I ought to get some kind of award for posting this so quickly.

This was an odd week. Didn’t have much in mind going into Saturday night, but I feel like I did well with it. The early Mass on Sunday morning was not good…between 2 funerals Saturday morning, the school fundraiser Saturday night, and the stupid time change, I was really dragging. So the 11:00 Mass, which you get here, was something of a personal compromise. It is what it is.

A little frustrated in posting this, simply because I have not yet found an easy way to trim this down to just my homily. Give me time, and I’ll work something out. In the meantime, here you go…

I was finally back on a livestreamed Mass this weekend! Unfortunately, I think I gave a better version of this homily the night before, which wasn’t livestreamed. Not that either version was great.

Posting this from the office. Perhaps when I get home I’ll find a way to chop the video so it’s just the homily and not the entire Mass.

This was the official kickoff to Catholic Schools Week, so Mass was much more crowded than usual. (Suspiciously, the collection did not increase proportionately.) There were an awful lot of really little ones in church, and at times they were rather…vocal. I’m not sure how much of that gets picked up on the video. Also, I’m told the feed was a little choppy again. I don’t know why we keep having these problems. All that being said…enjoy.

As almost everyone knows, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away on the morning of December 31, 2022. His funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome by Pope Francis.

I was – am – a very big admirer of Pope Benedict. He was one of the greatest theologians of the last century, and his writings are invaluable. Furthermore, he was the reigning pontiff when I first arrived in Rome as a student, and so there will be always be some closeness between us.

All that being said, when he passed, parishes throughout the world were encouraged to hold memorial Masses for him. So naturally, we did. Our was on January 4th, because it wasn’t the easiest to get something on the calendar that day. I didn’t realize our media team had put the video on YouTube, else I would have shared it with you sooner, nut nevertheless, here it is. Enjoy.

Might there be even more bonus content this week? You’ll just have to wait and see…

Before I even got into the homily, I sort of went off on a tangent, and without even realizing it, kind of found my way back into what the homily was supposed to be about anyway. Or at least, I hope. So enjoy.

Also! Some bonus content coming tomorrow.

In the spirit of giving, I share with you both our midnight and 9 AM Masses. The homily is essentially the same – I’ve given up writing multiple homilies for Christmas. It’s just too much. But since they are (largely) unscripted, they are some variations.

Also, the midnight Mass includes the choir in the run-up to Mass, which I hope you enjoy listening to.