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

Law must find its way into our hearts and habits.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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?

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.

Going out on mission: Do we recognize that our not clinging to our property is the sign of the truth of the treasure of the Kingdom?

Jesus was not accepted in the place where he grew up.  And the homilist gets lots of pushback when he attempts to state that Americans are in the same sinful state as all other human beings.

God did not make death.  Jesus gives life and health to all.

Anxiety is something we all experience.

I don't recall why there is no recording for June 6.

Take a risk -- it's a small step, like a mustard seed, and you will experience much growth.

Love is something shared.  God as Trinity is the height of sharing and loving.

The Holy Spirit works with us to repair an atomized human society.

The power of "up" and "down," and "sitting at the right hand," upon our imaginations.

The many dimensions of love.

You can't beat the vine and the branches for clarity.

Deep thoughts on shepherding.

It is I, myself.  Look, I'm eating.  Do not be afraid of ghosts.

Faith and love require that we enter more deeply into Christian community.

We note how Peter and John, entering Jesus' empty tomb, reach a moment of insight which convinces them of his resurrection.

Barabbas is "son of the father."  Jesus, "son of the father" in the deepest sense, takes the place of every last one of us.

Jesus is the grain of wheat which loses its identity in order to bring forth an unexpected harvest.

Jesus revives Lazarus because he is God and can do so, but also because he is human and he feels the bitterness of bereavement.

The best-known verse of the Bible, and the end of the Hebrew Bible.

You'd think those beholding the healing of a man born blind would rejoice.  Instead, he is a problem.

On the foolishness of God.

Pope Francis in Iraq and the beauty of dialogue.

What does it mean to rise from the dead?

Jesus is entirely like us, having experienced the struggle with temptation.

The man who is healed talks too much.  We need to consider whether we, likewise, talk too much.

A discussion of the mysteries of time, on a recording which I think runs on until almost the Eucharistic Prayer.

On preferring the authority of one's arguments over an argument from authority.

On the "Sunday of the Word of God," we have to consider the context of the Scriptures we hear at Mass.  Jonah was called by God, but he was quite an unwilling prophet!

Sorry, merely a summary on the matter of being called by God.

My response to the desecration which occurred on January 6, 2021.

An irony: We who have been given the good news may, with great strength, resist it.  Thank God for crises.

God establishes the continuity of history.

On the unexpected power (not the expected male power) which results in the world's salvation.

At first I heard an echo in this recording.  I have, to my great relief, found that the recording was just playing twice on my computer.

Joy springs from within.

Does repentance bring comfort?

Considering the meaning of "the end," "it is finished," and so forth, in terms of completion rather than demise.

Are we like goats?  We make a lot of noise, and we will eat anything.

The word "talent" presents difficulties, since it seems to refer to performance.  Our God in fact wants us to go deeper than performance and recognize essential qualities which are not easily subject to observation.

"Stay awake!"  In fact, the point of the parable is the exercise of forethought, as opposed to vigilance.

On sainthood as a process.

The great commandments.

Every twelve years: "Caesar's Coin" just before a presidential election.

More perversity.

Perversity -- and a tribute to Joaquin Lavado (Quino), noted for his comic strip "Mafalda."

Of Brownies and brownie points.

"The parable that everybody hates": proof that Jesus intended his parables to be provocative.

The parable of the unforgiving debtor: Do we get it?

Campus minister Emily Rogers of the Newman Center of Eastern Illinois University interviews Fr. Kevin Laughery on racism.

Sorry, no audio for this Sunday.  You can hear the homily by viewing the St. Jerome live stream.  (My wearable mic wasn't working, but the ambo mic was.)

Part 2 of two parts.  Peter doesn't understand that the Messiah (and those who proclaim his name) has to suffer and die.

Part 1 of two parts.  Peter expresses faith in Jesus and Jesus calls him the "rock" on which he will build the Church.

Our lives are rich and full -- so much so that we could sing arias about them.

When we are afraid, we want people to affirm that they feel afraid, too.

Jesus is not the "victim" here.  He has something in mind when vast throngs come to him.

This was the weekend when we added a public Mass.  -- Does everything work out for good?  If we keep in mind the human family instead of a narrow focus on ourselves, we will be pleasantly surprised!

I can't recall why I don't have a recording for July 12.  -- Have you rebuked temerity lately?

Gentleness is needed to heal a raucous and agitated world.  

As important as family ties are, we must not allow them to impede us from proclaiming the Kingdom of Godl

We began having public Mass.  We are the assembly, and have always been such.  Fear no one.

I think that, for a time, I thought my recorder wasn't working, and I missed recording audio for two Sundays.  You can find the video recordings.  -- We focus on the physicality of eating and drinking and recognize that this food and drink feeds us more deeply than other nourishment.

My apologies to all who are looking for more homilies.  Particularly during this Easter season, I have been forgetful and have not always brought my digital audio recorder to church.  You can see and hear videos on Facebook, St. Jerome Catholic Church, Troy, Illinois.  The videos are archived on YouTube, St. Jerome Church, Troy, Illinois.

Heaven is not "up"!  Indeed, heaven is as close as the human heart when our God has made his dwelling there.

Mystery and conversion are things we surrender to, without trying to figure them out.

My apologies for not including Palm Sunday and the Second Sunday of Easter, neither of which I recorded (things have been weird here; have they been weird for you?).  Anyway, the theme of insight continues: things begin to come together and make sense for the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.

Insight is something which occurs within us and which we must pay more attention to.  The fragments of life coalesce and begin to make sense.  This was the experience of Peter and John at Jesus' empty tomb.

"Untie him and let him go free."  These words of Jesus, regarding Lazarus, apply to us as well.

The Year A readings of the Fourth Sunday of Lent are loaded with irony -- all the more so in the circumstances in which we find ourselves.

News was changing by the hour.  This homily ended up a little disjointed.  I meant to add -- to complete the thought about not being irrational -- that the current challenge is an opportunity for us to bring forth all that is most precious and beautiful within us.  As Jesus thirsted for the faith of the Samaritan woman, we thirst for an outpouring of love from us all.

"It's a good thing the world is far, far away!"  No, the world is with us, and we are with the world.  Jesus' Transfiguration is his pledge to be with us, whatever the world is suffering.

We must keep posing to ourselves the question: "Jesus -- he became human -- just like me?"  Yes, he is one with us when we are in the midst of temptation.

We take a look at St. John XXIII and all the renewal he initiated by calling Vatican II.

Generosity or codependency?; and why Easter should be one week later.  Also, my apologies for not including the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time.  I left the recorder on and the file ended up being 2.5 hours!

I had a letter to read.  Light and salt!

The One presented in the Temple comes with the power to change us, and his influence will feel astringent!  But he derives his authority from his complete union with humanity.

It's not just these four fishermen who are called by Jesus.  Every one of us has received a call to holiness.

Some housekeeping matters, and these readings feel like a repeat of last week.  First Corinthians feels familiar to us, because all church is local!

I was not able to record the homily; what you hear here is a summary.

As we survey the diversity of the nations, we recognize the ironies of people, supposedly of one community, to fail to communicate.  We talk to one another about projects before us, and we recognize the value of silence.

Family traditions are of various kinds, even in the Holy Family.

We consider the secrets which give depth to our life.

The cycles of time and the process of conversion.

What is the Kingdom which we await?  And how do we participate in its coming?

Fifty years of the Lectionary cycle; transforming your tools.

Getting a church dedicated, and the strangest conversation imaginable.  BONUS: I forgot to turn off the recorder, so you get to hear a baptism also!

"A church that looks like a church" vs. a church built upon martyrdom.

The Berlin Wall and scaling the wall of mortality.

Climbing trees and finding mercy.

It's time to examine the "interior monologue" that each of us carries on with ourselves.