Sunday Homilies

from Father Kevin Laughery, Troy St. Jerome and St. Jacob St. James Parishes, Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. Note: Comments from this page do not reach me; instead, email: kl@kevinlaughery.com

The Podcasts

Anger.

Direct download: KML_2024-03-03_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:38pm CDT

Fasting from words.

Direct download: KML_2024-02-25_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:37pm CDT

Peace is one of the gifts of the season of Lent.

Direct download: KML_2024-02-18_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 10:20am CDT

There are many indications in Mark's Gospel of an aspect of Jesus' personality: that he is eager for solitude and quiet.

Direct download: KML_2024-02-11_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 10:16am CDT

Each of us is more than what we do.  The same goes for Jesus.

Direct download: KML_2024-02-04_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 10:14am CDT

The deacon preached on January 21.  -- Can we appreciate the peace and calm arising from being freed from mental illness?

Direct download: KML_2024-01-28_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 10:07am CDT

The touching call of Samuel gives all of us hope that we will hear the call of God, even if many times we mishear it.

Direct download: KML_2024-01-14_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 10:04am CDT

Ephesians: The nations beyond the Chosen People inherit the Good News of Jesus' death and resurrection.

Direct download: KML_2024-01-07_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 10:02am CDT

On the Fourth Sunday of Advent, I left the recording device behind, and when I remembered it, I said to myself that I would be mad to run home for it on this absolutely crazy weekend, with Christmas on Monday.  -- We'd like to see around the bend, beyond our capacities.  But we remember: "Lord, your words have been fulfilled."

Direct download: KML_2023-12-31_830am.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:33pm CDT

We make many decisions about who we think is impressive and attractive.  We might want to re-think our criteria.

Direct download: KML_2023-12-17_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:31pm CDT

I remember why December 3 did not get recorded.  My recording device had a dead battery.  -- Where are we to find comfort and joy?

Direct download: KML_2023-12-10_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:14pm CDT

"The least" is not Jesus' concept.  It is something we have devised so we can tell ourselves to whom to pay attention.  Jesus confounds our strategies.

Direct download: KML_2023-11-26_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:11pm CDT

I cannot recall why I did not record November 12.  -- There is more to life than being industrious.

Direct download: KML_2023-11-19_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:09pm CDT

A focus on today's psalm, 131, about the peace which all profess to desire.

Direct download: KML_2023-11-05_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:02pm CDT

We must heed St. Paul's words: "Be transformed by the renewal of your mind."

Direct download: KML_2023-09-03_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:51pm CDT

Peter professes faith in Jesus ... having no idea what his adherence to Jesus will mean.

Direct download: KML_2023-08-27_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:46pm CDT

I cannot recall why I have no recording for August 13.  -- I reflect on a discussion of the nature of interfaith friendship.  These words seem quite prescient as we consider the agony in Gaza/West Bank and Israel.

Direct download: KML_2023-08-20_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:40pm CDT

We consider the feelings of Peter, James and John as they behold their Master transfigured.

Direct download: KML_2023-08-06_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:34pm CDT

It appears that I recorded myself twice this Sunday.

Direct download: KML_2023-07-30_1030am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:31pm CDT

I regret that next Sunday's feast of the Transfiguration keeps us from hearing "What can separate us?" (Romans 8.) So I have included what we otherwise would have heard the following Sunday!

Direct download: KML_2023-07-30_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:22pm CDT

Do you often rebuke temerity?  Are you frustrated by a lack of explanation of Jesus' parables?  Why does prayer seem to be so much like groaning?

Direct download: KML_2023-07-23_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:13pm CDT

I was on vacation on July 9.  -- We must open ourselves to the gift of insight, a way of seeing more deeply the meaning of life.

Direct download: KML_2023-07-16_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:08pm CDT

My best guess is that the deacon preached on June 25.  -- A return to Romans 6 and the core teaching on baptism.

Direct download: KML_2023-07-02_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:02pm CDT

We read from Romans that our salvation is sheer gift.

Direct download: KML_2023-06-18_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 5:56pm CDT

Reflections on the Eucharist in light of the death of a man who built an altar.

Direct download: KML_2023-06-11_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 5:51pm CDT

It appears that I have copied over the Fifth Sunday of Easter and following so that they are lost.  My apologies.

Category: -- posted at: 11:39am CDT

Even the First Letter of Peter contains imagery of sheep and shepherding.

Direct download: KML_2023-04-30_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 11:05am CDT

The First Letter of Peter thinks about Jesus' death and resurrection as our "ransom" from eternal death.

Direct download: KML_2023-04-23_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 11:01am CDT

We must take note of the First Letter of Peter, our second reading for the Sundays of Easter this year.  There are many statements of encouragement which make us feel more alive.

Direct download: KML_2023-04-16_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 10:58am CDT

Are we, in fact, ready for the gift of resurrection?

Direct download: KML_2023-04-09_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 10:55am CDT

The ninth chapter of John's Gospel causes us to ask: Who is really blind?

Direct download: KML_2023-03-19_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 2:32pm CDT

The raising of Lazarus was a sign of the coming resurrection -- and also a provocation.

Direct download: KML_2023-03-26_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:40pm CDT

On the Second Sunday of Lent, the deacon preached.  -- We must be aware of our various thirsts.

Direct download: KML_2023-03-12_830am.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:32pm CDT

Considering distraction as a major element of temptation leading to sin.

Direct download: KML_2023-02-26_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 2:55pm CDT

This homily ran a lot longer than usual, mainly because of late word of the homicide by firearm of an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles.  The focus is mainly on our misunderstanding of what Jesus means when he says we are to be "perfect."

Direct download: KML_2023-02-19_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 2:52pm CDT

A discussion of the reality of free will.

Direct download: KML_2023-02-12_1030am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 2:48pm CDT

Jesus says, "Let your light shine"; but he also says "Don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing."  Does he contradict himself?

Direct download: KML_2023-02-05_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 2:45pm CDT

Jesus begins his Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes: promises that we will be happy even if it seems we are out of step with what most of the world is doing.

Direct download: KML_2023-01-29_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:33pm CDT

This is the Sunday of the Word of God, and we begin our year-long reading from the Gospel of Matthew with Jesus' choosing of his first four disciples.

Direct download: KML_2023-01-22_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:30pm CDT

We are getting started with the long expanse of Ordinary Time and particularly with a continuous reading from Paul's first letter to the Christians of Corinth, Greece.

Direct download: KML_2023-01-15_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:28pm CDT

The Bishop of Rome Emeritus, Pope Benedict XVI, died yesterday.  His resignation in 2013 provided an example to all of us that we all must acknowledge our limits.  Mary's identity as "Mother of God" means that she is pointing to her Son and encouraging us to greater amazement at his identity as truly God and truly human.

Direct download: KML_2023-01-01_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:23pm CDT

In our age of information, the Scriptures for Christmas Day are all about the Word who says everything to us.

Direct download: KML_2022-12-25_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:14pm CDT

Advent points us to completion and fulfillment.  What do we think such fulfillment will look like?

Direct download: KML_2022-12-04_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:07pm CDT

Entering the privileged time of Advent, we are invited into timelessness and the possibility of doing something productive with our swords.

Direct download: KML_2022-11-27_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:01pm CDT

Please note: A number of Sundays are missing.  I know that I left the device at home on the Third Sunday of Advent, when I pointed out a crescendo in what the prophets and the Gospels were saying about "the one who is to come."  Other Sundays, the deacon preached.

Kingship and kinship: Christ is King of humanity because he has identified with our lowest ebb.

Direct download: KML_2022-11-20_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 5:57pm CDT

The Sadducees did not believe in eternal life; therefore, they were sad, you see.

Direct download: KML_2022-11-06_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 2:51pm CDT

Last weekend, the deacon preached.  -- If we think about sin, we must also think about mercy, forgiveness, and healing.

Direct download: KML_2022-10-30_830am.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:48pm CDT

Prayer is not for the sake of controlling God.  We must immerse ourselves in prayer so that we may discover how to be united with our God.

Direct download: KML_2022-10-16_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 2:39pm CDT

The story of Naaman inspires us to consider failures of imagination and the concept of local gods.

Direct download: KML_2022-10-09_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 2:33pm CDT

Again, the homilist must have forgotten to record September 18.  Too bad; it built on an earlier Sunday's pronouncement that life is not a game.  On September 25, the deacon preached.  -- We need to become more comfortable with the statement "We are unprofitable servants" so that we will wait actively for "the vision."

Direct download: KML_2022-10-02_1030am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:07pm CDT

The weekend of September 4, the homilist was in Paris and North Arm while their priest made a Mission Co-op appeal in the homilist's parishes on behalf of his diocese in Rwanda.  -- The stories of Luke 15 can be revisited countless times, and they do not get old.  God's mercy does not make sense -- but we know we need it.

Direct download: KML_2022-09-11_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:02pm CDT

Jesus is not giving an etiquette lesson.  He is asking us why we are so concerned about status when people who cannot gain any such status need to be responded to.

Direct download: KML_2022-08-28_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 3:56pm CDT

The homilist must have failed to record August 14, shortly after his mother's funeral.  -- Anyway, LIFE IS NOT A GAME and is, in fact, BETTER than a game.

Direct download: KML_2022-08-21_830am.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:30pm CDT

The homilist preached on the short form of the Gospel, seeing no need to talk about beatings.

Direct download: KML_2022-08-07_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 3:25pm CDT

After three weeks away, because of a visit to Guatemala and the souvenir he brought back (Covid), the homilist returns and considers the vanity-content of our lives.

Direct download: KML_2022_07_31_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 3:20pm CDT

Do you think that perhaps Jesus was seeking new recruits because he was having second thoughts about James and John?

Direct download: KML_2022-07-03_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 12:28pm CDT

The return to Ordinary Time and a consideration of vocation was somewhat overshadowed by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision and its implications.

Direct download: KML_2022-06-26_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 11:48am CDT

This separate celebration of the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist can never be separated from Holy Thursday and the Passion of Jesus.

Direct download: KML_2022-06-19_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 11:46am CDT

Two persons of the Trinity are called "Father" and "Son."  Therefore I decided to stick with family relationships.

Direct download: KML_2022-06-12_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 11:42am CDT

We, the Christian community, can work through our problems together.

Direct download: KML_2022-05-22_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:48pm CDT

The Christian people began with a small number; Revelation promises that this nucleus will grow into a vast throng.

Direct download: KML_2022-05-08_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:45pm CDT

We as Christian community must be fed by the Sacred Scriptures.

Direct download: KML_2022-04-24_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:40pm CDT

The gift of resurrection is the foundation of our Christian community.

Direct download: KML_2022-04-17_930am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:32pm CDT

What sort of conversation can be held among three people condemned and dying?  Saint Luke's Passion gives us an example, and it is the opposite of futile.

Direct download: KML_2022-04-10_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:28pm CDT

Our lives are not games.  We must not manipulate people.  We must treasure the gift of forgiveness which our God has given us, and allow that gift to make us compassionate.

Direct download: KML_2022-04-03_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:26pm CDT

The story of the father and his two sons never fails to agitate us as we marvel at the behaviors therein portrayed.

Direct download: KML_2022-03-27_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:21pm CDT

The "problem of evil" is best addressed by our looking at the evil within our own hearts, and opening ourselves to conversion.

Direct download: KML_2022-03-20_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:07pm CDT

How are promises to be fulfilled?  What is our reaction if we simply see no way to fulfillment?

Direct download: KML_2022-03-13_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 12:59pm CDT

Beware the polarities of "I am God" and "I am nothing."  If we understand ourselves as God's beloved creatures, we will be less likely to succumb to temptation.

Direct download: KML_2022-03-06_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 12:52pm CDT

The Third and Fifth Sundays of Easter, and the Ascension, are missing.  In the case of the first two, I had left the recorder at home and did not feel like running back for it.  The Ascension marked the return of Deacon Bob Crosby, who preached.

As I recall, on the Third Sunday of Easter, I preached about our need as Christian community to grow comfortable with one another -- which Peter obviously was not when he discovered himself to be in the presence of the risen Jesus.  On the Fifth Sunday of Easter, I focused on the word "elder" in the Acts of the Apostles and the fact that I am technically a presbyter or "elder," and became an elder before I had turned 26.

Category: -- posted at: 12:17pm CDT

There was a lot to talk about, including the Russian attack on Ukraine, in light of the image of having a block of wood in your eye.

Direct download: KML_2022-02-27_1030am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 11:01am CDT

It was a crazy day, and what I have here is a summary.  Love your enemies.

Direct download: KML_2022-02-20_summary.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 10:59am CDT

"Blessed are you who are poor": may there be no obstacles to our accepting this promise of Jesus.  (This file runs a little long; I remembered to turn off the device after I dismissed our catechumen.)

Direct download: KML_2022-02-13_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:53pm CDT

I don't like to be startled.  Peter, I suppose, needed to be startled.  I trust in God's gentle revelations to me of his presence.

Direct download: KML_2022-02-06_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:51pm CDT

St. Paul's meditation on love anchors us in a sense of what is valuable.

Direct download: KML_2022-01-30_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:49pm CDT

How clear is St. Paul's "analogy of the body"!

Direct download: KML_2022-01-23_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:34pm CDT

The Magi, the baptism of Jesus, the wine at Cana: all these are connected with Epiphany, the manifestation of Jesus to the world.

Direct download: KML_2022-01-16_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:31pm CDT

In the midst of uncertainty, we have a "theophany" -- God showing himself to us.  Sorry, this file runs a little long; I forgot to turn off the device.

Direct download: KML_2022-01-09_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:27pm CDT

We see very clearly that the human family is a global community.

Direct download: KML_2022-01-02_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:15pm CDT

There are tensions even within the Holy Family.  We must not be surprised at the tensions within ours.

Direct download: KML_2021-12-26_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:09pm CDT

The account of the visit of Mary to Elizabeth is crowned by the Canticle of Mary, the Magnificat.

Direct download: KML_2021-12-19_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:07pm CDT

John the Baptist speaks of elementary, immediate acts of social justice.

Direct download: KML_2021-12-12_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:04pm CDT

Luke very deliberately fixes the time of the emergence of John the Baptist.

Direct download: KML_2021-12-05_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:02pm CDT

We lift up our heads with confident expectation of what God is giving us.

Direct download: KML_2021-11-28_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 3:53pm CDT

This is a king whom Pilate cannot fathom.

Direct download: KML_2021-11-21_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 3:46pm CDT

As we try to appreciate the gift of everlasting life, we find that anything having to do with love will help us.

Direct download: KML_2021-11-14_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 3:41pm CDT

Jesus, both priest and sacrifice, offered his own blood in the heavenly sanctuary.

Direct download: KML_2021-11-07_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 2:31pm CDT

Law must find its way into our hearts and habits.

Direct download: KML_2021-10-31_1030am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 2:29pm CDT

Jesus is the effective high priest because he shares in humans' weakness.

Direct download: KML_2021-10-24_1030am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 2:24pm CDT

Six months away from the Easter Triduum, we read two Scripture passages associated with Good Friday.

Direct download: KML_2021-10-17_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 2:22pm CDT

Hebrews: The Word of God penetrates even the spaces within ourselves where there is no space.

Direct download: KML_2021-10-10_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 2:19pm CDT

No recordings exist for the last three Sundays of September.  -- Take note of the argument of the Letter to the Hebrews, to be presented during the next seven Sundays.

Direct download: KML_2021-10-03_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 2:16pm CDT

As Jesus respects the man he heals, so we must be cognizant of the private and public spheres of everyone's lives.

Direct download: KML_2021-09-05_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 2:13pm CDT

We must credit the ancients with insight into disease, even if they did not have direct knowledge of microorganisms.  Jesus is making a different point: to be concerned, not about what passes through you, but rather about the evil which emerges from you.

Direct download: KML_2021-08-29_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 2:11pm CDT

To whom shall we go?  Our reception of the Holy Eucharist is personal, not conventional.

Direct download: KML_2021-08-22_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 2:07pm CDT

Mary's immaculate conception and assumption follow from our understanding of her as "Mother of God."

Direct download: KML_2021-08-15_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:58pm CDT

If one is interested in being an "influencer," Jesus' method is not the way to go about it.

Direct download: KML_2021-08-08_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:56pm CDT

Jesus begins to talk with people who did not perceive the "sign" of the Kingdom but simply want some ready source with which to be sated.

Direct download: KML_2021-08-01_1030am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 11:05am CDT

What good are five loaves and two fish for a crowd of five thousand?  Do we perceive the "sign" in this merciful act of Jesus?

Direct download: KML_2021-07-25_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 11:02am CDT

Let us go rest in an out-of-the-way place -- but it's not out of the way if throngs of people come there.

Direct download: KML_2021-07-18_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 11:00am CDT