Homilies

Homily – 5th Sunday Ordinary Time (Fr. Smith)

| Fr. William Smith

To examine the readings of today’s Mass I will begin and end with personal anecdotes. The first is somewhat banal, the second decidedly unflattering but both are highly instructive.

At an informal gathering of priests, I asked, “Who would notice if your parish were to disappear overnight?” We first gave obvious if somewhat facetious answers: our vendors and UPS carriers. We then got more serious and remembering that the church teaches the preferential option for the poor and marginalized, added food pantries, 12-step meetings, and a neighborhood senior drop-in center. I added a community organizing effort. All of these are good, and much more could be added but we quickly realized that to have an effect a parish must be more than the sum of its parts or the number of its committees.

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Events, Videos

Community Mass – 5th Sunday Ordinary Time

| St. Charles Borromeo


On Sunday, February 5, 2023, join us in person or online for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Our current Sunday Mass times are:

  • 9 AM ET – Morning Mass
  • 11:15 AM ET – Community Mass
  • 7:00 PM ET – Evening Mass

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Today’s readings will be from Cycle A.

Readings/Psalm – 1104

Entrance: Gather Your People – 837

Offertory: The Summons – 790

Communion: Christ, Be Our Light! – 590

Closing: Canticle of the Sun – 576

The Gather 3rd Edition Hymnal/Missals are available for use in the church – pick one up as you enter and return it after Mass. Instructions on how to use the hymnal missal are available here: https://www.stcharlesbklyn.org/hymnal-missal/ .

Today’s readings are also available to read online at the USCCB website https://bible.usccb.org .

Scriptual Commentary

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Embracing the Cross

| Fr. William Smith

Easter Vigil Mass at St. Charles Borromeo, 2019

You are the light of the world.
A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;
it is set on a lampstand,
where it gives light to all in the house.
Just so, your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father
(Matthew 5:14–16)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Corinthians 2:1–5
February 5, 2023

When introducing Plato’s idea of the “Noble Lie” my professor told a class of 18-year-olds that one day we would understand it not just in our heads but in our hearts as well. It took over 50 years but now I get it.

Plato’s insight was that a nation required a founding myth to maintain peace and order. The common folk needed to believe it but the “Philosopher Kings” who governed the society would know that this was man-made and devised as means of social control. This ruling class would do almost anything to maintain this myth. We have seen it at work in our own day with debates on curriculum in general and history in particular. By defining the past, we can determine the future. (The Republic, Book 3, 414)

Christianity pulled back the veil on these myths. They depend on a power structure which allows some to be strong and the expense of the weak. Its symbols reflect that division. The basic reality for Christianity is that Jesus died on the cross at the command of the empire but then rose from the dead in defiance of it. “Death has no power over him.” (Rom. 6:9) The Roman Empire is long gone but societies still have myths and histories to justify why some have to the right to rule and others the duty to submit. It is the genius of St. Paul that he not only recognizes that the Gospel unmasks these myths but that the good news of the cross must be presented clearly and simply without distractions or flourishes to be effective.

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Homilies

Homily – 4th Sunday Ordinary Time (Fr. Smith)

| Fr. William Smith

The least productive way to read St Matthews Gospel is to see Jesus as a teacher of timeless and universal truths. What he offers us is true for all times and places, but Matthew is a Pastor and knows that Jesus and his teachings come alive only when they are lived in a specific Church community. As we read Matthew this year, I think he will prove himself as good a pastor for us as he was for his immediate community, especially in today’s reading.

We do not know if Matthew was born a Gentile or a Jew. It is obvious however that he understood that Jesus was a Jew and could only be understood as one. Jews received their religious identities from participating in the Covenant with God. This made them God’s people, his family. This relationship was personal but not individual. A Jew cannot have a relationship with God outside of the family and would wonder why he should try.

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Events, Videos

Community Mass – 4th Sunday Ordinary Time

| St. Charles Borromeo

On Sunday, January 29, 2023, join us in person or online for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Our current Sunday Mass times are:

Today’s readings will be from Cycle A.

Readings/Psalm – 1101

Entrance: O Breathe on Me, O Breath of God – 902

Offertory: We Are the Light of the World – 592

Communion: Taste and See – 930

Closing: Blest Are They – 735

The Gather 3rd Edition Hymnal/Missals are available for use in the church – pick one up as you enter and return it after Mass. Instructions on how to use the hymnal missal are available here: https://www.stcharlesbklyn.org/hymnal-missal/ .

Today’s readings are also available to read online at the USCCB website https://bible.usccb.org .