Easter 2020 – Fr. Smith Homily

On behalf of Msgr. Al, Fr. John and of course myself I would like to wish all of you a most blessed Easter and assure you that although we are appearing to you virtually, our prayers and best wishes are as Pope Francis says “close and concrete”.

Easter is always a celebration that requires a bit of temporal sleight of hand. We say that Jesus offers us new life, but that new life comes with baptism, which most of us received as infants. We simply do not have much experience of the old life without Him and none of that with much consciousness. That is why Lent is so important. The church over the years has created many exercises and customs which allow us to imagine what life without a relationship with Jesus would be like. A good Lent is one in which we experience at least in our hearts some sense of what Jesus has done and is doing for and with us. Continue reading “Easter 2020 – Fr. Smith Homily”

Palm Sunday 2020 – Fr. Gribowich Homily

Okay – good morning, everyone! I hope that you’re still all here with us. Like I promised, it was going to be a little messy, because the story that we had just heard is messy, right?

And this story, of course, is something that we know inside and out. I mean how many Holy Weeks have we gone through where we’ve heard the Passion. For those of us who participate in the service on Good Friday, we end up hearing two versions of the Passion throughout the week – today, and of course then on Friday, as well.

Yet, none of us have heard the Passion during the time that we’re facing right now, with this Coronavirus. In a certain sense, what we just heard, I think has a brand new relevance in our lives, and I think we can relate very much to Jesus screaming on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why have you abandoned me?” Continue reading “Palm Sunday 2020 – Fr. Gribowich Homily”