This is a homily that was given by Deacon Steve O’Neill for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary time. We are sharing it tonight due to its focus on sin and our call to righteousness. This past Sunday’s reading from Matthew...
It’s that time of year again, when we’re greeted at the grocery store by carts full of half-price Halloween candy before we pass the displays of cranberries in one aisle and candy canes in another. The day after Thanksgiving, those...
It pretty much goes without saying that our world today is a decidedly unhappy and unsettled place. Conflicts and violence, disagreements and disrespect, partisanship and othering seem to dominate the public square. So it’s a good thing we can come...
In the Gospel of Luke, today’s story of Martha and Mary is bracketed by the parable of the Good Samaritan that we heard last week and the beginning of chapter 11 that we’ll hear next week, which opens with the...
Where was Thomas, anyway? Scripture doesn’t give us any clues, but his absence is not remarkable merely that he missed out on the first visit to the Upper Room by Jesus. Think about the first words of today’s Gospel: “On...
In his compelling shift from words of blessing to words of woe in today’s Gospel, Jesus acknowledges that there’s an unavoidable distinction between the “haves” and the “have nots” in this world, but he warns that guarding our “having” to...
As a husband of 34-plus years, I know what it’s like to come home after the end of a workday or picking up the kids from school and having news to share with my wife. Sometimes it’s good news, sometimes...
Today’s Gospel begins shortly after Jesus left the Temple where, as we heard last week, he had condemned the Scribes’ desire for honors and flattery and wealth and had praised the widow’s embrace of poverty and her absolute trust in...
In Sunday’s second reading, St. Paul speaks of Jesus breaking down the dividing wall of enmity in order to create in himself one new person in place of the two, thus establishing peace. The commentaries on this reading explain that...
Saturday was an incredibly joyful day here in the Archdiocese of Washington. Sixteen – sixteen! – men were ordained to the priesthood at the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The beauty of the early summer day outside...
A reflection on the readings for Pentecost Sunday It was around this time back in 2013 that I was in the home stretch on the years-long path to my ordination as a deacon. The priests and deacons I spoke with...
A reflection on the readings for April 21, 2024 — The Fourth Sunday of Easter (also Good Shepherd Sunday and the 61st World Day of Prayer for Vocations) My wife and I recently traveled out of state for a visit...
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