Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies

Jonah hears God's invitation and refuses to cooperate. But God's providence is universal and his demand is absolute. When he has gone through the discipline of the belly of the fish, Jonah is ready. At his word, the entire city of Nineveh repents. When we hear our call to Nineveh, let us not resist!

The young prophet Samuel listens to the Lord's voice, seeks guidance from an elder, and then disposes himself to do what the Lord demands. In this he becomes a model of the disciple: the one who hears and obeys.

At the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus, the sinless one, stands shoulder to shoulder with sinners in the muddy waters of the Jordan River. Jesus' whole purpose is to go the lost, the sick, the forgotten, the sinful in order to bring the light of God's love.

The Three Wise Men see the sign, they move, they overcome opposition, and then they give the new-born King the best they have. Having walked this spiritual itinerary, they then "go back by a different route," for no one ever comes to Christ and goes back the same way he came.