Author: frbillnicholas

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TEN COMMANDMENTS / TEN EXCEPTIONS – A Worldly Assault on the God’s Divine Law

Homily – 3rd Sunday of Lent – B
Exodus 20:1-17
(Deuteronomy 5:6-21)

How does thee world cleverly draw us away from faithfully obeying the Ten Commandments and how does St. Joseph serve as a model of perfect adherence to them?

Fr. Bill talks about the Ten Commandments of God’s Law, what “Commandments” are imposed upon us by the secular world, and how the world draws us away from faithfully living the Ten Commandments by cleverly weaving a series of “exceptions” to the Commandments themselves that may be more familiar, and startling than we realize.

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WITHOUT FAITH THERE IS NO SCIENCE

New Podcast – “Faith, Hope & History with Fr. Bill”
How and why the Catholic Church is NOT against Science.

“Following ‘the Science'” is a common invocation asserted by many as a one-upmanship to those who profess particularly a Christian faith; as if those of a deep faith are closed to accepting “the science.”  More often than not the Church’s conflict with Galileo is invoked as a demonstration of how the Catholic Church and the Christian Faith is hostile to Science.  Fr. Bill discusses the issue, demonstrating that the opposite is true.  Not only does Christianity, and in particular Catholicism, have no problem with Science, but it is because of the Christian Faith, and in particular the Catholic Church, that Science and scientific studies were able to grow and flourish in the West.

Join Fr. Bill as he talks about the how Christianity and the Judeo-Christian worldview paved the way for the growth of Science, and how the Catholic Church fostered such studies.  He will even name a few priests and bishops who were pioneers in many of the modern fields of scientific study.  Some of them may surprise you!

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GIVING the DEVIL the BENEFIT of LAW

Thomas More, Joseph and a Disobedient Leper
Homily – 6th Sunday of the Year (B)
Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46
Mark 1:40-45

We are moved by the faith of the Leper in approaching Jesus, the compassion of Jesus in curing the Leper; but are we all that impressed with the Leper’s subsequent disobedience to Jesus command? Fr. Bill discusses the often overlooked aftermath of Jesus cure of the Leper in the Gospel of Mark; an aftermath that has grave and serious repercussions for the ministry of Jesus, and serves as a sobering example of the importance of God’s Law, and our obligation to obey.

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THE FAITH and WISDOM of JOB and JOSEPH

YEAR OF ST. JOSEPH
Homily – 5th Sunday of the Year (B)

What is the essence behind the Wisdom of Job, and how does St. Joseph fit into that dynamic as the Patron Saint of the Catholic Church? Fr. Bill discusses the similarities between the two men and how the People of the Church can exercise that same Wisdom today.

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Sons of Zebedee – Son of Joseph: God’s Gift of a Father

Homily
YEAR OF ST. JOSEPH
3rd Sunday of the Year – B
Mark 1:14-20

Two of Jesus’ Disciples were called “Sons of Zebedee”, Jesus as “Son of Joseph” was “Son of the Carpenter” and “Son of David” in addition to being the “Son of God”. Fr. Bill discusses how we can find an identity in and through our Fathers and the names that are given to us from him.

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“You are my Beloved Son…” – The Other Father of Jesus

Sunday Homily
FEAST OF THE BAPTISM OF JESUS
and the YEAR OF ST. JOSEPH
Mark 1:7-11

At the Baptism of Jesus, God the Father declares from Heaven, “You are my beloved Son…” but there is another who can make the same declaration. Fr. Bill discusses the importance of St. Joseph to faith, and as an example against the worldliness of the modern era.

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ALL THAT IS GOLD… – The Annunciation and the Lord of the Rings

Homily – 4th Sunday of Advent
The Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary

How does a poem by J.R.R. Tolkien, featured in “The Fellowship of the Ring” (Book 1 of “The Lord of the Rings”) reflect the same sentiment expressed by the Angel Gabriel during the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary?

In his Homily, Fr. Bill discusses an often overlooked detail in the Annunciation to Mary, it’s relation to the Annunciation to Zechariah immediately preceding it, and how Tolkien’s Catholicism was worked into his storytelling of the redemption of Middle Earth.