The King's Corner

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?   If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?  So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Indeed someone may say, “You have faith and I have works.” Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble.   Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless?  Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?  You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” an

“If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we also guide their whole bodies.  It is the same with ships: even though they are so large and driven by fierce winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot’s inclination wishes.  In the same way the tongue is a small member and yet has great pretensions. Consider how small a fire can set a huge forest ablaze.  The tongue is also a fire.  It exists among our members as a world of malice, defiling the whole body and setting the entire course of our lives on fire, itself set on fire by Gehenna.   For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.   With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who are made in the likeness of God.  From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. This need not be so, my brothers.  Does a spring

"Then they came to Capernaum, and on the Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught.  The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us?  I know who you are—the Holy One of God!" Jesus rebuked him and said, "Quiet! Come out of him!"  The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.

Today is Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of the Unborn Child. This is my homily from yesterday, the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time based on Mark 1:14-20. Jon 3.1-5,10; Ps 25; 1 Cor 7.29-31; Mk 1.14-20 Today We Hear The Calling Of The First Apostles. Last week we heard God calling Samuel who responded, “Here I am Lord, speak for your servant is listening." We can also think about Mary ’s call and her fiat, her “yes”, to the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, our Savior. All I can think about is what if any of them had said no. What if Mary had said no to the calling of the angel and the Holy Spirit. What if she had never had the chance to say yes. There would be no Jesus. There would be no hope in a life hereafter. What if the disciples had said no when Jesus called them. There would be no apostles to spread the good news and form the Church. What if you and I never had the chance to be. What if we had no chance to be who we are and do what we are called to be and do. We

January 21, 2018 Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Readings for today's Homily  To watch Mass in its entirety click The Mass

Today I preach about whales and fish – very familiar creatures to us who live on Cape Cod.   Many of us have gone on whale watches in Cape Cod and Massachusetts Bays to see humpbacks, fin, and even the right whales. These impressive creatures have large mouths – some with teeth and some with baleen.   Leaning over the side of a whale-watching boat out of Barnstable Harbor or Provincetown to get a closer look, we might wonder if we could accidentally be swallowed by a whale if we fell in.  Not a chance.  Still, have we ever found ourselves in the belly of a whale?  Not literally of course, but feeling as if we’ve fallen into the belly where everything is dark and enclosed – suffocating and frightening.   In other words, have we ever had a belly-of-the-whale experience of feeling unloved, sorrow, depression, anxiety, desperation…addiction in its many forms.   Most of us have.  Another darkness experience is one that happens when we abandon God.  This can happen when out of fear, pr

January 14, 2018 Second Sunday of Ordinary Time. Readings for today's Homily  To watch Mass in its entirety click The Mass

January 7, 2018 The Epiphany of the Lord. Readings for today's Homily  To watch Mass in its entirety click The Mass

Today’s first reading speaks of sin.    But what is sin, really?    We should consider the “big” and meaningful sins Jesus addressed.  Jesus was principally concerned about the sins of those with power and influence – those in control of the Jewish society and found at the top of the social ladder – those with the riches always seeking more wealth especially in the form of land taken from dispossessed peasants forced into debt with no way to repay, except by selling themselves into slavery as servants.   They tilled and harvested the land they previously owned for the benefit of the new owners (some would say cruel manipulators). We all have personal sins when we miss the mark – when we disobey God’s commands again and again.  So we ask for forgiveness.  But the biblical meaning of sin is richer than individual wrong-doing.  As Marcus Borg stated in his 2011 book Speaking Christian, “The Bible speaks about, to use modern language, institutionalized sin, systemic sin, sin built in

Rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, insincerity, envy, and all slander; like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk so that through it you may grow into salvation, for you have tasted that the Lord is good.  Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  For it says in scripture:  “Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion, a cornerstone, chosen and precious, and whoever believes in it shall not be put to shame.” (1 Peter 2:1-6) Although not one of today’s readings, this passage from the first letter of Peter encourages us to be stones – not cold, dead stones, but living stones.  Then, together we are to let ourselves be built into a “spiritual house” and to offer “spiritual sacrifices” to God through Jesus Christ.  It’s stone cold outside, and at this ti

The LORD said to Moses: "Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them:  This is how you shall bless the Israelites.  Say to them: The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace! So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them." (NM 6:22-27) The New Year has begun.  Today’s first reading is guidance for 2018.    Can we greet those we like and those not so much, and deliver this blessing: “The LORD bless you and keep you!...”  If only we could and with sincerity.   So much hard feeling and even violence would be less likely.   This blessing is a peace offering.  Today is the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God.  The LORD clearly blessed her, and kept her, and let his face shine upon her.   Throughout the coming year we all wish for the same favor.  Perhaps we can receive that favor if we let our faces shine on others.  We all need to s