In Sermons: showing 1-15 of 395

The Solemnity Of The Most Holy Trinity

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Apr 20, 2024

Our model: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: 3 persons, 1 great relationship.

Today’s Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity is tailor-made for preachers who like homilies with three points! Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, what more could I ask? Someone once said, “If you deny the Trinity, you will lose your soul. If you try understanding the Trinity, you will lose your mind.” ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20

Denomination: Catholic

Pentecost: Lightning Breath

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Apr 16, 2024

When God breathes.

At Pentecost, the room shook and wind blew and the whole room crackled with the Holy Spirit’s electric presence. With this in mind, United Methodist theologian Albert Outler tells of a small town he once visited which had three churches in it, and each of the three churches, he said, had an ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:1-11, John 20:19-23

Denomination: Catholic

Solemnity Of The Ascension Of The Lord And Mother's Day

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Apr 11, 2024

We are chasing a sense of enoughness. But it remains ever out of reach, and the effort and anxiety are burning us out. American "performancism."

Martha Campbell said of flunking her final exams and the resulting report card, and what her parents did: "I got a no TV for a week in math, a no dessert for a month in history, and a just wait 'til your father gets home in social studies." My seminary Bible teacher said, “The ...read more

Scripture: Mark 16:15-20, Acts 1:1-11

Denomination: Catholic

Sixth Sunday Of Easter, Year B- The Best Seller On Joy And Love

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Apr 3, 2024

The anointing with this oil causes our faces to be joyful and serene.

There is a joke that asks, “What do you call a book club that's been stuck on the same book for more than 2000 years?” [The answer] The Church. We have covered much of John’s Gospel in the last few weeks so that Joy and Love are the only new themes that emerge this Sunday. The most popular ...read more

Scripture: John 15:9-17

Denomination: Catholic

Fifth Sunday Of Easter, Year B-- Vine And Branches-- See You Later, Suckers!

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Mar 27, 2024

“We’re dying on the vine here!”

Today, we hear about pruning and abiding to bear fruit. Regarding pruning, “There’s a sucker born every minute,” is an expression used in the hope of making money selling something worthless to a gullible customer. Similarly, in gardening, sucker shoots are false branches or stems that suck the ...read more

Scripture: John 15:1-8

Denomination: Catholic

Fourth Sunday Of Easter, Year B- We Are All Sheep And Some Of Us Are Shepherds

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Mar 22, 2024

There are problems with sheep too

Problems and challenges for shepherds and sheep-- Timothy Laniak in 2007 tells the story of a Bedouin Arab and an American scholar sitting under a tent discussing what it takes to be a true shepherd. The Jordanian shepherd insisted that the heart is the most important thing. He lamented, “My ...read more

Scripture: John 10:11-18

Denomination: Catholic

Third Sunday Of Easter, Year B- The Physicality Of The Resurrection

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Mar 15, 2024

Incarnational spirituality

A mother proudly told her pastor: “My teenage son has finally learned one bible verse: It’s Luke 24, verse 41, from today’s Gospel, where Jesus says to his disciples, “Have you anything here to eat?” Literally, in the Greek, it’s “anything edible,” so they looked around, and most likely gave him ...read more

Scripture: Luke 24:35-48

Denomination: Catholic

Second Sunday Of Easter: Sunday Of Divine Mercy

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Mar 6, 2024

Justice and Mercy has been called the oldest joke in psychiatry because when it tries to find the answer to blending the two, new questions intrude.

Psalm 85:10, “Justice and Mercy have kissed.” Justice and Mercy has been called the oldest joke in psychiatry because when it tries to find the answer to blending the two, new questions intrude.1 What did the Frenchman say when God gave him mercy? Merci Speaking of Frenchman, the celebrated ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 85:10, Matthew 5:7

Denomination: Catholic

Easter Sunday The Resurrection Of The Lord: Garden Of Victory!

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Feb 24, 2024

Easter is revealed in returning to gardens!

Archaeology has discovered during the time of Christ planting pots with pollen in them, which tends to be well preserved in arid environments. These growing pots were then transferred to gardens.1 Easter is revealed in returning to gardens! 1. The meaning of paradise is a garden, from the Latin ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:28, Matthew 28:10

Denomination: Catholic

Palm Sunday Of The Lord’s Passion

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Feb 17, 2024

At the end of the story, only one trust remains: the trust of the one who handed over himself—literally and sacramentally- for us

In the book Regarding the Pain of Others, the author, Susan Sontag, concludes that seeing news articles and images of war and suffering is necessary so we know what is happening, but it puts us in a position as either "spectator" or "coward," and that both positions are ...read more

Denomination: Catholic

Fifth Sunday Of Lent, Year B--I Tried But It Died: Grain Of Wheat

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Feb 15, 2024

A Christian is obliged to let go, to put himself into hands that are not his own of letting oneself go into the hands of God.

Wheat is associated with being sewn in the ground, buried, geminating and then springing up for bread to feed multitudes. These are all symbols of Christ’s passion, death, resurrection, and communion with his Body, the Church with Jesus, saved in his Sacrifice at Calvary. The seed has to be buried ...read more

Scripture: John 12:20-33

Denomination: Catholic

Fourth Sunday Of Lent--Year B Pop Verse: John 3:16

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Feb 4, 2024

Pop is short for popular and John 3:16 in our Gospel is thee pop verse of all time

"A pastor was trying to explain to a little Sunday school student that "God is much bigger than we," the pastor said. "God is everywhere!" "Everywhere?" asked the little boy. "Everywhere!" said the pastor, “for example, the old Baltimore Catechism asks ...read more

Scripture: John 3:16, Luke 1:28, Luke 1:42, Revelation 3:16, Isaiah 43:1  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Catholic

Third Sunday Of Lent, Year B- Made To Crave

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Jan 30, 2024

“What if Jesus made a whip out of cords, knotted them with the Ten Commandments. What would he clear out of you?

There were two kids looking at the Ten Commandments at Sunday school and one of them says, “Seems like there’s a lot more things my parents won’t let me do than these.” Let’s clean up some misunderstandings of some of the specific commandments-- 1.As part of the First Commandment: “You shall ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 20:1-17, John 2:13-25

Denomination: Catholic

Second Sunday Of Lent, Year B- The Three Mountains: Transfiguration

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Jan 22, 2024

“You aren’t going to sacrifice me, are you, Dad?”

Because of our three readings, today could be called the Sunday of the Three Mountains. "Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah.” Moriah, as a girl's name, is of Hebrew origin, meaning "the hill country." The land of Moriah was a ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 22:1-18, Mark 9:2-10

Denomination: Catholic

First Sunday Of Lent, Year B-- Among The Wild Things

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Jan 20, 2024

Jackals, “wild dogs, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and lions all of which are often "starvation driven."

He was among wild beasts. (Mark 1:3 from our First Reading) This is no Garden of Eden. Jackals, “wild dogs, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and lions all of which are often "starvation driven" must exploit every opportunity to obtain a meal, which includes humans.1 The wild beasts “likely ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 9:8-15, Mark 1:12-15

Denomination: Catholic