All Saints Homilies

In this homily from St. Thomas Sunday, Fr. Pat considers a person with a Stoic personality facing the great puzzle presented in the books of Job and Ecclesiastes.

People come in to the Church through various ports of entry. But when they come in, they come in through the Cross. In this meditation given over the course of the four Royal Hours on Great and Holy Friday, Fr. Pat considers with us four people, one from each Gospel, who cross over the border into the sphere of faith through the event of the Cross.

In this homily from Palm Sunday Fr. Pat asks what the Cross means for each believer—what it does mean and what it should mean.

In the prologue to his Gospel, the Apostle John says “And the Word became flesh.” Fr. Pat considers three things, regarding the Word, that John did NOT say.

Fr. Pat talks to us about an important theme from the Epistle to the Hebrews, namely “today”, beginning with the question: “what does it mean for a human being to “be present”?

The Cross is the key to unlocking God’s will for us in every stage of our lives. But at every stage, we may find ourselves resistant to the word of the Cross. And just when we imagine we have grasped what it means to be a Christian, we discover, perhaps with shock, that we’ve hardly begun.

In today’s very short story from Mark 2, we perceive a firm and complex portrait of Christ, who is clearly the central figure in the text—it’s all about what He sees, what He says, what He does.

Fr. Pat considers with us the Icon of the invisible God from three perspectives that Christ Himself gave to us when He declared "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.”

Many religions believe there is only one God. But do they worship the same God as us? Fr. Pat looks at Biblical monotheism, what it is, and what it means to our worship.

What is there about the human being that must be said if we are to take the Last Judgment seriously? Fr. Pat explores this question.

Fr. Pat contrasts the Prodigal Son and Esau, and offers thoughts on the mystery of repentance.

St. Luke both begins and ends his Gospel with the people God praying in the Temple. This suggests a priority for the Gospel writer. So too, the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican is story about the proper way to pray.

In our society, worth usually has some connection with what is called “market value.” However, worth or value is not ultimately an absolute thing. Worth is always “worth to whom?” Fr. Pat Reardon makes three points concerning this question.

John the Baptist is a man caught in the tectonic crisis of the major shift in world history. Fr. Pat considers the three answers Jesus gives to his own question about John: "What went ye out into the wilderness to see?”

An abiding sense of the beyond is utterly native to human experience. Fr. Pat Reardon makes three points about this experience.

In Jesus’ circumcision, God’s own flesh is marked by the sign of the covenant; Jesus' circumcision was the ratification and fulfillment of the prophetic dimension of the rite. Fr. Pat discusses three verbs associated with the Hebrew word Berith (covenant).

In the Incarnation, God assumes not only human nature, but also human experience. With respect to this, Fr. Pat Reardon talks about human memory, human speech, and human resolve

Based on the Parable of the Great Banquet in Luke 14, Fr. Pat reflects upon the freedom presupposed in the invitation, the nature of the banquet itself, and the messengers of the banquet.

While imprisoned in Caesarea, St. Paul, influenced by the medical expertise of his companion Luke, contemplates the armor of the soldier guarding him.

Throughout the book of Ephesians (and elsewhere) the Apostle Paul uses the phrase “in Christ.” Based on Ephesians 5:8-19, Fr. Pat looks at some practical ways to live a life in Christ.