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

"You are the potter, we are the clay."  St. Jerome considers its physical-plant needs.

Direct download: KML_2017-12-03_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:58pm CDT

"King" or "Queen" tends to imply some distance from the people they rule.  Our King sympathizes with us; indeed, he completely identifies with us.

Direct download: KML_2017-11-26_1030am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:56pm CDT

The pastor did not preach last weekend.  -- The "worthy wife" helps us to consider how we place our gifts at the service of God's Kingdom.

Direct download: KML_2017-11-19_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:53pm CDT

Jesus questions the habit of clinging to titles and status. 

Direct download: KML_2017-11-05_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:48pm CDT

The great commandments of love of God and neighbor rely upon a healthy self-love.

Direct download: KML_2017-10-29_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 10:44am CDT

The homilist was away October 8, and did not preach on October 15.  -- Caesar's coin occasions a discussion of how everything is political and everything is religious.

Direct download: KML_2017-10-22_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 10:30am CDT

We all need to resign from "The Good People's Society," and breathe the fresh air of mercy.

Direct download: KML_2017-10-01_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 10:24am CDT

"Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new."  We take time to consider a time factor in "the parable that everyone hates."

Direct download: KML_2017-09-24_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 10:18am CDT

The Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor requires little commentary.  We consider protests in St. Louis and our diocesan synod in light of the immensity of God's mercy and the possibilities for healing human hearts.

Direct download: KML_2017-09-17_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 3:35pm CDT

We must not exaggerate the role of "watchman."  We must develop our trust in our one-on-one interactions, which strengthen communion in our Church.

Direct download: KML_2017-09-10_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 3:31pm CDT

Peter did not understand Jesus' "business model."  Of course, the path which Jesus walked is hard to grasp.  As we ponder our own labors, we seek to unite ourselves with our Suffering Servant.

Direct download: KML_2017-09-03_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 3:25pm CDT

Last week it was my deacon's turn to preach.  -- The imagery of keys moves us to reconsider how Christians of Rome understand themselves and their relations with other Christians.

Direct download: KML_2017-08-27_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 3:20pm CDT

1 Kgs 19: 9a. 11-13a/ Ps 85: 9. 10. 11-12. 13-14/ Rom 9: 1-5/ Mt 14: 22-33

On the basis of the readings above, I worked in a commentary on yesterday's events in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Direct download: KML_2017-08-13_1030am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 2:31pm CDT

We must learn to trust our own religious experience, which includes accepting the testimony of Peter and others in the history of the People of God.

Direct download: KML_2017-08-06_1030am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:40pm CDT

Another version of the previous Sunday homily.

Direct download: KML_2017-07-30_1030am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:37pm CDT

Wisdom is not the same as shrewdness.  Wisdom calls us to take in realities beyond our own self-interest.

Direct download: KML_2017-07-30_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:35pm CDT

The homilist's first weekend in his new parishes has him considering "little things" which are necessary steps toward being enrobed in the love of the Kingdom of God.

Direct download: KML_2017-07-02_830am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:23pm CDT

We return to the Sundays of Ordinary Time.  "You are worth more than many sparrows" -- we are indeed precious in the sight of God.

Direct download: KML_2017-06-25_945am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:19pm CDT

"What is it?"  Manna means "what is it?"  "Not by bread alone do we live" -- therefore, we must plumb the depths of the mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ.

Direct download: KML_2017-06-18_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:13pm CDT

God is, fundamentally, relationship.  The Trinity gives us insight into the various relationships to which we are committed.

Direct download: KML_2017-06-11_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:04pm CDT

A number of people noticed that I seemed to be touching on politics in this homily.  I certainly was.  Isn't everything political?

Direct download: KML_2017-06-04_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 5:58pm CDT

When we part from one another, and we are sad, the sadness points to the value of what we have shared.  This value is not lost as the Holy Spirit binds us together into the Body of Christ.

Direct download: KML_2017-05-28_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:49pm CDT

"With gentleness and reverence," we share with others the reason for our hope in the risen Lord.

Direct download: KML_2017-05-21_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:47pm CDT

"Once you were no people, but now you are God's people.  Once there was no mercy for you, but now you have found mercy."  The assurance of 1 Peter 2: 10.

Direct download: KML_2017-05-14_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:42pm CDT

We are closest to God when we are in the midst of struggle.

Direct download: KML_2017-05-07_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:39pm CDT

The Emmaus incident is the most moving of the post-resurrection experiences in the Gospels.  We consider how surprised Jesus' friends were.  Our faith is not a mere wish-fulfillment.

Direct download: KML_2017-04-30_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:32pm CDT

Let us pay special attention this Easter season to the First Letter of Peter, a letter which is all about "belonging."

Direct download: KML_2017-04-23_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:28pm CDT

The difference between living and nonliving is something we expect to remain stable.  We are startled if the nonliving seems to be living and vice versa.  But we expect the living to remain alive.

Category: -- posted at: 6:26pm CDT

"You have said so."  All of creation cries out the identity of the one who laid down his life to reconcile us with our God.

Direct download: KML_2017-04-09_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:15pm CDT

Our faith is utterly personal.  Jesus raises Lazarus as he draws upon his human feeling.

Direct download: KML_2017-04-02_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:12pm CDT

To be given sight as an adult would be overwhelming.  But why is there so little rejoicing when Jesus gives the sense of sight to a man born blind?

Category: -- posted at: 6:07pm CDT

This is a privileged time in which adults to be baptized make their immediate preparations for Christian initiation.

Direct download: KML_2017-03-19_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:04pm CDT

We are on a journey.  We must not trivialize the reality of this journey.  We simply live mystery as we go places we may not care to go.

Direct download: KML_2017-03-12_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:00pm CDT

The temptations Jesus experienced were every bit as real as those we experience.

Direct download: KML_2017-03-05_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 5:52pm CDT

Jesus calls us out of our self-imposed dwellings of worry.

Direct download: KML_2017-02-26_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:12pm CDT

"Be perfect."  This command is very easily misunderstood.  We need to consider a distinction between "perfect performance" and being a complete, well-rounded person.

Direct download: KML_2017-02-19_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:07pm CDT

Is law something imposed upon us, which we have to work around?  No, law is based on principles we find deep within ourselves.

Direct download: KML_2017-02-12_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:05pm CDT

Hear the homilist sigh as he ponders the current counterexample of "believing in oneself," the person who will make everything "great."  Ponder the real meaning of being salt for the earth and light for the world.

Direct download: KML_2017-02-05_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:02pm CDT

We consider why there was such controversy in 1517, and what Christians are called to do to attain unity.

Direct download: KML_2017-01-29_200pm_1517.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 12:57pm CDT

Christians may seem to be a tiny "remnant" in our world.  Surely the Beatitudes, which open Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, do not quickly reveal the joy to be had by living them.

Direct download: KML_2017-01-29_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 12:53pm CDT

Saint Paul speaks of factions within Christianity as we read of the call of Jesus' first disciples.  

Direct download: KML_2017-01-22_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 12:50pm CDT

Baptism is not something you can do to yourself.  Even Jesus had to be in a passive state as his baptism was done to him.  Surrender is necessary for living the Christian life.

Direct download: KML_2017-01-15_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 12:44pm CDT

Two challenges today: "safe environment" and "racism."

Direct download: KML_2017-01-08_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 1:00pm CDT

Mary reflected upon many things in her heart.  We must follow her example of reflection upon the mysteries which we are living.

Direct download: KML_2017-01-01_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 12:59pm CDT

This Christmas reflection focuses on the now-famous "Lady with the Duck."

Direct download: KML_2016-12-25_800am.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:57pm CDT

We are challenged today to adopt a nuanced understanding of the meaning of "prophecy."

Direct download: KML_2016-12-18_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 12:49pm CDT

The reality of John the Baptist challenges the glib contemporary adage that "perception is reality."

Direct download: KML_2016-12-11_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 12:46pm CDT

"The Peaceable Kingdom" always inspires us to imagine the reconciling of "natural" enemies.

Direct download: KML_2016-12-04_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 12:42pm CDT

We must give ourselves room to dream.

Direct download: KML_2016-11-27_800am.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 12:38pm CDT