Fr. Joe Dailey: Recent Episodes
Joe Dailey
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Do you remember the moment, a little over 6 years ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Pope Francis gave a unique Urbi et Orbi blessing. He ascended the rainy steps of Saint Peter's Basilica alone, praying for the world and blessing it with the Blessed Sacrament.
I have Mass on Sunday, August 9 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am. The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/isidore-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Jesus places the bread into the hands of the disciples, the very ones who moments before wanted to send the crowds away. In doing so, he reshapes their imagination. They no longer see themselves as managers of scarcity but as participants in God’s abundance.
I am away this weekend.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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St Anne is the Patroness of the Archdiocese of Detroit. We are celebrating the memorial of Sts Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus.
Ben Sirach recalls those countless good people who have lived down through the ages but of whom nothing is known and everything forgotten. Generation after generation, they brought children into the world and handed on their traditions and will continue to do so.
I have Mass on Sunday, July 26 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed: https://stisidore.church/isidore-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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The second image is not about the pearl of great price; It’s about the merchant.“The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant.” (MT 13:45)
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, July 26 @ 7:30/9:30 am. We are celebrating the local feast of Sts. Anne and Joachim. St. Anne is the Patroness of the Archdiocese of Detroit. This homily is for those who are following the lectionary in Ordinary Time.
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In the old Catholic Douay-Rheims Bible translation, the landowner says to them, “Suffer the weeds to grow with the wheat.” Let them grow together. The root word in the Greek that Jesus uses is the word for forgiveness.
I have Mass on Sunday, July 19
at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
at St. Andrew @ 5:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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There is a wonderful line in Paul’s letter to the Romans, 8:28. “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God." All things, not just good things.
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, July 12 @ 7:30/9:30 am
the 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/isidore-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Paul Simon’s, “American Tune,” is a lament for all whose dreams have been shattered, for all who have lost their way.
I have Mass on Sunday, July 5th at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30/11:30 am
the 7:30 am Mass is live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/isidore-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Here is my latest substack post
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“Brothers and sisters: Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (Romans 6:3)
I have Mass on Sunday, June 28th at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
my latest substack post
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"So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." (Matthew 10:32)
I have Mass on Sunday, June 21
at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am (7:30 am live stream here)
frjoedailey@gmail.com
my latest substack
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Francis Thompson calls God, "The Hound of Heaven." It's a hunting metaphor, that God comes hounding after you before the thought ever dawns. God seeks after lost sheep, lost coins, lost sons. It begins with God, always the pursuer.
I have Mass on Sunday, June 14th at St. Isidore @ 7:30 am. The Mass will be live-streamed https://stisidore.church/isidore-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Here is my latest post on substack.
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Today, June 11, as part of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Bishops will consecrate the United States of America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
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video version
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“Your life is so much stronger than ours that it dominates us, absorbs us, and assimilates us to itself…. Although I might have imagined that it was I who held the consecrated Bread and gave myself its nourishment, I now see with blinding clarity that it is the Bread that takes hold of me and draws me to itself. (Tielhard de Chardin, "The Priest, Writings in Time of War.")
I have Mass on Sunday, June 7th, at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am; The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed https://stisidore.church/isidore-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Homily for June 5, 2026 at Holy Name, Birmingham.
https://youtu.be/q4BGKuoPT2c?si=Xj5u_6zgLfW_AVWt
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I had morning Mass at Holy Name in Birmingham https://youtu.be/HqEirLN3DDI?si=0msAyBfaCbjUBhOQ
"I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God." Reflection on 2 Timothy 1:6, Wednesday June 3, 2026
frjoedailley@gmail.com
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Moses implores God: “Although this is a stiff-necked people if now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go with us.” “Let the Lord go with us.” We discover God along the way. We never see God coming, but afterward, in reflecting on our common experience, we recognize the hand of God that was guiding us all along.
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The Spirit is given for this benefit: whenever you or I forgive a brother or sister from the heart, we are participating in Christ’s ministry of forgiveness, exercising the priestly ministry of every baptized Christian.
I have Mass on Sunday, May 24th at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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The Jesuit poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, captures this beautifully in these words from his poem, “As Kingfishers catch fire.”
“Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men's faces.”
I have Mass on Sunday, May 17th at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Instead of talking about Jesus from the outside, in what we have heard and seen, Jesus is inviting us to meet him in a new way. What Jesus was and said is not past, but present, and everything speaks to us from deep within. Jesus is talking about love taking shape within our lives.
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, May 10th at 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Remember the painting that Francis introduced to the church, Our Lady, Untier of Knots? She is not resolving the problem; the way you untie knots is to loosen them. And that’s what Pope Francis was doing. He was untying knots. He was dispelling the fears that we have, especially of people who are different than us.
I have Mass on Sunday, May 3rd
at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
at St. Andrew @ 5:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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God doesn't love you as an abstraction. The good shepherd is personal, because the shepherd calls his own sheep by name. God knows your name. God knows your story, and God knows your agonies. God knows what brought you here this morning; and you are the person God loves.
I have Mass on Sunday, April 26 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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As always, the Bible tells the story not so much of our quest for God as of God's passionate quest for us.
I will be celebrating Mass this Sunday in Paris, France, along with 48 other periginus (pilgrims.)
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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"Who touched my clothes?" Jesus asks when surrounded by a crowd of bystanders. And the disciples are disrespectfully bewildered: "You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, 'Who touched me?"' But no touch is anonymous to Jesus; he can easily make out the touch of yearning and trust of the woman suffering from hemorrhages.
I have Mass on Sunday April 12
at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
at St. Andrew @ 5:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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In the Eucharist, our eyes are opened and we recognize the presence of Christ in the breaking of the bread. We are given the grace to remember in a new way.
I have Mass on Sunday, April 5th at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am. The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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As we gaze upon the cross, there is a still point at the center where all is in harmony, all in balance. It is here at this point where the tensions of the crossings are equal and cannot pull. (The Center by Susan Palo Cherwien, Crossings: Meditations for Worship )
I have Mass on March 29 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am. I will be part of the live Gospel of St. Matthew Passion at 7:30/9:30/11:30 am Masses.
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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One of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I betray him to you? (MT 26:14)
"And He Never Said a Mumblin' Word," CANTUS
I have Mass on March 29 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am. I will be part of the live Passion of St. Matthew at 7:30/9:30/11:30 am Masses.
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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But Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest; and going inside, he sat with the guards in order to see how this would end. (MT 26:57-58)
"And He Never Said a Mumblin' Word," CANTUS
I have Mass on March 29 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am. I will be part of th live Passion of St. Matthew at 7:30/9:30/11:30 am Masses.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. He said, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” (MT 27:3)
"And He Never Said a Mumblin' Word," CANTUS
I have Mass on March 29 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am. I will be part of at the live Passion of St. Matthew at 7:30/9:30/11:30 am Masses.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. (MT 27:27)
"And He Never Said a Mumblin' Word," CANTUS
I have Mass on March 29 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am. I will be part of the live Passion of St. Matthew at 7:30/9:30/11:30 am Masses.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it in clean linen and laid it in his new tomb that he had hewn in the rock. Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb and departed. But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained sitting there, facing the tomb. (MT 27:59-61)
I have Mass on March 29 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am. I will be part of the live Passion of St. Matthew at 7:30/9:30/11:30 am Masses.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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(The Homily begins at minute 6:40) Jesus is experiencing something like a Gethsemane, for he knows that calling Lazarus out of the tomb means that he must enter it. In fact, the belief in Jesus, generated by his raising Lazarus, prompts the religious leaders to plot Jesus’ death.
I have Mass on Sunday, March 22 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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(The Homily begins at the 6:00 minute mark) Where we see sin, Jesus sees something else: Creation is not finished. Reaching down into the dust of the earth from which Adam was created, Jesus continues the Father’s work.
I have Mass on Sunday, March 15 at St. Andrew in Rochester @ 5:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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The woman’s story moves in a new direction when she meets Jesus at the well. There is an essential interplay here. It’s not just our thirst, but God’s thirst for us.
I am away this weekend.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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There is a beautiful moment in today’s Gospel, that only Matthew tells. When the cloud descended, the disciples were overwhelmed. They fell flat on their faces. Quietly and tenderly, Jesus went to them and touched them. “Get up. Do not be afraid.”
I have Mass on Sunday, March 1st at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30am. The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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"The problem with us human beings is never that we do not get what we want. The problem of sin is that we do literally get what we go after, and it looks completely different. Almost as soon as we open our eyes, we notice what we ourselves are without God: mere dust, shamefully naked, helpless, exposed." (Eugen Drewermann)
I have Mass on Sunday, February 22 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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God’s desire for us is not death, but life: “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love”
I have Mass on Sunday, February 15 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am.
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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"And if we are faithful in this way, as an organized Church and as its individual members, we will succeed in announcing Christ to the world until all is seen in full light.” (Lumen Gentium, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, from Vatican II in Plain English by Bill Huebsch)
I am away this weekend, traveling to Rome and Madrid. I attended Pope Leo's audience on Wednesday in the Vatican.
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We are the disciples on the mountain, listening to every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. The very first word that comes out of Jesus’ mouth is “blessed.” Words create realities. The pronouncement of blessing actually conveys the blessing.
I have Mass on Sunday, February 1, at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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All four of these disciples leave their fishing nets, but they do not stop fishing. They are now, in the nearness of the kingdom of heaven, fishers for people. Their past has not been wiped out; it has been transformed by Jesus' call to follow.
I have Mass on Sunday, January 25 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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"Behold, the Lamb of God."
I have Mass on Sunday, January 18 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am. The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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This Epiphany at the Jordan River is deep water; you can't stand on the shore and dip your toes in. You must take a breath and plunge.
I have Mass on Sunday, January 11 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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In the last line of the Gospel, Matthew gives us a spiritual path to follow “And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.” In some ways, this was a dangerous move. In the verses following today’s Gospel, Matthew writes: “When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious.
I have Mass on Sunday, January 4
at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am. the 7:30 am Mass is live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
at St. Andrew @ 5:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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One year at the Christmas Eve Children’s Mass, I was walking the children through Luke’s nativity. I had some cloth figures that I was using to illustrate the Gospel story. Mary and Joseph were making their way to Bethlehem. This particular set of characters included a donkey, so the donkey came with Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. Next, I brought out a manger, and then I placed the baby Jesus in the manger.
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, December 28 @ 9:30/11:30 am
I will have Mass at St. Andrew next Sunday, January 4 @ 5 pm.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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At Christmas, Jesus, who is close to the Father’s heart, comes to embrace us and welcome us home.
I have Mass on Christmas Day at St. Isidore @ 8:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
May the blessings of Christmas be yours in abundance this day and throughout the New Year.
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Matthew’s telling of Joseph’s story empowers us all to take our place on that crowded pageant stage. The rest of us play only supporting roles in the cast. We are not “Gospel leads.” In God’s holy dream, we are accepted as we are: partners in God’s labor. The Savior is of our own lineage. "Unto us" —all of us— "a child is born."
I have Mass on December 21 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Sunday Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
I will have Mass on Christmas Day at St. Isidore @ 8:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.ccom
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There is a principal for interpreting scripture that goes like this, “If something is repeated, it must be important.” Did you notice that Matthew keeps repeating the number 14?
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John the Baptist was sent as a messenger to prepare the way of the Lord. And now, awaiting execution, John's death at Herod's hands will foreshadow Jesus' own death on the cross. On the cross, Jesus prayed the opening line of Psalm 22, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" Inside his cell, John faces his own experience of abandonment and doubt.
I have Mass on Sunday, December 14
at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
at St. Andrew @ 5:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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At the heart of Christmas is the Christ child who is born among us. Imagine you are the child, sleep in the manger, awakening to the vision of God’s kingdom.
I have Mass on Sunday, December 7 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am. The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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About a month ago, King Abdullah II of Jordan, and his wife, Queen Rania visited Pope Leo at the Vatican. During their photo-op, Rania brought up the Pope’s upcoming visit to Lebanon, and wondered whether it was safe for him to go there. Pope Leo responded, “Well, we’re going.”
I have Mass on Sunday, November 30th at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am. livestream https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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We don't "see" the light itself; we see things because of the light. In the light of Christ, we are being given a glimpse of the very being of God’s own self. We are made in God’s image, so our lives can reflect the way God thinks and loves.
I have Mass on Sunday, November 23 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Jesus, and the crowd around him, are standing in front of the Temple, but they are not seeing the same thing. The crowd are marveling at the costly stones, while Jesus sees that not one stone will be left upon another stone.
This weekend at all the Masses, Archbishop Weisenburger is announcing the start of a multi-year reorganization process in the Archdiocese of Detroit.
I have Mass on Sunday, November 16 at St. Isidore @ 7:30 am. live stream link: https://vimeo.com/1135452720?fl=pl&fe=vl
I have Mass at St. Andrew @ 5:00 pm.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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We are called and sent from within these walls, like a river that flows out into the desert, allowing God's Spirit to flow through us, not to block it, but to let it flow through us, so that all who hunger and thirst for God may be satisfied. And all those who are wounded may find their way back home.
I have Mass on Saturday, November 8 at Holy Name Church in Birmingham @ 4 pm.
I have Mass on Sunday, November 9 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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There is a local cemetery in Lake Orion, right around the corner from the parish where I had been pastor for 31 years. I buried a lot of people in that cemetery, so I know a lot of the neighbors. We bought graves there for our whole family. When people found out that a priest was going to buried in the cemetery, all the graves around us sold.
I have Mass on Sunday, November 2nd at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am. The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Luke tells a familiar story in chapter 19 about a wealthy tax collector who kept his distance. “Zacchaeus kept trying to see who Jesus was, but he was too short and could not see him for the crowd; so he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was to pass that way.”
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, October 26 @ 9:30/11:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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“There are moments in the history of humanity,” Tomáš Halík writes, “as well as in the history of the church and in our own lives, when we are confronted more than at other times with God’s hiddenness, God’s silence.”
I have Mass on Sunday, October 19 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am. The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed.
https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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The lone Samaritan has a dilemma: to which temple should he report? Jesus surely means the Jerusalem Temple, but as a Samaritan he recognizes Mount Gerizim as the true place to worship God, and his priests are, of course, the Samaritan priests at Gerizim.
I have Mass on Sunday, October 12 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am.
The 7:30 am Mass is live-streamedhttps://stisidore.church/video_post/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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I am preaching this homily on our pilgrimage in Poland. We visited Auschwitz/Brirkenau camp this morning; we are celebrating Mass in Sanktuarium Pasyjno-Maryjne, where Karol Wojtyra (St. John Paul II) came on pilgrimage as a boy.
When I visited Krakow in 2001, we toured the Wawel Cathedral. There's a great bell in the tower, like Big Ben in London. It weighs 11 tons and it takes 12 people to ring it. This bell is named Zygmunt, and it has been rung for every major event in Poland since it was cast in 1520.
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I think the key to this parable is the gate. The rich man is on one side; Lazarus is on the other. In the story, the gate never opens. In fact, its role as a barrier eventually translates into an uncrossable chasm in eternity.
I am away this weekend.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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The steward realizes that generosity is the best investment. He gets himself out of a hole by building social capital. It is irrelevant, apparently, that he gives away what does not belong to him.
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, September 21 @ 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Christ is the word that went forth from the mouth of God, achieving the saving purpose for which he was sent, and then returned to take his place with God in glory.
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, September 14 @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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In 2020, I saw the Sundance Documentary Film, “Crip Camp.” The title comes from a 1970’s summer camp for handicapped teens, which in those days were called crippled children, hence the name, "Crip Camp." (The movie is showing on Netflix.)
I have Mass on Sunday, September 7
at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am.
at St. Andrew @ 5:00 pm
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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A few years later I visited the St. Egidio community in Rome. On Christmas morning, after the last mass, all the chairs in the church are rearranged, tables are set up, and a banquet is served to the poor in the neighborhood.
I have Mass on Sunday, August 31 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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At the opportune time, the caterpillar spins itself inside the narrow space of the chrysalis, to emerge, transformed, into a butterfly.
I have Mass on Sunday, August 24 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Jeremiah was thrown into a cistern, where he would have died if Ebed Meloch hadn’t pulled him out. Jeremiah’s sin was being faithful to the word of God, which left him odd man out. Four against one. Jeremiah had to be gotten rid of.
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, August 17 @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Shifting from a scarcity outlook to one of abundance takes time. We’ve believed the lie of scarcity for so long that we may find it hard to believe it’s not true.
I have Mass on Sunday, August 10 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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When we began a style of production and consumption that would eventually ravage planet Earth, Francis decided to love Mother Earth and live simply and barefoot upon her.
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, August 3rd @ 9:30/11:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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The Hebrew letter lamed is 30 and the letter vav is six; together, the two letters equal 36 – the number of the righteous in every generation whose virtue keeps the world from destruction. These 36 hidden righteous ones are called Lamed-vavniks. They live both for themselves and for others (twice chai); meeting the world’s suffering with compassion.
I have Mass on Sunday, July 27 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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“Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.” We are so sure we know where this story is going, we run right past the opening line.
I have Mass on Sunday, July 20th
at St. Isidore, 9:30/11:30 am
at St. Andrew, 5:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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I preached the memorial service for NHL Hockey hall of fame legend, Alex Delvecchio, at Modetz Funeral Home, Saturday, July 12. (2 Corinthians 4:5–10, Psalm 23, Matthew 11:25-30.)
We do not come to God alone. Someone brings us to faith, and we help others find their way to God. There is no solitary way to heaven. In our Catholic imagination, If we’re going to be saved, we are saved together.
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The Samaritan is the despised one who puts himself at risk in coming to the aid of the wounded man. Jesus is already doing likewise.
I have Mass on Sunday, July 13 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass is live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
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Someone caught up with Jesus and said, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Luke appears to think that the same thing might just apply to all of us. “Take nothing with you; carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals."
I have Mass on Sunday, July 6 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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The church is not just the place we come to, it is the place from which we are sent forth. We need both, Peter and Paul. Peter, the Rock, who centers us and grounds us in faith; and Paul, the missionary, who calls us to go out to live the good news with our lives.
I have Mass on Sunday, June 29 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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New Testament scholar, Fr. Francis Moloney, OSB, in his essay, “A Body Broken for a Broken People”, writes, “Jesus eats with people who fail, even at the Last Supper.”
I have Mass on Sunday, June 22 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Ever since I heard the news of Brian Wilson’s death this week, I keep hearing over and over in my head, “God only knows what I’d be without you.” The song reassures us that love will never end. “As long as there are stars above you, you never need to doubt it. I’ll make you so sure about it.”
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, June 15 @ 7:30/9:30 am
the 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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In the Acts of the Apostles, on the day of Pentecost, THEY were all in one place together. A few verses earlier Luke told us exactly who THEY are: Mary the Mother of Jesus was there, along with about 120 persons.
I have Mass on Sunday, June 8 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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So before leaving them, he tells his disciples to go back to Jerusalem and there wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. If they want to find Jesus, they will find him in the Christian community, in the midst of their every day lives.
I have Mass on Sunday June 1, at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
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Although we refer to Scripture as the “Word of God,” it is Jesus of Nazareth who is the "Word of God" made flesh and dwelling among us. So this collective memory is fluid and dynamic.
I have Mass on Sunday, May 25 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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While the story of the Bible begins with a garden, it ends in a city. The new Jerusalem is the fulfillment of all human dreams for the community. This is not a vision of individuals communing one-on-one with God or Jesus, but rather an interdependent community, a city, living out the essential nature of human life.
I have Mass on Sunday at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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How appropriate that we welcome a new shepherd as the Bishop of Rome on this 4th Sunday of Easter, that we call Good Shepherd Sunday. The whole world was stunned Thursday afternoon to hear the name of the American Cardinal, Robert Francis Prevost, chosen to be our new pope. He has taken the name Leo XIV.
I have Mass on Sunday, May 11
at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
at St. John Fisher @ 6:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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In our Easter readings from the Gospel of John, there are a series of encounters between various groups of disciples and the risen Lord. But in each of the three episodes, one of the disciples is singled out as if a dance partner with the risen Christ.
I am away this weekend celebrating First Communion with my Grand-Niece.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Jesus speaks clearly to this moment, not with words, but with a gesture; He showed them his hands and his side.
I have Mass on Sunday, April 27
at St. Isidore, 7:30/9:30 am
at St. Andrew, 5:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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In John, no well-informed angels rushed in to explain the missing body. Mary had expected to find at least a corpse; instead she found a void, an opening in the darkness.
I have Mass on Easter Sunday Morning at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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I will be at St. Isidore this Sunday for all three Sunday morning Masses: 7:30/9:30/11:30 am; I will preside at the 7:30/9:30 am Masses, but I will be part of the passion proclamation with several readers at all three Masses.
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
I have mass on Easter Sunday at 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM
Frjoedailey@gmail.com
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They place the woman alone beside Jesus, which, as it turns out, is exactly where Jesus wished to be. Beside the sinner.
I have Mass on Saturday, April 5, at St. Andrew, 5:00 pm
I have Mass on Sunday, April 6, at St. Isidore, 7:30/9:30 am
the 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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I preached a different homily at the Mass for the 2nd Scrutiny with the Elect (Catechumens), using the readings for Cycle A: John 9, the Man Blind from Birth.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/033025-YearA.cfm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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One of the characters that I think we overlook in the story is the fatted calf. Do you know how much the fatted calf weighs? About 750-800 pounds. Reconciliation is for the whole community.
I have Mass on Sunday at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
I have 5:00 pm Mass on Saturday, April 5 at St. Andrew
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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The fig tree is standing in for the cross. Only by standing under the cross will we be able to understand how God is leading us out of the place of slavery and death into a land of promise and abundance.
I have Mass on Sunday, March 23 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Rudolph Otto defined the sacred as “mysterium tremendum et fascinans” —a fearful and fascinating mystery. That mysterious Other who draws us almost irresistibly, at the same time fills us with awe and even dread.
I have Mass on Sunday, March 16
at St. Isidore, 7:30/9:30 am
at St. Andrew, 5:00 pm
the 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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The devil tempts Jesus three times with the little word, "If." "If you are" is supposed to cause Jesus to doubt that he is the Son of God and feel the need to prove it.
I am off this weekend. Next Sunday I will have Mass @ St. Isidore at 7:30/9:30 am and St. Andrew @ 5 pm.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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It’s the beam in our own eye that makes the world look splintered. You know how it is with pointing fingers, one is pointed, but three are pointing back at you.
I have Mass on Sunday, March 2nd at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@mac.com
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The Greek word for grace is CHARIS. When Jesus builds his rhetorical crescendo, criticizing reciprocal love (even sinners do that!), the word translated as “credit” is CHARIS. The phrase is better translated, “If you love those who love you, what grace [CHARIS] is that to you?”
I am away this weekend.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Keeping my eyes fixed on Jesus, I find the center, a level ground on which to stand. Jesus is the still point in a turning world. Like a tree, planted by the water, I shall not be moved.
I have Mass on Sunday, February 16 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
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Simon Peter is all in. He is entirely present to himself; not just Simon, the big hearted, impulsive man, “If you say so, I will let down the nets.” But Peter as well, the one who will hand Jesus over out of fear: “I don’t know him!”
I have Mass on Sunday, February 9
at St. Isidore, 9:30/11:30 am
at St. Andrew, 5:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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The child masks the power of God in apparent weakness, yet it is in just such weakness that the true power of God’s saving love is revealed.
I have Mass on Sunday, February 2, at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass will be live streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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I was reading about Handel’s famous “Largo” from the Opera, “Xerxes.” I found the music, sat down at the piano and played it. Reading music is a lot like reading the Word of God. Living the Word of God is like playing the notes. The music only comes alive when played, otherwise it is just black dots on lines on a page. When the melody of God’s Word becomes the song in our lives, we become doers, and not mere hearers of the word. The Word becomes flesh in us.
I have Mass on Sunday, January 26 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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The Fourth gospel reveals Jesus’ glory through a series of seven signs. It stands to reason that Jesus’s first public “sign” takes place at a wedding feast, for Jesus himself is the marriage of divinity and humanity. (Icon by Greta Leśko)
I have Mass on Sunday, January 19
at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
at St. Andrew @ 5:00 pm
St. Isidore 7:30 am will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Like a shepherd gathering the lost, the glory of God is the sons and daughters of God coming home. (Reading Isaiah 40:1-5,9-11)
I have Mass on Sunday January 12 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30/11:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass is live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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There is a wonderful line in The Shack: Mack asks Jesus, “Do all roads lead to you?” He replies, “Not at all. Most roads don’t lead anywhere” – and then adds, “What it does mean that I will travel any road to find you.”
(Wm. Paul Young, The Shack)
I have Mass on Sunday, January 5th at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Barbara Brown Taylor notices a change of perspective with Christmas. See how Luke describes it in today’s Gospel: “The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger." (Luke 2:16) “Everyone in the story is looking down, at a baby they could all see. The light had moved. It was coming from below, not above.”
I have Mass at Holy Name in Birmingham on December 31 @ 4:00 pm.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Sometimes this story is called “The Child Jesus Lost in Jerusalem” Or “The Finding in the Temple.” Luke Timothy Johnson names this story “Jesus Teaching in the Temple.” We could look at the losses in our own lives from this perspective, and ask: “What is God trying to teach me through this experience?”
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, December 29 @ 9:30/11:30 am
I have Mass on December 31st at Holy Name in Birmingham @ 4 pm.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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In receiving the gift of God, we, in turn, become the gift. “He gave power to become children of God.” In this interim time, we must be the face of God for each other. To see those who are invisible and smile on those who feel ashamed.
I have Mass on Christmas Morning at St. Isidore @ 8:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Luke gives us Elizabeth’s response, "but Mary would have certainly spoken first. ‘Peace, Peace be with you’. And this simple greeting made something vibrate, someone, inside of Elizabeth. And in this vibration, something was said. … Which is the Good News. (Blessed Christian de Chergé, Trappist monk, 20th Century Martyr of Algeria)
I have Mass on Sunday, December 22 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
I will have Mass on Christmas Morning at St. Isidore @ 8:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Even Zephaniah, who has been called the “gloomiest” of the prophets, did not give devastation and judgment the last word. Zephaniah kept the last word for joy.
“The LORD, your God, is in your midst,
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew you in his love.”
I have Mass on Sunday, December 15
at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
at St. Andrew @ 5:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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This weekend the world will gather to celebrate the restored Cathedral of Notre Dame, Our Lady of Paris, which was nearly destroyed by fire in April, 2019. . . If we can do this, if we can put aside our national interests and come together for a common good, how much more could we do together to repair the world?
I am away this weekend.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Pope Francis read a letter from a Ukrainian student. “When you speak of our pain, when you remember our thousand days of suffering, speak of our thousand days of love, too, because only love, faith, and hope give a real meaning to our wounds.” (Papal Audience at the Vatican, November 20)
I have Mass at St. Isidore on December 1st @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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For fifteen days, Maximilian Kolbe occupied the space of death with such a powerful presence and calm that once he had died there was, according to the survivors, a noticeable change in the ambience of the camp.
I have Mass on Sunday, November 24 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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What had seemed like the end is a discovery of something we didn’t know before. “But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever." (Daniel 12:3)
I do not have Mass this weekend.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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The widow says nothing, and yet her action speaks volumes. The Greek word for her ‘giving her whole life’ prefigures the sacrifice Jesus is about to make.
I have Mass on Sunday, November 10
at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
at St. Andrew @ 5:00 pm.
The 7:30 am Mass is live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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The new Papal Encyclical, Dilexit Nos, begins, in English, “HE LOVED US”. Dilexit Nos looks inward, to the heart, which Pope Francis describes as “a core that lies hidden beneath all outward appearances, the innermost part of ourselves."
I have Mass on Sunday, November 3rd at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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“How do you expect me to be a saint?” Merton asks. “By wanting to,” Lax answers. “All that is necessary to be a saint is to want to be one. All you have to do is desire it. We are meant to be holy, all of us. We’re all called to be saints.” (From "The Seven Story Mountain" by Thomas Merton)
I have Mass on November 1st at St. Kieran Catholic Church @ 7:00 pm
Image: "The Communion of Saints," Tapestry by John Nava, Los Angelos Cathedral.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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The blind man knows it is "Messiah time," the time when the blind see and the poor have their debts canceled and beggars become citizens again.
I have Mass on Sunday, October 27 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
I have Mass on Friday, November 1, All Saints Day, at St. Kieran @ 7:00 pm
I will post that homily later this week.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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This past Tuesday, October 15, was the feast of the Spanish Mystic, Teresa of Avila. I read this wonderful quote this week from Teresa, “It is foolish to think that we will enter heaven without entering into ourselves.”
I have Mass on Sunday, October 20
at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
at St. Andrew @ 5:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Luke paints the picture most vividly. “At that moment, the cock crowed; the Lord turned around and looked straight at Peter.” It’s the same verse we read today in Mark’s Gospel, "Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples."
I have Mass on Sunday, October 13 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
the 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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The Hebrew word for man, ISH, and the word for woman, ISHA, share the same root word, ESH, which is "fire." The words differ by just two letters - a Yod and a Hey, which together form the first part of the Divine Name, YAH. Click for a fuller description of the Hebrew words for Man, Woman and Fire
Here is ISH, ISHA, ESH in picture form
I have Mass on Sunday, October 6 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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“All religions are paths to God. I will use an analogy, they are like different languages that express the divine. (Pope Francis to young people in Singapore)
I have Mass on Sunday, September 29
at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
at St. Andrew @ 5:00 pm
the 7;30 am Mass will be live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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God does something beyond anything we could ever have imagined. God takes the place of the one who is cast out.
I have Mass on Sunday, September 22 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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The cross seems to lead only to death, not life. But when we come to the cross, or rather, when the cross finds us, we discover the way into the deeper life we yearn for, but did not know we wanted.
I have Mass on Saturday, September 14, at St. Kieran @ 4:30 pm
I have Mass on Sunday, September 15, at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass is live-streamed, or watch replay later. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Rather than giving us a geography of the Holy Land, Mark is giving us a geography of the Gospel: Jesus is willing to go everywhere, – Even crossing boundaries into Gentile territory – to find people in need of healing and bring them home.
I am off this weekend.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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In September, 2019, The Vatican hosted an inter-religious forum to reappraise the role of Jesus and the Pharisees.
I have Mass on Sunday, September 1st at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am. The 7:30 am Mass is live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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You might recognize her signature teaching. “But all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” (Julian of Norwich)
I have Mass on Sunday, August 25 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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“The joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted, are the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well." (Gaudium et Spes, 2nd Vatican Council)
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, August 18 @ 7:30/9:30 am
I don't know yet if the 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. Check this link Sunday morning. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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We find Elijah at a vulnerable moment; it has begun to dawn on him that the God who called him is not at all the God he thought he knew.
I have Mass on Sunday, August 11 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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After the Children of Israel are liberated from slavery in Egypt, the remainder of the Torah – almost four of the five books of Moses –takes place in the wilderness.
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, August 4 @ 7:30/9:30 am.
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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Only John tells us that it was a young boy who offered his meager lunch. The Israelites wandered 40 years in the wilderness; the actual trip might have taken 11 days. But it took two generations for the children of Israel to get the taste of Pharaoh’s bread out of their mouths.
When they ate Pharaoh’s bread, all they could taste was scarcity. The boy is the next generation. He sees with new eyes, a world filled with the abundance of God’s creation.
I have Mass on Sunday, July 28 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Pic of potato picking
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The one who is the true Joshua/Yeshua, the one whose name means “Yahweh saves,” has come amongst his sheep. In today's Gospel, Jesus is enacting the fulfillment of Moses' prayer. (Numbers 27) It is the Lord himself who comes as shepherd.
I have Mass on Sunday, July 21 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am.
The 7:30 am Mass is live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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"Before laying the world’s foundation, God chose us in Christ." When God began creating the universe with galaxies and nebulae, God also thought of you. "God determined out of love to adopt us through Jesus Christ, blessing us from heaven through Christ with every blessing of the spirit." (Ephesians 1:3-5)
I have Mass on Sunday, July 14 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
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“Is this not the brother of James and Joses?” In Hebrew, Jacob and Joseph. Jacob of course was the father of twelve sons, Joseph being the youngest, and favored son. And Judah and Simeon, the two brothers who very nearly had Joseph killed.I have Mass on Sunday, July 7 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Joseph and his brothers, Painting by AVI EZRA, Israel.
The woman's fear proves a threshold to her faith. She knows what has happened to her; she falls down before Jesus and tells him all the truth of her healing. She speaks her experience and testifies in the midst of the crowd about what has happened within her.
I am away this weekend. I will have Mass at St. Isidore on July 7th.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
In the night, the disciples seem to have forgotten that Jesus is the one who called them to cross to the other side. The whole time they are beset by wind and waves, Jesus is with them in the boat; they cry out, as if Jesus has abandoned them.
I am away for the next two Sundays. I am back at St. Isidore on July 7th.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
It’s a bit of a stretch to imagine a mustard plant with branches large enough for the birds of the sky to dwell in its shade, but the world Jesus invites us to imagine is a world filled with abundance.
I have Mass on Sunday, June 16 at 7:30, 9:30 and 1130 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Image: The Mustard Seed by James Paterson
https://mbherald.com/the-parable-of-the-mustard-seed/
Inside the house, Mark tells us there are so many people, they are not able to eat. The Greek text says they are not able to eat bread. If the house is divided, it makes sense that we can’t share the Eucharist. Jesus offers a way of 'being a house' which is not divided.
I have Sunday Mass at St. Isidore on June 9 @ 9:30/11:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Jesus does not celebrate the meal with his family, nor does he just gather any of the disciples who happened to be around him. Mark makes clear that Jesus celebrated the Passover with the twelve disciples. The choice of the twelve is not accidental: the twelve apostles are the new Israel.
I have Mass on Sunday, June 2 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
A song is both lyrics and melody. If you try to teach love just using words you’ll miss a big part of it, because love is something that must be embodied, like a melody.
I have Mass on Sunday, May 26 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
“To attempt one language instead of another is to make oneself a learner, a supplicant. It is an act of exploration and of hospitality. To speak across barriers of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, culture, or politics is to challenge stereotypes and risk ridicule. It is a brave and disorienting act.” (Debie Thomas, JourneywithJesus.net)
I have Mass on Saturday, May 18,
at Holy Name Birmingham @ 4:00 pm
I have Mass on Sunday, May 19, at St. Isidore @ 7:30 am livestream
https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
and 9:30 am
Sunday Evening, 5 pm @ St. Andrew, Rochester.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Art: William Grosvenor Congdon (American, 1912–1998), “Pentecost 2,” ca. 1962.
“To attempt one language instead of another is to make oneself a learner, a supplicant. It is an act of exploration and of hospitality. To speak across barriers of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, culture, or politics is to challenge stereotypes and risk ridicule. It is a brave and disorienting act.” (Debie Thomas, JourneywithJesus.net)
I have Mass on Saturday, May 18,
at Holy Name Birmingham @ 4:00 pm
I have Mass on Sunday, May 19, at St. Isidore @ 7:30 am livestream
https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
and 9:30 am
Sunday Evening, 5 pm @ St. Andrew, Rochester.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Art: William Grosvenor Congdon (American, 1912–1998), “Pentecost 2,” ca. 1962.
In our Reading from the Acts of the Apostles, the 11 disciples have no idea this is graduation day. They are still looking to Jesus to restore the kingdom to Israel.
I have Mass on Sunday, May 12 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The word translated “friend” is from the verb “to love.” So when Jesus speaks of friends, he is really saying “those who are loved.”
I have Mass on Sunday, May 5th at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass is live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The language of pruning is also a metaphor for the passion. We see a similar image in John 12:24, where Jesus speaks of the seed that must fall to the ground and die in order to bear much fruit.
I have Mass on Sunday, April 28th at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
“I lay down my life for the sheep.” Jesus goes before us, first to die, then to rise. Dying and rising is the pattern for all of us who walk in his way.
I have Mass on Sunday, April 21 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The idea of the separation of body and soul comes from Greek thought, which influenced early Christianity. Salvation was said to be removal from the world, escape from the body, the overcoming of everything carnal and material.
I am away on a pilgrimage this weekend. We will be celebrating Mass at the Cathedral in Burgos, Spain on Sunday; Loyola, Spain, in the conversion chapel of St. Ignatius, on Monday.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
He showed them his hands and his side. . .
Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
It was his wounds; that’s how they recognized him.
I have Mass on Sunday, April 7 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
When Mary of Magdala came to the tomb on the first day of the week, while it was still dark; and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb, she did not realize that she had walked right into the new creation.
I have Mass on Easter Sunday Morning, March 31, at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am.
Livestream 7:30 am. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
I will be at St. Isidore this Sunday for all three Sunday morning Masses: 7:30/9:30/11:30 am; I will preside at the 7:30/9:30 am Masses, but I will be part of the passion presentation with several readers at all three Masses.
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
A Narration of the Passion of our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to Mark. (New American Bible, revised edition)
I will be at St. Isidore this Sunday for all three Sunday morning Masses: 7:30/9:30/11:30 am; I am presiding at the 7:30/9:30 am Masses, but I will be part of the passion presentation with several readers at all three Masses.
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
I will not be giving a homily at Mass, but I have posted a separate homily for Palm/Passion Sunday.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
In bringing us back to the heart, God is calling us to the place that knows no separation. The heart knows what the mind can never understand: Everything is connected.
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, March 17 @ 7:30/9:30 am.
The 7:30 am Mass will be live streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
When the Israelites looked at the serpent on a pole, they were healed. Right then. So when Jesus says, “Whoever believes in him may have eternal life,” he is not talking about something that happens after we die. In John’s Gospel, eternal life begins right now for those who believe.
I have Mass on Sunday, March 10 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Listen to what John tells us chapter 1, verse 14. “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son.” John uses the Greek word "tabernacle" for dwelling. God truly came to dwell in our midst, even as God dwelt in the midst of Israel in the Tabernacle and later in their Temple.
I have Mass on Sunday, March 3
@ St. Isidore, 9:30 am. (there will be a guest preacher)
@ St. Andrew Rochester, 5:00 pm.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Then Paul asks this question: "If God is for us, who can be against us? God who did not withhold his own Son, but handed him over for us all?"
I have Mass at St. Isidore on February 25 @ 9:30/11:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
There is a fascinating verse in the second reading: “Christ was brought to life in the Spirit. In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison.” (1 Peter 3:18-19)
Click to read more about the Resurrection Icon
I have Mass on Sunday, February 18 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
There are many who prefer to steer clear of such people. Jesus is not one of them; by touching a leper, Jesus makes himself unclean. He 'dirties his hands'. “I do will it. Be made clean!”
I have Mass on Saturday, February 10
@ Holy Name Birmingham, 4:00 pm
I have Mass on Sunday, February 11
@ St. Isidore, 7:30/9:30 am
@ St. Andrew, 5:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Mark has hidden the Resurrection in the first chapter of the Gospel, where it hadn’t even occurred to us to look for it. Where might you find the risen Christ hiding in your life?
I am away this weekend.
I have Mass on Saturday, February 10
@ Holy Name Birmingham, 4:00 pm
I have Mass on Sunday, February 11
@ St. Isidore, 7:30/9:30 am
@ St. Andrew, 5:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
When Jesus speaks, we hear God’s voice; and when Jesus acts, we see God's action in the world.
I have Mass on Sunday, January 28 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am.
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Avivah Zornberg, a contemporary Jewish biblical writer, suggests that “to flee from God is to refuse to stand between death and life; the opposite of the flight from God, she writes, “is, in a word, prayer.”
I have Mass on Sunday, January 21 @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
We hear the story of the call of Simon Peter in the first chapter of John’s Gospel. Simon is given a new name, but it will take the entire Gospel for Simon Peter to live into his new identity.
I have Mass on Sunday, January 14 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The Magi are the first humans to speak in Matthew’s Gospel, and their question sets the story in motion. Standing in front of the puppet king of Israel, they ask, “Where is the king?”
I have Mass on Sunday, January 7
at St. Isidore, 9:30/11:30 am
at St. Andrew, 5:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Simeon recognizes the child as the fulfillment of God’s promise and he is ready to die in peace, "For my eyes have seen your salvation."
I have Mass at St. Isidore on December 31 @ 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass is live-streamed
https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
I will celebrate the 5:00 PM Mass at St. Andrew on January 7, 2024
frjoedailey@gmail.com
In his Children’s book, “Sun Moon Star,” Kurt Vonnegut tells the Christmas story through the undeveloped eyes of the newborn baby Jesus. This "Creator of the Universe" "had never had need for eyes before" since "it had known all things and been
all things."
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Christmas Morning at 8:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
On the front of the altar are the words: "Verbum Caro HIC Factum est." “This is where the word became flesh.” Not in the church of the nativity in Bethlehem, where Christ was born; but here, in this place, history was changed when Mary said “yes.”
I have Mass on Sunday, December 24th at St. Isidore at 7:30/9:30 am
I have Christmas Morning Mass at St. Isidore @ 8:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
This joy of mine has been made complete. He must increase; I must decrease.” (John 3:29-30)
I have Mass on Sunday, December 17
at St. Isidore, 7:30/9:30 am
at St. Andrew, 5:00 pm.
The 7:30 am Mass will be live streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Mark takes us back to another beginning in the Book of Genesis, chapter 1, verse 1, the opening lines of the first book of the bible: "in the Beginning, God."
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, December 10 at 9:30/11:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Like clay in the potters’ hands, we bear the finger prints of our maker. The God who gets his hands dirty: - “we are the clay and you the potter.” – With us, God is recreating the world.
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, December 3, at 7:30/9:30 am
I have Mass at St. Joe, Lake Orion on Friday, December 8 @ 7:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
In the words of Gerard Manley Hopkins, “For Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men's faces."
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, November 26 @ 9:30/11:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Those who work the land know that all true wealth comes from God, the source of rain, sunshine, seed, and soil. But this silver talent, when "sown," produced no fruit!
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, November 19 @ 7:30 /9:30 am.
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
By taking these words to heart, our faces will reflect the radiance of the face of the Lord. The light comes from within and gives light for all. It is not something outside that we can “go and buy.”
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, November 12 @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is challenging religious behavior that focuses on externals, while avoiding any attempt at transformation of the heart.
I am away this weekend.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
In Matthew’s Gospel, when the Pharisees ask their last tricky question, Jesus does indeed out-trick them. But he doesn't do it by giving the right answer. He out-tricks them by actually being the right answer.
I have Mass on October 29
at St. Isidore, 9:30/11:30 AM
at St. Andrew, 5:00 PM
frjoedailey@gmail.com
An anonymous author wrote: “The image of God is not impressed on gold, but on the human race. Caesar asked that his image be on every coin, but God chose humans, whom he created, to reflect his glory”
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, October 22 @ 7:30/9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass is live-streamed.
https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Pope Francis extended a similar invitation In his homily at the opening of the Synod. “Come, you who are weary and oppressed, come, you who have lost your way or feel far away, come, you who have closed the doors to hope: the church is here for you!” And then, in an ad lib, the Pope added: “Tutti, tutti, tutti!” Everyone, everyone, everyone!
I have Mass at St. Isidore on October 15 @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
God does not put any miserable wretches to death. In taking the place of the one who is cast out, Jesus suffers death, so that we can begin to understand what we were doing while at the same time be set free from having to live that way.
I have Mass on Sunday October 8 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am.
I will have Mass at St. Andrew on Thursday, October 12 @ 9:00 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Jesus empties himself, entering into our history, taking upon himself the effort and burden of human life; its joys and hopes, its grief and anguish. The Son of God truly became human.
I have Mass on September 30, 4:00 pm @ Holy Name Birmingham
I have Mass on October 1, 9:30/11:30 am @ St. Isidore
I have 9:00 am Mass on October 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi @ St. Joseph, Lake Orion
frjoedailey@gmail.com
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy - literally, ‘if your eye is evil,' - your whole body will be full of darkness.
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, September 24 @ 7:30/9:30 am.
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed
https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
I will have Mass at Holy Name Birmingham on Saturday, September 30 @ 4:00 pm.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Peter has been given the keys to the kingdom of heaven, with the power to bind and to loose. So Peter is asking how much forgiveness is required?
We have Mass on September 17 in Florence, Italy.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Immediately before today’s teaching, Jesus told about a shepherd going in search of a lost sheep. Jesus is describing our Father in heaven who will do whatever it takes to seek and find what is lost.
I have Mass on September 9 at St. Joe, Lake Orion @ 4:30 pm. The Mass will be live-streamed.
https://www.youtube.com/@stjoelo/streams
I have Mass on September 10 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am.
7:30 am will be live-streamed.
https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
When Jesus begins to teach his disciples that he must suffer at the hands of the people, Peter is scandalized. His ideal is the same as ours, worldly success, and he tries to instill it into his master. He turns his own desire into a model that Jesus should imitate.
I have Mass on Sunday, September 3 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
I have Mass next Saturday, September 9 at St. Joseph, Lake Orion @ 4:30 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Peter first names Jesus, “You are the Christ,” and then Jesus names Peter, “You are rock.” Jesus’ intention is to help Peter live out of a new identity.
I have Mass on Sunday, August 27
@ St. Isidore, 7:30 am, livestream here https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
@ St. Isidore, 9:30 am.
@ St. Andrew, 5:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
She says, “Yes, Lord.” (Notice she changes his title) and literally turns the table on him: “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” In calling him “Lord,” she reminds Jesus’ of his universal outreach.
I am away this weekend.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The word that we use for the long center section in the church where the assembly gathers is called the nave. This word comes from the same Latin word that gives us the word Navy. The question is the same for us as it was for the disciples in the boat: Is God with us or not?
I have Mass at St. Irenaeus on Saturday, August 12 @ 5pm
Sunday, August 13, at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
the 7:30 am Mass is live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
There is a bronze statue on the front lawn of the Basilica of St. Francis. The statue is called ‘Il Ritorno di Francesco,’ “The Return of Francis.”
High Res Image is here: https://tinyurl.com/35vhvcwf
I have Mass August 6th at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
What if God appeared to you in a dream and said, "Ask something of me and I will give it to you?"
I have Mass at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
In the old Douay-Rheims Bible translation, the landowner says to them, “Suffer the weeds to grow with the wheat.” Let them grow together. The root word in the Greek that Jesus uses is the word for forgiveness.
I have Mass on Sunday, July 23 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The parable tells us two important things about any good effort we undertake. 1. Losses are not the same as failure. 2. Faithfulness is more important than success. (Fr. George Smiga, Parable of the Sower. https://buildingontheword.org/)
I have Mass on July 16 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/930 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The promise that Jesus is making to us, if we take his yoke upon us and bind ourselves to him, he will bind himself to us. “I’ve got the other side."
I have Mass on July 9 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
During the Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis posed this challenge; "Almsgiving is not just about giving money. Stop and look in the face, look in the eyes, of the person who is asking for my help."
I have Mass on Sunday, July 2 @ St. Isidore 7:30/9:30 am.
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
In his book, “How Not to be Afraid,” Gareth Higgins writes, “Most of our fears are not true at all; all of them depend on a story we tell ourselves.” “Ninety-percent of our fears are exaggerated and/or made up altogether.“
I have Mass on Sunday, June 25
St. Isidore, 9:30/11:30 am
St. Andrew, 5:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The Lord said to the Israelites: “You have seen for yourselves how I bore you up on eagle wings and brought you here to myself. You shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people.” (Exodus 19:4,5)
I have Mass at St. Isidore on June 18 @ 7:30/9:30 am.
7:30 am Mass is live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Yet there is another story to bread. Out of what is bread made? Kernels of wheat that had to be crushed in their individuality to become something communal, flour.
I have Mass on Sunday, June 11
@ St. Isidore, 7:30 am.
Livestream: https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
@ St. Andrew, 5:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
John 3:16: “For God so loved the world.” God loved even before we knew it. Creation itself is the very first revelation of God.
I have Mass on Sunday, June 4 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
"Pentecost is not so much about the power of God coming from outside us and down into us, but a releasing of the power that is already within us, breathed into us by God at creation and by the risen Christ still among us." (Barbara Reid, O.P.)
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, May 28 @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
"We make the way by walking."
I have Mass @ St. Isidore on May 21, 7:30/9:30 am.
the 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
I have Mass this Sunday with our Pilgrims in Bethlehem, in the Holy Land.
This is a homily I wrote three years ago. When bad things happen, and they will, we can be confident that God is present even in our most difficult moments.
You can watch the video here: (begin at 15:00 minute) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqYKH_-QPDk
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The space in the tent is being expanded. The only way to be church together is to walk together and listen to one another; being built up like living stones into a spiritual house.
I have Mass on May 7 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
Jesus said, “I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved,
and will come in and go out and find pasture.” (John 10:9)
I have Mass on Sunday, April 30 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am.
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The English word companion, is derived from the Latin com (“with”) and panis (“bread”). A companion, therefore, is someone with whom you share your bread.
I have Mass on Sunday, April 23
St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am
St. Andrew @ 5:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Do you see what’s happening here? Thomas is standing in front of Jesus; He puts his hands up to Jesus’ hands. Thomas is mirroring Jesus. Thomas is twin to Jesus.
I have Mass on April 16 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am.
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
Image: Creation of Adam, Michelangelo
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The women’s song “Is expressive of faith in what is not yet. They prepare for miracles; carrying the instruments of song with them through the corridors of fear.” (Aviva Zornberg)
I am presiding at the Easter Vigil at St. Isidore, April 8, 8:30 pm.
https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins". (MT 26:28)
I have Mass at St. Isidore on April 2 @ 7:30 / 9:30 am.
I will be presenting the Passion Gospel at 7:30/9:30/11:30 am Masses.
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
"Will You Hold Me in the Light," text by Adam Tice; Music by Sally Ann Morris. copyright 2013 GIA Publications.
I will preside at the Easter Vigil @ St. Isidore on Saturday, April 8, 8:30 pm.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. (MT 27:27)
"And He Never Said a Mumblin' Word," CANTUS
When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesusa was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. He said, “I have sinned by betraying innocenta blood.” (MT 27:3)
"And He Never Said a Mumblin' Word," CANTUS
But Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest; and going inside, he sat with the guards in order to see how this would end. (MT 26:57-58)
"And He Never Said a Mumblin' Word," CANTUS
One of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I betray him to you? (MT 26:14)
"And He Never Said a Mumblin' Word," CANTUS
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. (MT 27:51-52)
"And He Never Said a Mumblin' Word," CANTUS
Frederick Buechner writes: “When Lazarus opened his eyes to see the figure of Jesus standing there in the daylight, he couldn’t tell for the life of him which side he was on.”
I have Mass on March 26 @ St. Isidore 7:30/9:30 am.
The 7:30 Mass will be live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
St. Paul writes, “Brothers and sisters: You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.”
The homily begins at the 5:40 minute mark.
I have Mass at St. Iranaeus, Rochester Hills, on Saturday, March 18 @ 5:00 pm.
I have Mass at St. Isidore in Macomb on Sunday, March 19 @ 9:30/11:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
We find Jesus sitting by Jacob’s well. Everyone listening to Jesus knew that Jacob met his wife, Rachel, at a well. You won’t believe what time of day it was: right in the middle of the day; it was about noon.
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday March 12 @ 7:30/9:30 am.
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
Next Saturday I will have Mass at St. Irenaeus, Rochester Hills @ 5pm.
I will be at St. Isidore on Sunday
frjoedailey@gmail.com
My homily begins with a reflection on this short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wATxSrIZouA
quotations from “Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life,” by Dacher Keltner
I am off this weekend; I'll be back at St. Isidore next Sunday.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
This new “Son of God” will not fail; and the new “Exodus” will succeed because this Son loves his Father will all his heart, with his whole being and with all his strength.
I have Mass at St. Isidore on February 26 @ 7:30/9:30 am.
The 7:30 am Mass is live-streamed: https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The reason we mark ourselves this day with ashes, right on the forehead, where everyone can see them, is to tell the world and each other that we are all in this together.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Matthew is teaching us in 10 verses what St. Luke tells us in a single verse: "Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34)
I have Mass on Sunday, February 19
@ St. Isidore, Macomb, 9:30/11:30 am
@ St. Andrew, Rochester, 5:00 pm
I have Mass on Ash Wednesday at St. Isidore on February 22 @ 7:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Proverbs 4:23 reminds us: Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
for the long version of the Gospel https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021223.cfm
I have Mass on February 12 at St. Isidore @ 7:30 / 9:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The earth is the place where the community of the Sermon on the Mount lives. “Salt of the earth” means that faithful disciples must get involved with this earth and this life. They are to regard themselves as a most important ingredient of this life.
I have Mass at St. Isidore on February 5th @ 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The beatitudes begin: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The very first word that comes out of Jesus’ mouth is “blessed.”
I am away this weekend. I'll be back at St. Isidore on February 5th.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
In calling first one set of brothers, Peter and Andrew, and then a second set of brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Jesus is enacting the vision of a new Israel. Eventually Jesus will go on to choose 12 disciples; a new people of God.
I have Mass at St. Isidore on January 22nd @ 9:30/1130 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
John the Baptist testifies that he saw the Spirit resting on Jesus when he came out of the water and realized that this man must be both “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” and also the “Son of God”.
I have Mass on January 15 @ St. Isidore at 7:30/9:30 am
Disaster comes from two Latin words ‘dis’ and ‘astre,’ meaning “separated from one’s star”. We face disaster when we are separated from our inner guiding spirit, separated from our deep inner wisdom.
I have Masses on Sunday, January 8
@ St. Isidore, 9:30 am and 11:30 am
@ St. Andrew, 5:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Mary shows us a pattern of “accepting” and “throwing together.” And what is important in this pattern is when our tragedies are thrown together with the rest of our lives, it allows the good things to win.
I have Mass on January 1 at St. Isidore @ 7:30 & 9:30 am
The 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed.
https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
"To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God." (John 1:12)
I have Christmas Morning Mass at 8:30 am @ St. Isidore
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Joseph is not like King Ahaz, who stubbornly refuses to admit that God cannot be limited by the contours of creation. But until his revelatory dream, Joseph has no way to know that he has been cast in the greatest of all human dramas: The Gospel of God.
I have Mass on December 18 at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am
7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed. https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
I have Christmas Morning Mass (December 25) at St. Isidore @ 8:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Last week, John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness. John is like a midwife: He had the freedom, the passion, and the clear boundaries that are needed to get anythingstarted. John is a wild man who "clears the threshing floor," but after that he really does not have much to do.
I have Mass on December 11 at St. isidore 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
If the wolf can be the guest of the lamb, and the bear and cow be friends, then no injury or hate can be a guest within the kingdom of my heart. Eden's peace and harmony will only return when first, in my heart, there hides no harm or ruin, for the Peaceable Kingdom is in my hands.
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, December 4 @ 7:30/9:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
My family is having a different sort of Advent this year. My nephew and his wife are awaiting the birth of their third child in the next two weeks or so. No one knows the exact day or hour, so we watch and wait for news.
I have Mass on Sunday, November 27
at St. Isidore 9:30 and 11:30 AM
At St. Andrew, 5:00 PM
frjoedailey@gmail.com
In this most unlikely of places the garden has suddenly returned. Paradise has emerged in the cross-bound conversation between two dying men: one a representative of sin reaching for wholeness, the other a Son of the fullness of God reaching toward what has been lost.
I have Mass on November 20 @ St. Isidore 7:30/9:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Jesus is teaching us ow to live in the midst of collapse. "Do not be terrified!" Fear shuts us down. Instead, Jesus invites us to see this as a gift: "When they bring you before kings and governors: This will give you an opportunity to testify."
I am in the Holy Land; we have Sunday Mass on the Mount of Olives at the Church of All Nations.
I will be home for Mass @ St. Isidore on November 20, 7:30/9:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Whatever we believe about death is an important question for us because it not only changes the way we imagine God, it changes the way we live our lives.I am at St. Isidore November 6 @ 9:30/11:30 am.
I leave November 8th for Israel. Next Sunday's homily will be online only.
I'll be back for Mass on November 20th.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The story begins with Zacchaeus wanting to see who Jesus was. Up until now, everyone has been looking down on Zacchaeus or overlooking him. For the first time in his life, someone looks up to Zacchaeus.
I have Mass at St. Isidore on October 30 @ 7:30/9:30 am.
the 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed.
https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Prayer will always lead us back to one another. It is not about separation, but communion. It’s not about my being better than you, but God’s grace, through me, including you.
I have Mass on October 23 at St. Isidore, 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
We don’t know anything about the widow’s cause, whether she is right or wrong; we only know one thing: she is faithful! She kept coming again and again, relentlessly pursuing her claim.
I have Mass @ St. Isidore on October 16, 7:30/9:30 am.
The 7:30 Mass is live-streamed
https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The lepers immediately demonstrate their faith by following Jesus’ instruction even though they still have their disease. Only as they are on their way do we find out that “they were made clean.” Jesus has responded to their cries by drawing from them an act of faith that results in their physical healing.
I have Mass on Sunday October 9
@ St. Isidore, 9:30 am and 11:30 am
@ St. Andrew, 5:00 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
So we should be called “due-nothing” servants, pun intended, which may reflect Jesus' own sense of humor. While this servant clearly is not a “do-nothing” person, it is also clear that a servant is “due nothing” for services rendered.
I have the 7:30/9:30 am Masses @ St. Isidore October 2, 2022
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The name Lazarus - in Hebrew “Eliezer” - means “God helps.” Before Abraham had any sons, he had only one heir to his fortune: his steward, Eliezer. In Jewish tradition, Abraham’s steward, Eliezer of Damascus, was an angel. Lazarus, sitting outside the gate of the rich man, was an angel in disguise.
I have Mass at St. Andrew on Sunday September 25, 5 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
More importantly, the steward has been treated generously by the master since he was only fired instead of being more severely punished. The steward spends his master’s generosity.
I am away this weekend.
I have Mass September 25 @ St. Andrew, 5 pm.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Luke gives us not two, but three parables. There is a rule of three in story telling: "Cinderella" and her two sisters; to use a non-kosher example, "The Three Little Pigs." Usually, the third story reveals the surprise: "There was a man who had two sons."
I am in Bavaria this weekend and next for the Passion Play in Oberammergau.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The sculptor imposes nothing, but only frees what is held captive in stone. Discipleship is something like this. It does not work by means of addition or acquisition, but by release, of prying loose, of letting go of the need to have our life circumstances be a certain way in order for us to live, or pray, or be deeply happy.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
I have the 7:30/9:30 am Masses @ St. Isidore.
The 7:30 am is live streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
Rather than seeking the best place, Jesus asks us to turn the table and begin with those who don’t even have a place at the table. When we start from the bottom, everyone is included, all the way up.
I have Mass @ St. Isidore 9:30/11:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
In Hebrew, the word for Egypt is Mitzrayim , which literally means a very narrow place. To come out of Egypt, the Children of Israel had to pass through a narrow, difficult way. God meets us in the narrow places and leads us out into the land of promise.
I have the 7:30/9:30 am Masses at St. Isidore on August 21.
the 7:30 am Mass is live-streamed: https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
I also have the 5pm Sunday Mass at St. Andrew
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Luke is connecting the baptism of Jesus, when the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form, like a dove; and his death on the cross, when Jesus gives his Spirit.
I have the 9:30 / 11:30 am Masses at St. Isidore on August 14.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
"The difference between a labyrinth and a maze is that a labyrinth has no dead ends. No step taken in faith is wasted, not by a God who makes all things new.” Rachel Held Evans
I have Mass at St. Isidore on August 7 @ 7:30 and 9:30 am.
The 7:30 am Mass will be live streamed: https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
A voice from the crowd asks Jesus to mediate in a family inheritance dispute. While Jesus is teaching us how to give our lives away, this man wants to make sure he doesn’t lose anything.
I have Mass on Sunday, July 31:
@ St. Isidore, 9:30/11:30 am
@ St. Andrew, 5:00 pm
link to HOPE:FORWARD video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VssQtdXWqSs
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Abraham bargained with God to save the city for the sake of a few righteous ones. Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism, expanded the idea: “The world must contain not less than 36 righteous individuals in each generation for whom God preserves the world."
I will be away this weekend.
On July 31 I have Mass
@ St. Isidore 9:30/11:30
St. Andrew 5 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
James Alison suggests that Jesus’ comment to Martha is probably a pun, which does not translate well from the original language. Alison imagines Jesus saying: "Martha, Martha, You want Mary to help you with the serving, But I just want to serve you."
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The two sisters are focused in different ways on single-hearted devotion to the Christ. Jesus is the center of attention of Martha's hospitality and the center of Mary's as DISCIPLE, one who is being taught.
I have 7:30/9:30 am Mass @ St. Isidore on July 17
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The Samaritan is the despised one who puts himself at risk in coming to the aid of the wounded man. Jesus is already doing likewise. Like the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, Jesus will be despised; nevertheless, he heals the sick, sacrificing himself to save sinners. Jesus is the embodiment of the person that he calls us to be.
I have Mass on July 10 @ St. Isidore 9:30/11:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
We are all connected to those 72 disciples who were sent out to proclaim the Good News, just like the 12 before them. Someone heard it and believed; and they told another, who told another, and another, and one of those was someone we know.
I am presiding at the 7:30 and 9:30 am Mass on July 3 @ St. Isidore
the 7:30 am Mass is live streamed.
https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The journey to Jerusalem is a new exodus. Jesus, the preacher and teacher, is opening the scriptures for us.
I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, June 26 @ 9:30/11:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
“The joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially those who are poor or afflicted in any way, are the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well.
2nd Vatican Council
I have Mass June 19th at St. Isidore, 7:30 am / 9:30 am.
The 7:30 Mass will be live streamed
https://stisidore.church/video_post/solemnity-of-the-most-holy-body-and-blood-of-christ-2/
frjoedailey@mac.com
The trinity isn’t really defined until about the fourth century. It’s like discovering something that has been hiding within revelation. As Jesus says in the Gospel:
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will GUIDE you to all truth.”
frjoedailey@gmail.com
I have the 9:30/11:30 AM Mass @ St. Isidore on June 12
The language spoken between Jesus and the Father is an intimate language of love. This is a language of the heart; the language spoken at home. When we keep the word of Jesus, God will make a home in us. We become the dwelling place of God in the world.
I have Mass June 5th:
@ St. Isidore, 7:30 am and 9:30 am.
@ St. Andrew, 5 pm.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
We no longer look to the sky, as if heaven and earth are separate. God’s desire and intention is to unite the two, to bring about a new heaven and a new earth.
I am not presiding at Mass this weekend.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Jesus’ answer does not respond to the question, “How is it you will reveal yourself TO us,” but “how he will reveal himself IN us.” We are becoming the Body of Christ.
I have the 7:30 am Mass @ St. Isidore on May 22.
live stream: https://stisidore.church/video_post/sixth-sunday-of-easter-3/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Notice, Jesus forgot to mention God. He didn’t say “Love God” and “Love your neighbor.” The new commandment is: “Love another just as I have loved you.”
On May 15 I have
the 9:30/11:30 am Masses @ St. Isidore
the 5 pm Mass @ St. Andrew
Frjoedailey@gmail.com
in our reading from the book of Revelation, the worshipers are praising “the Lamb at the center of the throne.” "They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
I will be in Logansport for Mother's Day.
I will be at St. Isadore on May 15, 9:30/11:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
There is no beginning to create this new story and forge this new identity, except starting from how I was brought to the end of myself. "Sifted like wheat," my heart, formed by the deceits and violences of this world, had to be broken open.
I have the Sunday, May 1st, 5 pm Mass at St. Andrew.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The risen Christ that the disciples encounter is simultaneously dead and alive. The risen Lord is thus always the crucified-and-risen Lord.
I have Mass @ St. Pio in Roseville, Saturday April 23, 4 pm.
St. Isidore in Macomb, Sunday April 24, 7:30 and 9:30 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
"Even so, the glory of God sleeps everywhere, ready to blaze out unexpectedly in created things, Even so, his peace and his order lie hidden in the world, even the world of today, ready to reestablish themselves in his way, in his own good time." (Thomas Merton)
I have Mass at St. Isidore at 7:30 am and 9:30 am. The 7:30 am Mass will be live streamed. https://stisidore.church/video_post/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
A few verses after tonight’s Gospel passage, Jesus quotes Psalm 41: “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heal against me.”
I am presiding at the 7 pm Holy Thursday Mass at St. Isidore
Here is the live stream link: https://stisidore.church/video_post/holy-thursday-evening-mass-of-the-lords-supper/
frjoedailey@gmail.com
After the Last Supper, the disciples go with Jesus to the mount of Olives. In Luke’s Passion, we are back to the garden where humanity lost its way.
I will be presiding at St. Isidore
Palm Sunday Mass @ 7:30 and 9:30 am
Holy Thursday Mass @ 7 pm
Easter Sunday Mass @ 7:30 and 9:30 am
frjoedailey@gmail.com
When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left.
Then going out, he went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him.
The Scribes and Pharisees have built their identity over and against this woman they see as a sinner. In separating themselves from her, they see themselves as good. One by one, beginning with the elders, they walked away from the one who was approaching them with forgiveness.
I have Mass at St. Isidore on April 3 @ 9:30 and 11:30 am
St. Andrew April 3 @ 5 pm
frjoedailey@gmail.com
“In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.”
frjoedailey@gmail.com
"I am the LORD your God...who brought you out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell with you." God is the one who meets us on the way; makes a home with us and journeys with us, leading us out of slavery and death into abundant life.
I have Mass Sunday March 20 @ 5pm St. Andrew Rochester
frjoedailey@gmail.com
To gaze into the face of another is to gaze into the depth and entirety of their life. The face always reveals who you are, and what life has done to you.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
It seems that in this story there is only Jesus and the tempter. But Jesus is not alone; just as God led the Israelites into the wilderness, where they were tested, so Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where he, too, is tested.
I will be at St. Andrew on March 6 for the 5 pm Mass.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Within the grip of winter, it is almost impossible to imagine the spring.
The gray landscape is shorn of color. Winter is the oldest season; it has some quality of the absolute.
March 2, 8 am Mass at St. Isadore
frjoedailey@gmail.com
"It is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.”
This is a homily/story that I shared in 2019.
Here is the video version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1xk3FSMCeg&t=123s
I am presiding at 8 am Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Isadore March 2nd. It is not live streamed. My homily will be posted on Wednesday morning
frjoedailey@gmail.com
When Jesus says, to "love your enemies." I think he is challenging us to meet them, to get to know them for who they are rather than who we imagine them to be. Genuine meeting leads to love.
February 20th I have the 7:30 am Sunday Mass at St. Isadore
https://stisidore.church/worship-online/
and the 5pm Sunday Mass at St. Andrew
frjoedailey@gmail.com
We shall not, we shall not be moved,
We shall not, we shall not be moved;
Like a tree, that’s planted by the water,
We shall not be moved.
"We Shall Not Be Moved," Mavis Staples
https://open.spotify.com/track/0XIbkOw2LB3P5nPsYSDTeS?si=05353e171f694269
I am presiding at St. Iranaeus, Rochester Feb. 13, 11:30 am
and St. Isadore, Macomb Township, Feb. 13, 5:30 pm.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
In the eyes of Jesus, Peter saw the one who insists on loving him into life beyond his fear and inadequacies.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
When Jesus’ neighbors thought he would bring them untold blessings, they spoke favorably of him. When they understand he is asking them to bring blessings to others, they are enraged.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
It is our teaching that when the Word of God is proclaimed at liturgy, we are not remembering something God once said. God is speaking to us live, now, through these graced words.
I am presiding at the weekend Masses at St. Pio in Roseville, Sat. 4pm, Sun. 9/11 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
it stands to reason that Jesus’s first public “sign” takes place at a wedding feast, for Jesus himself is the marriage of divinity and humanity.
I am presiding this weekend and next at St. Pio Church in Roseville. 01/15 @ 4 pm, 01/16 @ 9 and 11 am.
And the following weekend, 01/22 @ 4 pm, 01/23 @ 9 and 11 am.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
It is a mythic river that Jesus wades into, the Jordan, which flows under the same sky where a mighty wind was sweeping over the waters at the dawn of Creation.
I will be presiding at the January 8 4pm Vigil Mass at St. Faustina in Warren.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The wise men come bringing gifts of myrrh, gold and frankincense, all profound references to the 1st Temple in Jerusalem.
I will be presiding at the 5pm Sunday Evening Mass @ St. Andrew, Rochester.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
For Luke, “being lost” is like “being dead,” and “being found” is like “being made alive.” This is stated most dramatically at the end of the parable of the prodigal son, “your brother was dead and is alive; he was lost and is found”.
May you be renewed by your celebration of Christ's birth.
Fr. Joe
frjoedailey@gmail.com
It is to shepherds that this Good News is announced:
“Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people."
While the emperor says "ALL the world," the shepherds proclaim "For ALL the people."
May you be renewed by your celebration of Christ's birth.
Fr. Joe
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Mary and Elizabeth are not alone. How good it is that God gave them one to another. God's most radical intervention into history was listened to and received in community.
Frjoedailey@gmail.com
"The daybreak from on high will visit us to shine on those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79)
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The heights of despair and the depths of depression will be leveled out.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Advent begins in the dark. In this dark landscape, we are invited to describe life “on earth as it is," to name the seeming absence of God. We sit in darkness, longing for light. We sit in exile, longing for home. We sit with aching, empty arms, waiting to cradle a life that’s still unformed, still hidden, still in process.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
“Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice,” Jesus said. And Pilate asked Jesus, in a line that is omitted from today’s reading: “What is truth?” The Greek word for truth literally means, “Remember not to forget.”
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Last week Jesus was in the Temple, sitting opposite the Treasury. Now Jesus is opposite the Temple mount, on the Mount of Olives. The prophet Zechariah declared that the last days will begin at the Mount of Olives. Jesus takes his place on the mountain long foretold to be where that new day will begin.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The widow says nothing, and yet her actions speak volumes. The Greek word for her "giving her whole life" prefigures the sacrifice Jesus is about to make.
It is both a judgment on the temple cult - that demanded giving that so impoverished the widow - and as prelude to Christ giving his whole life for the life of the world.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Rabbi Rami Shapiro points out that the four-letter Hebrew Name of God - Y-H-V-H, yod-hey-vav-hey - when written vertically, takes on the shape of a human being. Each one of us is the Name of God incarnate.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Pope Francis, who has been reading these same passages in Mark’s Gospel, had a close encounter with this Gospel during his papal audience this past Wednesday.
James Carroll, in his new memoir, “The Truth at the Heart of the Lie,” recalls this experience. On his first visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, he was taken aback by the rudely jostling pilgrims fighting for the best places. When he returned a few days later, he saw it with new eyes:
“I saw for the first time what it actually meant that Jesus Christ was a human being, in the thick of human life, with all its chaos, treason and ruined dreams. The Holy Sepulcher, as I saw it now, was a sacrament of Christ’s part in our human condition.”
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The prohibitions are like the bottom of a glass. If the glass does not have a bottom, everything just spills out; it can’t hold anything.
The prohibitions create a boundary or container -the bottom in the glass -but there is nothing in it yet. To fill up the glass, then, is not merely not doing something; it actually demands doing something positive.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
The children are at the center of the three passion predictions. Jesus is teaching us what it means to follow the Messiah and therefore, what it means to be church.
I am presiding at the 5 pm Sunday mass at St. Andrew Rochester.
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Whenever you want to draw lines in order to mark who is outside the kingdom and who is inside, always remember: Jesus is on the other side of the line!
frjoedailey@gmail.com
Jesus calls them into a circle around him - we infer the circle from the placing of the child in the middle - and teaches by word and deed.
Both narratively and geographically, today’s Gospel stands at a crossroads. It’s right in the middle of Mark, almost exactly halfway through the story.
As if he could understand Hebrew, Jesus said to the man Ephphetha. "Be opened" is not addressed to the ears; it is a command to the heart. When the heart opens, immediately the ears are unplugged and the tongue is loosed.
Pope Francis quotes the 19th-century composer Gustav Mahler, who said, "Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire."
I have Mass on Sunday at Church of the Holy Spirit in Highland, MI. This is revised version of the homily for the parish Mass.
The protesting disciples do not rightly perceive the flesh of which Jesus speaks. They see only Jesus' flesh; they do not see "the Word become flesh," the Good News of God dwelling among us.
As Mary proclaimed in the Magnificat, “God has remembered his promise of mercy.”This promise is being fulfilled in Mary.
"No one has ever seen God," (John 1:18) but in Jesus we see the human face of God who desires to gather us. Jesus is coming into our midst as the one who is giving himself away so that we might have life and have it abundantly.
Jesus identifies the bread of God with himself: “I am the bread of life.” In that deepest descent into the world of flesh, suffering and death, a new order of love, healing and life is unfolding.
Taking the loaves and giving thanks, Jesus rejoices in the abundance that God has given and distributes the bread to all until they are satisfied.
“Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” Jesus is physically moving the disciples - getting into the boat symbolizes the journey - to a new place, to a new way of seeing and understanding.
"They went out and proclaimed that all should repent" The twelve, symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel, are sent out primarily to create an alternative community based on a new teaching about divine holiness.
Jesus is calling his own family to remember that they are part of a larger family; they are children of Abraham. Jesus does not find the faith of Abraham in the synagogue at Nazareth. He is amazed at their unbelief.
In combining the saving/healing of these two daughters, as a story within a story, Mark is teaching us that our lives are all connected.
Perhaps Mark is showing us that no matter what stands against him, Jesus’ faith is not based on what is happening around him, but rests secure in the knowledge that he is the beloved one of God.
The Kingdom of God spreads swiftly, invisibly, often underground. It’s more wild than “noble,” more undomesticated weed than domesticated crop, more helpful to birds than to kings.
“Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.”
Henri Nouwen reflects on these four verbs of the Eucharist In his book, “The Life of the Beloved.”
“Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” “I am” is the divine name revealed to Moses at the burning bush. "with you" is placed within the divine name itself. We are living within the very life of God.
Through the gift of the Holy Spirit we get to participate actively as conscious and knowing beings within God’s own creative act.
On the feast of the Ascension, the book of the Gospel draws to a close, but the story does not come to an end. Now we go forth to live the Gospel and tell the Good News, not found in a book, but written on our hearts.
God loves everything, totally, completely, perfectly, absolutely. Peter was blown away by this discovery: “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.”
There is no us and them; in Christ, we are all connected. Heather McGhee TED talk https://www.ted.com/talks/heather_c_mcghee_racism_has_a_cost_for_everyone?language=en
To be in relationship with the Good Shepherd Is also to be in relationship with each other. In the English language, there is no separate singular form of the word sheep. We are saved as a people, not as individuals.
The evangelist means to tell the readers that resurrection from the dead is more than a mere spiritual event. The whole person is redeemed, not only his or her spirit. What is saved is not a bloodless soul but our whole life-history, our flesh and blood, everything we have been.
The disciples are about to be sent out; the Risen Christ is sending them as instruments of God’s creative act, to bring God’s Shalom and healing into the world.
Mark has hidden the resurrection in the very first chapter of the Gospel. That is why there is no resurrection at the end; the whole Gospel is filled with the presence of the risen Lord.
In washing their feet, Jesus is challenging his disciples to do the same for each other; to see that all are equal friends. In the Kingdom, nobody is above or below in any way.
Jesus had been speaking of his impending death since the middle of the Gospel, but the Twelve struggled to conceive of a kingdom that would begin not with the death of their enemies, but with the death of their friend.
In offering his whole self to us - Body and blood - Jesus is renewing the Sinai covenant. We are being turned into the new temple that is able to participate in the life of God, who is coming out to us, here and now.
On the mountain, we realize that humanity and divinity are really two sides of the same coin. Humanity is meant to become by grace, what divinity is by nature. We, too, are meant to shine with the radiance of divine light.
Just as it was for Jesus in the wilderness - the angels waited on him, and he was with the wild beasts - so is true for us: both Heaven and Earth are within us.
Every year God says to us: “Lech lecha,” luring us into the Lenten wilderness beyond the confining boundaries of culture, kin and your parent’s house, so that we might once again discover our heart in the heart of God.
Video of this Homily https://youtu.be/QyJiM8D458A
Living inside a community of love is always costly. “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” St. Paul encourages us, and then goes on to show us what that looks like: “not seeking my own benefit but that of the many.” (1 Cor 10:33)
By reading Job next to Mark, we begin to grasp the extent of the salvation that is happening here. The world is, in fact, alienated from itself and without hope. But with Jesus, the state of things comes back to plumb, people sink into rest. The evening and the morning are no longer full of disappointment but are overflowing with messianic salvation.
At the end of today’s Gospel, Mark returns us to the theme of authority and teaching.
Now we know that he is writing about the kind of teaching which liberates, which discerns the demonic powers which oppress people and seeks to bring about new beginnings.
Notice that what Jesus is doing is itself a sign that the kingdom of God is breaking in. Someone – John the Baptist – has been lost. In gathering a new people, Jesus is ushering in God’s kingdom, a new economy In which no one is expelled excluded, or handed over.
We are coming face to face with some very disturbing images of ourselves. But Jesus turns towards us, looks into us, and asks: “What are you looking for?” Jesus comes to show us the way out.
In these few short verses, Mark has given us an overview of the entire story of Jesus, and Jesus has not yet spoken a single word.
When you walk by God’s shining radiance, then you shall be radiant at what you see. The meaning of this glorious feast, Epiphany, literally means “to shine upon.”
If we have lived long at all, we know that no one can love us like family, and no one can hurt us like family. “Grief is the price we pay for love.”
God appears in, with, under, and as flesh, with a human body, a body made from the same stardust that makes up all other bodies.
We too are asked to make a dwelling place for God; to put skin on God, making Christ present and living among us.
I learned this story from John Shea, who received it as a gift from an Hasidic Storyteller Reuven Gold. It is sometimes attributed to "unknown origin." This is M. Scott Peck’s version of the “The Rabbi’s Gift” as he tells it in the prologue of “The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace."
“It is a glorious destiny to be a member of the human race, though it is a race dedicated to many absurdities and one which makes many terrible mistakes: yet, with all that, God Himself gloried in becoming a member of the human race. (Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander)
Mark's Gospel is just the beginning. After we have heard it, the Gospel continues in us. We won’t need pen and ink; we write the Gospel with our lives. In welcoming Christ among us, every home becomes a church, every child becomes the Christ-child, all food and drink become a sacrament. And God’s many faces are now everywhere.
Advent means to come. We imagine that we are waiting for the coming of God into the world; but it is God who is waiting for us to incarnate divine love.
Matthew 25 should not be read as a parable about the sorting of individuals in the afterlife according to principles of personal charity, but as a prophecy of how nations are measured in history according to a politics of caring for those on the margins, the least of Jesus’ family.
The problem with the timid servant who buried his talent is not that he was an ineffective venture capitalist, but that he fundamentally misunderstood the nature of what he had been given. The divine mercy— received as a gift—is meant to be given to others as a gift.
The wise maidens are the ones who keep their lamps trimmed and burning, ready to lift a torch for anyone: the hungry, the poor, the stranger and the outcast.
Our beloved dead are connected to God, and therefore connected to everything that God loves.
When the Pharisees ask their last tricky question, Jesus does indeed out-trick them. But he doesn't do it by giving the right answer; he out-tricks them by actually being the right answer.
On our best days, remembering that we are made In the image and likeness of God, we will make God present in our living and loving. On that day, the world will have a glimpse of what God looks like.
In his new encyclical, Pope Francis points to the worldwide tragedy of the Covid-19 pandemic that momentarily revived the sense that we are a global community, all in the same boat, where one person’s problems are the problems of all.
Jesus authority and power is shown quite clearly: Jesus is the one who gives life instead of taking it.
"We wanted our Bible to reflect life. In life you are not given the chance to erase your mistakes. Your only choice is to admit the mistake and then move on. In our Bible we wanted to show that, even with the mistake, the page remains a work of art.” (Fr. George Smiga, BuildingontheWord.org)
The grumbling of the workers from the first hour reflects the grumbling of Jesus’ contemporaries who were outraged at the new thing he was beginning with his disciples: a common life that grew out of constant forgiving.
Clinging to vengeance tortures us with our vengeance for as long as we are imprisoned by it.
The cross is not just a singular event. It’s a statement from God that reality has a cruciform pattern.
Jesus also calls Simon the son of Jonah. Jonah was the one who went the other way when God sent him to preach to the Ninevites, who are gentiles. Peter, like Jonah, will resist this mission to the gentiles.
By the end of Matthew’s Gospel, the mission has changed: “Go, Make disciples of all nations." When Matthew is writing the Gospel, the Church has a mission to the Gentiles. Could it be that Matthew is making the point to his community that just as Jesus was able to understand his ministry in a more inclusive way – even of the hated, ancestral enemy of his people – the church, too, has to make this same transition?
From the FRIENDS Reunion concert at Christ the Redeemer, 2006.
Words and music by Joe Dailey, copyright © 1975 Alba House Media, Canfield OH. Used with permission.
Perhaps it is the time for the church to learn to apply the lesson of the deep communion we share with God and one another.
"When Jesus heard that Herod had beheaded John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself." (Mt. 14:13) Let’s stop to consider what Jesus is doing; the entire passage flows from this action.
Mary Magdalene wants to hold on to what she thinks she has lost; only in letting go, will she be able to receive the hidden treasure that God has prepared for us.
"Mary Magdelen" by Janet McKenzie
We have three more images today and I would like to suggest three words: Faith, hope and Love.
"Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread." (1 Cor. 10:17)
During his “long and lonely” years in prison, Nelson Mandela’s passion
for the liberation of his people expanded, becoming “a hunger for the freedom of all people, white and black.” He came to see “that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed.” A person who dehumanizes another is “a prisoner of hatred” and is “locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness.”
Pentecost is not so much about the power of God coming from outside us, but a releasing of the power that is already within us.
What began in the Lord's resurrection is now ready to burst forth and flood the world through the work of the disciples.
When Jesus tells his disciples, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you,” he is both acknowledging their impending vulnerability and reminding them that they are not alone." (Rachel Held Evans)
Jesus is changing the location of his father's house from the Temple to the Temple of his body. And we too, are being built Into a spiritual house.
In the very temple area filled with sheep on their way to slaughter, Joshua / Jesus declares there is a way out: “I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)
Here is the good news proclaimed by Luke: even though we don’t see him, Jesus comes near and walks with us.
It’s the evening of that same first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked. (John 20:19) Once again, we find ourselves entering into the world of the text, for we, too, are locked inside our homes.
On Holy Saturday, the Church gathers in the dark, to sing:
“O night of endless wonder, night of bliss, when every living creature held its breath as Christ robbed death and harrowed hopeless hell, restoring life to all those in the tomb!
The Sacramentary, Sundays and Feasts © 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc.
Homily text: http://www.ctredeemer.org/other/t_200412_homily.pdf
John 19:25 "Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother."
On Good Friday we find Our Lady weeping at the cross, amid the global pandemic of Covid-19 that has spread throughout this Lenten season.
At the Cross Her Station Keeping · The Cathedral Singers
Conductor: Richard Proulx ℗ 2002 GIA Publications, Inc.
Used with permission Christ the Redeemer Church One License #A-100703
Stay With Me © 1984 Les Presses de Taizé GIA Publications, Inc., agent.
En Tus Manos © 2007, 2011 Les Presses de Taizé GIA Publications, Inc., agent.
Reading from Luke, chapter 22
Silence (1 minute; pause playback if you want to extend the reflection time)
Crucem Tuam © 1991 Les Presses de Taizé GIA Publications, Inc., agent.
Kyrie 10 © 1979 Les Presses de Taizé GIA Publications, Inc., agent.
Jesus, Remember Me © 1981 Les Presses de Taizé GIA Publications, Inc., agent.
All songs used with permission, Christ the Redeemer Church, One License #A-100703
Gethsemane Icon OLEKSANDR ANTONYUK
On our last pilgrimage to the Holy Land, we had Mass inside the Edicule, which is a small shrine or chapel inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
On the Holy Saturday Orthodox celebration, the holy fire is brought out from the tomb of christ to light the Paschal Candle and all the candles and torches inside the Church. Here's a picture of the Holy Fire. http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2011/04/23/6518185-christian-orthodox-holy-fire-ceremony-lights-up-the-church-of-the-holy-sepulchre-in-jerusalem?lite
You can see more information about the restoration of the Edicule here: https://news.nationalgeographic.com
Jesus is experiencing something like a Gethsemane; for he knows that calling Lazarus out of the tomb means that he must enter it.
"Faith in God does not bring you safety. Danger still exists. And by that I mean, danger is not optional, but fear is." Nadia Bolz-Weber
This podcast is the homily from the Mass for the Solemnity of St. Joseph. You can find the video link for the Mass at ctredeemer.org.
Tuesday 3rd Week of Lent
Opening Hymn: God is Forgiveness
Evening Psalm: In te confide (psalm 25)
Song of Light: De noche iremos
Gospel: Matt18:21-35 http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/18:21
Silence
Magnificat
Intercessory: Hold us in your mercy
Our Father/Closing Prayer
The Kingdom of God
Jesus, Remember Me
Instrumental: Adoramus te Christe
http://www.ctredeemer.org/other/200317_Taize3.pdf
Liturgy of the Word for the 3rd Sunday of Lent, Cycle A. Recorded at Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church with Fr. Joe Dailey, CTR Music Ministry.