The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night Homily We have just listened attentively to a wide range of scriptural texts central to our Christian faith. Beginning with Genesis, we then moved through Exodus and the prophets, until finally hearing the…
Homily [Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 31; Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42] In a few minutes, we shall all be invited to come forward in procession for the Veneration of the Cross. This is a long-standing tradition here at the Basilica, yet…
Homily [Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14; Psalm 116; 1Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-15] This evening, we are richly blessed to have among us twelve special members of the Catholic Social Services community. These women and men have come to Canada as refugees from…
Chrism Mass 2024 Homily [Isaiah 61:1-3a, 6a, 8b-9; Psalm 89; Revelation 1:5-8; Luke 4:16-21] In October of 2021, Pope Francis launched the entire Church on a synodal process of discerning how the Holy Spirit is prompting new engagement of the…
Passion Sunday 2024 Homily [Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22; Philippians 2:6-11; Mark 14:1 – 15:47] I had occasion to visit a few of our Catholic schools this past week. The children always have plenty of questions, and one in particular stood…
Fifth Sunday of Lent – Year B Solidarity Sunday Homily [Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 51; Hebrews 5:7-9; John 12:20-33] To enter into the message of God’s Holy Word today, I invite us to seek the assistance of this parish’s patron saint,…
Fourth Sunday of Lent – Year B Homily [2Chronicles 36: 14-16, 19-23; Psalm 137; Ephesians 2:4-10; John 3:14-21] This past week I flew to Toronto for some meetings. Now, I find lately that, whenever I head to an airport, I…
Third Sunday of Lent – Year B Homily [Exodus 20:1-17; Psalm 19; 1Corinthians 1:22-25; John 2:13-25] This past week, a lot of media and public attention focused upon the provincial budget. Many people were keenly interested in how our government…
Second Sunday of Lent – Year B Homily [Genesis 22:1-2, 9-13, 15-18; Psalm 116; Romans 8:31b-35, 37; Mark 9:2-10] In the last while, I have become quite reliant upon reminders. Since I cannot always depend on my own memory, I’m…
First Sunday of Lent – Year B Homily [Genesis 9:8-15; Psalm 25; 1Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:12-15] There seems to be a lot of sickness going around these days. I know at the office some of my colleagues have been experiencing…