08/16/26 Can God Say "No"?

Homily from the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Gossip is speaking of someone else's faults and flaws with no intention to help them at all. Gossip can be easy to recognize when someone else is doing it—and surprisingly difficult to see in ourselves. There are times when we need to speak about another person’s faults. But when there is no intention to help them, our words reveal a blind spot of our own. Mass Readings from September 6, 2026: Ezekiel 33:7-9 Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9Romans 13:8-10 Matthew 18:15-20

Homily from the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time. You cannot become the person you were meant to be without the Cross. No one likes to lose. But there is a difference between getting beaten and forfeiting. Because Jesus has won, the only way we can lose our souls is if we forfeit. Mass Readings from August 30, 2026: Jeremiah 20:7-9 Psalm 63:2-9Romans 12:1-2 Matthew 16:21-27

Homily from the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time. You cannot become the person you were meant to be without the Cross. No one likes to lose. But there is a difference between getting beaten and forfeiting. Because Jesus has won, the only way we can lose our souls is if we forfeit. Mass Readings from August 30, 2026: Jeremiah 20:7-9 Psalm 63:2-9Romans 12:1-2 Matthew 16:21-27

Homily from the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time He gets to reveal Himself to me long before I get to have an opinion of Him. Every one of us will have our own Caesarea Philippi, our place where we must answer the question, "Who do you say that Jesus is?" Who will we say? Will we point to a Jesus who is merely our own particular version of Christ? Or will we actually know the true Jesus? Mass Readings from August 23, 2026:Isaiah 22:19-23 Psalm 138:1-2, 2-3, 6, 8Romans 11:33-36 Matthew 16:13-20

Homily from the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Can God can say no and we still stay? When we come before God and ask for anything, we are making ourselves vulnerable. We are implicitly stating that God has our permission to give us His actual answer. We do not, and we cannot, force God into anything. He might say yes, He might say wait, and He might say no. The question is not, merely, what might God say. The question is, what will we do if the answer is no? Mass Readings from August 16, 2026: Isaiah 56:1, 6-7 Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8Romans 11:13-15, 29-32 Matthew 15:21-28

Homily from the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. God still speaks in storms. God's children can still step in storms. Life is filled with storms. From massive tragedies to normal, everyday battles, every person will regularly find ourselves in the midst of storms. We can often forget that God still speaks in the midst of storms. And God's children are not orphan in the midst of storms. We can still act in the midst of the storm....and discover that saints are made in storms. Mass Readings from August 9, 2026: 1 Kings 19:9, 11-13 Psalm 85:9, 10-14Romans 9:1-5 Matthew 14:22-33

Homily from the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Can money buy happiness? People will wisely claim that money cannot buy happiness. But what if the answer is actually "it depends"? It depends what you spend it on...and HOW you give. Mass Readings from August 2, 2026:Isaiah 55:1-3Psalm 145:8-9, 15-16, 17-18Romans 8:35, 37-39 Matthew 14:13-21

Homily from the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. It is possible to use the gifts, use the opportunities...and lose your heart. King Solomon asked God for an understanding heart, and he was blessed with incredible wisdom. So how did he end so poorly? He did remarkable things, but he failed to do the ordinary things. Mass Readings from July 26, 2026: 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12 Psalm 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-130)Romans 8:28-30 Matthew 13:44-52

Homily from the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Faith grows through trial and prayer. We all want a greater faith...and we all want a purified love. But how does our faith grow and how does our love get purified? Through trial and prayer. But we do not know how to pray as we ought. Prayer is more a posture than it is a procedure. And the posture is trust. Mass Readings from July 19, 2026: Wisdom 12:13, 16-19 Psalm 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16Romans 8:26-27 Matthew 13:24-43

Homily from the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. It is possible to live the rest of your life with no more bad days. Life can be so overwhelmingly difficult and challenging. But challenge and suffering can and do change us; they can break us down or they can change us. Not only that, but every challenge can be united to Christ and can change lives. Mass Readings from July 12, 2026: Isaiah 55:10-11 Psalm 65:10, 11, 12-13, 14Romans 8:18-23 Matthew 13:1-23