Province of St. Albert the Great, USA

Videos

7 May • From Persecuted Church to Global Witness

In this reflection, Fr. Curran draws inspiration from the Acts of the Apostles (cf. Acts 8:1b-8), highlighting the courage of St. Philip. Following the martyrdom of St. Stephen and amidst the persecution of the early Christian church, Philip boldly went to Samaria to proclaim the Good News of God's healing love, transforming lives even in the face of threats and shaming.

Divine Mercy Sunday

Listen to this explanation of the readings by Fr. Brendan Curran, OP, for the Second Sunday of Easter, also known as Divine Mercy Sunday. Preached in Puerto Rico, this reflection draws inspiration from the Acts of the Apostles and the powerful ways God worked through the early Church. The homily also includes a remembrance of the recently deceased Pope Francis, offering a message of hope and continuity in faith during times of transition.

7 Mar • The fasting God really wants

The prophet Isaiah assures us that the fast that is acceptable to God is " to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free." Let us make sure that this is part of our Lenten committment.

6 Mar • Pick up your cross daily

Jesus admonished his followers that they had to pick up their cross daily and follow him. We all have good days and bad days, days when we are excited to be followers of Christ and days when we simply can't stand to pick up the cross of helping others in our seemingly hopelessly broken world. Fortunately, we can do this together, as a community.

The Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr. Brendan Curran, OP breaks open the readings for the Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time, exploring how we can discern true prophets from false prophets. The Prophet Jeremiah reminds us to expect our faith to flourish like a tree planted by a river that fears no doubt. St. Paul reminds us to root our faith in the resurrection of Christ. And our Gospel is Luke's version of the Beatitudes, which matches each "Blessed are you" with a corresponding "woe are you" to that while he gives comfort to the poor, he also warns of the dangers that riches bring, and while he praises trues prophets, who always invite trouble on themselves, he warms against being false prophets, who get praised by all because they tell them what they want to hear instead of speaking God's truth, which is usually challenging.

Readings: Jeremiah 17:5–8; 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16–20; Luke 6:17, 20–26

29 Jan • Finding the Good Soil in each of us

Today we have the Parable of the Sower, where the Word of God is planted like seed on different kinds of soil. Some of each kind of soil is inside each of us. So let each of us dig deep and find the good soil in our own hearts and work to cultivate the good soil in other people's hearts.

28 Jan • My mother, brother and sister

In today's Gospel, Jesus tells us that whoever does the will of God is his mother, brother and sister. As related by Fr. Scott, Fr. Brendan tells us of an interreligious group founded my muslims in the Chicago area that does amazing work bringing God's compassion to war-torn areas of our world. Certainly, these people are Jesus' mother, brother, and sister.