Sermons from September 2020

Let me talk about the second reading from St. Paul. He says, “Be humble; think of others as being more important than you.”  [To see the second reading, click here.] “Humble” means what? It means:  Me, I am an awful person, a failure; I am no good; I am deflated? Is that what it means? No! “Humble” means being honest. I am honest about myself. I am honest about other people. I am honest before God. Look at the words…

Let me give you the background to the story that Jesus tells. [To read the words of today’s gospel, click here.]  It is the time of the grape harvest, just before the rains come. The longer the grapes stay on the vine the sweeter the grapes will be. But if the rains come and the grapes have not been harvested, then the grapes are ruined. So the farmer knows that the time is coming very quickly. He wants to get…

Today, Jesus talks about forgiveness.  [To read the words of the gospel, click here.]  If a person hurts me, is it easy to forgive that person? No, it is not easy to forgive. And yet we have the words of Jesus that we need to forgive one another. Every day we pray the Lord’s Prayer, the Our Father. The words of the prayer are, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” We want to forgive;…

Today the Lord reminds us we belong to one another, and we must be responsible for one another.  This is the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.   Today in the gospel Jesus tells us how to act with a person who is doing wrong. [To see the words of the Gospel, click here.]  Remember, in the very beginning of the Catholic Church, the number of people following Jesus was small. So one person acting badly in the small community hurt everyone.…