Father Kevin Michael Laughery Podcasts

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Trumix.com listings available of Father Kevin Michael Laughery Podcasts Build your own playlists with this podcast. Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 20, 2008 Rely not upon the "explanation" of the parable of the weeds in the wheat. Let the parable itself carry you to a consideration of the patience of God. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Tribunal Advocate Training, part 4 of 4 Saturday, July 12, 2008, at the Catholic Pastoral Center, Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 13, 2008 You need an explanation of the parables of Jesus ... if you want to make them safe and domesticated and toothless. Jesus probably did not provide explanations; somebody in the early Church considered this necessary. Jesus intended his parables to have teeth -- to keep gnawing at us as we consider how we enter into the kingdom of God. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Tribunal Advocate Training, part 3 of 4 Saturday, July 12, 2008, at the Catholic Pastoral Center, Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Tribunal Advocate Training, part 2 of 4 Saturday, July 12, 2008, at the Catholic Pastoral Center, Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Tribunal Advocate Training, part 1 of 4 Saturday, July 12, 2008, at the Catholic Pastoral Center, Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 6, 2008 You need to decide whether the homilist is conscious. After a week spent at Catholic HEART Workcamp, I was suffering from severe sleep deprivation. I seem to recall talking about CREATURELINESS. Believe me, I was feeling like a creature, not a creator. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 8, 2008 This was the homily given on the occasion of my silver jubilee.  This homily is unusual because I am interrupted by people explaining to me how funny it was for me to say "You don't know one another ... and it's a good thing."  They didn't let me complete my thought -- it's a good thing (for me, at least) that all these people from across nearly 51 years can come together for something very meaningful.  It was especially good for me. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 1, 2008 Since Easter was the earliest we'll ever see it, we have before us twenty-six weeks of Ordinary Time, and that means six months of a more or less continuous reading from the Gospel of Matthew.  Today's passage is the conclusion of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.  Does the exhortation to "build your house on rock" contradict St. Paul's teaching that salvation is a free gift? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | The Holy Trinity, May 18, 2008 We were baptized into "the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."  The  communitarian being of God Himself helps us to understand why it is absolutely necessary for us to live our lives in relationship. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Pentecost, May 11, 2008 See the Vigil of Pentecost for references to harrowing experiences (does even St. Paul have the right to be the one talking about "labor pains" on the weekend of Mother's Day?).  Going through crises may perhaps purify our sense of what really matters in life.  We may be more responsive to the Holy Spirit. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Ascension of the Lord (Seventh Sunday of Easter), May 4, 2008 This one features yours truly trying to talk about four different things; the third part is the homily proper.  Jesus commands the Eleven to "go and make disciples" -- in other words, bring people around so that they are as excited about their faith as anyone devoted to a particular teacher. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fifth Sunday of Easter, April 20, 2008 The essence of God is sharing.  Now that's something to think about. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Third Sunday of Easter, April 6, 2008 I can't remember what I preached about. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Second Sunday of Easter, March 30, 2008 The resurrection of Jesus, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, create community.  The first letter of Peter proclaims our new birth in baptism.  Birth means we belong to someone.  We eagerly claim our relationship to the crucified and risen one. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Easter Vigil, Saturday, March 22, 2008 Resurrection is real; we just have a hard time perceiving it.  Resurrection, in fact, is a challenge held out to us.  Do we accept the challenge?  Do we submit to the dying that is necessary if we are to rise? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Good Friday of the Lord's Passion, March 21, 2008 "What is truth?"  Pilate doesn't know.  Pilate very likely doesn't want to know.  Truth includes an acknowledgment of human suffering.  Jesus in his death does this very thing. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper, March 20, 2008 Through the Passover, and then through the Eucharist, ancient memories are alive and active in our midst, helping us to "remember forward" regarding our dignity and our call from God to service. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, March 16, 2008 I was a bit distracted on Palm Sunday and did not manage to record a homily.  This is a summary. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fifth Sunday of Lent, March 9, 2008 "If I can survive death, I can survive anything."  But how does one survive death?  Jesus himself succumbed to death -- but this death was the conquest of death.  The raising of Lazarus prepares us to celebrate Jesus' resurrection. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | The Work of the Diocesan Tribunal Recorded while I was having my car worked on -- there may be some background noises. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fourth Sunday of Lent, March 2, 2008 On Laetare Sunday, I was looking for a "respite" from this sorry winter we've been experiencing.  On that particular day, the temperatures got up around 70.  I'm uploading this the following Tuesday, and we've been hit with several inches of blowing snow.  Maybe I should have prayed for more than a respite. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Third Sunday of Lent, February 24, 2008 I'm sorry to be late with this upload.  As I recall, I looked at Jesus and the Samaritan woman as a way of identifying various anxieties of human life. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Second Sunday of Lent, February 17, 2008 How can we act with true hope, and not give in to a despairing attitude?  Jesus gave an answer through his transfiguration.  We can perceive, along with Peter, James, and John, that the good is triumphant, even when we can see only evil surrounding us. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | First Sunday of Lent, February 10, 2008 Yes, this year we are going to talk about sin.  Jesus' resistance of temptation is a good occasion for us to think about sins of recklessness, as well as their opposite extreme: sins of shrinking fearfulness toward all the challenges of life. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 3, 2008 Today we are "searching for Bobby Fischer" and thereby presenting a counterexample for the Beatitudes.  We are all tempted to make the activity that most gratifies us our only goal in life.  If we accede to the temptation, we tell ourselves that we are providing ourselves with happiness, but in fact we cut ourselves off from the deeper acceptance of the world and our place in it which in fact brings joy to us. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 27, 2008 DISCIPLES are people who submit willingly to a certain DISCIPLINE.  We can think of certain people or ideas that have excited us.  At one time or another, we have wanted our lives to be reflections of the thing that fascinates.  To be a disciple of Jesus means to be open to the many ways in which he calls us to re-think our own existence. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Monday, January 21, 2008 This was the first sermon for Auburn's observance of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in its centennial year.  The venue: Cornerstone Community Church.  I forgot about recording until a couple of minutes into it.  Before turning it on, I got a good laugh when I said: "The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was started by Episcopalians who shortly thereafter became Roman Catholics.  In mentioning this, I do not mean to presuppose any outcome." Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 20, 2008 We, the church, the assembly, are called to holiness.  "Holy" is a word rich in significance; yet it can be an obstacle to us when we seek to understand ourselves before God.  We welcome the encouragement of all who have accepted the challenge of the call to holiness. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Baptism of the Lord, January 13, 2008 Baptism is death.  This is not the sort of polite conversation that one expects when an infant undergoes baptism.  But this is precisely why Jesus underwent baptism: to be in solidarity with us who face this very strange thing called mortality. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Epiphany of the Lord, January 6, 2008 We live in accelerated times.  Today we attempt to grasp what is of value in this time and for eternity.  We accept the challenge of accepting a gift of universal significance to humanity. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Holy Family, December 30, 2007 Family brings to mind familiarity -- and from ancient times it has been held that "familiarity breeds contempt."  Today's scriptures affirm that this does not have to be.  As we appreciate the growth of our family members, we find that learning to forgive is liberating. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Vigil of Christmas, Monday, December 24, 2007 I am quite certain that this homily, at the first Mass of Christmas, will be my best effort for the solemnity of the Incarnation.  The mystery of the Word Made Flesh calls us to look deep within ourselves to discover the joy which can emerge from misery as we ask what it means to be human, and ask as well why the Son of God would will to enter this life of ours. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 23, 2007 We men like to assert our power.  The power or potency to beget children is greatly esteemed.  Today we hear of power being wielded in a way which calls all our power-posturing into question. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Third Sunday of Advent, December 16, 2007 As I was uploading this, the host admonished me: "Please be patient."  Patience provides a near-universal challenge to human beings.  It is difficult to see what patience gives us.  Perhaps if we slowed down the processes of our minds, and simply stood quietly before the incredible images supplied by the prophet Isaiah, we might discover that in the slowness God gives much to us. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Second Sunday of Advent, December 9, 2007 On a weekend of difficult weather and general distraction, a brief reflection on knowledge of God covering the earth as water covers the sea. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | First Sunday of Advent, December 2, 2007 This somewhat windy homily takes the image of the man hammering his sword into a plowshare and applies it to the dream of the parish's becoming more completely a faith community. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Christ the King, November 25, 2007 Let's get past the reflexive response, "We're Americans -- we don't need kings!"  There is a great richness in the concepts of kingship and kingdom, and we can enrich ourselves by considering these concepts.  Jesus, truly God and truly human, subjected himself to ultimate degradation and made the cross his throne.  If we are in the midst of degradation, his presence there can mean everything to us. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Special: "Mass in Slow Motion" (Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 18, 2007) This recording is close to an hour and a half.  I provide explanations of the various parts of the Mass.  We must conduct our lives remembering that we are the ancestors of the people of the future.  Will they be able to look back upon us with gratitude? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 11, 2007 I received some highly gratifying positive feedback on this one.  I was happy to hear from people who said that it made them think!  That's what we must do if we are going to have an adequate appreciation of our relationship with God and what time and timelessness have to do with it.  We must rouse ourselves out of a "pie in the sky when you die" mentality. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 4, 2007 After two weekends on vacation and some hassles with keeping my account activated, I am back with Sunday homilies.  We all appreciate a quiet, loving hint so that we can be informed of a need to change something.  We don't appreciate it when this need becomes a topic of common conversation and we end up being the last to know.  Jesus was giving Zacchaeus that quiet, loving hint that leads to conversion. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 14, 2007 Does the internet make place irrelevant?  Our deepest feelings say no.  Each of us is from somewhere.  We have a lot invested in particular places.  It is taking believers a long time to work through these feelings. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 7, 2007 "How long, O Lord?"  This cry from the sixth century B.C. resounds in every age, wherever human beings are.  We experience time now as dragging, now as racing.  We are challenged to understand that God is drawing us from time into the timeless.  If we wonder about the virtue of patience, let us consider the patience of Jesus in casting his lot with humanity. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 30, 2007 A somewhat different take on the rich man and Lazarus.  I consider what it means to take anyone's name in vain.  How do people instrumentalize each other? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 23, 2007 Jesus' parable of the devious steward is not teaching us to be devious!  Rather, we find here an invitation to "work" a "system" as this man worked the economic system, which was all he could see.  Our "system" to "work" is creation itself.  We are to develop a sense of wonder toward God who, in his creation, constantly expresses his love for us. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 16, 2007 Self-righteousness is hard to get rid of; after all, it feels so good!  But we can trade it in for something better.  May we confront ourselves in a healthy manner so as to accept the sense of peace which is far better than self-righteousness. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 9, 2007 The death of Madeleine L'Engle; the ideas of C.S. Lewis regarding heaven; our upcoming parish feast day (Friday, September 14) and the prioritizing that occurs when we take up our cross. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 2, 2007 (reconstructed) Might heaven be boring?; a mistranslation of Hebrews; one of Jesus' least important parables; Mother Teresa couldn't control God. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 26, 2007 I have to apologize for the strange appearance of this page.  I have to scroll down quite a bit through blank space to see the latest posts.  Libsyn has sent me some advice on how to correct this, but I don't have it figured out yet. Apparently Libsyn has been having some problems over the last few days with access to their site. Anyway, here's my first theology-bite on heaven, and my thought on responding to what is ultimately a meaningless question.  Accept discipline and ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 19, 2007 After two weekends away doing ecumenical training, the crusty old pastor is back.  This homily starts from a reflection on the practice of dueling. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 29, 2007 Due to technical difficulties, this homily is appearing rather late.  The Scriptures give us a lot to consider regarding prayer.  It is most important to note the communal nature of prayer (even when we think we're "alone") and to take confidence in the strength of praying liturgically with people all over the world.  Does it help to tell people that the Tridentine Mass was never abrogated?  Does it help to treat the Christians of the Reformation as some virus ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 22, 2007 We finish our reflection on the meaning of hell.  We also consider the virtue of hospitality, acknowledging that activity (of whatever kind) can get in the way of our focus on why we engage in various activities. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 15, 2007 Treatment of eschatology continues with a consideration of hell, where jokes fall flat.  There has been a lot of name-calling in state government lately; we must consider the fact that labeling people is a foolish excuse for not responding to people spontaneously with love. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 8, 2007 Today is my fiftieth birthday.  It's a time somewhat like Dante's mezzo del cammin di nostra vita (the middle of the walk of our life) and it was then that he looked into the "last things" in writing The Divine Comedy.  Today I complete my look at Purgatorio.  We also consider the meaning of fulfillment in life.  -- Well, I found an English translation of yesterday's motu proprio of Pope Benedict XVI and I can tell you that I don't like it one bit. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 1, 2007 Freedom is the opportunity to choose a direction for one's life.  Jesus knew that he was proceeding resolutely to Jerusalem and an appointment with a cross.  Our challenge is freely to embrace everything that comes with the path of holiness. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Birth of John the Baptist, Sunday, June 24, 2007 Zechariah was unable to speak.  That doesn't mean he was unable to hear.  So why are the good fellows around him communicating in some sort of sign language?  Self-consciousness in difficult social situations can lead us to to do strange things (may I say "dumb" things?).  We recognize the un-self-consciousness of John the Baptist, whose vocation was to point to Jesus, Messiah and Savior. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 17, 2007 Finally we get to a post-death "destination" -- although it's not a final destination.  Purgatory is the antechamber to heaven, and the concept of this state of purification is difficult to understand.  More to the point are the words of Jesus to Simon the Pharisee and of Nathan the prophet to King David.  God is merciful. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | The Body and Blood of Christ, Sunday, June 10, 2007 In this time-bound existence of ours, we touch the timeless as we open our hearts to our God.  The Holy Eucharist proclaims to us that we are fed and nourished in Jesus' Paschal Mystery in ways which are not readily perceivable.  We remember that sacrament and mystery are equivalent terms. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | The Holy Trinity, Sunday, June 3, 2007 How well developed is your sense of play and celebration?  Can you experience life with the enthusiasm of God the Creator?  He made us that we might in some way reflect the love shared among the persons of the Trinity. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Pentecost Sunday, May 27, 2007 The Holy Spirit is at work through the words of Sacred Scripture.  It is important for all of us to read the Bible in its entirety.  We also need to let Scripture guide our prayer.  Our liturgical experience of the proclamation of Scripture is a dramatic way in which we experience the Word of God being addressed to us in a way that responds to the drama of our life. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Ascension of the Lord, Sunday, May 20, 2007 A lot was going on today.  We begin "Eschatology" with "Limbo."  What experiences do we have that give us a sense of the peace of "dwelling in the house of the Lord"? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 13, 2007 Since, in my locality, the Ascension falls on the Seventh Sunday of Easter, we are permitted to use readings of that Seventh Sunday on this day.  I used the Gospel from next Sunday: "That all may be one."  How does the incident in the Acts of the Apostles demonstrate for us the manner in which we should seek communion among all believers?  How are we preparing to enter the New Jerusalem? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fourth Sunday of Easter, April 29, 2007 (First Communion) A different take on the same readings.  NOTE:  Next weekend I will again be away from the parish; therefore no homily for May 5-6. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fourth Sunday of Easter, April 29, 2007 You who are listening to the podcast know very well the concept of "multitasking."  Can people multitask and do justice to any of the work they do?  Jesus' attention was fixed on one matter alone.  His singleness of heart led to the salvation of all of us and each of us. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Second Sunday of Easter, April 15, 2007 Recorded at Divernon on Saturday, April 14.  Personally I will always have esteem for Thomas in his unwillingness to be deceived -- though I grant that we can improve upon him and learn to appreciate the need to accept the testimony of witnesses.  -- NOTE: I was not in my parish April 21-22 and did not preach. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Easter Vigil, Saturday, April 7, 2007 Resurrection allows us to accept our memories -- even the most bitter.  Our participation in Christian baptism means that we have accepted the invitation of Jesus to accept all the good that comes from his confrontation of the contradictions of human existence -- especially the contradiction called death.  We are grateful for the invitation we've been given -- the invitation to live fully. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Good Friday, April 6, 2007 As I attempted to record my homily for Holy Thursday, I discovered that the battery was dead.  Sorry.  You will note that my Triduum homilies are building upon the concept of memory. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, April 1, 2007 Luke is my favorite Gospel, and likewise the Passion of Luke is my favorite of the narratives of the death of Jesus.  It seems to me that Luke has an eye on the universal implications of the sacrifice of the Word Made Flesh.  When he says to the one crucified alongside him, "This day you will be with me in Paradise," we understand that God in fact brings into the Kingdom those who seem to be irrevocably excluded.  Recorded at the 8:00 am Sunday Eucharist at Auburn. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fifth Sunday of Lent, March 25, 2007 Well, is this a stretch or not?  In the incident of the woman caught in adultery, can we see an element of class consciousness?  I will leave it to you to form your opinion.  Anyway, this passage from the Gospel of John is unfailingly powerful. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fourth Sunday of Lent, March 18, 2007 This is the Sunday 10:15 am Mass in Auburn.  Once again, we consider the parable of the Prodigal Son -- this time, without reference to etymology. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fourth Sunday of Lent, March 18, 2007 Is there a connection between the words prodigal and prodigy?  I said so in this homily, but without checking a dictionary.  Now that I have, I find I can't verify this.  At least I know that prodigal doesn't mean "repentant" but rather "wasteful."  And it is an open question how repentant the prodigal was.  Recorded Saturday evening in Divernon. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Third Sunday of Lent, March 11, 2007 (Year A readings for first scrutiny of the elect) I preached on these readings only once today.  The Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent have two sets of readings in Years B and C (this year is C) when the scrutinies are celebrated for people preparing for baptism at Easter.  There is a richness to the Gospel of Jesus and the Samaritan woman which could lead to a very long homily.  Mine is rather brief. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Second Sunday of Lent, March 4, 2007 This has nothing to do with the homily; I merely present this as a public service.  -- People apparently are up in arms about "In God We Trust" not being on the new dollar coins.  Think again.  "E Pluribus Unum," "In God We Trust," and the minting year are on the rim of the coin (I remember this sort of thing being done on one-pound coins in the UK).  So all you people who love to be sanctimonious: find something else to be sanctimonious abo ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | First Sunday of Lent, February 25, 2007 Jesus underwent temptation just as we do.  But he never sinned.  So how much like us is he, really?  Can we relate to him?  Can his fidelity to his Father be attributed to superhuman powers?  These are vital questions which we must answer if we are to make our way through Lent to the celebration of the Easter Mystery.  Recorded Saturday evening, February 24, in Auburn. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 18, 2007 How do we view people?  Can we expand our vision so we can see people more in the way that God sees us?  It is possible, and we can develop an appreciation for human beings which is a step toward the vision of Jesus in his challenging command to love our enemies. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 11, 2007 We're back, thanks to Brian Noe's expertise.  For this first attempt with a new recording device, I'm a little bit self-conscious wearing the thing on my wrist.  We cast aside all distracting thoughts and extend our roots so we will always be one with the source of life. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 21, 2007 Don't you get angry when people tell you how to feel?  I thought so.  It seems that Ezra is doing this very thing in the first reading.  Jesus, on the other hand, does not try to manipulate us. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 14, 2007 Marriage is a process of embracing the ordinary.  Our God calls us to discover how wonderful the ordinary is. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Epiphany of the Lord, January 7, 2007 I'm still sick, as you can hear.  Considering the word "epiphany" as meaning coming to a new insight or an "aha" moment. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Holy Family, December 31, 2006 I have been sick for over a week -- hence the late upload.  The gist of my thoughts for the Holy Family is that we as a Church thought we had all the answers to what families are supposed to be.  We have been proven wrong.  Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Christmas Day, Monday, December 25, 2006 I waited till my last Mass to make a recording.  It turns out that that Mass was the one where I had the stiffest "competition."  The Scriptures for the Mass of Christmas Day have us considering messengers and messages and our need to distinguish between them. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 24, 2006 Do you enjoy being visited?  Mary and Elizabeth visit each other in order to proclaim that God has visited his people. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Third Sunday of Advent, December 17, 2006 How do we find joy in being reminded over and over that we are merely human beings?  PRECISELY in embracing our identity as human beings. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Second Sunday of Advent, December 10, 2006 (second try) Sorry, the first upload was the wrong format. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Second Sunday of Advent, December 10, 2006 Sorry about the screechy recording from last week.  What voices do we listen to? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | First Sunday of Advent, December 3, 2006 This year we observe the briefest Advent possible.  Seize the moment and consider what a coating of ice and snow has to say to us about God, our beginnings, and our fulfillments. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Christ the King, November 26, 2006 This is relatively lengthy, starting as it does with an issue I'm going to be talking about for several weeks: dismal weekend Mass attendance. -- My time in London helped me to consider the matter of kingship; I think I have some helpful insights. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 12, 2006 I was sick and this homily was very brief.  I believe that this was the Gospel of "the widow's mite." Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 5, 2006 "Love God with all your heart" -- this is the first and greatest commandment.  But it is certainly not the first commandment of which we have a practical grasp.  Let us consider how we learn to love. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 29, 2006 Those of us who use computers must be impressed with the visual nature of the interaction between ourselves and these devices.  We equate seeing with understanding.  The word of God today encourages us in our understanding.  As Hebrews declares today, God understands us, not because he is standing by and looking on from a distance, but because in Jesus he experienced the effects of living in the obscurity of a sinful world. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 24, 2006 When we are faced with the unpleasant or the perplexing, we do our best to distract ourselves -- even if that means taking a flight into fantasy.  So Jesus' disciples did in trying to ignore his words to them that he must be put to death, and launching into a discussion of who is the greatest among them.  Let's put aside fantasy and acknowledge what truly gives meaning to our life. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 17, 2006 Powerful readings: Isaiah 50, the third Suffering Servant Song; from James, the "faith-works" controversy; from Mark, "Get behind me, Satan!" Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 10, 2006 How good it is for our ears to be opened once again to hear Sunday reflections on the Word of God.  Reflecting on the life of my first seminary spiritual director, I add the image of the "heart of stone" (Ezekiel 36: 24-28) to the prescribed readings. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 20, 2006 The Holy Eucharist responds well to our humanity.  It is the satisfaction of an immediate need alongside other immediate needs about which we are frequently reminded during the course of a day. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 13, 2006 I was away last week.  In the meantime, our bishop made a long-awaited announcement regarding an investigation.  We as the People of God are called to recognize the strength that allows us to make our various life-journeys, especially in adversity.  "Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you." Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 30, 2006 (take 2) I was much happier with this homily, given at 10:15 am.  What happened at the "multiplication of the loaves and fishes"?  Did Jesus just get everybody to share?  Would that have served his purpose completely?  We consider the abundance of God's love and accept the challenge, given today by St. Paul, to rely upon a deep source of love and patience in our hearts. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 30, 2006 I am somewhat dissatisfied with this homily, given at 8:00 am, so I will give it another try at 10:15 am.  For one thing, the homily goes 11 minutes.  I am consistently urged to preach no more than 10 minutes (in seminary, I was taught that eight minutes is enough!). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 23, 2006 Having returned from vacation, Fr. Kevin sounds as if he'd really like to be with Jesus and the Twelve, going to that out-of-the-way place to rest a while.  He got very accustomed to the relaxation!  He sounds kind of tired.  Pray for peace. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 9, 2006 Today I share a story of an incident which occurred back in 1970, when I was thirteen.  It's a good complement for today's readings and a continuing matter of wonder for me, as I find myself looking deep within to consider the obstacles in our hearts which could constitute a "thorn in the flesh." Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 2, 2006 The way of the world is death, but we have the audacity to believe in a Creator who preserves us to eternal life, and in a Savior who came quietly into this world to triumph over death and to give that full life to those who exercise faith. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 25, 2006 Fear can be a good thing, if it's the reverential fear that we owe to God.  We lift up our hearts to God who gives us life and all good things, and we remember, with Job, that God even tells chaos how far it can go. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | The Body and Blood of Christ, June 18, 2006 The readings in Year B focus greatly on the blood of Christ.  Let us acknowledge the differences between the ancient mentality and our own, and appreciate their understanding of blood as a sign of atonement for sin. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | The Holy Trinity, June 11, 2006 The dynamism of the Holy Trinity should be reflected in the dynamic action of love in our lives. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Pentecost, June 4, 2006 "Now, listen up; this is the Holy Spirit talking.  Everybody start talking Latin!"  This is not the way the Holy Spirit works.  Unfortunately, the recent unpleasantness regarding English liturgical texts would lead one to believe that some highly-placed people in the Church do think that this is how the Spirit operates.  Today's passage from Acts contradicts them.  -- I do have one retraction of something I said.  I do believe that God deals with sinn ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Ascension of the Lord, May 28, 2006 After you hear this homily, you may find yourself humming the Beatles' "In My Life."  I am. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 21, 2006 Where I live, we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord on the Seventh Sunday of Easter.  Therefore, on the Sixth Sunday of Easter we can use readings from the Seventh Sunday which we otherwise would never hear.  Today I used the Seventh Sunday's Gospel, Jesus' prayer "that all may be one."  Catholics need to watch their language when they refer to Christians of different denominations. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 14, 2006 Today we consider the image of the vine and the branches, which, if you think about it, may suffer from some inadequacies.  We also consider the awkwardness of a former attacker coming over to the enemy. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fourth Sunday of Easter, May 7, 2006 Even Jesus cannot provide a perfect analogy.  It's just the nature of an analogy that it is always in some way inadequate.  And in the case of the Good Shepherd, the deficiency is this: WE'RE NOT SHEEP. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Third Sunday of Easter, April 30, 2006 My take on The Da Vinci Code.  Also, is it true that, after the Resurrection, you still get to eat?  This was from the 8:00 am Mass at Auburn (10:15 was First Communion). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, April 9, 2006 I had a little competition at the beginning of this homily.  These are some thoughts on the various titles given to Jesus and their meaning.  Recorded at the late Mass in Auburn. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fifth Sunday of Lent, April 2, 2006 The Covenant ... and how it is expressed to its fullest degree in the one who was lifted up and draws all to himself. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fourth Sunday of Lent, March 26, 2006 A week ago I was having problems with uploading.  Now, I am having problems remembering what I talked about.  Having referred to a lectionary, I recall now that I talked about the Babylonian Exile.  Also, of course, about John 3:16. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Third Sunday of Lent, March 19, 2006 I was windy today -- this is over 14 minutes, at the early Mass at St. Benedict. I am covering various aspects of participation in liturgy. I would love to go deeper into the social situation of "convenient sacrifice" at the time of Jesus. My personal spirituality is founded upon the notions of sacrifice as discussed in Hebrews 9 and 10. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Second Sunday of Lent, March 12, 2006 Is anxiety necessary? Was Abraham's imperative to kill his son all in his mind? We will try to answer these questions today. Recorded at the 8 am Mass in Auburn. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | First Sunday of Lent, March 5, 2006 Once I finished this homily, I realized that I had not mentioned the date of Easter; it's April 16. Lent does not exist for its own sake; rather, it is our preparation for Easter. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 26, 2006 Where was I the previous two weeks? Well, I was at the ambo ... but I don't have recordings to prove it. I know I inadvertently erased Feb. 19 -- but I don't know what happened to Feb. 12. Today's reflection continues with practical matters of living as a parish community, and it focuses on that church staple put together with staples: the humble missalette. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 5, 2006 Today I talk about money. Listen to determine whether I make a convincing case for money being "boring." Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 29, 2006 The early Mass at St. Benedict. The man crying out in the synagogue makes me think of 1) kids in church -- an emotionally-charged issue, and 2) mental illness. Listen to my thoughts. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 22, 2006 The last and best-attended Mass. A familiar theme of mine: We don't go to Mass to make God happy. Rather, God makes us happy (repentance/conversion) and then we, out of thanksgiving, are present for worship. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 15, 2006 You were perhaps looking for the "First Sunday in Ordinary Time"? Sorry -- it doesn't exist! A bit of housekeeping, plus a look at the built-in eagerness for God that all of us have. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Epiphany of the Lord, January 8, 2006 This was a week ago. I don't remember much. Mainly I was, I think, talking about the officialization of the new parish. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Mary, Mother of God, January 1, 2006 Two listeners noted that my original recording was truncated. Here, I believe, is the complete recording. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Christmas Midnight, Sunday, December 25, 2005 Midnight in Auburn: my fourth of five Christmas Eucharists. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 18, 2005 Earlier I had posted an explanation of my absence on the Second and Third Sundays of Advent -- but that recording was blank, because I had not turned the microphone on. I'm back with a homily recorded at the early Mass at Auburn. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Where Have I Been the Last Two Weeks? Rather, where was my microphone? The explanation, and a summary of my thoughts for the Second and Third Sundays of Advent, is on the recording. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | First Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2005 The late Mass in Auburn. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Christ the King (Thirty-fourth and Last Sunday in Ordinary Time), Nov. 20, 2005 This was the early Sunday Mass, held at the St. Benedict Parish Center because the church interior is being painted. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 13, 2005 I am still not used to turning on my recorder AFTER I have proclaimed the Gospel. November 13 I was one sentence into the homily (at my last Mass) and I said to myself, "No, I'm not going to stop now." Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 6, 2005 I goofed and recorded the Gospel passage. Is this illegal, or am I just PREMATURELY RIGHT? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 30, 2005 I note some extraneous noise; I think the mic must have been rubbing against fabric. On "Priesthood Sunday," there are some pertinent readings! Fr. Kevin recalls his interview for the seminary. Recorded in Auburn, Sunday morning. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 23, 2005 "You can't have everything you want." See whether this glum pronouncement leads to anything good. Recorded Sunday in Auburn. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache |