This homily was delivered at my first mass I served as a deacon at St. Mary’s in Richmond, VA on May 19, 2019 At the end of mass last weekend, after inviting the entire St. Mary’s community to yesterday’s diaconate ordination, Fr Mike shared some off-the-cuff words with us. He said: “It fills me with faith to see young, talented…
This reflection was delivered for my seminary community during Morning Prayer. The reading it is referring to is Judith 8:25-27. Nobody comes out of a crucible alive. It is a white-hot furnace designed to melt down the hardest metals. And yet our reading today says point blank: “Not for vengeance did the Lord put them in the crucible to try…
Today’s Office of Readings from St. Gregory the Great has me reflecting on something very near and dear to my heart, namely… the beautiful gift of social media as a pulpit to preach from. Here’s Gregory’s quote: Pray for us that we may have the strength to work on your behalf, that our tongues may not grow weary of exhortation,…
Readings for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time This past weekend, I wrapped up my pastoral year assignment at Our Lady of Mount Carmel by delivering this reflection.
Readings for the Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest Today we hear the prophet Jeremiah say: “Why have you struck us a blow that cannot be healed?” It’s the voice of Israel lamenting that God has allowed them to suffer the consequences of their sins, but it’s also fitting on this feast of Ignatius of Loyola, who suffered a…
Readings for Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time In today’s gospel passage, Jesus is quite angry with the crowds who would not repent and believe. These moments can shock us into asking the question: “Where did nice-Jesus go?”
This is a reflection delivered after mass on the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle. Thomas often gets a bad rap for doubting… but have you ever noticed that he STAYED with the other Apostles a full week after they started raving over something he totally didn’t believe? This is impressive to me, and it teaches us that doubt doesn’t…
Couple weeks ago, we hosted a “Mini-Vocations Retreat” for the youth group at Mount Carmel. Here’s the key-note talk on what a vocation is, as well as how to go about discerning the Lord’s call.
Readings for Tuesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Readings for Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Listen to the song here: