Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis Mass of Thanksgiving for the Equivalent Canonizationof Saints François de Laval and Marie de l’Incarnation Sunday, 12 October 2014 We have heard Isaiah’s prophecy: “The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces…” (Is 25:8).  These words, full of hope in God, point us to the goal, ...read more

Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis Mass For Peace And Reconciliation Seoul, Myeong-dong Cathedral 18 August 2014 Dear Brothers and Sisters, As my stay in Korea draws to a close, I thank God for the many blessings he has bestowed upon this beloved country, and in a special way, upon the Church in Korea.  Among ...read more

Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis Mass for the Beatification of the Korean Martyrs Seoul, Gwanghwamun Gate August 16, 2014 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? (Rom 8:35).  With these words, Saint Paul speaks of the glory of our faith in Jesus: not only has Christ risen from the dead and ascended ...read more

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been sharing with you some of the content from a conference in homiletics that I recently attended as part of St. Augustine’s Seminary’s 100th anniversary celebrations (Read part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4). There are many ways to prepare a homily, but preaching experts agree ...read more

Proclaiming the Word: Part Four Last time we looked at why a homily must be scriptural, pastoral, catechetical and liturgical and that there should be one key message (focus) and one suggestion as to how we can respond to that message (function). These are great suggestions for organizing your text. However, no matter what, the ...read more

Last time  I wrote about what makes a good homily and what is an image of a preacher.  At the preaching conference, most of the presenters dedicated their talks to how a homilist should prepare. “Prepare the homilist; not the homily” was a phrase used by Cardinal Thomas Collins of Toronto during the keynote opening ...read more

As I wrote last Sunday, last week I attended a preaching conference as part of St. Augustine’s Seminary 100th anniversary events. It was a who’s who in preaching, with all the talks by homiletics experts from all over North America. I think about homilies all the time. Not so much because I have to prepare ...read more

At 9:30 this morning in St. Peter’s Basilica. Pope Francis presided over the liturgy for the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. During the Eucharistic celebration, he presented the pallium to 24 Metropolitan Archbishops (three more were unable to attend the mass and will receive the pallium at a later date in their Metropolitan Sees). ...read more

Apostolic Nuncio to Canada, Archbishop Luigi Bonazzi’s homily at Vancouver’s mega celebration for Two Popes Two Saints on Sunday April 27, 2014. I greet all of you with great joy. I bring and offer each one of you the greetings and paternal affection of Pope Francis. In the communion of the great family that is the ...read more

Today’s solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, the crowning of the liturgical year, also marks the conclusion of the Year of Faith opened by Pope Benedict XVI, to whom our thoughts now turn with affection and gratitude. By this providential initiative, he gave us an opportunity to rediscover the beauty of ...read more