As we hear in the Gospel this Sunday, Jesus asking those who question Him if they should pay the tax about whose image they find on the coin, I thought I would like to begin today’s homily by reflecting on why we have the images of leaders on our coins. In the case of our Canadian coins, we have the image of Queen Elizabeth. Coins in Canada are stamped with her image with her name and in Latin it states” D. G. Regina,” which means “Dei Gratia Regina,” or by the “Grace of God Queen.” The reason why the name of a nation’s king or queen appears on a coin is to state that they back up its value. When someone presents the money with his or her name upon it, that leader, or his or her government, will back up its value. In case of Canadian money, it means that ultimately the Government of Canada will back up its value when someone seeks to redeem it. Continue reading →

A question that has often been asked by preachers when today’s Gospel is proclaimed is a very simple one that goes like this: “If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”

This simple question gets right to the heart of today’s Gospel. Many people claim that they are Christian and that they are followers of Christ. Unfortunately, there are few signs in our world, which is filled with many who claim to be Christian, of actual Christians walking around and daring to act. Continue reading →

In my opinion, the best flavour of ice cream in the entire world is chocolate peanut butter. I love this flavour of ice cream so much that I cannot keep any in the house. When, and if, I do keep it in the house, I am unable to control myself and I usually eat the whole pint in one sitting.

The preference that I have for chocolate peanut butter ice cream is a personal opinion. The fact that I like it, is a truth that is relative only to myself. Others may have different opinions and it does not really affect my opinion or their ability to have a different opinion. My opinion on this matter does not really present a problem for others.

On the other hand, there would be a real problem if for some reason, I believed that my opinion needed to become a truth for all people. If for some reason, I believed that everyone else had to share my preference for chocolate peanut butter ice cream, my insistence on this issue would begin to infringe on the right of others to have an opinion. Worse, still, would be the case if I were to form an alliance with all the other people who loved chocolate peanut butter ice cream and we worked together to lobby for laws that required that only chocolate peanut butter ice cream could be manufactured. We could demand that no other flavours be manufactured and that all people must eat our flavour of ice cream. Taking our efforts to the extreme, we could demand that everyone eat chocolate peanut butter ice cream and perhaps put at risk the lives of those people who have a severe allergy to peanuts. Continue reading →

There is a rather simple story about death that I heard several years ago. Because it captures so concisely how I think we as Christians feel about death, I usually tell this story at every funeral I celebrate, either at the funeral home prayers or in the homily at Mass.

The story simply goes like this:

A preacher was preaching to a congregation. He said, “if anyone wants to go to heaven, please stand up now.” Everyone in the congregation stood up. He then said, “if you want to go now, keep standing.” At this point, everyone sat down. Continue reading →

A few years ago, I sat in on one of the parish’s confirmation classes. On that particular day, when I was dropping by to sit in, the class was engaged in playing a rather different game, which I would call the “Injustice Game.” The purpose of this exercise was to attempt to get the students angry about injustice in the world and to motivate them to desire to do something against that injustice as they became aware of it. In relation to the goals of preparation for Confirmation, the exercise was intended to help these young Christians understand that through the anointing they received at Confirmation, they were being called to witness to Christ and the values of His Gospel in their day to day lives. The game was intended to help them see that the adult Christian, who has been anointed in Confirmation, is called to speak up against discrimination and injustice.

Continue reading →

Imagine what it would be like if Canada Post only delivered on one day during each person’s entire life. On that day, the individual would receive every letter and every bill from his or her lifetime. The experience would be overwhelming and would crush the person who attempted to deal with this lifetime of correspondence in a day.

Sometimes, I think we can all loose perspective on life and think that we must handle all of our life’s problems on our own—all in a day.

This is certainly what I did when the events of COVID 19 started to develop a few years ago. Instead of taking things one day at a time, one thing at a time, I began to panic and believe that I had to solve every possible concern facing myself and the parish, on my own and in that moment. Continue reading →

Over the past three weeks, the 15^th, 16^th and 17^th Sundays of Ordinary Time- Year A, the Sunday Gospel has been taken from a series of parables from the Gospel of Matthew. These parables have centered around the image of a gardener who plants abundantly, a garden where weeds grow up among good plants, and a treasure that has been found in a field. All of these parables provide wonderful material for reflection on our faith, the gift that it is and how we respond to this gift. One of the themes that came forward from the parish council’s survey this past Spring was in regard to further catechesis and formation in order that people might participate more fully in the celebration of the Eucharist. It occurred to me as a good idea to respond to that theme by giving a few homilies on the Mass and how we might all enter into it with greater appreciation and understanding of what we are participating in as we celebrate. That theme went well with these parables.  I was asked to post these homilies together. They appear together below. Continue reading →

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time—Year A

The Gospel of Matthew today continues the series of parables that we have been listening to these past few weeks with parables about the treasures that one finds buried in a field and is willing to trade everything to obtain. For the Church, the greatest treasure that it knows of is Christ and the eternal life that He has won for us through His life, death and resurrection. The Christian is to have so much confidence in Christ, and His victory over death, that we are to be willing to give everything to obtain that salvation. However, because it is often difficult to remember that Christ has won salvation for us through His life, death and resurrection, Jesus has commanded us to celebrate the Eucharist every Sunday “in remembrance” of Him so that we may be strengthened to live our faith with the Sacrament of His Body and Blood.

This Sunday, I will conclude the three-part homily on the Mass by speaking about the high point of the celebration of Mass, the Eucharistic Liturgy and the Dismissal Rites, which send us out into the world to bring to others the same Christ whom we have received in the Eucharist at Mass. Let’s start with the Eucharistic Liturgy. Continue reading →

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A

Last Sunday, as the Gospel presented the beginning of the series of parables that we will hear over a few weeks, the parable was about a sower who sowed seed generously and the different kinds of soil on which the seed would take root and grow. As the series of parables continues, this Sunday, we hear about the mysterious way in which the seed miraculously grows into something much larger, without anyone really knowing how or why the growth takes places.

As I stated in the homily last weekend, these parables that speak to us about the generosity of the sower, and the mysterious way in which growth occurs, provide a wonderful opportunity for me to respond to one of the requests that was expressed in the survey that the pastoral council distributed this past Spring. In particular, these Gospel readings provide an opportunity to respond to the request for more information about the Mass and an effort to increase the participation of parishioners in the celebration of the Eucharist. Last Sunday, I began this series of homilies about the Mass by preaching about why we celebrate the Mass and what it is that we believe we are doing when we do so. This week, I would like to speak about the Introductory Rites to Mass and the Liturgy of the Word. Next weekend, I will conclude by speaking about the Liturgy of the Eucharist and the Dismissal Rites. As this division suggests, the Mass is divided into four parts that form a unity, these are: 1) The Introductory Rites; 2) The Liturgy of the Word; 3) The Liturgy of the Eucharist; and 4) the Dismissal Rites. Continue reading →

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time- Year A

A few months ago, the pastoral council conducted a survey asking parishioners about some of the things that they would like to see happening in the parish. The results of that survey indicated four major themes: 1) Continuing faith formation; 2) more socials and community building events; 3) the need for greater participation and understanding of the liturgy; and 4) continuing the parish’s multiple outreach efforts to the poor in our community. In an effort to respond to some of these concerns, I thought it would be important to spend a few Sundays speaking about the Mass; what it is that we are celebrating at Mass; and what the Eucharist calls us to be in our local community. Continue reading →