Saint Clement Shrine Podcast: Recent Episodes
Oblates of the Virgin Mary
The post Gospel-Homily for Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
How Do You Achieve Greatness, You Don’t. It Is Given To You. After I told my girlfriend that I was going to be a priest (which, by the way, did not go over very well), and after I sold my truck, I thought to myself, “If I am going to do this, if I am...
The post Gospel-Homily for Twenty-fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Best Advice: Get Behind Me. Jesus calls Peter Satan. That seems to be a bit harsh. Why does Jesus call Peter, Satan? Not too long ago, Satan had stood in front of Jesus in the desert to tell Him what to do. Imagine telling the Son of God what to do. What did Satan ever...
The post Gospel-Homily for Twenty-fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Play the Hand You Were Given. After a long day of meetings at a convention, we decided to have a poker tournament in the evening. We passed out the chips, and we sat at tables of five. In the end, only two players were left with chips, and I was one of them. So, let...
The post Gospel-Homily for Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The Greatest Teacher. The most violent movie I ever saw—incinerated bodies pulled from the wreckage, body parts spewed all over the road, organs on the inside of the body now on the outside, blood and gore-filled scenes—the most violent movie I saw was at sixteen and half years old at my first class at A...
The post Gospel-Homily for Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
You Are Blessed, So Live Like You Are Blessed. My brother played the trumpet in high school. So, during his midlife crisis, he decided to take the trumpet up again. He connected with a very inspiring teacher. His weekly lessons progressed well, and he is now in three bands and an orchestra. He is also...
The post Gospel-Homily for Twenty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
We Can Now Say We Live to Eat. The ancient Greeks loved to write pithy wisdom sayings to help us get through life. “A stitch in time saves nine;” “Giving is better than receiving;” “We eat to live, not live to eat;” “If we cannot say no to legitimate requests, our “yes” will have no...
The post Gospel-Homily for Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The Greatest Message from God: I Will Send Some Help. Elijah is the prophet God brought to heaven without the pain of death. Before that happened, Elijah was in the desert, asking God to take his life. Why would he want to die? Because Jezebel, the queen, was very mad at him and had sent...
The post Gospel-Homily for Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Give Us Our Daily Bread. I have a tool caddie with lots of pockets. I put all my tools in it. If I have to fix something, I just take the tool caddie, and all my tools are organized and at my fingertips. On one occasion, I needed to fix a door, so I reached...
The post Gospel-Homily for Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
What Do You Do with the Crumbs that Fall from Your Table. The Lord said to the disciples, “Gather up the crumbs.” Why crumbs? Why are crumbs so important to God? You can accomplish a lot with the crumbs. One late afternoon, I decided to run out to Winthrop to fly fish. When I got...
The post Gospel-Homily for Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
From a Nobody to Someone Important. The good shepherd, in addition to bringing the sheep to verdant pastures, leading them to safe water instead of the dangerous desert wadi, setting the table before enemies who want your lunch money, and leading you through the dark valley, the shepherd also anoints your head with oil. What...
The post Gospel-Homily for Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Gospel-Homily for Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The Meaning Behind “My Grace Is Sufficient”. Everything breaks. The good news is that most things can be fixed. I know because I am the house fix-it guy. Whenever something breaks, people come to me. For example, a guest that locked himself out of his room. I had a spare key. Then someone came to...
The post Gospel-Homily for Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Wisdom: The Orange Lollypop. When Adam and Eve traded wisdom with the knowledge of good and evil and ate the forbidden fruit, they realized they were naked. They hid themselves from each other; they hid from God. Then they blamed each other, “It was the snake;” “it was the woman.” They no longer had wonderful...
The post Gospel-Homily for Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Biblical Storms: They Reveal Who Has Faith and Who Does Not. The Ninevites were the cruelest, most inhuman people that ever walked the planet. They were responsible for the destruction and deportation of the ten northern tribes of Israel. God asked Jonah, the prophet, to go to Nineveh and preach. Jonah protested, saying, “I am...
The post Gospel-Homily for Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The Greatest Lifetime, Unlimited, Warranty. When I bought my first cell phone, the salesman convinced me to pay fifty dollars for the limited warranty. A few months later, I was out in the rain with my phone. The phone, of course, died, so I returned with my limited warranty. I handed it, together with the phone,...
The post Gospel-Homily for Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Gospel-Homily for Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Perennials Versus Annuals. I ran the Boston Marathon in a pair of shoes called the Alphafly 1. I wanted to run in the Alphafly 3. Here is why I did not. The Alphafly 3 went on sale two weeks before the marathon at 10:00 am on a Thursday. I had to teach a class at...
The post Gospel-Homily for Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Sadness Prepares Us for Change for the Better. Anger. The purpose of anger is to allure you that something is wrong, and it amazingly gives you the energy to fix it. Let’s say you walk into the room chewing on your new hat. Energy. You jump out of the La-Z-Boy recliner, rescue the hat, and put...
The post Gospel-Homily for Trinity Sunday (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Jesus Ascension into Glory. Players, Not Fans. You remember the Acts of the Apostles. The book begins with the Ascension of Jesus. After that, the Apostles receive the Holy Spirit, and they begin to “act” just as Jesus did before His Resurrection. They preached like Jesus, they cured people like Jesus, and they got the authorities...
The post Gospel-Homily for Pentecost (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
What It Means to Be Consecrated in the Truth. Jesus consecrates us in the truth. Let me explain why this is so great. During my time in Rome at the seminary, my parents came to visit me. We took a train north to see the Italian Alps. While we were on the train, my mother handed me...
The post Gospel-Homily for Seventh Sunday of Easter (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Gospel-Homily for Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Basking in the Blessings. Paul wrote a letter to the Philippians, and he seemed to be in a good mood. He received a goody package from the Christians in Philippi, mentions strong friendships that surround him who are committed to the end, gets to show Christ in the household of Caesar, and looks forward to...
The post Gospel-Homily for Sixth Sunday of Easter (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
People May Not Remember You, But They Will Always Remember Who You Represent. Paul founded a church in Corinth, and there is a reason why he did so. The city is a land bridge. Greece is made up of two large bodies of land, and Corinth connects them both. If you want to go north...
The post Gospel-Homily for Fifth Sunday of Easter (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Don’t underestimate the Power of the Divine Spirit. I said to my father, “Dad, I qualified. I am going to run the Boston Marathon this year.” He retorted, “Are you crazy; you are too old for that; you are going to get an injury.” I replied, “What about you? You are 92 years old, and you...
The post Gospel-Homily for Third Sunday of Easter (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
“Peace Be With You”: The Resurrection Gift from God to Us. The circulating pump broke, so Br. Chris and I went to the motor store to get some parts. A woman came out of the back room to help us. She knew everything about motors, so I asked her how she knew so much. She...
The post Gospel-Homily for Second Sunday of Easter (2024) Mercy Sunday appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
On the day I left the parish in New Jersey to come to Boston many years ago, the parishioners came to say goodbye. There were many tears that day. Some of them were theirs, and some were mine. About two years later, I was invited back to the parish to give a talk. I was...
The post Gospel-Homily for Easter (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion and Veneration of the Cross
The post Gospel-Homily for Good Friday (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Commemoration of the Last Supper
The post Gospel-Homily for Holy Thursday (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
“Why Does God Hate Me”: Maybe to Set Us Up for Something Great. I was in my sixth-grade gym class. It was floor hockey, boys against the girls. “This should be fun,” I thought. Then, the teacher pulled me aside to ask if I would play on the girls’ side to balance the teams. I...
The post Gospel-Homily for Palm Sunday (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The Rose Stands out, Not in Spite of, but Because of the Thorns. So, the Greeks want to see Jesus. The reason is because they want to see God. Jesus tells us how we can see God. Glory. What exactly is Glory? It is contrast. The rose basks in glory when thorns surround it: contrast....
The post Gospel-Homily for Fifth Sunday in Lent (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Learning Now Means You May Not Need It Now, But You Will in the Future. When my friend came back from lunch, I asked him, “What took you so long? Did you go to Florida”? He told me the car wouldn’t start because of the activated anti-theft device. Apparently, the car itself thought that Jerry...
The post Gospel-Homily for Fourth Sunday of Lent (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
You Want to Be the First, Not The Last to Find Out. Imagine if I had lived in the first century on my way to the Temple to offer a sacrifice to the Lord. So the first thing I need to do is go to the moneychangers table and exchange my Gentile money for temple...
The post Gospel-Homily for Third Sunday of Lent (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
What Is Your Road to Success? Someone once asked a rich man, “What is the secret to success?” The man responded, “Make sure you are the dumbest person in the room.” In other words, if you are doing all the talking, you are not listening. My worst grade in college was a B-. It was...
The post Gospel-Homily for Second Sunday of Lent (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
First Sunday of Lent 2024 What Is in the Treasure Box for You?: Find Out When You Meet the Father At the bottom of the Cape Cod Canal, there is a hole, a crater. Fish love to gather in this hole to get out of the fast current. It also allows them to reach out...
The post Gospel-Homily for First Sunday of Lent (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Christianity is Ordinary People Empowered to Do the Extraordinary The goal for Lent is to get to Easter. Paul, in his letter, told us how to do that. We are buried with Christ so we can rise with Him. Allow me to illustrate this with an analogy. There was a buy-one-get-one-free deal, so I bought 500...
The post Gospel-Homily for Ash Wednesday (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Valuable Information Can Get You Through Any Hardship A man built like a lumberjack, walking his Chihuahua, saw me standing with my fly rod and approached me. “How was the fishing?” I truthfully told him that I had caught nothing. He replied, “Morris Island is loaded with fish. I was just there this morning.” My...
The post Gospel-Homily for Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Live Like You Are the Luckiest Person in the World. In one of my classes, my Scripture professor explained that the Bible was meant to teach, convince, and inspire us to stand with God no matter how hard it got. In the 1970s, his only son, who had just turned six, was hit by a...
The post Gospel-Homily for Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Devils May Be Powerful, but We Can do Something They Cannot Do: Say to Jesus: I Know You I was teaching a class this past week, and I needed to use a PowerPoint presentation. But I could not get it to work. There were hundreds of wires connecting the computer to the white smart board....
The post Gospel-Homily for Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Mend those Nets There you are, standing on a putting green. How far do you draw your club back before you hit the ball? If you draw it back too far, you will not be accurate. If you do not draw it far enough, you may dub the ball. After playing golf all day, Tiger Woods...
The post Gospel-Homily for Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Good Doing Comes After Good Listening. When I worked for my father in construction, he always started the day by meeting with the workers. The supply house delivered sheet rock and left it on the sidewalk. Dad turned to me and told me to bring it to the fourth floor. Naturally, it did not fit in...
The post Gospel-Homily for Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Seeing True Treasure The greatest archeological find, ever, was the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls. When the Romans went to war with the Jews in Jerusalem, rich aristocrats took their precious scrolls of the Bible, walked into a pottery shop, bought clay jars, and hid the scrolls in caves near the Dead Sea at...
The post Gospel-Homily for Solemnity of the Epiphany of The Lord (2024) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Gospel-Homily for Feast of The Holy Family (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Chemistry When Peter and Andrew first encountered Jesus, they ended up leaving their trade behind and followed Him. I find that remarkable. They had just met the guy, and now they were rearranging their entire lives. Jesus must have been someone special for them to do that. Take a look at Matthew. He had the...
The post Gospel-Homily for Christmas Day (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Gospel-Homily for Forth Sunday of Advent (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Gospel-Homily for Third Sunday of Advent (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
How to Make Hard Tasks Easy I teach New Testament Greek at St. John’s Seminary. The first thing I told my class on the first day was to put away the notebooks and pens; they would not need them to learn the alphabet. I know what would happen. They would be writing down the Greek...
The post Gospel-Homily for Second Sunday of Advent (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Always Have A Reason to Be Grateful and Happy On my way home, I saw a lady standing in front of her car with the hood up. When she saw me, she asked if I had a pair of jumper cables. I told I did and I would get my car. When I said that,...
The post Gospel-Homily for First Sunday of Advent (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
For Every Lost Sheep, There Are Ninety-nine Partners Does God love good people more than bad people? Answer: the lost sheep. Jesus leaves the 99 righteous sheep to go after the lost sheep. Think about a sheep lost and alone. Every living being with teeth loves lamb chops; it is an easy dinner. Sheep cannot...
The post Gospel-Homily for Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
No Risks, Guaranteed Win When Your Master Is God Let’s talk about parables for a moment. A parable is a simple story about ordinary events, and Jesus throws in a zinger. For example, someone says, “Well, I went into the store, and I took out my wallet and saw a one-dollar bill. I took it...
The post Gospel-Homily for Thirty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
A New Way to Enjoy Life There are 10 Virgins. 5 have oil, and five do not. Why? In order to have olive oil for lighting your lamps, you need to grow an olive tree. You have to prune it so you have abundant olives. You need to pick the olives off the tree, pit them,...
The post Gospel-Homily for Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Who Do You Choose to Lift Your Burdens? Someone donated a car to our congregation. Yay! So I needed to register the car. I got the form, went to the insurance company, received the stamp, went to the registry of motor vehicles–and the agent told me I had the wrong tax-exempt number. So, I had...
The post Gospel-Homily for Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
If Happiness is Fulfillment, then Love is Filling the Void of Need Happiness means fulfillment. So when we are fulfilled, we are happy. If true, then we have a problem. Take, for example, your wallet. Suppose I was going to give you a crisp one hundred dollar bill. I bet you would not say: “I can’t...
The post Gospel-Homily for Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Crossing the Finish Line When the doctor entered the examination room, I told him, “I apologize for wasting your time with a sore throat, congestion, and flu-like symptoms. I never go to the doctor with just the flu. But I am running a marathon in two days. Can you help me?” He asked, “What marathon?”...
The post Gospel-Homily for Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Gospel-Homily for Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Focus on the Good, and You Will Always Feel Blessed Did you ever have one of those days when you go to the car and find the tank on empty? Or tie your shoe one minute before Mass, but you break the lace, and you have no spare? Or have the Bishop at the door...
The post Gospel-Homily for Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Gospel-Homily for Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The Last Hour of Work Is the Most Important Hour. Why would anyone hire a worker for one hour? The reason is my brother. He is the best finish carpenter I know. I asked him to build me a lectern for the church. He asked for details. I told him I wanted a nice one....
The post Gospel-Homily for Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Attempting the Impossible: Make Sure You Are with the Right Person I recently bought a nice pair of reading glasses at the store. It came in a fancy box. I got home and discovered that the box was empty; nothing was in it. I did not have time to go back to the store, so...
The post Gospel-Homily for Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Never Forget Let’s say I have mowed, weeded and edged, and have trimmed the bushes. You tell me the yard never looked better and you gave me five stars. I worked hard because I know in business that it is not about the sale but the re-sale. A week later I walk by your yard...
The post Gospel-Homily for Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Crosses, limitations, weaknesses, and Triumphs Is it better for me to spend more time hearing confessions, in personal prayer, visiting the sick, and less time training for and running marathons? The answer is absolutely “yes.” No doubt. Yet, here is the reality of my life. God gave me a wonderful cross called insomnia. Lovesick crickets...
The post Gospel-Homily for Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Why Is Peter Wiser than the Other Disciples? When the Israelites first entered the Promised Land, they went from dieting on water and manna to ribeye, fresh veggies, and cabernet wine. They asked the locals where they got such delicious food. The people of the region did not tell them about Deere tractor loaders or...
The post Gospel-Homily for Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Common Ground: What Units Us? How do you get groups, rivalries, or nations that do not get along to get along? Answer: common ground. No one can survive a nuclear holocaust, no one wants a comet to blow up our planet, and we do not need another Covid. When the Red Sox and Yankees play...
The post Gospel-Homily for Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Gospel-Homily for Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
God Is Found When the Dust Settles I recently joined a running club. We meet once a week at the track. The first thing the coach says is, “You are going to hate me tonight.” He then gives us his instructions. After that, we form groups and run around the track in a single file....
The post Gospel-Homily for Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Defining Greatness My favorite commandment is the fourth: Honor your Father and Mother. Here is why–it is the only commandment that God gave to Moses that was attached to a reward: Honor your Father and Mother and you will have a long life. That may not sound impressive but it was in the ancient world....
The post Gospel-Homily for Feast of The Transfiguration of The Lord (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
If You Could Have Just One Thing One evening, young King Solomon fell asleep, and he has a terrific dream. God came to him and asked him. “What do you want me to do for you?” Solomon answered, “Give me all the skills and knowledge I need so I can fulfill my mission in life...
The post Gospel-Homily for Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Obstacles Are Opportunities A group of us from the church recently ran a 5K race. I did it in 21 minutes. I was so pleased with my run that I told some of my friends and colleagues. That was a huge mistake. They said, “21 minutes is slow, I did a 5K in 18 minutes;...
The post Gospel-Homily for Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
It was the bottom of the ninth inning. The Yankees were one out away before sweeping the Red Sox and winning a ticket to the World Series. Kevin Millar was the next batter. He is, in my estimation, the worst clutch hitter I have ever seen. He was facing the greatest closer in baseball history...
The post Gospel-Homily for Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
My Yoke Is Easy: The Dream Work Partner My cousin and I were on a roof job together. My uncle, who was on top of the roof, yelled down for us to start bringing up the roof shingles. I reached down and shouldered an 80lb bundle and started up the two-storied ladder. My cousin was about...
The post Gospel-Homily for Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The Dead Potted Plant Beside a Watering Can Experts tell us that we do not drink enough water. That is because we are not always thirsty when we are dehydrated; and when we are thirsty, after tennis or golf, we have a cold beer or a cup of coffee. That is worse. This same pattern...
The post Gospel-Homily for Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post What is the ‘Christ Experience’? (Bible Study) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Managing Fear I was on vacation in Maine, and I went to the other side of the lake to catch the evening hatch. As I was walking along, I turned off the flashlight to see how far I would walk. It was dark. Close your eyes…that is how dark it was without street lights. The...
The post Gospel-Homily for Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Nothing Like First Class My brother asked if I wanted to go to his daughter’s wedding. Now if he had asked “Do you want to go on a fly fishing trip,” there would have been no hesitation. But I hesitated because I did know if my brother really wanted me. You know the burden of...
The post Gospel-Homily for Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Adopt God’s Characteristics (Bible Study) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Don’t Let the Obstacles Stop You. When I was in second grade, after receiving my First Communion, I went to Mass every day. The staff of the church thought that was unusual. What kid goes to church every day? So they came to me and told me it was not normal for me to come...
The post Gospel-Homily for Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a Moses said to the people:“Remember how for forty years now the LORD, your God,has directed all your journeying in the desert,so as to test you by afflictionand find out whether or not it was your intentionto keep his commandments.He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger,and then fed you with manna,a food...
The post What’s So Important About Manna? (Bible Study) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Opportunity Is Everywhere: We Just Have to See It My academic advisor asked me if I could read German. I told him I could not. So he replied, “You need to learn.” So here was my strategy. I made hundreds of German flashcards, made stacks of 50, and put a rubber band around them. When...
The post Gospel-Homily for Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Fr Peter Grover takes a look at the Gospel of John for Trinity Sunday
The post Understanding John 3:16 (Sunday Bible Study) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Gospel-Homily for Pentecost Sunday (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Gospel-Homily for Seventh Sunday of Easter (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Gospel-Homily for Solemnity of the Ascension (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The Happiest Word: “Good” Dad told me to pick up 20 two-by-fours at Home Depot. We were working together on a job at our retreat center in Milton. As I was dashing out the door, he said, “Make sure they are straight.” Well, that changed everything. Home Depot’s two-by-fours are not all straight. Sure enough,...
The post Gospel-Homily for Sixth Sunday of Easter (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post The Hidden Power of Gentleness (Bible Study) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
How to Build a Church Peter, the Apostle, likes to talk about rocks in his letter. He uses rocks as an analogy, not because his name means rock, but because he wants to tell us how to build a church. This is how you build a church. You start with a cornerstone. This is the...
The post Gospel-Homily for Fifth Sunday of Easter (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Fr Peter Grover looks at 1 Peter for the 5th Week of Easter 1 Peter 2:4-9: Beloved: Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer...
The post What are Spiritual Sacrifices? (Bible Study) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Graves Have Doors “I am the gate.” It is a metaphor. Picture going to a cemetery and one of the graves has a door so the dead person can walk out. That would be ridiculous because dead people cannot walk through open doors. But Jesus says that tombs have doors. Remember when Lazarus was in...
The post Gospel-Homily for Fourth Sunday of Easter (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post God Empowers Us (Bible Study) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
After the 8:00 pm Mass, I went downstairs to join the fellows at the Super Bowl party. The atmosphere was jovial and energetic with lots of laughter and high-fives. The reason for such a festive mood was because the Seattle Seahawks were one or two plays away from defeating the Patriots. As you could guess,...
The post Gospel-Homily for Third Sunday of Easter (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Gospel-Homily for Second Sunday of Easter (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Fr Peter Grover takes a look at 1 Peter for this second Sunday of Lent and addresses how suffering can allow us to show off God’s qualities to others and ourselves 1 Peter 1:3-9: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth...
The post How Can Suffering Reveal God’s Qualities? (Bible Study) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
One of the doors was hinge-bound so I grabbed my chisel. Apparently, someone had used it as a crowbar. It was so dull that it couldn’t cut through pudding. No, I didn’t throw it out. I brought it to my father, who knows how to sharpen chisels. When I handed it to him, I lamented, “Just look...
The post Gospel-Homily for Easter Sunday (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Gospel-Homily for Good Friday (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Gospel-Homily for Holy Thursday (2023) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
For Easter, Fr Peter Grover discusses the way Nicodemus wraps Jesus in the burial clothes and what that means for his faith and ours. Listen to Palm Sunday’s episode: The Most Studied Verse in the New Testament.
The post Why Jesus’ Burial Clothes Are So Important (Bible Study) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
He Saved Me as Well Pilate is having a conversation with the crowd. Pilate said to the crowd, “Whom shall I release to you?” The crowd shouted, “Barabbas, Barabbas.” Pilate then asked, “What should I do with Jesus your Christ?” And the crowd shouted back, “Crucify him, Crucify him.” Then Pilate inquired, “But what evil...
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Listen to last week’s episode on Why God Makes Promises to Mortals Philippians 2:6-11: Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, ...
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God Sees Every Tear, and He Knows How to Wipe Them Away I grew up with four brothers, no sisters. I worked for my father in his construction company, no girls. I now belong to a religious congregation, all guys. In my personal journey with the boys, I learned one thing. Guys like to hide...
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Fr Peter Grover looks at for the 5th Sunday of Lent. Listen to last week’s episode on the Power and Paradox of the Psalms. Ezekiel 37:12-14: Thus says the Lord GOD: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel. Then...
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Care in a Way that They Never Forget My grandmother was a very religious person. So when my cousin was pregnant outside of wedlock, she avoided nana because she was ashamed. During a crowded Christmas party, my grandmother worked her way to my cousin. Nana wrapped her arms around her and said, “You make me...
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Fr Peter Grover takes a look at the responsorial psalm for the 4th Sunday of Lent and discusses it in light of the darker, more grim Psalm 22. Psalm 22: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My...
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Happy Customers I have a good friend who is a Shakespearean scholar. After he had published a book on the Bard, he was interviewed by a newspaper. At the end of the interview, the journalist asked him, “Why do you like Shakespeare so much?” He answered: “If I could write just one poetic sentence like...
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Fr Peter Grover takes a look at Romans 5:1-2 for the 3rd Sunday of Lent
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Fr. Peter Grover, OMV looks at 2 Timothy for the Second Sunday of Lent and asks: How is it that we combat bad teaching? Paul writes to Timothy and addresses this question. Check out Fr Peter’s encouragement for the start of Lent. Find this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcast or our YouTube channel.
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Fr Peter Grover dives into Joel 2:12-18 for Ash Wednesday. What does Joel want us to know about God and ourselves? Watch the video to find out, and see all of Fr Peter’s Bible Studies here.
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Love: Giving that Benefits Others At the end of the snow season in March, I walked into a Sears store. They had something I wanted, and I had something they wanted. When the salesman discovered I wanted a snow blower, he got excited. He exclaimed, “This is a great time to get a snow blower...
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Fr Peter Grover dives into Leviticus 19 and explains why we still need to read and pay attention to Leviticus and the Torah (first fives books of the Bible) in general. Note: share this video with friends; Fr Peter promises a 5-piece series on the Pentateuch if the video gets 1,000 views on YouTube!
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Fr Peter Grover dives into Matthew 5:17-37 for the 6th Week of Ordinary Time and reveals the key to understanding Matthew’s whole Gospel, and how to do the impossible with God’s help. Listen to Fr. Peter’s introduction to the Gospel of Matthew here: www.youtu.be/ntrUN_726v8
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Fr Peter’s dive into 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 for this upcoming Sunday
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I am training to run my first marathon at the age of 62 years old. Have I lost my mind? The training has given me an opportunity to have first-time experiences. For example, chafing. Chafing happens when sweaty clothes rub against the skin for a long period of time, causing first and second-degree burns including...
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The Most Opportune Place to Be I read the parable and I know exactly why the high priests and the religious leaders want to sit with the high rollers at the front table at the banquet hall. That is because I have insider information. When a priest sits at the place of honor, they get Red...
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When the doctor saw my broken thumb, he told me not to use my hand. I replied to him, “If I cannot use my hand, how am I supposed to go to work to pay your bill?” Actually, I didn’t say that because I did not think of it at the time. But suppose that...
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There you are with nothing but flip-flops on your feet, a t-shirt, sweatpants, and a tin roof over your head. You decide to put walls under the roof and you have a house. Next, you build a closet. Correction! A walk-in closet because you want lots of stuff. Then it would be nice to have...
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My fly fishing instructor called me. It is usually the same message: “I found the fish in Boston harbor. Let’s go.” Yet, this time the message was different. He told me that he had stage-four cancer and that he made out his will. He then informed me that I was in it. After he died,...
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I walked by St. Clement and took a look at the flower garden in front of the church sign. I immediately noticed a large sumac growing in front blocking the wording of the sign. It had not been there a few days before. My neighbor, who helps with the gardening, was present and I asked,...
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When I first started fly-fishing, I took a fly-casting lesson from a certified professional fly caster (they do exist). The instructor said, “Let’s see what you got.” Casting a line on a fly rod is similar to throwing a rope. You need momentum. So I swung back and then thrusted my body forward. I thought it...
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After I was first ordained, I knew a priest with a long gray beard. He would stroke it while I talked which gave me the impression that he was paying attention. One time I said too much and it prompted him to ask me, “Peter, do you pray?” I replied, “Of course, I pray. What...
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Joel is an odd prophet. He gives us a story about the attack of the locusts. We city folk are not really threatened. What can a grasshopper do? But to a farmer, grasshoppers can be a disaster. Or let’s say you enjoy a glass of wine with your meal. A locust plague will mean that...
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I bought a one-hundred-year-old tracker pipe organ from a church that was closing. There it was in a thousand pieces in the basement. I had to hire a pipe organ builder. The Archdiocese gave me three referrals. I picked a name on the shortlist and made a call. The first guy pulled up in a...
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After I was ordained, I presided at a wedding and the couple insisted that I go to their reception. Naturally, I didn’t know anyone there except the bride and the groom. I couldn’t hang out with them because they were busy. I sat at a table with people whom I met for the first time....
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Light always implies visibility. If you cannot see something, turn the light on. Whenever the Bible mentions light, it always signifies the visibility of God. This is a problem because God is invisible. So when God wants us to see Him, He has to offer light by way of a divine process called “glorification.” That...
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When Mary visits her cousin, Elizabeth asks her a question. It is not the question I would have asked had I been Elizabeth. My question would have been something like this. “How did you know that I needed you to come and help me? How did you know I was expecting a child? My husband...
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Typically, after the engagement, the first task to get married is to go to the church and reserve a date and time. Once that has been established the engaged can then send out the invitations and rent a reception hall. But that is not how the Jews did it in the time of Christ. This...
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The book of Jeremiah is one of the longest books in the bible. The reason why is because Jeremiah didn’t write it. He had a secretary whose name was Baruch. Jeremiah sent Baruch to the temple to read it to the people. In fact, he read it twice. The churchgoers who heard it were deeply...
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The hemorrhaging woman in the Gospel suffered for twelve years before the Lord walked past her: twelve years of doctors’ ripping her off, twelve years of a failed health care system, twelve years without making a contribution to society, twelve years of sleepless nights, twelve years an outcast, twelve years of not having a life....
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We all get discouraged, feel down, get upset, lose heart, or feel underappreciated. Once in a while, someone will come into our lives and throw us a rope, turn the switch, and give us hope and encouragement. That person is a leader. It happens. We lose our way in life. Once in a while, someone...
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“After tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will be falling from the sky and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” That description does not sound like it is going to be a very good day. Yet, that is what happened on the...
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A woman has two pennies and two options. She could go to the temple and give a donation. What will happen is this. The two small coins will be rubbing shoulders with gold and silver pieces. The priest who takes the money will appreciate the gold and the silver. The pennies he could do without....
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One day I went to Sears. They had something I wanted, and I had something they wanted in my wallet. The salesman came up and asked, “Can I help you?” When he found out that I wanted a snowblower and not something small like a pair of men’s black socks, he got really excited. He...
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One of the priests in my community had a very rare neurological terminal illness. One of the symptoms of the disease prevented him from doing his work as a priest. His blood pressure would drop significantly when he stood too long in one place. So it was hard for him to stand at the altar...
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I got what I asked for… the flu. Why would I ask for the flu? One of the priests in our community got the flu and we told him that we would cover for him. We would take care of the Masses, confessions, appointments, etc. We just wanted him to get better. After a few...
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When we go to work there are typically three types of people there. First, there are the bosses. They think they know everything, they micromanage, and like to take all of the credit for success. Next, you have the whiners who complain and they always have a reason not to like the boss, the job,...
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My uncle went to Hawaii and visited the leper colony of St. Damien the Leper. The only way to the village at the bottom of the cliff was by a donkey who walks a path no wider than a man’s shoulders. When my uncle got on the donkey he said, “This isn’t so bad.” But...
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Positives often have negatives. Allow me to explain. Positive: A woman had the hood of her car open. When I walked by she asked for a because the car didn’t start. I grabbed the jumper cables and a car. The woman was grateful to me because no one else offered to help her Negative: The...
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I go to a lot of meetings as a priest and they are always long. The reason they are lengthy is because we sit on comfortable, cushy chairs. In front of us is a table with bottles of water, a coffee pot, a pad of paper, and a pen with the church logo. Someone at...
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While I was on vacation with Dad in Maine, a friend of his invited us to play golf at his exclusive country club that was built on the side of a mountain. At the first tee, I felt I was standing on the roof of a twenty-story building. I looked down the valley and saw...
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Every year an invasive weed grows in my garden. I do not know what it is called, but I call it the upside-down carrot. It has a leaf that is attached to a very fine delicate stem, which is attached to a root that looks like an upside-down carrot. Naturally, when I weed, the plant...
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I came into the office after working outside in the garden. My office manager, Carol, told me I had messages on my desk. A painful moan slipped out of my mouth. I started to read the notes while Carol stepped out of the office. She returned with a glass of water and gave it to...
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Ten years ago I took the GRE exam. Naturally, it was brutal. My sister-in-law could have walked into the examination room the next day without even studying for the exam and have aced it. She would have received a perfect score, but it was not the case with me. So when I found out I...
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The queen of Israel, Jezebel, wanted to kill the prophet Elijah. So he hid in the desert, knowing that no one would go into a death zone to kill someone. They would have considered him already dead. But God came to Elijah by way of an angel to give him food and water. Elijah was...
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I have a tool caddie. It is a bucket with lots of pockets. I have every tool organized and nicely arranged. If I have to fix something, I just take the tool bucket to the job and I tackle the task at hand. One of the doors swelled up with all the rain and moisture...
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No matter how hard it gets, difficult the task, or impossible the situation, just add humble simplicity and you will get amazement. Take my face, for example. Yes, it could use Photoshop, but just add a humble smile and some laughter, and my face lights up. Take a rodent. Give it some floppy ears and...
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Last year I took one of those online classes on leadership. At one point during the course, we had to take a survey to assess our skills in this field. I did not do as well as I thought I would do. The survey told me that I was an average leader, but I was...
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They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The reason is simple. You have been fasting all night and the first meal of the day breaks the fast. So what do you suppose is the most important food item you can put in your body after a fast? Certainly not donuts...
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After the Resurrection, the disciples went fishing all night and caught nothing. Jesus, as you know, is the model for healing. After Peter denied Jesus, he went fishing and caught nothing. Early in the morning, the Lord instructed them to cast on the right side of the boat and they would find something. They caught...
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Look at the fingernail on your baby pinky. It is very small. That is the diameter of a Roman penny. If you hold the ancient coin between your thumb and forefinger, it will disappear. There was a widow holding two pennies at the Temple treasury. No one noticed her donation. No one would be able...
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God asked Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach. Nineveh was responsible for the destruction and deportation of the ten northern tribes of Israel. They were absolutely merciless. Jonah said to God, “I know what is going to happen if I go. I will preach to them. They will listen and repent of their sins....
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Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. It is the smallest of all the seeds yet it grows into the largest of trees. So, what is a mustard tree? It is a big, oversized weed, thickly branched, and ugly. If you have a mustard tree in your yard, you...
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Let’s say that the Holy Father was going to visit the United States. The first stop would be Boston and he wanted to have dinner here at St. Clement Shrine, hosted by the Oblates of the Virgin Mary. We would have to go to work. We would need to set up the hall with tables...
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When the veteran quarterback Drew Bledsoe was injured, a young rookie, Tom Brady, was pulled to be the throwing arm for the Patriots. He did a good job and led the Patriots to the playoffs. It was about that time when the injured Bledsoe returned to the team so there was a quarterback controversy. Someone asked...
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Dad and I were at Barnstable Harbor and a dory pulled up on the beach. It had a wide-open pit, a milk crate for a seat, and a motor. Its sheer simplicity allowed the boat to hold a number of large bins. We went over to check out the bins to see what the owner...
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When I began to learn how to fly-fish I would go to the fly fishing show. Experts and professionals are there to offer tips and advice. When I arrived at the show I went to see my friend who had a table where he was selling his flies and materials. As soon as he saw me...
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I am one of five boys. Growing up with four brothers meant that we pretty much had Toys-R-Us covered. It also meant that every kid that lived within a mile radius of our house knew that we had toys. Mom had a household rule that was rigorously obeyed: if you wanted to come inside the...
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The parishioners at my first assignment begged us to offer the kids a group to which they could belong and thus get them off the inner-city streets. I said, “fine,” so we had a high school level youth group with lots of enthusiastic participants. Along with car washes, dances, lock-ins, retreats, I offered a “mystery...
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A paralyzed man was jumping around in the temple area overjoyed, and a curiosity crowd was gathering around Peter who just cured the man. Peter needed to redirect the attention from himself back to Christ. This is how he did it. He told the crowd, “You all denied Christ. You denied Him of a fair...
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Let’s say that you are walking along, and inadvertently you step in some quicksand. The more you struggle, the deeper you sink. Finally, you are up to your neck and you are about to be buried alive. The end is near, but then someone comes by, sees you, and extends the hand to save you. What...
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Witnessing is a great way to help others. Let me give you an example. Suppose the police made a mistake and thought I robbed a bank. I then turn to the arresting officers and asked, “When did I do this”? They said, “Last Sunday morning at about 11:15.” I thought to myself, “Wait a minute,...
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We just heard one of the most inspired poems from the second reading. Let me make a few observations so that you can appreciate the passage. The first three verses of this poem describe unprecedented doom. Sin puts us on a path that leads to death. An analogy comes to mind that best expresses these...
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It was buy-one-get-one-free Monday at Kohl’s department store. That means that you pay the highest gouging price for an item and then you get a second for free. My mother was sitting in her wheelchair holding a “froggy” beanbag pillow. I explained to her that if we wait until half-price Wednesday, we could get the...
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After Job lost everything, his friends came to talk. The three are non-Israelites and represent the best in the ancient world. They told Job that God was perfect and just, therefore, Job must have sinned against God and that is why he lost everything. Right away we know that the smartest men in the world...
The post God Believes in Us, Let’s Show that He Is Right appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
When my oldest brother turned sixteen, he went to work with my father for the first time. When he got home that afternoon his t-shirt was soaked with his sweat and he had black soot on his face. I asked him, “What happened to you?” He replied, “Fire job; we gutted a gutted house.” That...
The post Walking in God’s Shoes appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Nineveh was home to the terrorists of the ancient world. Once they went on a campaign and swept through a gaggle of cities like a group of school bullies, telling the inhabitance to give over their lunch money. They finally descended upon the Jewish city Lachish, without a doubt the place you want to be...
The post Repent and believe in the Gospel – And Do It Immediately appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
What does the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit do all day together? Let’s take a look. At the Baptism of the Lord, Jesus is pulled out of the water. Next, the sky opens and the Holy Spirit descends. While this takes place, the Father offers a short speech about the greatness of His Son. And...
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The post Gospel-Homily for Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (2021) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Gospel-Homily for The Epiphany of the Lord (2021) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Feast of the Holy Family. Just before my ordination, I met with the pastor of Saint Catherine of Siena in Norwood where I would say my first Mass. He gave me some valuable advice that I would like to share with you. He said, “When I was first made pastor I wanted to make a...
The post It Is About Who You Are With appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Gospel-Homily for Christmas Day (2020) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
If the angel Gabriel appeared to me, I would be very surprised. In fact, I would be shocked. When the angel appeared to Mary she was not surprised at the appearance; she was surprised by the message. Why would the greeting “full of grace” surprise Mary more than the appearance of a heavenly angel? The...
The post Hail Full of Grace appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Gospel-Homily for Third Sunday of Advent (2020) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Second Sunday of Advent: Let me get this straight. The Gospel says that the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem went out to see John the Baptist at the Jordan. Was John that popular? Am I to believe that everyone in Jerusalem went out in the desert to see John? I certainly...
The post End of Darkness appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
First Sunday of Advent: I was walking back to the church after a run and a woman who was standing by her car called out to me. “My car will not start; could you give me a jump.” I said, “Give me a few minutes to get the car and some cables.” She said, “Oh,...
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The post Gospel-Homily for Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (2020) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Gospel-Homily for Thirty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (2020) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
I was about to take the youth group to Six Flags Great Adventure. while I was gathering up some permission slips, one of the chaperones came in and told me that too many kids showed up and that I had to turn away some of them. I looked out the window and saw about 30...
The post All Saints appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Jesus was walking by a village, and there was a funeral procession. A widow was about to bury her only son. The Scripture said that Jesus had “pity” on her. The original word for “pity” is a Greek word splagchnizomai. I mention this because it is very hard to translate this word into English. We...
The post Wiggle-guts appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
After I got accepted into a doctorate program, I met with my director and he asked me if I could read German. I told him I could not. So he said, “You need to learn.” So here was my strategy. I made hundreds of German flashcards, and made stacks of fifty and put rubber bands...
The post An Opportunity : eine Gelegenheit appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
How do you build a church? From the bottom up. In the ancient world, you begin with a cornerstone. You make sure that it is level and plumb. Then when you place a block of stone on top, it will also be level and plumb. If you keep doing that, put one rock on top...
The post The Head of the Corner appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
God gave the Israelites a vineyard to harvest the choicest wine grapes. To appreciate such a gift we need to consult an expert. Once I had the chance to tour one of the vineyards at Napa Valley. The guide told us that to make world-class vintage wine, you need the perfect conditions. You have to...
The post God is Great appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Cecil B. DeMille directed the epic classic film Ben Hur. While he was filming, he told the lead actor, Charlton Heston, that he was planning to include a chariot race. The director said to the actor, “I want you to be in that race, and I do not want a stand-in.” In so many words,...
The post Stay in the Race appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
I had to buy a birthday card. I came back and looked at the receipt which said that my change was $1.59. They only gave me 59 cents. I didn’t want to go back to the store to get the right change, so I let it go. Then I went to the drive-thru to get...
The post Share the Joy! appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Every Summer I offer a course on the Bible. This year, due to the pandemic, I was not able to do this at the church. Fortunately, one of our seminarians had a video camera, and he is an expert at editing film, so I was able to offer a course on biblical prayer on my...
The post Short appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
A few years back we needed to replace the roof shingles. Brother David Guza’s older brother was a roofer, so we asked him to supervise our roof job. On the first day he told me that we needed a dumpster because we are going to begin stripping the roof. I called our dumpster company. They did...
The post Follow appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
On the day of the resurrection Jesus walked through the locked doors. It states in the Gospels that the apostles were frightened because they thought they were seeing a ghost. They probably thought it was the angel of death coming to wipe them out for being such lousy apostles a few days before when they abandoned the...
The post “Who do you say that I am?” appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to find the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” This is a very good thing, but then why is Jesus in Tyre and Sidon, far outside of Jewish territory? If he wants to find sheep of the house of Israel, what is he doing in Phoenicia?...
The post To Last appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
God said to Elijah, “Go to the mountain and I will meet you there.” God wants to talk to Elijah because Elijah is hiding from the queen who wants to kill God’s prophet. So Elijah hides in the desert. Of course, no one is going into a death zone to kill someone. So Elijah goes...
The post God is in the Aftermath appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
When the bosses love you, they don’t just say it. Something happens. What happens when your boss loves you? That’s an easy answer. You receive a bonus, a pay raise, or extended vacation time. What happens when God loves? Things pop into existence. If I say the word ‘water’, nothing happens. But if God came...
The post When God Loves You appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
One evening young King Solomon fell asleep, and he has a terrific dream. God came to him and asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Solomon answered, “Give me all the skills and knowledge I need so I can fulfill my mission in life by leading the twelve tribes of Israel.”...
The post The Pearl appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
When I was growing up, Dad planted his vegetable garden next to the old chicken coop. Naturally, the soil was well fertilized so the vegetables grew like they were on steroids …and so did the weeds. One Saturday I weeded the garden. The neighbor, a barrel-chested guy with a thick beard, came over. He asked...
The post In the Weeds appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” Peter responded, “Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus asked him the same question two more times. I always wondered about that. Apparently Peter didn’t get it right the first time. What was Jesus looking for in Peter’s answer? I would like to know myself in case Jesus...
The post Fervently appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
In the ancient world, parents told their kids the story of creation. It goes something like this. There was a water god known as the leviathan came into the universe, reached up to the top of the universe and popped the cork. All the rainwater poured in and filled up the universe with water. Sort...
The post “And I will give you rest” appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Once Jesus said, “Give a cup of cold water to a little one and you will have your reward.” That is a hard saying. How do you equate a cup of water to a divine reward? I never really understood what the Lord was implying until one day. I was sitting at the desk in my office...
The post The Daughters appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Jesus said not worry about what we are to eat and what we are to wear or worry about our lives. So this is my question: Who in the Bible is the poster boy for anxiety? If anyone should be anxious about what he is to wear and about his very life, who would it...
The post Working with God appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
In the ancient world, people used to worship powers. The sun was very powerful, so they worshiped the sun. Wind can be very destructive, so they worshiped the wind. Rain and water floods and could cause great damage, so they worshiped water. It did not take long to figure out that these gods, who manifested...
The post Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity (2020) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Pentecost is a Jewish harvest feast. What do you harvest in the month of May? You could harvest flowers. Everything grows well in the spring. You also can harvest wheat. Pentecost means fifty, so fifty days of harvesting means there is a lot of wheat, plenty for everyone. Let’s say you live in the ancient...
The post Pentecost (2020) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Before my brother and his wife got married, they made a plan to have a simple wedding. They did not want to spend a lot of money on the wedding so that they could use their resources to start out in life. When they revealed their plan to the family, it did not go over...
The post Revealed Plans appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
What do shepherds do all day? They watch sheep. What do sheep do all day? They eat. That is, they graze on alfalfa weeds: very boring, especially for the young shepherd David. So he took out the ancient version of the video game, his slingshot. Whenever a wild animal scurried across the field or flew...
The post Ice Cream in Winter? appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
“I am the gate.” Why gate? I can understand that Christ is the shepherd of the sheep. I can understand why he is the vine because we are the branches. But the gate? When Abraham lived among the Bedouins, sheep, and lambs were kept inside the gate during the winter months. This made sense because...
The post Good Shepherd Sunday (2020) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
When I was in charge of supplies here in the house, I had one company that provided all my cleaning equipment. I could call and say, “The what-do-you-call-it on my red vacuum cleaner broke.” Then they will say, “Okay, you need new belts, I’ll send them out to you.” You can’t do that with Home...
The post Emmaus appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
I grew up with four brothers, no sisters. I worked for on a construction crew—all guys. Over the last thirty years, I have lived in a religious community, all men. I spent most of my life dealing with guys. This is what I learned: Whenever you see a group of giddy, happy, and overjoyed bunch...
The post Divine Mercy Sunday (2020) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. (John 20:1-19) We do not see the risen Jesus yet; we see burial wrappings. So let’s take a good look at the burial wrappings inside the tomb. The headpiece is rolled up and put...
The post Easter Sunday (2020) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
About 1000 yards away, at the fortress of Antonia, Barabbas was in a jail cell listening to a conversation between Pilate and the crowd. The conversation went something like this: Pilate said to the crowd, “Whom shall I release to you?” The crowd shouted, “Barabbas! Barabbas!” Pilate then said, “What should I do with Jesus,...
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Let’s suppose I am Lazarus. My body is lying on a cold, stone shelf in a tomb. There I will stay for about a year. Then someone will roll back the stone. Put my bones in a bone-box and put a new body on the shelf. Before all of this happens, the stone is moved...
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The Philistines were a people of nearly giant-like proportions from the North. They decided to seek a warmer climate, so they set out and journeyed south. As they traveled, they pillaged every village and city. They never lost a battle until they attacked Egypt. After the defeat, the Philistines settled along the eastern coast of...
The post Great are You, O Lord appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
My brother does the maintenance here at St. Clement. Once a week after work he grabs me, and we go to the art museum. Usually, when you go to the museum, you run around from room to room looking at all the pictures and then you go home. We do not do that. We go...
The post A Conversation with the Artist appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The Father says to the disciples: “This is my Son, listen to Him.” The disciples have a choice. They will listen to the Son or they will not listen to the Son. Which of the two is the correct choice? Of course, listen to the Son. What if the disciples choose the wrong answer and...
The post Another Choice appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
I was with my mother as she was doing errands and she stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts. I ordered a plain doughnut. Why would a kid order plain doughnut instead of the usual chocolate-covered doughnut? Because a guy an apron and flour all over his arms just came out of the doughnut-making room and brought out...
The post We Can Get Back What Was Lost appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
A Hindu was interested in becoming a member of the Catholic Church and he joined the RCIA program. In one of the classes, he raised his hand and said to the instructor, “Let me get this straight; you are blessed if you are poor; you are blessed if you’re persecuted. If someone strikes me on...
The post It is Not That Hard appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
A few months after 9/11, I had to fly to Pittsburgh. Before going through security, I got a bagel at Dunkin’ Donuts. I took my bagel bag and brought it to security, and they found a plastic knife in the bag. Why I ask did the clerk at Dunkin’ Donuts put a plastic knife in...
The post Cut a Break appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
One night I walked into the TV room and some of the guys were watching a cooking completion on the food network. There was a guy that really wanted to win. He was running from one end of the kitchen to the other grabbing ingredients and adding to his skillets. The competition in comparison looked...
The post The Salt of the Earth appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Presentation of Jesus in the Temple The theological virtues are faith hope and love. What exactly is hope? Hope means that the situation is absolutely completely out of your hands and there is nothing else you can do but depend on God. We prefer love and faith because we are able to do things. Often...
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Jesus is walking along and he sees two fishermen. He calls them. Next, he sees two brothers mending their nets. He calls them too. Why net menders? When a fisherman raises his net, the fish squirm inside. While it appears they are wiggling around in the net, what they are really doing is taking their sharp...
The post Catching Fish and Mending Nets appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
In the book of Isaiah, God speaks, “You, O Israel, are my servant through whom I show my glory.” That is a significant statement. What exactly is glory? It is a Hebrew word “kabod” which also means liver. What does the liver have to do with God? The liver is the heaviest organ in your...
The post Lifted Up appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
At the baptism of Jesus, the heavens open and the Father declares, “This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.” I have a question. What did Jesus do before his baptism? What did he do before multiplying the loaves, before walking on water, before curing the man born blind? Where was Jesus...
The post The School of Mary appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
I was on vacation in Maine, and I went to the other side of the lake to catch the evening hatch. The night was pitch-black. I had a flashlight, and I was using it to return to the camp. As I was walking along, I turned off the flashlight to see how far I would...
The post Epiphany’s Light (2020) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
My brother let me stay at his place a few days down the Cape, so I wanted to thank him with a gift. He has been married now for a while so our connection with one another has been sporadic. I really do not know what he needs so I decided to give him the...
The post Jesus, Servant Lord appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
My brother let me stay at his place a few days down the Cape, so I wanted to thank him with a gift. He has been married now for a while so our connection with one another has been sporadic. I really do not know what he needs so I decided to give him the...
The post Christmas Eve: The Gift of the Son, Servant and King (2019) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
I was with Dad fly fishing a few weeks ago. As I was walking along a path next to the water I was fishing, I spotted a butterfly on the ground. I was struck by the bright colors, it looked like a stained glass window. I bent down to take a closer look, and I...
The post To Praise God appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
I teach New Testament Greek at St. John’s Seminary. The first thing I tell my class on the first day is to put away the notebooks and pens; they won’t need them to learn the alphabet. I do this because I know what is going to happen otherewise. They would write down the Greek alphabet...
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Several years back, I got a new workout program for Christmas. One of the exercises was called the “Impossible Push-up.” Here is how it works. Place two basketballs on the floor and place your hands on top of them while balancing your feet on a beach ball. Now do a push-up. I can get into...
The post A Pleasant Surprise appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Perched on the top of the pyramid of success you will find the CEO, the King of the castle, the president, the boss. On the bottom of the pyramid of success, you will find the worker bees. Here is how the pyramid of success works. The worker bees at the bottom of the pyramid work...
The post Our Lord Jesus Christ the King (2019) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Let me tell you about my last camping trip. My brother asked me to go camping. Apparently, he reserved a nice spot beside a lake. I told him I did not have a tent, sleeping bag, or anything related to camping. He assured me he had everything I needed. When I got to the campground...
The post “He pitched His tent among us” appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
I was about to leave to say Mass at a nursing home, so got my alb, draped it over my arm, and went to the back door to check out the car situation. I opened the door to see what was available and there was nothing in the lot. I forgot to sign out a...
The post Climb a Tree appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
When I first came to St. Clement, the back of the church was taking in rainwater. Apparently, the façade caps needed some serious work so I called a company that rents hydraulic lifts. I got the secretary and I asked if I could talk to the president of the company. “May I ask who is...
The post Pears appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
When the Egyptians turned the Israelites into slaves and placed them in bondage, what happened to the Israelites? The Bible says that the Israelites multiplied. The more burdens the Egyptians placed on the shoulders of the Israelites, the more their numbers grew. So how do you multiply? You fall in love, get married, and have...
The post Character and Faith in God appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Let’s say you are walking along and inadvertently you step in some quicksand. It is a slow sink, but the more you struggle the deeper you get. Finally, you are up to your neck and you are about to be buried alive. The end is near, but then someone comes by, sees you, and reaches...
The post Staying Power appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
26th Sunday of ordinary time, Luke 2019 So there you are sitting on the grass with the five-thousand holding a half a loaf of bread in your hand. You are so full that you can’t eat another bite. You start thinking about what to do with this half a loaf. You decide that you will...
The post The Abundance of Scraps appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Jesus tells us that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. It is the smallest of all the seeds yet it grows into the largest of trees. So, what is a mustard tree? It is an oversized weed. They are big, thickly branched, and ugly. If you have a mustard tree in your...
The post In God’s Kingdom, Potential for Greatness appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
My friend Jack taught me how to tie flies for fishing. They were always easy to tie, fun to fish, and they worked. In fact, that is how I produce my homilies: they are easy to write, fun to deliver, and they have to work. Anyway, my friend died and he left me something in...
The post The Prodigal Father’s Legacy appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Let’s suppose I was invited to a banquet. I walk in and someone sees me from the head table and says, “Hey, Father, over here there is a seat.” So I sit down at the table and there I notice that everyone at this table is rich and famous. In fact, Billy Gates is seated...
The post Banquets appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
So, Jeremiah was forced down a cistern. Why, after so many centuries, are we still reading about this? We all have encounters with bullies. Why is it important for us to know that Jeremiah was in a cistern? The reason is this. Jeremiah is a prophet, and every experience of a prophet, every action and...
The post A Time to Mend appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
I got a call from someone who wanted to visit our seminary. I prepared his room, picked him up at the airport, got him something to eat and gave him a tour of the city. Then over the next two days, I talked to him about his vocation, and I took him to see St....
The post What Servants Do appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
A guy successfully climbs up to the mountain of success. He has more money than he will ever spend, he is a king who rules over many nations so he wields great power, and he has vast wisdom and knowledge. Not many people can claim to have acquired so much in a lifetime. Most of us...
The post Vanishing Vapors, Holes in the Ground, and Empty Barns appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
I was on a roofing job working in my father’s company. My uncle, who was on top of the roof, yelled down to me and my cousin to start bringing up the roof shingles. I reached down and shouldered an 80lb bundle of shingles and started up the ladder. A pretty college girl came by...
The post His Yoke and Our Inheritance appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
One day I was at my desk, and I was on the phone. Apparently, someone tried to buy Rhode Island with my credit card and I was trying to figure out how to get a new card. While I was on hold the doorbell rang. So I hung up and answered the door. There was...
The post Eyes to See appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
You remember the Acts of the Apostles. The book begins with the Ascension of Jesus. After that, the Apostles receive the Holy Spirit and they begin to “act” just as Jesus did before his resurrection. They preached like Jesus, they cured people like Jesus, and they got the authorities upset like Jesus. It is almost...
The post Jesus Returns to His Father appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Two years ago I had the façade of the church repaired. We replaced over 150 concrete blocks. The casts had to match by texture, shape, and color. The project cost over four hundred thousand dollars. Think about that. You could buy a condo with a view for four hundred thousand dollars. You can take a...
The post Worth It appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
One early morning my father called to tell me that my mother took a turn for the worst, and I should come to see her. When I got to the nursing home, Dad told me that he was going home to wash up and come back. I understood at the time that this could be...
The post Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity (2019) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
There are two things you cannot do when you are underwater. You can’t breathe, and you can’t cry for help. That is why the ancients feared to be under the water. To them, it was a tomb. When John the Baptist pulls you out of the water at baptism, what is the first thing you...
The post The Lord, the Giver of Life: A Homily for Pentecost (2019) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
I met with my director at school when I was studying Scripture, and he asks me if I could read German. I told him I could not. So he said, “You need to learn.” So I put hundreds of German vocabulary flashcards into stacks of 50, and I put rubber bands around them. Whenever I went...
The post Opportunities appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
When veteran quarterback Drew Bledsoe was injured, a young rookie, Tom Brady, was called in to be the throwing arm for the Patriots. He did a good job. When the playoffs arrived Drew was returned to play again and there was a quarterback controversy. Someone asked for my opinion and I thought they should give...
The post The Holy Spirit, Our Advocate appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
In the Book of Revelation, a massive dragon wants to attack heaven. The dragon thinks that the throne is unoccupied. There is no leadership, no organization, so there should be no problem taking over that throne. When he gets there, he sees that the throne is, in fact, occupied by the “lamb that was slain.”...
The post Kings and Servants appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
I went to the post office to renew my passport. The lady who was working at the post office asked if I had the old passport and I did. “How old is it?” she asked. To show how dated it was, I turned to the page with my picture inside that was taken in 1983....
The post Marked appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Just after my mother died, I was with Dad, and he asked me if I wanted to see the new headstone they just delivered at the seminary. As we were going, my father explained to me that the plot he bought had four places one each for mom, dad, my brother, and me. When we...
The post The Resurrection and The Life appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Here is my short list for good health: Get plenty of rest, breath clean air, eat a balanced diet, exercise, and don’t do drugs. What is the first thing they do when you are admitted to the hospital? They connect you to an I.V. machine, and they place a loud alarm beside your ear so...
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The post Good Friday: They led Jesus away, carrying the cross by himself (2019) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The post Holy Thursday: The Hour has Come (2019) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Early in the morning on Good Friday, Pilate went out to address the crowd. And this is the conversation that took place. Pilate said to the crowd, “Which of the two prisoners would you like me to release for the Passover? Jesus or Barabbas?” And the crowd shouted, “Barabbas! Barabbas!” And Pilate answered, “Well, what...
The post Palm Sunday: Who is Barabbas? (2019) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Remember a few years ago when the Red Sox were in last place? Sports writers criticized the players for their lack energy and effort. Fans were furious because they had to pay the highest price for Major League Baseball tickets only to see the team fold and lose every game. Five months later, thousands of...
The post Opening Day appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
When I was growing up, my mother always came to me when something had to be done around the house. That made sense because my older brother used to help out my father with his chores, like mowing the lawn and fixing the screen door. My younger brothers were too young to know anything so...
The post Happy appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
I was with one of my confreres while he was unpacking his belongings. He pulled out a bottle of liquor and said, “One of my friends in the parish gave me this as a going away present; this is very good stuff.” I said, “That doesn’t tell me anything.” So I asked him, “If I...
The post How Long? appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
We always begin Lent with Ash Wednesday. We receive ashes to remind us that we are all going to die. Why would we want to be reminded of that? I knew a guy who was incredibly successful in life. Everything he touched turned to gold. I asked why everything he did was so good. He...
The post Memento Mori appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Noah’s ark. How do you envision it? If you picture in your mind a large shoebox, about the size of a football field and about three stories high, then, Congratulations, you have read your Bible. The Bible gives the exact dimensions and the shape of the ark. But this is my question: why would God...
The post Depend on God appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Why does God make it so hard on us? He tells Elijah, the prophet, to go to Mount Horeb. Mount Horeb is in the middle of the hottest, most brutal desert on the planet. It takes forty days to get there. For forty days, he has no access to food, water, or mini-marts along the...
The post Strength in the Struggle appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
David could have killed Saul. And if he had killed Saul, David would have vastly improved his life. He would not have had to run for his life anymore, to look over his shoulder every time someone suspicious walked behind him, or to worry about a spear or arrow flying in his direction out of...
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One time a guy called my brother and asked him if he would work in his new computer company. He told my brother that he didn’t have a lot of money, but he could pay him with stock options. My brother thought long and hard about it, but in the end, he declined. Later, my...
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Problems, we all have them. We just need to find the best solutions. One time I went on a vacation in the deep woods of Maine at my brother’s lake camp. I went to bed and outside my bedroom window was a love-sick bullfrog calling to his mate. “No problem,” I thought. “I can handle...
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One day I went to Sears. They had something I wanted, and I had something they wanted. I needed a snow blower, and they needed my money. The salesman came up and said, “Can I help you?” When he found out that I wanted a snow blower and not a pair of men’s black socks,...
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Don’t be sad. This is the message of Nehemiah the prophet. There are a lot of reasons to rejoice according to the prophet. On New Year’s day, we go to Mass. In the first reading of the first Mass on the first day of the year, we hear the proclamation of Aaron’s blessing: “May the...
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At the wedding feast of Cana, we find out that Jesus is the groom. We know this because he acts like a groom. He is the one who provides the wine which is the responsibility of the groom. In the next chapter, John the Baptist says that he is happy to be the best man...
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Baptism of the Lord 2019 Do you remember the four-minute mile? No one could break the four-minute mile. Experts came to the conclusion that the human being could only run so fast and they presented all sorts of reasons: wind resistance, lung capacity, the human muscles, and bone structure were simply insufficient to support...
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Prefer the Light to the Darkness Epiphany is the celebration of the festival of lights. One of the opening lines in John’s Gospel reads: “The light came into the world, but people preferred the darkness over the light.” Why would anyone choose darkness over light? People prefer darkness when they have something to hide. No...
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Typically, we know who will win the election before we even go to vote. This is because of the polling. Sometimes the polls get it wrong, and there is a shock. If you go to the campaign headquarters of the shocked and unexpectedly victorious candidate, there is usually lots of happiness. That is precisely what...
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God Gives Us Gifts for Others’ Needs In 587 BC, the Babylonians took siege of Jerusalem. They destroyed the city and took the inhabitants as captives back to Babylon. It was known as the great exile. Fifty years later, the Persians rose to power and took over management of the world. They told the...
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A Kind Spirit and a Gentle Heart Paul was in a Roman prison when he wrote the letter to the Philippians. Let me say a few things about Roman prisons. First, Romans do not provide food, clothing, or medical supplies. You must get that from the outside. So Paul’s life is depending on the...
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Remember when the Israelites were in Egypt? They were waiting for God to rescue them from slavery for 400 years. They were waiting for the Lord. When God appeared to Moses, he said, “I have heard the cry of my people.” “Yes, 400 years of crying what took you so long,” we might imagine the...
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When I die, I want to ask St. Peter a question: “Why did Jesus have to ask you three times if you loved him?” Apparently, Jesus wasn’t all that impressed the first time Peter answered him, so he had to ask him again, and then again a third time. What was Jesus looking for in...
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There was a man who received a nice inheritance. He made a donation to our seminary. We were grateful, and so I invited him over, and I showed him around the seminary… this is where the seminarians pray, this is where they eat, over here is where they study. As we walked through the refectory,...
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So there I am standing in the Temple in the first century, and a widow comes up to me and says, “Excuse me, are you a priest?” I said, “Yes, I am.” She then says, “I was going to make my annual donation to the Temple, but I only have two pennies. Do you think...
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Someone forgot to put a liner bag in the shop vacuum, and the plaster dust ended up in the air, which in turn set off the fire alarm. Usually, the fire department shows up right away, that is, when the telephone lines are connected properly. Apparently, something was wrong so I called the phone company, and a...
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Does God love good people more than bad people? Answer: the lost sheep. Jesus leaves the 99 good sheep, righteous sheep, to go after the rebel, the one who is going to do his own thing. When he finds the renegade, he throws a party. The Bible answers questions so this is my question this...
The post Gospel-Homily for Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2018) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
When I graduated from Princeton, the president handed me a scrolled up paper with a ribbon. It was blank. You do not get the real diploma until you hand over the receipt that says “Paid in Full.” So after the graduation, I had to drive to another building to pick up my diploma. Mom and...
The post Gospel-Homily for Twenty-Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2018) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Can you say that you have kept the Ten Commandments all your life? Can you say that a bad word never came out our your mouth; you never stretched the truth; never looked at someone and had lust in your heart. Can you say you have kept the commandments since your youth? Do you have...
The post Gospel-Homily for Twenty-Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2018) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Future Hope When Job’s three girls and seven boys were tragically killed, when his house collapsed, when 15,000 animals comprising his livestock perished in a fire, when sores broke out over his body, it is said that he sat on a pile of cow manure and ash to express how he felt about his...
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Before they let you climb what used to be called Mt. McKinley, the rangers of Denali National Park sit you down to show you the perils of climbing the highest mountain in North America. The presentation views images of thunderous avalanches, storms that flatten tents, hands, and feet blackened by frost bit, and twisted bodies...
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Let’s Roll One of my confrère’s brothers is a professional roofer. We asked him to supervise our roof job. On the first day he told me that we needed a dumpster because we are going to begin stripping the roof. called the dumpster company. “First thing tomorrow,” they informed me. I said that would not...
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Wisdom is so good. Wisdom is not just a bunch of cold facts or brute knowledge. It understands with heart. When I look up at the stars at night, and my heart is moved to say “God you are wonderful because you are so big and vast!” That is wisdom. It is the heart and...
The post Gospel-Homily for Tuesday of the Twenty-Third Week of Ordinary Time (2018) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Dad and I finished a day of fishing, and we stopped for ice cream. I went to the window and gave our order to the girl as I handed over a twenty dollar bill. She gave me change, and I put it all in her tip jar. I was hoping that she saw me put...
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I am a religious in the congregation of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary. We have houses in nine countries. One man oversees and manages all of this: the Rector Major. His name is Fr. David Nicgorski. Before he became a priest, before he entered the seminary, before he even thought about becoming a priest,...
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In one word, can you describe your relationship with God: master, servant, judge, lawyer, friend, counselor, service personnel, psychologist, Ticketmaster? If you read the Bible, you will notice that God is often referred to as a “Father,” but what does that mean? It means that dads in the biblical world always passed on secrets and...
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God tells Elijah, the prophet, to go to Mount Horeb. Mount Horeb is in the middle of the hottest, most brutal desert on the planet. It takes Elijah forty days to get there. Let’s do some math. It takes one day to walk about twenty-five miles in the ancient world. Multiply that by forty, that...
The post Gospel-Homily for Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2018) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
So the Israelites are no longer under the oppressive thumb of Egypt. They are free. When they leave Egypt in freedom, they enter the desert where they find they have no grocery stores, no banana trees, no sheep wandering around. But they have God. So they turn to God, and he sends them food for one day only. That...
The post Gospel-Homily for Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2018) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
The Lord said to the disciples, “Gather up the crumbs.” Why crumbs? God can do a lot with crumbs. Jesus told the parable of the rich man who ate sumptuously, and he didn’t give poor Lazarus anything to eat. Later, the rich man died and was tortured in flames. Naturally, when we hear the unfortunate...
The post Gospel-Homily for Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2018) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
My provincial (my boss) came to me one day and asked, “Do you need a generator?” I told him we didn’t need a generator; I need a plumber. I tried to explain to him that the city does not have telephone poles and all the electrical lines in the city are underground. We have never lost power here...
The post Gospel-Homily for Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2018) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
There is a village of farmers who have to travel a distance to church. This is an added burden to their heavy load of work. So the local pastor got permission to build them a church, and they are now making good progress. The problem is this: the farmers are poor, and you can only...
The post Gospel-Homily for Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2018) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
Here is my short list to good health. Get plenty of rest, breathe clean air, eat well, exercise, and don’t do drugs. What is the first thing they do when someone is admitted in the hospital? They connect you to an I.V. machine with a loud alarm and place it beside your ears so that...
The post Gospel-Homily for Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2018) appeared first on St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine.
She is not a renowned saint, she is not the Blessed Mother, she is not an angel, but no matter where you go her image is in every Catholic church. The sixth station of the Cross captures the story of Veronica who wipes the face of Jesus. A woman steps forth from the crowd and...
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John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey, wore camel’s hair and a leather belt. What does that tell us? The man is crazy? No. It tells us that he has no overhead. To understand the full implications of this, allow me to illustrate. Let’s say I am in Jerusalem “back in the day.” It is winter, and I am thinking about a nice...
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One day, Jerry and I were fly fishing. Around noon, Jerry took the car to get some lunch. When he returned, two hours later, I asked him, “What took you so long”? He said that the car wouldn’t start because the anti-theft device activated. The car thought Jerry was stealing the car. He then went into exacting detail how...
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I will go to the temple and offer a turtle dove as a sacrifice to the Lord. The first thing I do when I get to the temple is to go to the moneychangers table. I take out a pagan five-dollar bill and change it for two temple dollars. It is a lousy exchange rate, but...
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Why are we any different from Abraham, the Father of Faith? God called him, but He first tested him. Every year, when I go on the family vacation, I bake a chocolate cake. After about twenty minutes, I open the oven to inspect the progress. Even though it looks done on the outside, I can...
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It was buy-one-get-one-free Monday at Kohl’s department store. That means you pay the highest “gouging” price for an item and you get a second for free. My mother was sitting in her wheelchair holding a Froggy beanbag pillow. I explained to her that if we wait until half-price Wednesday, we could get the pillow for...
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After Jesus cured the leper, He said to him, “Go show yourself to the priest and do not tell anyone.” What is the first thing he does? He blabs it to everyone. I can understand what happened. After the priest gave the leper a clean bill of health and told him he could now go...
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Months ago Pope Francis designated Sunday, Feb 4 as a prayer day for the victims of all those who suffered from abusive priests. Here is the reason why. First, revelations were made. The light shined in the darkness. Then there were law suits, settlements, and apologies. To ensure that the apologies were not just lip...
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I was in my sixth-grade gym class. It was floor hockey, boys against the girls. The teacher pulled me aside to ask if I would play on the girls’ side to balance the teams. I reluctantly said, “Yah, I guess.” Sure enough, the guys made lots of comments on how I was a nice girl. I...
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Couldn’t Jesus do a little better? I am sure there were plenty of synagogue leaders and faithful religious priests to choose from. Why Peter? Remember Moses? Before God called Moses, he was tending his flock at Midian. He is a runaway slave with a rap sheet for murder. You cannot get lower than that. Wouldn’t...
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The disciples ask Jesus, “Where are you staying?” Jesus invited them to come and see. They are about to discover that Jesus stays at the bosom of the Father because that is where He is from. We know this because the Gospel begins by telling us that Jesus comes from the bosom of the Father....
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It is appropriate that we begin the New Year with a reading from the Book of Numbers. Numbers is the second to last book in the Pentateuch. The book begins with a census of all the names of anyone over twenty years old who were living in the desert after God delivered them from Egypt....
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Once I was on vacation, waiting in the parking lot for Fr. Tom to get back with lunch. While I was standing there, I watched a large barrel-chested man walking his Chihuahua. The size variance between the two looked funny, but I didn’t say anything. He came over to me and said, “How was the fishing.”...
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The philosophers believed that God was only interested in very big and important matters: God had more important matters to worry about then to fuss over humans. He had to fix the stars and balance the cosmos making sure heavenly bodies do not bang into each other. They called God, “The God of the universe.”...
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The night before Hurricane Sandy, I had the 8:00 pm Mass. Later, I went to the hospital to visit three patients. When I was done, I was famished. I planned to go to the supermarket on the way home and buy a few tomatoes to make a sauce for spaghetti: delicious carbs. I picked out the tomatoes...
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I am now fifty-eight years old and have spent my life praying with, reading, studying, preaching, and teaching the Bible. I have taken classes on Scripture in Rome, Princeton, Harvard University, Boston College, and have studied under some of the most renowned scholars in both Old and New Testament. I can honestly say that I...
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“Stay awake, for you do not want the Son of Man to come and find you asleep.” Why would Jesus say this a week before He and his disciples went to the garden of Gethsemane to pray? Because it was exactly what the disciples didn’t do when they were asked to stay awake in the...
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The sand flee is smaller than a fruit fly, but they have very sharp teeth. I was fly-fishing one summer evening, and the sand flees came out to torment me. They had no mercy and were all over me. I only had two options: (1) leave and miss out on the best fishing of the...
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I was with dad one afternoon watching Phil Mickelson on TV. He was about to make a putt. If the ball goes in the hole, he will win the tournament. If it does not, he will tie and will have to play a very talented player in extra rounds. Phil walks behind the ball and...
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“My paper is done. Do you want it?” I asked my professor. He said, “The paper does not have to be handed in until the end of the semester, but I can take it now.” Take a guess what I am going to do the night before the paper is actually due? I am going...
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In the ancient world, grandpa would tell his grandchildren the story of creation. It goes something like this. The universe is a big bubble. Outside the bubble is water. One day, for whatever reason, the water god decided to pull the cork and let in all the water inside the universe. The universe filled up...
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I was at home and Mom told me that she was pulled over by the police. I asked her, “What happened?” She told me she was driving down Route One, missed her exit, and did a U-turn. “Apparently, I wasn’t supposed to,” she said. A police officer pulled her over and asked her, “Do you...
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Here is Matthew, minding his business; a Christian comes over to him and asks, “If we are the enemy of the state and it is illegal to be a Christian, do we have to pay taxes?” A good question, indeed. Matthew recalls the time when Jesus said to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and...
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When I came to St. Clement years ago, my task was to fix up the place. It was badly in need of repairs. Before I could do anything—change a light bulb, redo a bathroom, take out a wall to enlarge a room—I had to get permission from my superior. He would ask the members of...
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Moses and God talk Ex. 32:7-14 God says to Moses your people are complaining and rebelling. Your people that you brought out of Egypt are rebelling and made a golden calf and worshiped it. I am going to end it all. Let’s you and I leave these people and start a new nation. Now that...
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God gave the Israelites a vineyard of choice grapes to harvest. To appreciate such a gift, we need to consult an expert. Once I had the opportunity to tour one of the vineyards in Napa Valley. The guide told us that to make world-class wine, you need the perfect conditions: The exact amount of rainfall,...
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Cecil B. DeMille directed the epic film, Ben Hur. He told the lead actor, Charlton Heston, that he was planning to have a chariot race in the film, “I want you to be in that race. I do not want you to have a stand-in.” Heston said, “If you want me to ride, I will...
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The parable of the unmerciful servant ends tragically. Let’s give it a happy ending. The master wanted to throw the servant in prison: the servant pleaded and begged the master to give him more time, “I will pay back the debt.” Out of compassion, the master released him and forgave the debt. The servant, free...
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During the wedding feast at Cana, we learn that it is the job of the groom to supply the wine, however, Jesus seems to be acting like the groom because He provides lots of wine. In the next chapter, John the Baptist says that he is happy to be the best man of the groom....
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I can understand that Christ is a shepherd of the sheep. I can figure out why He is a vine because we are the branches. But – why a gate? In ancient times, sheep and lambs were kept inside the gate during the winter months. This made sense because there was nothing to eat outside...
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About a year ago, my father called and said, “Peter, the stripers are in the canal.” Let me tell you a little about stripers. Every spring they migrate, like birds, from the Carolinas to Nova Scotia. When they arrive at the Cape Code Canal, they stop to get a quick bite and then go on...
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If you are raising money for your school with a bake sale and Billy Gates comes and says, “How can I help your cause?” What are you going to ask him? You are not going to invite him to buy a cake. No, you are going to ask him to buy the school. That is...
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When they laid Jesus in the tomb everyone was sad. Why? Because they didn’t let Him finish the story. A few seasons ago Tom Brady tossed an interception near the end of the fourth quarter. He handed the ball to the team who was already winning. Forty thousand fans left the stadium. They didn’t want to...
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Jesus says on the cross “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?” That is the first verse of Psalm 22. Let me tell you about Psalm 22. The Psalmist is presenting his personal experience of God. First, he claims that he is in complete darkness. Next the psalmist says, “They can count all...
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A guy fell in a hole and couldn’t climb out. He heard someone and shouted for help. “Send me down a rope.” The passer-by said, “I am a physician, I don’t have a rope. I will give you want I have.” He threw down a prescription. The guy in the hole said, “How is this...
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I led thirty-two teenagers from the parish, with a small gaggle of chaperones, to Denver to see the Pope John Paul II on the occasion of World Youth Day. Thousands of us were gathered in a field waiting when suddenly five helicopters appeared on the scene. First, the bishops processed out on the stage, then...
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My colleague and friend is a Shakespearean scholar. After he published a book on Shakespeare, he was interviewed by a newspaper. At the end of the interview, he was asked: “Why do you like Shakespeare so much?” He answered: “If could write just one poetic sentence like Shakespeare, I would consider my life a success....
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Several years ago I went on a whale watch. There were twelve of us to brave the cold, fall wind and choppy seas. We all huddled inside the cabin with hot chocolate, reading a Save the Whale brochure provided by the captain. After about an hour of full speed ahead to nowhere, the captain bellowed,...
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My mother and I were doing errands and we stopped at Dunkin Donuts. I order a plain donut. Why a plain donut instead of my usual chocolate doughnut? Because a guy in an apron and flour all over his arms just came out of the doughnut making room and brought out a tray of plain...
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Jesus said we should not worry about what we are to eat and what we are to wear or worry about our lives. This is my question: Who in the Bible is the poster boy for anxiety? The man who fell among robbers who stripped him, beat and left half-dead in a gutter. If anyone...
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There was a Hindu who studying to be a Catholic. He said to his instructor, “Let me get this straight; you are blessed if you are poor; you are blessed if you’re persecuted. If someone strikes you on one side turn and give him the other. Love your enemy. I must pick up my cross,...
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Growing up, I was the second oldest of five boys. That means I had one brother who was the boss and three who were clueless. It was impossible to grow up with four brothers and not use the word “idiot.” With that said, I grew up, minding my own business, then, all of a sudden,...
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Dad said, “Let’s go fishing.” I said, “It’s January, the middle of winter! Sounds like a good idea.” We went to the Salmon River. When we arrived, we were met with a severe snowstorm. It was blowing sideways and I had so many layers of clothing on, I looked like the Michelin tire man. For...
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Moses’ life was threatened at infancy by a king. Jesus’ life was threatened by a king. Moses left Egypt, Jesus left Egypt with His parents; Moses entered the desert for forty years, Jesus entered the desert for forty days. Moses went up the mountain to deliver the law; Jesus went up a mountain to deliver...
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Jesus is walking along the shore and he sees fishermen. He calls to them. Then He sees two others mending their nets. Why does Matthew not just write that they are fishermen? Why net menders? Because Jesus needs two sets of skills: one to catch the fish and another not to lose them after they...
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The path forward is what will lead to hope and grace. With the letter to the Corinthians, Paul thanks God for the gifts He will bestow on the Corinthians. But just after the thank you, the fireworks begin. Paul seems to have nothing good to say about them. They are disloyal to one another and...
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My friend Jack asked me to fish with him one early evening. I always like to fish with my friend because he knows all the secret places. When I arrived it was dark. He first wanted to go to the yacht club where he is an associate member. Associate membership in a yacht club means...
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The angel Gabriel gave word to Mary that she was going to be the mother of God. Mary tells him that she is the handmaid. Then, the last line: “the angel departed.” Does that strike you as odd? I would think that the angel needs to explain about some of the events that are about...
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Seventh Sunday Years ago, one Saturday morning, my mother asked me to go shopping with her. In the car she said, “What is the matter?” I told her, “Nothing.” She responded, “You used to be so happy around the house, always helping me out with the chores and having fun with your brothers. Now you...
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Sixth Sunday Growing up, I was the second oldest of five boys. That means I had one brother who was the boss and three brothers who were clueless. It was absolutely impossible to grow up with four brothers and not use the word idiot. With that said, I grew up, minding my own business, then...
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First Sunday of Lent Dad is very good fisherman. He was catching fish while his friends were not catching anything. The friends asked my father what he was using to catch the fish. He told them the “white fly.” They all said, “Oh, the ‘white fly.’” So for one day all the friends were happy...
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Third Sunday In the book of Genesis, it reports that God walked in the Garden of Eden. I image one particular day that God enters the garden and asks, “Where are they? They usually come right over when I come to the garden. The other day they were so excited, they said, ‘we think there...
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The Baptism of our Lord Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) Once in a while, I am invited to a parish to speak to the students. When I arrive, they are sitting classroom style. I kind of know what they are thinking: “Here is the priest and he is going to tell us to be...
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