Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies

The Old Testament story of the battle between Israel and the Amalekites is a symbolic presentation of the church. In the struggle against evil, there are fighters, pray-ers, and those who support the pray-ers. The Church is an amalgam of interdependent and mutually supporting missions.

For Jesus, faith is power. When we have linked ourselves to the God who fashions and governs the cosmos, we allow enormous power to flow through us for the transformation of the world. To have faith is to live in the "great soul." It is to expand the horizons of our consciousness and activity infinitely.

A concern for social justice runs from beginning to end of the Bible, reaching its fullest expression in the prophets and in Jesus himself. It can also be discerned in the writings and sermons of the Fathers, in the speculation of the great scholastics, and in the social teaching of the modern Popes. At bottom, we are summoned to use the gifts that God has given us for the full flourishing of our brothers and sisters. The commongood must come first.

In a puzzling parable, Jesus praises a man who is a self-absorbed cheat. What the Lord notices in the man's dubious behavior are three things of spiritual importance: he knows that he is in crisis; he makes an honest self-assessment; and, most importantly, he acts.

The attacks of September 11th have left us stunned and speechless. Yet our tradition brings the word of God to bear on even the darkest events. There are four mysteries that emerge from the tragedy: The mystery of wickedness; the mystery of the impermanence of the world; the mystery of salvation; and the mystery of forgiveness.

When Jesus tells us to hate mother, father, brothers, sisters, friends, he is not demonstrating a disturbing misanthropy. Rather, he is telling us not to treat those around us as our possessions. The spiritual life consists, not in controlling others for the sake of the ego, but in giving others the space to be.

One of the greatest obstacles to effective mission is the attachment to honors and fame. This shrinks the soul and distracts from the only thing that matters: walking with Jesus on the path of discipleship.

God, from a biblical perspective is a God of adventure and new possibilities. Faith is the response to this adventurous God, and therefore always involves risk. It is a willingness to trust that we are being led even when we cannot see clearly where we are going.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Qoheleth tells us that nothing here below--money, sex, power, material things, fame--is ultimately valuable, for all of it passes away. This insight shouldn't depress us, it should allow us to live in the truth. Our lives must be directed to the Good that does not pass away, that does not come and go, but rather remains unto eternity.

The Bible seems to indicate that certain "rules" ought to govern and inform our prayer. A first is faith: we must passionately believe that God can do what we are asking for. A second is forgiveness: if we want the grace of God to flow to and through us, we must remove the resentments and angers that block it. And third is praying in Jesus' name: when we ask things of God we should do so in the stance and spirit of his Son.