St. Thomas the Apostle Parish

Homily for the Memorial of St. Anthony, Abbot

In our Gospel reading today, we encounter the well-known story of Jesus healing the paralytic on the mat. While the man's healing is significant, it serves as a part of a larger narrative: the forgiveness of sins. This healing demonstrates to the doubters and critics that Jesus possesses the authority to forgive sins. As we observe in many healing stories, it is through their faith that people receive healing and forgiveness. This is not merely a reward; their faith opens them to God's healing power, which is always present.

The primary focus of this story is not the healing of the body but the transformation of our souls through God's forgiveness of our sins and the healing of our relationships with God and one another. This healing occurred because the paralyzed man's friends because they believed Jesus could heal him. Indeed, their faith changed their lives and the life of their friend.

Let us pray for the faith we need to invite God's healing power into our hearts and souls.

Homily for Thursday of the 1st Week in Ordinary Time

Throughout His earthly ministry, the people who came to Jesus in the greatest numbers were often those who were suffering, distressed, or had little to hold onto in life. These individuals recognized that He came to bring them life, particularly for the broken, the lost, and those in pain.

Similarly, we approach the Lord with a sense of urgency when we are struggling or in distress. Like the crowds in the Gospel, we reach out to touch the Lord in our moments of brokenness, recognizing Him as the ultimate source of healing and life. 

The Lord is just as present to us today as He was to the crowds in Galilee long ago. He remains our strength in weakness, healing in brokenness, and life amidst our varied experiences of loss. We can approach Him with the same confidence and assurance of being welcomed as those crowds did in Galilee.

Homily for Wednesday of the 1st Week in Ordinary Time

In today's Gospel passage, we encounter two distinctive traits of Jesus. The first is His ministry of healing. Jesus healed Simon's mother-in-law, who was suffering from a fever, by taking her hand and helping her to stand. Later that evening, many people brought others who were ill or possessed by demons to Him. The town gathered as He cured the sick and cast out numerous demons, making it a public event.

The Gospel then highlights a second, more private trait of Jesus. It describes how He went to a deserted place in the morning to pray. However, Simon and others pursued Him, interrupting His time for prayer, rest, and solitude because they wanted Him to continue His work. Eventually, perhaps feeling weary, He agreed to move on, saying, "Let us go on to the nearby villages so that I may preach there also. For this purpose, I have come."

Simon Peter and the others did not appreciate Jesus' need for quiet time and rest. They even rebuked Him by saying, "Everyone is looking for you." Yet, Jesus understood that the source of His life-giving work was His relationship with God, which required dedicated time for prayer. For Him, this time spent in prayer was just as important as His healing work.

Prayer is not just a spiritual practice, it is a necessity for us as it was for Jesus. We must maintain a close relationship with the Lord to live as He desires and partake in His work. In prayer, we acknowledge and express our dependence on the Lord; we open ourselves to His life-giving presence, enabling us to become channels of that presence for others. 

Homily for Tuesday of the 1st Week in Ordinary Time

Just as the people of Capernaum crowded around Jesus, He invites us to listen to His "new teaching with authority." His teachings, which brought new life to those in darkness, are not just a historical account but a call to action for us today. We, too, are in need of this new life and renewed perspective.

The Old Testament often describes the struggles of ordinary people and how they faced them. Similar challenges faced by those in Jesus' time are illustrated in the stories of Him driving out demons and speaking with authority. 

Today's scriptures encourage us to seek answers to the profound and creative grace that underlies our existence. They remind us to wait patiently and prayerfully, to pour out our souls to God, to be prepared for personal struggles through moments of simplicity and by emptying ourselves, and to recognize that Jesus has experienced all our trials firsthand so that, in Him, we may find our true glory and honor as children of God.

Homily for Monday of the 1st Week in Ordinary Time

Whenever people interact with one another, they can experience transformative moments. Simon, Andrew, James, and John's interactions with Jesus were such moments for these four fishermen; they encountered God's life-giving power present in Jesus. This power of God, embodied in Jesus, was a power of love. This love promised forgiveness, healing, and acceptance, providing them with a mission in life.

The kind of encounter that four fishermen had with Jesus is also offered to each of us. Jesus is not merely a historical figure who existed in the past. He is the living Lord, still present with His Church and the world, continually calling and interacting with us in our daily lives, just as He engaged with the four fishermen while they were doing their work.

The Lord encounters us and speaks to us through the Sacraments, especially during the celebration of the Eucharist, through Scripture, through the people we meet, through nature, and from deep within our souls. Each time we encounter the Lord, we receive the Good News of God's unconditional love for us. We also hear the call to mission—to be good news for others, to be the Lord's body in the world; His feet, hands, mouth, eyes, and ears. "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of people." Today, we pray for the grace to be open and responsive to the Lord's presence.

Homily for the Baptism of the Lord

In 2006, a film titled Stranger Than Fiction, starring Will Ferrell and Emma Thompson, was released. It is a gently absurd fable that, despite its implausible premise, serves as a thought-provoking meditation on the meaning and purpose of life.

Ferrell portrays Harold Crick, a colorless and compulsive IRS auditor in the film. An unvarying routine and a rapid, computer-like proficiency with numbers characterize his life. His apartment is meticulously neat and unadorned. He is unfailingly polite and cooperative, yet he feels terminally lost and lonely.

Everything changes when Harold hears a woman's voice narrating his life. He cannot silence the dry, British female voice in his head, which describes the story of his empty days as he is living them.

As he becomes increasingly unhinged by this voice, Harold discovers that he is a character in a novel being written by a once-bestselling author struggling with severe writer's block.

As the writer unfolds her story about Harold, he must make crucial decisions about the direction of his life. He grapples with whether his life is a comedy or a tragedy and considers whether he is cast as a romantic lead or a selfless hero. Guided by the unshakeable voice in his head, Harold becomes a puzzled but hopeful seeker of love, friendship, and the small joys of life he has overlooked, like homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Without revealing the ending, it is essential to note that Harold evolves into someone willing to give his life to save another. The narrator/novelist realizes Harold is "exactly the kind of man [a storyteller] should keep alive."

In the accounts of Jesus' baptism, the evangelists depict the Holy Spirit as descending upon Jesus, hovering over him "like a dove." The same Spirit that rests upon Jesus after his baptism also descends and resides within us.

The Spirit that hovers within us resembles the voice Harold Crick hears; the Spirit of God functions as the narrator of our own lives, encouraging us to live our "stories" with compassion and mercy.

God's Spirit communicates with us in the deepest and most hidden parts of our hearts; it is the very essence of God animating and guiding us. This Spirit is a wellspring of grace and wisdom, courage and perseverance, empowering us to become the people of justice, peace, and goodness God intended us to be.

Homily for Saturday after the Epiphany of the Lord

John the Baptist was a humble person who understood his identity in God's eyes. He recognized his strengths and weaknesses, knowing that his life was meant to revolve around the One who was to come—Jesus. 

This awareness was not a burden for him; instead, he found overwhelming joy in Jesus's arrival and his role in Jesus' mission. He recognized that he was the herald of good news but not the good news itself. When Jesus came, John willingly stepped aside, and in doing so, he became first among many. 

By embracing humility, we find our true purpose and value in God's eyes. Prayer can be a complete offering of oneself to God, allowing for the exchange of life and love.

Homily for Friday after the Epiphany of the Lord

The Lord demonstrates true service by reaching out to those marginalized by society. Instead of seeking the powerful and wealthy, Jesus engaged with the poor, as well as tax collectors, prostitutes, and thieves, encouraging their dignity.

In today's Gospel, He encounters a man with leprosy who was required to live apart from society and declare his unclean status. Defying convention, the man approaches Jesus, begging to be made clean. Jesus' response is profound; He touches the leper, shocking everyone around Him. This act of compassion and acceptance illustrates Jesus' mission to heal and restore, embodying the “pastoral” risk-taking that defines being a fisher of God's people.

Homily for Thursday after the Epiphany of the Lord

In the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus clearly articulated His purpose, choosing a profound passage from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…” This scripture embodies joy, freedom, and justice, reflecting the divine power to liberate the oppressed. The people were initially impressed and hopeful, but their support quickly turned to hostility, foreshadowing the opposition He would face throughout His ministry from religious authorities who resisted His vision of freedom and fraternity.

Even during His crucifixion, the Spirit remained with Him, and His mission culminated in His sacrificial death. He proclaimed God’s grace and mercy, especially toward the marginalized, though His expansive vision of God’s love was too challenging for His neighbors. Ultimately, Jesus offers transformation and belonging to all, regardless of their past struggles.

Homily for Wednesday after the Epiphany of the Lord

The Gospels frequently show Jesus in prayer. After miraculously feeding a large crowd, He went up the hillside to pray. While He sought solitude, prayer did not separate Him from the world's challenges. In fact, prayer made Him even more attuned to the needs and struggles of others. While praying, He thought of His frightened friends, exhausted from rowing across the stormy lake. He paused His prayer to go to them and help them, saying, "Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!"

Though Jesus maintained a close communion with His Father, He also remained connected to the needs of the people around Him. This duality is evident in our own inner lives as well. In prayer, we become aware of God's presence, tuning into the divine within us. This awareness also prompts us to consider others and empathize with their needs. Unsurprisingly, the One we reach out to in prayer is filled with love for others; thus, conversing with Him reminds us to care for those around us. Often, our prayers take the form of intercessory petitions for ourselves and others. Genuine prayer strengthens our connection with God and broadens our concern, especially for those facing the storms of life.