As we navigate Christian life we fluctuate between two extremes, seeking God’s direction in our lives and seeking to reduce the load His direction requires.” We either seek purpose, engagement, and joy or we feel overwhelmed and ask for relief, help, and support. It is like when I used to play water polo, I always…
Today’s homily is entitled, “How to be real” with God. Our Old Testament reading is from Job, a 42-chapter book about suffering and how it tests ourfriendships and beliefs. It is considered the finest expression of Hebrew poetic genius in thebible. Job is a man that has everything, a wife and ten children, an abundance…
Merry Christmas! On this vigil of the birth of our Lord, we take time to appreciate St.Joseph and his role as the stepfather of Jesus. We look at how a carpenter’s lifebecomes extraordinary as he accepts God’s will and becomes the father of the King ofthe Universe. Joseph is a man of faith. Today’s gospel…
The title of my homily is, “The Lord be with you,” We say some form of this phrase at thebeginning, middle, and end of every mass. I just said it again before I read the gospel. Today’s4th Sunday of Advent readings focus on this very phrase. In the Old Testament we see God theFather using…
Today we begin a new Church year, we move to Year A to Year B of the three year cycle. Our masses will be slightly shorter as we read from the Gospel of Mark who has a succinct writing style, but we have to pay closer attention or we might miss his message entirely. Today…
Today, I’d like to use a car analogy to describe God’s role in our lives. He designed andmanufactured us and in today’s readings he operates as our mechanic. A good mechanicconsiders the conditions a car is exposed to, how the driver responds to those conditions,identifies what might fail, and then offers options for keeping the…
God is great! Amen!? (Amen). Our psalm today says, “Awesome is he, beyond all gods. For all the gods of the nations are things of nought, but the LORD made the heavens.” Finally, it says, “Give to the LORD glory and praise; give to the LORD the glory DUE his name!” Read all
Today’s readings come from times of turmoil. We start the first reading with the words, “The Lord’s way in not fair!” Paul writes the second reading from his prison cell, facing the possibility of death, not unlike the death of Jesus. Paul talks to the Church of Philippi with some of the strongest words in…
Commitment. It’s a foundation of our faith and a theme that runs through all of today’sreadings. God is famous for the commitments between Himself and his people. We see thisthroughout the Old Testament in the various covenants. For example, in Jeremiah a newcovenant is proclaimed, “I will be their God and they shall be my…
Happy summer to all of you, especially those who are visiting St James. We’ve been blessedwith local sunshine today and hopefully you’ve had a chance to enjoy it. In our gospel, Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor, and are burdened, and I will give yourest.“ This is a time of year when we…