This page last updated on February 19, 2011.
About once a month, the permanent Deacons at the Church of the Holy
Spirit preach the Sunday homily. Occasionally, someone requests a
copy of one of my homilies, or asks if my homilies are available on
the Internet. In response to these requests, the following
homilies are offered. This is all the "Cycle A" homilies I could
find. "Cycle B" and "Cycle C" will be posted as time permits.
Please
note
that I draw material from a variety of sources. At Holy
Spirit, we have "Homily Preparation" sessions attended by the
parishioners and priests and/or deacons assigned to Holy Spirit.
We examine and discuss the readings, and
attempt to reach consensus as to a "theme" that will provide the basic
framework of the homily. It isn't that we will all preach the
same homily, but rather that we all will attempt to approach the
readings from a common perspective. The theme is also
reflected in the "Focus on Scripture" section on the front
page of our Sunday bulletin, which can be accessed at the Parish website..
In
writing
my
homiulies,
I
also
consult various commentaries and other sources, sometimes
including the homilies of others, and sometimes even my own past
homilies.
When I first started preaching, I had some vague idea
that
once I had written about 156 homilies (one for each Sunday in the
three-year Lectionary cycle, more or less), I'd be done. I could
just pull one of my old homilies out of the file and give it again.
I soon realized that it didn't work that way. Three years after
writing a particular homily, I might have a different reaction to the
readings, or I might want to emphasize some different point, or there
might be something going on in the world that I'd want to relate the
homily
to. Although I do sometimes repeat certain thoughts (the 4th
Sunday of Advent is a good example), I ordinarily do not "recycle"
homilies.
I especially like "Homiletic & Pastoral Review," sacerdos.org,
and The Jerome Biblical
Commentary. Preaching
the
New
Lectionary and Homilies
for
the
Christian
People are somewhat dated but occasionally
helpful. The New
Jerusalem Bible often has good commentary and footnotes.
Unlike some preachers, I need to write out my homilies word for
word. I don't "read" them -- I do try to deliver them in such a
way that doesn't sound like I'm reading them.
And
I
think
I
preach
"to myself" much more often than I preach to the
congregation. I need to hear it more than anyone else.
The
following
are
.PDF
files.
If
you need some other format, please feel free to
contact me. I don't offer them as anything spectacular or
earth-shakingly theological. Sometimes I think it's more in the
delivery than in the content. But people sometimes do ask for
copies. So here they are.
CYCLE A HOMILIES:
2nd Sunday
of Easter (Cycle A) March 30, 2008
3rd
Sunday
in Ordinary Time (Cycle A) January 27, 2008
3rd
Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A) January 23, 2011
7th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A) February 20, 2011
9th
Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A) June 1, 2008
14th
Sunday
in
Ordinary
Time
(Cycle
A) June 6, 2008
17th
Sunday
in
Ordinary
Time
(Cycle
A) July 24, 2005
26th
Sunday
in
Ordinary
Time
(Cycle
A) September 28, 2008
29th
Sunday
in
Ordinary
Time
(Cycle
A) October 19, 2008
30th
Sunday
in
Ordinary
Time
(Cycle
A) October 23, 2005
4th Sunday
of Advent (Cycle A) December 19, 2004
4th Sunday
of Advent (Cycle A) December 23, 2007
4th Sunday
of Advent
(Cycle
A)
December
19,
2010
Ascension
of the Lord (Cycle A) May 4, 2008