Welcome

 These are text versions of the sermons I have prepared for the Sundays of the calendar year. I am a Catholic priest of the diocese of Gaylord (Michigan), ordained in 1997. 

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Sermon For Trinity Sunday

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  TRINITY SUNDAY [C] We are prepared to observe Trinity Sunday. But are we prepared to go that extra step? Are we prepared to actually celebrate the Trinity? It’s expected of us. But it’s not easy, getting excited about the Trinity. It’s not just a doctrine; it’s something dense; it’s a profound mystery. How do you penetrate the mystery of one God being revealed in a Trinity of three Persons? Perhaps we should begin by picking up a Bible.  Now that your Bible is open, you find yourself being introduced to our God; you’re being introduced to him in the Book of Genesis. You will notice right away that he is a rather busy God. Busy in what way? He’s being an artist. He’s doing what artists typically do: he’s creating. He stands back, he admires his creation, and he pronounces it as “good” (Gen. 1:31). This episode doesn’t resolve all of your questions, but at least it’s a start.  Later on in the Bible, we will arrive at a particular juncture. St. Paul refers to it as “the ...
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28th Sunday of Ordinary Time [C]

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  28TH SUNDAY, ORDINARY TIME [C] As you reflect upon the readings this weekend, you may find yourself wondering about the Israelites: Do they deserve all of this special attention? Do they deserve to be saved? The inclination is to answer in the negative. After all, here they are, being out-performed by those  who would rate as “foreigners.”  Naaman exemplifies the notion of gratitude and also the notion of piety (see 2nd Kings 5:1-17). And yet, he’s not an Israelite; he’s a general in the Syrian army. Then we see what takes place in this passage from St. Luke: ten lepers have been cured, but only one comes back to express gratitude—and he happens to be a Samaritan (17:11-19).  It leaves you to wonder about the Israelite population. Perhaps there ought to be a shift. Rather than concentrate on the Israelites, the Lord might want to focus instead upon the people who really deserve to be saved. But then again, does anybody actually deserve to be saved? As far as St. P...
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30th Sunday of Ordinary Time [C]

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30TH SUNDAY, ORDINARY TIME [C] Suppose for a moment that you are a golfer. Golfing means teeing off but never being completely satisfied with your result. You’re always looking for more distance. It’s never about less; it’s always about more. The industry understands this. They know that you are always searching for some kind of an additional edge. This would explain the arrival of “Big Bertha” back during the early 1990’s. Produced by Callaway, the Big Bertha represented something new, with its steel shaft and its oversized titanium head. From a promotional standpoint, the message was clear: use our club if you want superior distance.  Not long afterwards, the people at Titleist would follow up with their own message: if you want superior distance, use our newly developed golf ball—the ProV1. As was the case with Big Bertha, the ProV1 reflected a new approach: the highly concentrated core generating optimal distance, and the dimpled urethane outer coating enabling optimal spin....
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