21 August 2026 - Pope Pius X - homily for Friday of the 20th week in Ordinary Time - Ezekiel 37:1-14

We have been hearing readings from the prophet Ezekiel in our daily masses these last couple of weeks, readings that brought us a lot of vivid images. The image of bones coming to life in today’s reading is one of the most famous passages from Ezekiel.  How unforgettable is this image of a valley of dry bones coming to life after hearing the word of God. It does not exactly tell the timeframe of when this passage took place, but biblical scholars believe it took place about a year after the Babylonian exile.  The image of the bones coming to life is a message of new life and hope that the people in exile needed to hear.  Their city, their Temple, their society had suffered ruin and destruction.  The people were separated from their homeland and all that was important to them.  But, in the midst of their present harsh reality, there was new life ahead of them.  God did not abandon them.     

From the middle of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century, there were four pope who took the name Pius. To be honest, it is a little difficult for me to distinguish them from one another. Today, we celebrate the first of those popes named Pius in the 20th century - Pope Pius X. Installed as pope in 1904, serving right after the influential Pope Leo XIII. Pius X served as pope for 11 years. As a young priest, he helped his people serving a terrible cholera epidemic that spread through northern Italy in the 1870s. It is so interesting how the saints we honor relate to what we are going through in our own lives, thinking of the pandemic that we experienced. Pius X took as his motto as pope: To restore all things in Christ. One of his important reforms along those lines was to encourage the frequent reception of holy communion, something that had gone out of favor in the Church of that era.  With greater participation and devotion to the Eucharist in mind, he lowered the age of reception of first communion to the age of seven, seen as the age a child could reason between right and wrong and could understand the sacrament he was receiving. Pius X also started an important reform of canon law and the reform of Church music, including the revival of Gregorian chant. He also worked to combat the philosophies of modernism and relativism, with relativism being something that pervasive now in our own day.  He died in 1914. He was canonized a saint in 1954. 

20 August 2026 - St Bernard of Clairvaux - homily for Thursday of the 20th week in Ordinary Time - Ezekiel 36:23-28 - Psalm 51

I remember having to take four courses in Church history while in seminary: a two semester course on the trajectory of Church history, American Church history, and the history of the Patristic fathers. I remember learning about our Saint today, Bernard of Clairvaux, who was one of the most important figures in the Church in the Middle Ages, who had an enormous influence in the Church of his era. Bernard was born in 1190. He moved to reform the Cistercian monastic order of which he was a member and an abbot. He was a trusted advisor of popes and kings. He wrote the rule for the Knights Templar, which had great influence in the Church of the medieval period. He personally had a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother, which he popularized with the Catholic faithful.  He promoted Mary as the star of the sea and as a powerful mediator between God and humanity. As abbot of the Cistercian abbey of Clairvaux, France, he worked to make that order a strong force in the Church throughout Europe. He founded 65 monasteries in his lifetime, promoted a strict return to poverty, manual labor, and simplicity of faith. Named as a doctor of the Church, his preaching was very influential in his era. He died in 1153. 

We often have images of water in holy scripture. Today, we have an image of water from the prophet Ezekiel, a cleansing image that is heard both in our first reading and in our psalm response:  “I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.” What do we need to be cleansed from today?  What idols are we fixated upon?  What impurities are holding us back?  When we think about cleansing our lives in this sense, even though water is a good symbol for us, the working of the Holy Spirit and our cooperation and response to God are what will bring it about. May the Holy Spirit renew us. May the Holy Spirit cleanse us. 

21 August 2026 - prayers of the faithful for Friday of the 20th week in Ordinary Time

Lord Jesus - you are the beloved son of the Father. 

Christ Jesus - you bring us faith and hope. 

Lord Jesus - you call us to a life of discipleship. 

Priest: We present our prayers this morning in faith and hope: 

1. For courage for those who are discriminated against in their faith. For courage and strength in living out our faith each day. 

2. For the peace and reconciliation of Christ to replace the terrorism, violence, and hatred that exists in the world. 

3. For those who are sick and suffering. For healing and wholeness. 

4. That all Christians may proclaim Christ as the light of the world in their words and their actions. 

5. For a greater sense of stewardship of God’s creation. 

6. For our students. May God’s grace accompany them during the school year. 

7. For all who have died in Christ, especially our deceased loved ones and family members. 

8. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts. 

Priest: We present our prayers through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever. AMEN. 

20 August 2026 - prayers of the faithful for Thursday of the 20th week in Ordinary Time

Lord Jesus -  you bring us new life. 

Christ Jesus - you call us to discipleship. 

Lord Jesus - you reach out to the poor in spirit and the lonely. 

Priest: We present our prayers to God this evening, confident in God’s love and mercy:

1. That we in the Church may keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and be encouraged by the faithfulness of our fellow Christians. 

2. That God will strengthen us in times of conflict and division so that we may remain faithful disciples. 

3. For teachers, staff, and administrators as they start the school year. May God will give them wisdom, patience, and understanding for all of their students. 

4. For peace in our communities and throughout our land, that the Holy Spirit will guide every heart to work to end violence and promote the safety and dignity of each person. 

5. For all who are in need, the homeless, the sick, those with addictions, and mental illness. 

6. For all parishioners and loved ones who have died. May God embrace them on their journey to eternal life. 

7. For our first responders, the men and women in the military, our veterans, and our medical professionals. 

8. For the prayers we hold in our hearts today. 

Priest: God of mercy, as you renew the Church in every age, we ask you to renew all of us in spirit as we make these prayers through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord for ever and ever.  AMEN.  

19 August 2026 - prayers of the faithful for Wednesday of the 20th week in Ordinary Time

Lord Jesus - you call us to faith. 

Christ Jesus - you call us to love. 

Lord Jesus - you call us to hope. 

Priest: We now present our prayers to our heavenly Father: 

1. For the humility to love our brothers and sisters unconditionally and without expectation. For the gift of forgiveness. 

2. For renewal of spirit in the face of the obstacles and challenges we face in life each day. 

3. That all of us may live as peacemakers and bring hope to the world. 

4. That God may lead us all to fuller integrity, authenticity, and wholeness. 

5. That God will heal the wounds and divisions amongst families, co-workers, neighborhoods, and nations, so that we may work together to advance a greater good. 

6. For our children, youth, and college students during this school year. 

7. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts. 

Priest: We present these prayers to you, O heavenly Father, through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever. AMEN.  

19 August 2026 - St John Eudes - Psalm 23 - homily for Wednesday of the 20th week in Ordinary time -

Born in northern France in the year 1601, John Eudes was ordained a priest with the Confederation of Oratories of Saint Philip Neri. As a priest, he cared for the sick in his Diocese during plagues in the years 1627 and 1631. He later was assigned to parish missions, preaching more than 100 of them, some lasting as long as several weeks or even several months. He had a great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He worked to get a feast established for the Sacred Heart, which did not happen until the middle of the 19th century. Pope Pius XI named his as the Father of the devotion to the hearts of Jesus and Mary. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1925. Central themes in his writings are focused on Jesus as the source of holiness and Mary as the model of the Christian life. He founded the congregation of Jesus and Mary, whose charism is devoted to the formation of clergy in diocesan seminaries. The Bishops of France have proposed him as a potential Doctor of the Church. He died in 1680.  

In the 23rd psalm, we hear the psalmist express his trust in the Lord’s providence. But most. Importantly, this psalm is tied to the way we see Christ as our Good Shepherd, a precursor to what is proclaimed to us later in the Gospels. It is a frequent reading at Catholic funerals. But most importantly, the psalm invites us into a personal encounter with Christ, of seeing him accompany us every step of the way on our journey of faith. 

18 August 2026 - St Helena - homily for Tuesday of the 20th week in Ordinary Time Year II - Ezekiel 28:1-10

We celebrate the feast day of St Helena today.  She is best remembered as the mother of the Emperor Constantine. Constantine attributed a decisive victory he experienced in battle at the Milvian bridge to a vision of the cross that he had, an experience which influenced his view of Christianity.  Helena, a woman who was born in humble origins, and who was divorced from Constantine’s father, embraced the Catholic faith after her son declared Christianity to be an officially recognized religion in his empire. In her old age, Helena was commissioned by her son to travel to the Holy Land.  Legend has it that she discovered the cross on which Christ was crucified – slivers of that cross were distributed throughout the Roman empire. Helena died in the year 330 after spending her final years in a convent in the Holy Land.  St Helena, in your humble faith, we unite our prayers to your prayers today. 

Today, as we continue to hear from the prophet Ezekiel in our first readings in our daily masses this week, we hear of Ezekiel’s encounter with the prince of Tyre. As Ezekiel has had a harsh foreboding message to the people of Israel throughout his ministry, his words to the prince of Tyre are equally harsh and condemning. Tyre was a Phoenician city on the coast of the Mediterranean in what is now modern-day Lebanon. Ezekiel accuses the ruler of Tyre of having haughtiness of heart, for the way he puts himself on par with God.  Because of this kingdom’s wealth and power, the prince of Tyre and his people feel a sense of arrogance and omnipotence, that they are above everyone else.  Yet, the prophet tells that they will be overrun by a foreign power, that they will be humbled and put to shame and destruction, foretelling the invasion of the Babylonians that will soon occur. May the Lord help us to live a life of faith with humility and grace.