The Ambo: Homilies for the Faithful

Solemnity of The Nativity of John the Baptist Gospel  Luke 1:57-66, 80 When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, "No. He will be called John." But they answered her, "There is no one among your relatives who has this name." So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name," and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, "What, then, will this c...

Homily: The Great Commission Let’s start our homily today with a question: Why Am I Here Instead of Heaven? In other words, why don’t we all just ascend into Heaven. Beam me up, Scotty, no intelligent life here   No worries, I am not turning the grades into the bishop.        Because my home in Heaven is not finished yet. (raise your hand) we know that’s not true—John 14        Because I must not be good enough yet. (trick answer—none of us are good enough to make it to Heaven        Because God is having second thoughts about me. (no, He loves you and continues to love you—the greatest miracle in the world is that God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son—the second greatest is that God so loved you and me personally that he gave His one and only son—and that Son is on the throne interceding for us)        None of the above. If you answered D, y...

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with t...