8/23/26 Who Do You Say?

Homily from the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. God does not owe me anything. Entitlement does not always look like entitlement. Sometimes, it simply feels like getting what we deserve. Whether it comes from pride or pain, we can believe that we are owed more. But grace is, by definition, an undeserved gift. The cure for entitlement is to stop asking what we are owed and to start asking what God has entrusted to us...and then receive it with gratitude. Mass Readings from September 20, 2026: Isaiah 55:6-9 Psalm 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a Matthew 20:1-16a

Homily from the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time There's angrily resisting reality...and there is saying "yes" to Life. Anger as a Blind Spot doesn't necessarily mean "rage" or "seething". But sometimes the Blind Spot os anger is the subtle, chronic disposition towards Life. Rather than responding to Life, a person can choose to embrace the attitude of resenting Life. Mass Readings from September 13, 2026: Sirach 27:30—28:7 Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12Romans 14:7-9 Matthew 18:21-35

Homily from the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time There's angrily resisting reality...and there is saying "yes" to Life. Anger as a Blind Spot doesn't necessarily mean "rage" or "seething". But sometimes the Blind Spot os anger is the subtle, chronic disposition towards Life. Rather than responding to Life, a person can choose to embrace the attitude of resenting Life. Mass Readings from September 13, 2026: Sirach 27:30—28:7 Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12Romans 14:7-9 Matthew 18:21-35

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