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As the date of Easter fluctuates annually, the liturgical calendar is dynamically arranged, resulting in the absence of the 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time in certain years.

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The Problem is Sin, the Solution is Christ

Our faith acknowledges the presence and power of sin in our world today. Temptation is all around us, working to ensnare us and lead us astray. The solution? Jesus comes into our world to free us from the chains of sin and lead us into the grace that only God can provide.

Homily for the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

So there’s an unforgivable sin?  Did you hear that?

 “Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness but is guilty of an everlasting sin.”

So what’s up with that?  And what’s a blasphemy? Well, blasphemy is insulting – or showing contempt or lack of reverence – for God. And even that can forgiven except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Embracing the Call to Repentance, Confession, and the Redemptive Value of Suffering

In today’s readings, we are reminded of the profound consequences of the first disobedience in the Garden of Eden. In Paul’s letter, we see the new covenant in the midst of the old, with the suffering righteous of the Old Covenant and Jesus enduring suffering for others. In the Gospel, where the crowd gathered, making it impossible to eat, we see the example of sacrifice.

Avoiding the Diabolical

Jesus finds himself in the midst of a violent controversy in today’s gospel. His family, the scribes, and the people of Galilee are trying to decide who he is and what he is about. Some of the possibilities they consider are not positive. His relatives think that he is out of his mind. Some of the scribes suggest that he is an agent of Beelzebul, which is a name for the devil. Still others conclude that he has an unclean spirit.

10th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B) Homilies

No other Homilies Available — As the date of Easter fluctuates annually, the liturgical calendar is dynamically arranged, resulting in the absence of the 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time in certain years.

The War We Must Wage

Today’s first reading presents the events immediately following Adam and Eve’s sin. Remember now God wasn’t concerned about fruit. He was concerned that Adam and Eve not experience evil. But He gave them free will so they could choose. How else could they love? All love is a choice. You husbands and wives know this very well. You have to choose to love each other every day. The deep sadness is that Adam and Eve used their free will to choose themselves instead of choosing God. They chose selfishness and disobedience. Their pride led them to choose evil. They believed the serpent who told them that if they disobeyed God and ate from the tree they would be like gods themselves.

Three Crucial Questions, One Crucial Plan

In the first reading for Sunday (from Genesis) the Lord asks three important questions and sets into motion a “crucial” plan for our salvation. The word “crucial” is rooted in the Latin word for cross (crux or crucis). As such, it indicates something that is central by a coming together of the horizontal and vertical. It also points to a suffering that needs healing. Let’s look at each question in turn and then observe God’s saving plan.

I.  “Adam, where are you?”
II.  “Who told you that you were naked?”
III. “Why did you do such a thing?”
IV. The Crucial Plan

SOURCE: LifeIssues.net Homily Archive

Something Different

Bottom line: Begin with gratitude; end with gratitude.

The Unforgivable Sin

This Sunday we return to our readings from “ordinary time.” The green vestments we priests and deacons are wearing indicate that after a rather lenghty break (17 Sundays) for Lent, Easter, Pentectost, Trinity and Corpus Cristi, we once again resume ordinary time. We seem to pick up in an odd place: hearing about Jesus being accused of having a devil, responding with a mysterious saying about an “unforgivable sin” and then distancing himself from his mother and relatives.

The Brothers and Sisters of Jesus: His Cousins

The brothers and sisters of Jesus appear in Matthew 12:46, Mark 3:31–32 and 6:3, Luke 8:19–20; John 2:12 and 7:1–10; and Acts 1:14. Catholics say they are not Jesus’ siblings but his cousins. Here are some reasons.

The Great Refusal

Often over the years I have been asked how there might be a sin which could never be forgiven. The occasion for the question was invariably the incident in Mark’s Gospel where scribes from Jerusalem charged that Jesus was possessed by Beelzebul, expelling demons by the power of the prince of demons.

Jesus defends himself, saying that a “house divided against itself cannot stand.” Satan could never expel Satan unless he were to overthrow himself. Jesus, however, seems particularly incensed that people are so hardened in their resistance to him that they would claim he is possessed by the same unclean spirits he casts out.

Whoever Does the Will of God is my Brother and Sister and Mother

The Scripture readings today, which delve into the relationship between evil and good, hold profound significance for our understanding of faith. In the Gospel passage, we witness the Scribes and some of Jesus’ family associating Jesus’ behavior and ministry of exorcism with the forces of evil. The first reading enlightens us on the origin of evil through the story of the Fall. In the second reading, Saint Paul shares his reflections on suffering and eventual glory, assuring us that this present life of suffering caused by evil is temporary as eternal glory awaits us. Paul’s confidence in the eventual triumph of good over evil is a powerful testament to our faith. 

Do Not Hide from the Lord

God calls out to Adam and Eve and they hide because they were ashamed. They didn’t feel worthy. The reason why this moment in our first reading strikes me is because, from God’s perspective what is more frustrating, that Adam and Eve were ashamed or that they hid when he called? You see, God called them by name, but a real sense of unworthiness prevented Adam and Even from answering the call. And there seems to be a parallel to this in our Gospel reading when Jesus speaks of the unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit. What is the unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit? The sin against the Holy Spirit is when God calls us to himself and we
refuse him. It is unforgivable because we are refusing the love and grace to be forgiven, follow?