Over the last few weeks we watched the Lord ascend into heaven, saw the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and turned finally to the contemplation of that mystery of all mysteries, the Holy Trinity. But if we imagine, through this progression, that the Catholic faith was moving us in the direction of pure intellectual vision and disembodied spiritual life, think again: “For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my b

If one is a certain kind of mainstream Christian, it is likely that one will find any extended conversation on the subject of the Trinity to be tedious and pointless. This won’t stop one from invoking said Trinity, or naming things after it, or even, perhaps, believing in it, whatever it means — but as a subject for discussion, or contemplation, the Trinity is about as useful as last week’s newspaper: a curious starting point somewhere in the background of the more interestin

Come Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of thy faithful people: and kindle in them the fire of thy love. This week I want to continue the theme that I began last week, leading to next Sunday’s celebration of the Most Holy Trinity. I want to show how the dogma of the Trinity is no mere academic afterthought but stands at the heart of Christian life. This morning, on the day of Pentecost, our worship is naturally tuned to the gift of the Holy Spirit. And this is where many of us p

On Thursday of this past week we marked our Lord’s Ascension into heaven. This Sunday after Ascension Day retains a strong memory of that event, as we see in our reading from Acts. And we stand in the calendar, like the Church in the first part of Acts, in that strange time between Christ’s exit and the Holy Spirit’s entrance on Pentecost. This is an opportunity for us, as it was for the disciples, to consider the meaning of the Ascension. And today I want to ask in particu

[This is a minor revision of a homily first preached in 2023] As St. Luke tells the story, the disciples have precious little time with the risen Jesus. They encounter the empty tomb. Shortly thereafter, as we hear this morning, a couple of other disciples encounter a stranger on the road to Emmaus who speaks to them for several hours; only in “the breaking of the bread” do they at last recognize their beloved rabbi Jesus. And he at once disappears again. The disciples in Jer

The Good Shepherd images in the gospel are always a bit disorienting to modern western ears, because we are accustomed to a rather different pattern of sheepherding. Strangely enough, this distinction is on full display in the charming 1995 film Babe, where a little pig learns to direct sheep not by the scare tactics, biting and driving of a sheepdog, but by polite instruction and friendship. Perhaps this should be a mandatory training video for new bishops. In any case this

April 5, 2026 Many parents of young children get tired of hearing “they grow up so fast,” or worse, “treasure every moment,” those sentimental comments from well-meaning folks piling fuel onto the fires of parental anxiety. I know I hated hearing those things in the early years of our family. Maybe I’m just not a very nice person. But this sentimentality has a certain truthfulness that takes on a harder edge as we all get older, which is less about savoring the moment — somet

April 3, 2026 In one section of C.S. Lewis’ wonderful little book, The Screwtape Letters, the demonic mentor provides ample suggestions for how to distract the “patient” in prayer. On the one hand, a good tempter might push the patient towards a sort of abstract prayerful attitude in which bodily posture matters not; this is very effective because it “bears a superficial resemblance to the prayer of silence as practiced by those who are very far advanced in the Enemy's servic

April 2, 2026 The burning bush at Mount Sinai is unlikely to be on the mind for most this Holy Thursday, but it lurks in the background. The most direct narrative connection comes from our first reading, the institution of the Passover, intended in the Church’s wisdom to parallel the institution of the Eucharist as a new and more perfect Passover. The Passover is the culmination of that relationship with Moses begun on Sinai, and which eventually returns to Sinai for the givi