Homily from the Second Sunday of Advent.

We worry while we wait.

Advent teaches us not just to wait, but to trust while we wait. When we surrender worry and remember who God is, waiting becomes a place of grace instead of frustration.

Matthew 3:1-12

Homily from the First Sunday of Advent.

The process is the point.

When we are waiting, we often want to be "done". We want to be "there". We want our waiting to be over so that we can start living. But life happens right here and right now. And God is doing something right now. We do not simply endure waiting, we engage during the waiting. The declaration of faithful waiting is: I am confident that this moment is crucial.

Matthew 24:37-44

Homily from The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

The moment of victory is the moment of vulnerability.

We often think that we win by being strong, or beautiful, or clever, or powerful. But Christ wins by another means. Christ the King, Lord of the Universe wins by choosing to empty Himself of all that we think we need to win.

Luke 23:35-43

Homily from the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Would you rather be admired? Or loved?

The Day of the Lord is coming. When everything that is true about our hearts will be revealed. What should not be there must be burned up or transformed so that we can be fully known...and fully loved.

Luke 21:5-19

Homily from the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome.

If you were what you were meant to be, you would set the world on fire.

There are some things that are dedicated...consecrated to be something special. They are meant to be something unique. Others merely used to be something unique. Which one am I?

John 2:13-22

Homily from the Commemoration of All the Faithfully Departed (All Souls).

By the end of this Mass, some things will be changed forever.

Purgatory is an essential teaching of Christianity. It highlights that salvation is both an event and a process. Purgatory is God's gift on continuing the process of making our hearts like His that He began in this life.

John 6:37-40

Homily from the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Nothing to Offer. Nothing to Prove. Nothing to Hide.

When we stand before the gates of Heaven and we are asked why we should be let in...what is our answer? How would we approach Heaven? How do we approach God now? We might approach God with our resume, or as an audition, or with perfection...but we need to approach in a different way.

Luke 18:9-14

Homily from the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Persist through severity.

There are big moments in our lives. We usually think of the beginning or the end of something as the moments of consequence. But the middle often holds the most impactful moments of consequence; times when we are called to persevere...to "remain faithful" to the decisions we have made.

Luke 18:1-8