Ordinary Time, 26th Sunday (A) We get ourselves into the most trouble when we think we have all the answers. Basic training is all about proving how little the new recruits know so they will be open to learning how to be a good soldier. The last thing you need is 18 year olds thinking they know everything in situations where they can kill themselves or others.

Jesus tells a parable to people who think they already have all the answers. Many of us have been around church a long time. We might think we know all about the Gospel. Jesus shows us the real answer. He was not afraid to humble himself, and God super-exalted him. St. Paul is inviting us to take this same road--we need to have confidence in our value and be willing to humbly serve others. This leads to real community and true holiness.

(27 Sep 2026)

Going Deeper: When have we not been open to learn, and it got us into trouble?

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Ordinary Time, 27th Sunday (A) God gave us the Garden of Eden, but we didn't take good care of it. We lost paradise and had to scrape a life out of the wilderness.

God plants a vineyard. He transplants the Hebrews from Egypt to Palestine. But the people act like they own the place and they bear rotten fruit. God sends his prophets, but they kill and stone them. God sends his Son, and they kill him too. God takes the vineyard away from them and gives it to the Apostles and the Church.

Now it's our turn to bear good fruit. Are be acting like stewards or like owners? Parishioners should look for their stewardship renewal materials in the mail and prayerfully discern a commitment of time, talent, and treasure for 2027.

The farmers are collecting the harvest. They are digging potatoes and chopping corn. What kind of return is God getting on his investment in you? Are you bearing good fruit?

(4 Oct 2027)

Going Deeper: Look for your renewal materials and consider your stewardship commitments for 2027.

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Ordinary Time, 25th Sunday (A) A parable about a landowner with a vineyard should make us think of God, the Garden of Eden, and the people of Israel. If God is the landowner, then who are the workers? That's us.

The story contains several surprises. First, the master keeps welcoming new workers. Other landowners hire their workers right away in the morning. This Master always has room for more people who say, "Yes".

Second, he has a foreman, so why is he the one recruiting? Jesus is among us and he himself is inviting us to come work in his vineyard.

Third, everyone is paid equally. In the end, God only has one gift to give: the gift of himself. Everyone receives Communion with the Trinity as a reward for their Yes.

Finally, let us talk about the attitude of a servant. St. Paul is writing this letter from a jail cell as he awaits his sentence. He will either live of die. But he has no fear because he has given his life to the Lord. He has served the master faithfully.

Our lives do not belong to us. We signed up to work in his vineyard; we have chosen to serve Jesus. So why do we keep trying to be the master, and make our lives work for us? Let us go out into the fields each day as confident servants. No one ever regrets serving Jesus faithfully. Now is the time to say Yes to the Master; now is the time to go work in His vineyard.

(20 Sep 2026)

Going Deeper: The human person is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by so doing save his or her soul; and it is for the human person that the other things on the face of the earth are created, as helps to the pursuit of this end.

It follows from this that the person has to use these things in so far as they help toward this end, and to be free of them in so far as they stand in the way of it.

To attain this, we need to make ourselves indifferent toward all created things, provided the matter is subject to our free choice and there is no prohibition.

Thus for our part we should not want health more than sickness, wealth more than poverty, fame more than disgrace, a long life more than a short one – and so with everything else; desiring and choosing only what leads more to the end for which we are created. (source)

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Ordinary Time, 23rd Sunday (A) If God is our Father, then what does that make us? We and our fellow Christians are brothers and sisters. In Matthew 18, Jesus talks about what it means to be a child of God and how we should treat our brothers and sisters.

Here's a brief summary:

Matthew 18:3 - You need to humble yourself like a little child.

Matthew 18:6 - Don't cause a brother to sin.

Matthew 18:8 - Get rid of all sin (it keeps you from being a little one).

Matthew 18:14 - God will make sure that none of his little ones is lost.

And that brings us to today's Gospel. What do you do when you are trying to be a little one, a good child of God, and someone else hurts you? Go talk to him about it. If he repents, then you and your brother can have a stronger relationship. If he refuses to listen just to you, then include one or two other brothers. Lastly, you need to involve the church.

The church has a mission. If our members are sabotaging the mission, they can no longer be part of the church. The early church was serious about their obligations to be a child of God, a little Christ, and a brother to fellow Christians.

Gather with fellow Christians and pray for the repentance and healing of wayward brothers. Jesus is with us in our struggles. How would your last argument with your spouse look or feel if Jesus was right there the whole time?

Jesus treated gentiles and tax collectors with love and he always invited them to become God's children. In a similar way, we must stay in God's love and invite others to come into the light. If God is our father, then we are each brothers and sisters. Let us act like brothers and sisters.

(6 Sep 2026)

Going Deeper: If you happen to find yourself talking about the hurtful actions of a third person, pause right then and there and pray together for that person.

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Ordinary Time, 21st Sunday (A) CESAREA PHILIPPI - Jesus of Nazareth today revealed the blueprints of a brand new building project. Jesus first affirmed his true identity as "the Christ" and the "Son of God." He then shocked his followers by choosing Simon the fisherman to be the foundation of his new church. In an apparent rebranding, Simon's name was changed to "Rocky." "I give you the keys of the kingdom," Jesus said, in a reference to Isaiah 22. "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The site of the press conference in northern Palestine took advantage of Cesarea Philippi's impressive wall of rock as a dramatic backdrop. Reference was also made to the ancient pagan temple, the "gates of hell," at the base of the rock. There has been controversy over whether Simon's relatives had supported or opposed his candidacy; one of his brothers and two cousins are also Jesus's followers. Jesus was confident that this will complete a project his Father began more than a millennium ago. His followers seemed caught off-guard by the announcement and gave conflicting answers as to when and how construction would begin. The press was not given access to any blueprints and Jesus did not answer any questions. Editor's Note: This story was temporarily embargoed and is only being published now after Jesus's untimely death and rumored resurrection. (23 Aug 2026) Going Deeper: How does the Catholic Church's persistence through history witness to Jesus as the true rock? Is your life built on Jesus Christ? Photo from Wikimedia and AdobeStock_8f8b41a1-3b24-4545-aba5-70739347263d | Over 15 years of homily episodes available at PilgrimPriest.us/podcast | Like, subscribe, and share us with your enemies. | Find me on Facebook | Powered by Patrons | give through PayPal or leave a nice review on your favorite podcast platform.

What is a pilgrimage? It is a journey to a holy place. Native American peoples have sacred places. Hindus, Buddhists, and Shinto have shrines and holy sites. The Exodus out of Egypt was a kind of pilgrimage. Jews would make a pilgrimage once or even three times a year to the Temple in Jerusalem to worship God on his Holy Mountain.

The call to follow Jesus is a call to pilgrimage. If you've seen The Chosen, you realize how much time Jesus spent walking with his disciples following him. For Christians, the first pilgrimage destination is Palestine, the Holy Land. After that are the tombs of the Apostles in Rome and Spain, then Marian apparition sites, then any shrine or basilica.

Twenty years ago I walked the Camino for the first time. That led to many walking pilgrimages here in the states. Pilgrimages can teach us so much. Our life on earth is a pilgrimage. Sunday Mass is a pilgrimage.

The destination is important, but the journey also changes us. The Eucharist sustains us on our pilgrimage to heaven. I have three suggestions for you fellow pilgrims:

1. Keep Walking.
2. Walk With Others.
3. Trust the Journey.

May Jesus be the food for your journey. ¡Buen Camino!

(14 Aug 2026)

Going Deeper: Consider making a pilgrimage this year.

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Ordinary Time, 18th Sunday (A) Romans 8:35 is a great passage to memorize. St. Paul has experienced all kinds of anguish and distress but the love of God has conquered it. The Romans will need to believe in God's love to survive the coming persecution.

Isaiah 5 is about how the people trusted in themselves and bore rotten fruit. Isaiah 55 shows that God will restore and renew the people once they have been purified. Even our sins don't separate us from the love of God!

If we rely on ourselves and to avoid anguish, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness and all the rest... we will bear rotten fruit.

If we trust in God, then he will bring us through anguish, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness and all the rest, and we will bear great fruit... and conquer overwhelmingly!

(2 Aug 2026)

Going Deeper: Memorize all or a part of Romans 8:31b-39

31b If God is for us, who can be against us?

32 He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?

33 Who will bring a charge against God's chosen ones? It is God who acquits us. Who will condemn? It is Christ [Jesus] who died, rather, was raised, who also is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.

35 What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?

36 As it is written: "For your sake we are being slain all the day; we are looked upon as sheep to be slaughtered."

37 No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us.

38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things,* nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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