Cycle B
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings: Wisdom 2:17-20; James 3:16-4:3; Mark 9:30-37
Originally delivered on September 18, 1988
In this week’s Gospel, we hear that to be first we must be last and be servant to all. We hear today of a massacre in Haiti for the priest, Fr. Aristide, confronted those in power over the obvious injustices. When we say that we walk with Jesus, what are we saying and what does that mean that we will do to stand up for our hurting sisters and brothers? We are reminded that even the disciples argued about who was the greatest among them, just like we can get caught up in our own issues of prestige. And yet, we are called today to put that aside and really follow Jesus in being the servant to everyone. If not by us, then by whom? If not now, when?
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings: Isaiah 50: 4-9; James 2: 14-18; Mark 8:27-35
Originally delivered on September 11, 1988
We are asked if we would have liked to be in Peter’s shoes to be the first person to say to Jesus, “You are the Messiah.” But then a few minutes later when Peter when Peter said what being a Messiah meant, he was called Satan. We must each be ready to answer the question about who we think Jesus is. Perhaps we might rephrase the question to be “Why have we gone to church today?” Is it because of Jesus? For comfort, community, or consolation? What about to be challenged and confronted?
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings: Deuteronomy 4: 1-2, 6-8; James 1:17-18, 21-22, 27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Originally delivered on September 1, 1991
In this week’s homily, Fr. Healy speaks about the law. In the first reading, Moses tells the Israelites that the law is the law and not meant to be changed. We are challenged then to determine what we should do with the “eye for an eye” and other such laws stated later in Deuteronomy. So, by what means must we look upon the law with great reverence and other parts as outdated? Luckily for us, Jesus gave us the answer: Love the Lord with all we have and our neighbors as ourselves. That is, there is but one law – the law of love. It takes boldness and courage to stand up for what we see as man-made laws that are contrary to Jesus’s law of love and we are called to do so.
21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings: Joshua 24:1-2, 15-17, 18; Ephesians 5:21-32; John 6:60-69
Originally delivered on August 25, 1991
Fr. Healy starts this homily by explaining how his vocation to the priesthood began. While seduced by the smoke and incense, he explains that God, through Jesus, has seduced him inside so that He permeates Fr. Healy’s every thought and action. We, too, are called to live with Jesus in our hearts each and every day even if it is the way of the cross.
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings: Proverbs: 9:1-6; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58
Originally delivered on August 14, 1994
In this week’s Gospel, Jesus again tells us that He is the Bread of Life. In the first reading, Fr. Healy points out that God is referred to as feminine. Our thinking, therefore, is challenged by Jesus, in both the first and Gospel readings, to let Him be our food and drink so that we might respond in His Spirit to our current realities.
