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Mystery of Human Affliction "Illness can lead to anguish, self-absorption, sometimes even despair and revolt against God. It can also make a person more mature, helping him discern in his life what is not essential so that he can turn toward that which is..." (October 25, 2009 - Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)
Whoever Wishes to be Great "We all fantasize about greatness, but very few make the sacrifice to achieve it. Jesus spells out the price..." (October 18, 2009 - Twenty-Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)
The Best Exegetes "St. Rose and St. Martin illustrate Jesus' words, 'Go sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me'..." (October 11, 2009 - Twenty-Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)
Male and Female He Made Them "They only hear the Church say, "No." No sex before marriage, no pornography, no cohabitation, no adultery, no homosexual acts, no contraception, no in vitro fertilization. They hear the Church say, "no," but they don't know the reason why..." (October 4, 2009 - Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)
Gehenna "Still, I cannot faithfully represent Jesus and not speak about hell. He spoke about it often. Before defining hell (telling you what it is) let me explain the image Jesus uses..." (September 27, 2009 - Twenty-Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)
The Antidote for Envy "In the Divine Comedy, Dante describes a cure for envy..." (September 20, 2009 - Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)
Jesus' Identity "That's good as far as it goes, but Jesus has more. He makes it clear that you cannot understand his identity - who he is - apart from the cross..." (September 13, 2009 - Twenty-Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)
Hearing His Voice "I would like to tell you about a man who heard the Lord's voice in an extradordinary way. The man was Tom Burnett. You may not recognize his name, but all of you have heard about what he did for our country..." (September 6, 2009 - Twenty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)
Not Add Nor Subtract "But we should also recognize that the phrase 'accept Jesus as one's personal Lord and Savior' is a human tradition. You will not find those precise words in the Bible - or that it comprises the totality of salvation. As I pointed out a couple weeks ago, the Bible teaches these steps to salvation..." (August 30, 2009 - Twenty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)
Homily for funeral of Fr. Ramon Velasco "The funeral homily has two purposes..." (August 28, 2009)
Crossing the Line "To receive Communion we cross a line - make a commitment to stand with Jesus, no matter what. In the 'Guidelines for Reception of Communion,' the bishops underscore this commitment..." (August 23, 2009 - Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)
Unless You Eat "'If you died tonight, do you know where you would spend eternity?' In other words, do you know what is necessary for salvation? We get some help in today's Gospel..." (August 16, 2009 - Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)
Mistaken Familiarity "We sometimes approach Communion casually. We form a line and take Communion in the hand. There is nothing wrong with that, but in our culture it can have unfortunate associations..." (August 9, 2009 - Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)
I Am the Bread of Life "This Sunday I want to address the 'Sign of Peace.' There has been a misunderstanding: We've gotten the idea that we create community..." (August 2, 2009 - Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)
Think of All the Souls "Where other people see subjects, soldiers, constituents and voters, Jesus see souls...'" (July 26, 2009 - Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)
Rest a While "'I worked hard all my life as an electrician. I thought the priesthood would be easy by comparison - only a few hours on Sunday morning...'" (July 19, 2009 - Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)
Repent and Pray "Last Sunday I mentioned a girl who reported an apparition of the Virgin Mary. The girl is a teenager and she told me about it with such simplicity that she seemed very credible...." (July 12, 2009 - Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)
Some Requests "So we can get off to a good start, I would like to make three requests regarding participation in Mass - and one request concerning food..." (July 5, 2009 - Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)
For Your Love and Fidelity "Today I want to say a broader - and perhaps deeper - word of thanks. Many people have given me gifts - without realizing how great those gifts are..." (June 28, 2009 - Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)
Who Calms Storms "President Lincoln was moving toward that awareness as the war neared its end. As a young man, Lincoln saw God as a distant figure - uninvolved in human life and history. The great storm - the Civil War - made him reflect more deeply..." (June 21, 2009 - Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)
What Have I Given You? "One of the students, a second grader, expressed it best. He said, 'The greatest time I will always remember is...'" (June 14, 2009 - Corpus Christi, Body & Blood of Christ)
Purpose of Our Existence "Mary can help us realize the purpose of our existence...Above all she wants you to know her Son, his Father and the One who overshadowed her." (June 7, 2009 - Trinity Sunday)
The Soul's Most Welcome Guest "In his wonderful book, Mary, Mother of the Son, Mark Shea has a short reflection on The Coming of the Holy Spirit..." (May 31, 2009 - Pentecost Sunday)
What Good-Bye Means "Saying good-bye is one of the most painful things in life. Even if we have the good hope of seeing each other again, to say good-bye reminds us of the final separation that all of us must face. Again, I think of my dad..." (May 24, 2009 - Ascension of the Lord)
A Physical Relationship "Sometimes people say that we have lost our sense of spirituality. I say the opposite: We have lost our sense of physicality. How else could we see being male or female as something accidental...?" (May 17, 2009 - Sixth Sunday of Easter)
Because We Keep His Commandments "We cherished other things more than children. We did not honor paternity and maternity. Instead we embraced contraception and abortion - and now we are suffering the consequences..." (May 10, 2009 - Fifth Sunday of Easter)
Basics of Salvation "Buddha, Mohamed, Confucius - they all have their place in history, but only one person can save us, Jesus...'" (May 3, 2009 - Fourth Sunday of Easter)
The God of Our Fathers "It is true each one of us must have a personal relationship with Jesus, with God. How else could we relate to him than as persons? But personal does not mean that we are isolated individuals...'" (April 26, 2009 - Third Sunday of Easter)
The Eighth Day "At the Hour of Mercy, Fr. Pavone will lead the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. It is a powerful pro-life prayer for 'mothers, that they not abort their offspring; for infants in danger of being put to death in the womb; for a change of heart of providers of abortions and of their collaborators; for human victims of embryonic stem cell research, genetic manipulation, cloning and euthanasia...'" (April 19, 2009 - Second Sunday of Easter Divine Mercy Sunday)
Eternal Life Begins Now "If you feel burdened today, I ask you to think about these words of Pope John Paul the Great: 'We are not the sum of our failures. We are the sum of the Father's love for us...'" (April 12, 2009 - Easter Sunday)
He Learned Obedience "You might ask where a fourteen-year-old boy got such courage. Another martyr, not from Mexico, but from Germany, gave an explanation. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the great German pastor and theologian said, 'Only he who believes is obedient and only he who is obedient believes.'" (April 10, 2009 - Good Friday)
Join the Nearest Household "Only one person showed up for Sunday Mass! The young man took his usual spot in the back of the church and made the Mass responses the best he could. Afterward the young man asked the priest if it was hard saying Mass in an empty church..." (April 9, 2009 - Holy Thursday)
God's Justice "As I was reflecting on St. Mark's account - especially on the part played by St. Peter - an anecdote from the Civil War came to my mind. Although it is humorous, it has a serious point..." (Palm Sunday, April 5, 2009)
A Matter of Life Or Death "But then an illness strikes. Ivan Ilyich believes he can overcome it - like he has overcome every other obstacle. As we would say, he is a fighter..." (Fifth Sunday of Lent, March 29, 2009)
The Beauty of Humility "She said, 'Come on, admit it. Am I not the ugliest woman in France?' Oscar Wilde made a profound bow and said..." (Fourth Sunday of Lent, March 22, 2009)
A Jealous God " A little bit of jealousy can be a good thing. I hope none of the husbands here are like some Norwegians I know..." (Third Sunday of Lent, March 15, 2009)
A Glimpse of the Mystery "Dr. Peggy Hartshorn, president of Heartbeat International, tells a dramatic story about a woman who glimpsed the mystery of her unborn child..." (Second Sunday of Lent, March 8, 2009)
Knee Mail "You may have heard about a way of communicating even better than e-mail. It is called knee-mail..." (First Sunday of Lent, March 1, 2009)
Don't Waste This Crisis "We are like a man waking from a binge. Most of us feel a strange headache, a sense of disorientation - on account of the economic meltdown..." (Ash Wednesday, February 25, 2009)
Man of Contradictions "Darwin was one of the most influential modern thinkers - but he was also (like many of us) a man of contradictions. His theory tended to reduce humans to the level of animals yet Darwin himself had high moral ideals. For example..." (Seventh Ordinary Sunday, Year B, Final Version)
No Forgiveness for Darwin "This year - 2009 - you will hear a lot about Charles Darwin and his book "The Origin of Species." He published it 150 years ago - on November 24, 1859. How should we as Christians (and specifically as Catholics) participate in this commemoration?" (Seventh Ordinary Sunday, Year B, February 22, 2009)
The Power of Compassion "The existence of so much evil and cruelty made Stevenson wonder if God really exists. All of his doubts came together when he first met a leper..." (Sixth Ordinary Sunday, Year B, February 15, 2009)
Entrusted With a Stewardship "Many years ago, in England, three men were pouring into a trough a mixture of water, sand, lime and other ingredients. A passer-by asked them what they were doing..." (Fifth Ordinary Sunday, Year B, February 8, 2009)
Free of Anxiety "God could use any of us to speak a word that brings liberation. An example: You may have heard of Dr. Alveda King - Martin Luther King Jr.'s niece. In the 70's she had received two abortions..." (Fourth Ordinary Sunday, Year B, February 1, 2009)
Repent and Believe "I hope that nobody here thinks that the economy, health care and world peace are the most important things..." (Third Ordinary Sunday, Year B, January 25, 2009)
Chosen with Care "Everyone knew that no one but Clark Gable could be Rhett Butler, but who should play Scarlett O'Hara? David Selznick considered a few dozen actresses to perform the Southern belle. Finally he made a surprising selection..." (Second Ordinary Sunday, Year B, January 18, 2009)
The Power of Baptism "This does not mean that a baptized person will automatically become a saint. Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin both received the sacrament. The person who turns from his baptism has a greater potential for evil..." (Baptism of the Lord, January 11, 2009)
A Glimpse of the Mystery "Since reading about Blessed Luis Maga�a's life, I have had questions about what happened to his wife Elvira and their two children: Gilberto who was about one year old and Maria Luisa who would be born five months after her dad's death..." (Feast of the Epiphany, January 4, 2009)
Three Lessons for the New Year "The first lesson regards our relationship as men and women. Pornography has greatly distorted that relationship. Pornography has always existed, but in the last few decades it has become a tidal wave - and it affects all of us..." (Mary, the Mother of God, January 1, 2009)
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What is a Homily? (Four Purposes of the Catholic Homily)
EWTN Daily Scripture Readings and Homilies (Real Audio)
The Usual Homily (A Parody) "The important thing is to get in touch with yourself, get comfortable with and accept yourself just the way you are. When Jesus said to repent, he meant to stop all that negative thinking. As today's Gospel states..."
Homily for Quincea�era Mass (also sample Ritual)
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