Browsing Fr. Arturo Homilies

Solemnity of Christ the King-November 24, 2024

Posted by Carol Johnson on 11/25/24

We are used to seeing the letters INRI on crucifixes, an acronym for the words “Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews” in Latin. When a friend of mine from High School would see a crucifix with the acronym on top, he would jokingly say that the crucifix, “It ... Read More »

Diocese of Raleigh Centennial Sunday-November 17, 2024

Posted by Carol Johnson on 11/17/24

At the end of a recent Concert at the Cathedral as part of the Centennial celebration of the Diocese of Raleigh, attendees were told that upon exiting the building we were to look at the sky and wait for a surprise. I wondered whether there would be fireworks illuminating ... Read More »

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time-November 10, 2024

Posted by Carol Johnson on 11/10/24

I see this family every Sunday at Mass. The girl in the family, over seven years old and with intellectual and developmental disabilities, is the person who insists on putting the family’s offering envelope in the collection basket each week. And woe to the parents if they do not ... Read More »

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time-November 3, 2024

Posted by Carol Johnson on 11/03/24

I had not been back to Rome in 23 years. This past January when I returned, after visiting St. Peter's Basilica, the Pantheon was my second stop. I had forgotten how big the hole also called the oculus or eye in the center of the Pantheon dome was. It ... Read More »

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time- October 20, 2024

Posted by Carol Johnson on 10/20/24

In today's Gospel reading, St. Mark tells us about the time when two apostles, James and John, made an important request to the Lord. They asked the Lord, “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left” (Mark 10:37). St. ... Read More »

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time- October 13, 2024

Posted by Carol Johnson on 10/16/24

Perhaps the amount of money this seven-year-old boy saw in the collection basket of the church in my hometown was the largest amount of money he had ever seen. This boy thought that all that money was for the priest of the church. He was once asked what he ... Read More »

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time-October 6, 2024

Posted by Carol Johnson on 10/07/24

The Bizarro world is a fictional planet that arrived on the scene of comic books in the 1960s. In the Bizarro world everything was the opposite of our planet. When I reflect on today’s Gospel reading, I think of this Bizarro world. Because of original sin, humanity lived in ... Read More »

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time-September 22, 2024

Posted by Carol Johnson on 9/23/24

Father Bob Kus is one of six priests who were ordained along with me. Father Bob was in his fifties when he was ordained and has now been retired for six years but he did not really stop working. Instead, he moved to a remote village in Honduras where ... Read More »

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time-September 15, 2024

Posted by Carol Johnson on 9/16/24

I once heard a professor of Shakespeare say that the events in the middle of Shakespeare’s plays were the key to understanding their ending. I remember that professor’s comment each time I read this part of the Gospel of Mark. Saint Mark used the same brilliant technique in the ... Read More »

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time-September 8, 2024

Posted by Carol Johnson on 9/09/24

In today's gospel reading, Saint Mark tells us about an excursion, the second one, that the Lord made through the region of the Ten Cities. This region was non-Jewish territory. The fact that the Lord went on excursions outside of Israel indicated that the blessings of the kingdom of ... Read More »