Join Fr. Brendan Curran, OP in this Know Before You Go video for the Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time. In the first reading (Genesis 18:20-32), Moses and God go to Sodom, where people have been gossiping about how bad they are. Moses gets God to admit that he is in the end forgiving, and would forgive Sodom for the smallest reason. Are we quick to condemn groups of people (think immigrants, muslims) because we have heard rumors about them?
In today's Gospel, a woman who had been suffering hemorrhages for 12 years, pushed through the crowd because she had the conviction that if she just touched the hem of Jesus' cloak she would be healed. Fr. Brendan saw that same faith last week when an old man in a wheelchair pushed through the crowd to receive communion first, convinced that God would nourish him with this sacrament. Let us all trust that God can heal us if we merely touch the hem of his cloak.
Jesus sent out 72 disciples to take nothing with them but his message of peace and welcome. Whenever they were not welcomed, they were to simply move on in hope that the next town would welcome them. As we celebrate Independence Day, let us remember that our great nation has always been a place of welcome and opportunity for those seeking a better life. Where do we need to extend that charitable welcome today? Where is God sending us?
Rooted in scripture and animated by Catholic social teaching, this homily challenges us to live boldly in the Spirit—compelled, called, and inspired to be a voice of faith in the face of injustice and despair.
As we stand in the sacred days between Ascension and Pentecost, this homily invites us to find hope in our brokenness and be renewed in our mission to feed the sheep.
Join Fr. Brendan Curran, OP in exploring the readings for Ascension Sunday, where we don't so much celebrate Jesus' leaving, but in his leaving his mission to us, promising the gifts of the Holy Spirit to enable us to accomplish it.
