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

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

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.

Jesus questions the habit of clinging to titles and status. 

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

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.

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

"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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Another version of the previous Sunday homily.

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

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.

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

"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.

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

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

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.

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

"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.

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

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.

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

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.

"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.

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

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?

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

We must give ourselves room to dream.