Category Archives: Weekday Homily

Build your faith Deuteronomy 6:4-13/ Psalm 18/ Matthew 17:14-20 In today’s gospel, the unnamed man stands in for all the parents, guardians, and other caregivers who sincerely pray for their children. We fervently hope and pray that parents who toil day and night for their children’s health and welfare will be blessed by Jesus’ response. […]

TRUE FOLLOWERS  Deuteronomy 4:32-40; Psalm 76; Matthew 16:24-28 Moses exhorts the people to turn back to God in the first reading by reminding them of the Horeb theophany, the Exodus, and all that God had done for them in both Egypt and the wilderness. God had been faithful to them, therefore they should only serve […]

CHEERFUL GIVER 2Corinthians 9:6-10; Psalm 112; John 12:24-26 “Do not forget: thin sowing means thin reaping; the more you sow, the more you reap. Each one should give what he has decided in his own mind, not grudgingly or because he is made to, for God loves a cheerful giver.“ With these words, Paul encourages […]

FAITH NOT TEARS Numbers 13:1-2,25-14:1,26-29,34-35, Ps. 106:6-7,13-14,21-23, Matthew 15:21-28 The Canaanite woman in today’s gospel text was not a Jew. She was a gentile, and so she was regarded as a “pagan” by the Jews. For the Jews, she does not merit salvation. However, Jesus demonstrated through her faith that salvation is universal. John 3:16 […]

Be Steadfast NUMBERS 12:1-13; PSALM 51; MATTHEW 14:22-36 In the first reading, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses in connection with the Cushite woman he had married and they were also jealous of him because God was speaking through Moses. The Lord chastised them, but they continued to speak ill of Moses. Miriam eventually contracted […]

INSATIABLE DESIRES Numbers 11:4b-15; Ps.81; Matthew 14:13-21 The first reading describes some of the challenges and frustrations Moses and the Israelites experienced as they journeyed in the wilderness toward the promised land. Moses became irritated when the Israelites complained about having only manna to eat and how they preferred their life of servitude under the […]

RASH PROMISES LEVITICUS 25:1, 8-17; PSALM 67; MATTHEW 14:1-12 The Gospel presents us with the martyrdom of John the Baptist by Herod the Tetrarch to fulfill an imprudent promise. He made a rash promise perhaps under the influence of wine. We must be cautious about how we drink alcoholic beverages. Don’t drink before you speak, […]

PROPHET WITHOUT HONOUR LEVITICUS 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34-37; PSALM 81; MATTHEW 13:54-58 Jesus said, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, and in his own house” (Matt.13:57). We frequently have misconstrued notions of what it means to be spiritual. We usually assume that spiritual people should have stranger behavior than […]

THE TABERNACLE Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38; Psalm 84; Matthew 13:47-53 In the first reading, we read about Moses building the first tabernacle. The Lord dwelled in the tabernacle. It was the place where heaven met earth, the place where the people of Israel went to meet God and the place where they encountered the glory of […]

The Greatest Treasure EXODUS 34:29-35; PSALM 99; MATTHEW 13:44-46 Exodus 34:30 says “…Seeing the skin of Moses’ face, they were afraid to come near him.” Moses did not apply skin-lightening lotion; instead, he reflected God’s light. When Aaron and the sons of Israel saw him, the skin on his face shone so brightly that they […]