist, I spoke of the Mass in the context of the traditional “family …
We Need a Jubilee…Especially for Marriage St. Alphonsus is one of the 33 doctors of the Church and is known for his teachings on the Eucharist, Mary, and the moral …
Join the discussion on Roe v. Wade as Fr. Shawn Tunink shares insights from the annual Mass for Life in Topeka, Kansas.