Yes, Americans can appreciate the concept of kin(g)ship.  We have a God who rules from the cross, where he intersects with all the griefs of the human condition.  "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

The way to be in touch with eternity is to be absorbed in our present duty and to know why we are so devoted.

We are called to cultivate a sense of wonder that we are here in the first place.  This wonder helps us enter into a deeper faith in the eternal life by which God is rightly praised.

Do we see life as a bunch of random happenings?  Our loving God does not consider us as random occurrences.  We may apply to ourselves the surprise which Zacchaeus felt when Jesus looked up into the tree and called him by name.

Are we to be concerned about who enters a place of worship and what they pray for?  God can sort out the sincere from the specious.  We accept the discipline of prayer as a process of laying bare our soul, and healing it.

With comedy, Jesus makes the point: If scoundrels can come around to doing what is right, why should we worry about God providing for us?

Wonder and awe lead to thanksgiving and an awareness that the source of our being knows no barriers or borders.

"Peace, love, Bombers!"  Whatever our slogan, we need to write it large so speedy people can read it.  The vision still has its time -- faith lived out is steadiness and consistency in meeting the tough challenges.

Are our personal energies directed toward establishing a "force field" to shield us from what we think will sadden us?  Better to drop the force field and be energized through relationship.

Pope Francis consistently proclaims the power of God's mercy.  We are recipients of this gift, which puts us in a position to exercise initiative in response to the healing which comes from God.

The great parable of Luke 15 is our context for considering the element of ignorance which is to be found in sin, and how mercy brings us out of ignorance.

In the midst of anxiety about the Syria situation, we consider what it means to live in this world with requisite presence of mind.

Jesus teaching table manners?  Isn't our faith about something deeper?  For sure!  Consider what he has to say about whom we invite to the table.

The homilist was away the previous two weekends.  The process of conversion is the "narrow gate" for every Christian.  We consider conversion in the life of Pope Francis.

"All is vanity" or "In the long run, everybody dies."  These are different ways of saying the same thing.  We must turn away from any activity which amounts to tearing down our barns to build larger ones.

The challenge of prayer is that we must be absorbed in it, fulfilling the petition "Your will be done."

Let's get away from stereotyping Martha and Mary, and instead consider that we need the qualities of both for living a full, rich life.

The law by which we are to live is not up in the sky or across the sea.  It is planted within us.  Jesus gives an example of someone who acts spontaneously, in accord with the principle of love planted within him.

Comfort and satisfaction are to be found in developing the discipline of a disciple.

I am not sure why I do not have a recording of last week's homily.  Whenever we consider our task of journeying to fulfill God's call to us, the most important travel is the journey inward.

Last week, the homilist was away.  The lectionary is supposing that we all know the story of David and Bathsheba, given that we are walking into the play rather late.  Of course, we all need to pick up our own Bibles!

Last week, I think I had a low battery.  Today, a consideration of the Holy Eucharist through the concepts of priesthood and sacrifice.

The undoing of Babel is our invitation to emerge from confusion about ourselves into the clarity of God's love.

Jesus ascends so that we may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our life.

Last Sunday I celebrated Mass on a kibbutz in northern Israel.  What is our understanding of peace?  Can peace be something deeper than a stalemate between warring forces?

We celebrated First Holy Communion today.  We use "Here is the church, here is the steeple," to remind us that God the Shepherd wants to gather all of us in.

Embarrassment is often accompanied by irrational, exaggerated response.  Here is an example from St. Peter.

Finally, several weeks after his election, a reflection on the startling and soothing presence of Pope Francis.

"Peter was amazed."  The resurrection of Jesus is, for him and for all of us, the occasion for a complete overturning of the meaning of life.

On March 17 the homilist was taking some time off.  The Palm Sunday scriptures proclaim the compassion of the Suffering Servant of humanity.

What do we expect from inheritance?  Have we dedicated and opened ourselves to the ultimate inheritance of mercy and belonging?

In the middle of Lent, the Scriptures today lend themselves to contemplating the normal human experience of being "in the middle" of the vast enterprise of life, and feeling ourselves to be quite limited and creaturely.

There was a baptism at this Mass, so the child baptized entered the People of God during the pontificate of Benedict XVI -- just barely.  Transfiguration is an occasion to ask: what's ordinary and what's extraordinary?

This time of papal transition moves us to a consideration of the title "Vicar of Christ" and the humility of the Christ who withstood temptation so as to carry out the ultimate act of love for humanity.

The idea of the holy: wholly other, but involved in the lives of human beings.

When we presume to offer a word for the good of the public, we must be sure that we are acting with love for our listeners.

A sense of belonging is necessary if we are to understand ourselves as members of the Body of Christ.  We keep in mind that our differences contribute to the health of the entire body.

The anxieties of getting married, and the fact that God has espoused us to himself.

Jesus' baptism is an act of solidarity with weary humanity.

We are called out of the narrowness of Herod to be radiant at what we see when we perceive the gifts of all nations being given to us.

There is tension in every family, especially in the Holy Family, as Mary and Joseph do not know what to make of the 12-year-old Jesus and his desire to be in "his Father's house."

Considering the remarkable meeting of Elizabeth and Mary, we approach Christmas not sentimentally but soberly, aware that the birth of the Son of God is the opening act of the drama which is Jesus' sacrifice of himself for our salvation.

The function of the prophet: To help us be in touch with things which are already in our hearts, that the resonance of these things might lead us to change.

Introducing a distinction between a prophet and a scold, so that we may see more clearly the liberating function of the prophet.

As we consider the work of God in bringing creation to completion, we must recognize that what we do in this life has everlasting significance.

Along with the authority we recognize in Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, we must also recognize the authority residing in our own hearts.