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April 12, 2026 Third Sunday of Easter — Year A Acts 2:14, 22–33 | Psalm 16 | 1 Peter 1:17–21 | Luke 24:13–35 One of my favorite little fables is about a young fish swimming along who spots an older, wiser fish and asks, “Where can I find this thing they call the ocean?” The older fish smiles and says, “You’re in it right now.” The young fish looks around, confused and a little disappointed, and says, “This? This is just water. What I want is the ocean!” I think about that s

April 12, 2026 Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday) — Year A Acts 2:42–47 | Psalm 118 | 1 Peter 1:3–9 | John 20:19–31 There’s a story I love by Anatole France, called "The Juggler of Notre Dame." A poor street performer joins a monastery, but he can’t read Latin, can’t sing the Psalms, can’t compose beautiful prayers like the other monks. Not surprisingly, he feels like a fraud. So one night, in desperation, he sneaks into the chapel, stands in front of a statu

April 5, 2026 Easter Sunday – The Resurrection of the Lord Acts 10:34a, 37–43 Psalm 118:1–2, 16–17, 22–23 Colossians 3:1–4 or 1 Corinthians 5:6b–8 John 20:1–9 Hello and Happy Easter! I ran my first half marathon about 20 years ago. Though I’d trained for months, somewhere around mile 11, everything in my body was screaming at me to stop. My lungs burned, my legs felt like concrete, and the voice in my head kept saying, This was a terrible idea. You are not gonna’ make it. Wh

March 29, 2026 Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord — Year A Matthew 21:1–11 (Procession Gospel) | Isaiah 50:4–7 | Psalm 22 | Philippians 2:6–11 | Matthew 26:14—27:66 There’s a famous, old, sermon — one that resonates like few others — from a Black pastor named S.M. Lockridge. Pastor Lockridge was at Calvary Baptist in San Diego for about 40 years, and that man could preach . The sermon is called “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s Comin’.” In about three minutes, he captures the en

March 22, 2026 Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year A First Reading: Ezekiel 37:12-14 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 Second Reading: Romans 8:8-11 Gospel: John 11:1-45 One of the most tender moments I can remember as a dad is the first time one of my kids fell and scraped their knee. If you're a parent, you know exactly what I'm talking about. That little one is toddling around, full of confidence, and then boom , down they go! Then, a beat of silence, and....a cry, t

March 15, 2026 Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year A 1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a | Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 | Ephesians 5:8-14 | John 9:1-41 There’s a hymn that almost everybody knows: church people, non-church people, doesn’t matter. You’ve heard it at weddings and funerals. If you’re anything like me, you’ve heard it done beautifully, and you’ve heard it butchered by well-meaning but not very talented soloists. It’s "Amazing Grace," written by a former slave owner turned abolition

March 8, 2026 Third Sunday of Lent, Year A Exodus 17:3-7 | Psalm 95 | Romans 5:1-2, 5-8 | John 4:5-42 One of my favorite books from my early teenage years was Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Maybe, like me, you caught the movie a couple years back and felt a strange wave of nostalgia for a book you read as a 12-year-old. Judy Blume wrote it back in 1970, and generations of kids have grown up with it since. The premise is simple: Margaret is a preteen navig

March 1, 2026 Second Sunday of Lent, Year A Genesis 12:1-4a; Psalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22; 2 Timothy 1:8b-10; Matthew 17:1-9 One of my favorite pastimes is to visit National Parks with my family. I've been blessed to hike through a few of them over the years, and these trips make up some of my fondest memories. I have come to see these magnificent creations as a direct reflection of God’s majesty and beauty. Whether I'm staring at the vastness of the Grand Canyon, standing amo

February 22, 2026 First Sunday of Lent First Reading: Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 51 Second Reading: Romans 5:12-19 Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11 Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde famously once said, "I can resist anything except temptation." It's funny because it’s true, and that's exactly where we're starting this Lent: not with a lecture, nor with a guilt trip, but with the truth. If we can't be honest about temptation, we can't really understand what Jesus

February 15, 2026 Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Sirach 15:15–20 | Psalm 119:1–2, 4–5, 17–18, 33–34 | 1 Corinthians 2:6–10 | Matthew 5:17–37 It is said that the average human makes around 35,000 conscious and semi-conscious choices per day. When I was a little kid, a difficult decision was whether to buy Sweet Tarts or Wacky Wafers when I visited my grandma working at the five and dime — yep, I'm dating myself here. In adult life, it tends to be bad financial choices t

February 8, 2026 Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Isaiah 58:7-10 | Psalm 112:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 | 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 | Matthew 5:13-16 When my wife and I were raising our four young children (and if you've raised more than one kid, you know this), whenever one of them got into trouble, at least one of the others would suddenly become the most helpful, most angelic child you've ever seen — clearing the table without being asked, giving extra hugs and saying, “I love you, Momm

February 1, 2026 Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12–13 | Psalm 146:6–7, 8–9, 9–10 | 1 Corinthians 1:26–31 | Matthew 5:1–12a There's a classic episode of Seinfeld called "The Opposite," in which George Costanza, after years of failure in jobs, relationships, and life in general, has an epiphany: he realizes that every instinct he's ever had has been wrong. So, he decides to do the exact opposite of whatever his gut tells him. A beautiful woman sits do

January 25, 2026 Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Isaiah 8:23-9:3 | Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14 | 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17 | Matthew 4:12-23 I have always loved rock concerts. There's nothing quite like the energy of a live show with the lights, the crowd, the anticipation. If you've been to enough concerts, you know there's an art to being a good opening act. The opener's job is to warm up the crowd, get people on their feet, and build excitement for what's coming. A great op

January 18, 2026 Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Isaiah 49:3, 5-6 | Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10 | 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 | John 1:29-34 Growing up, I was a huge sports fan. In my teenage years, I watched a fair bit of boxing with my dad. One of my favorite announcers was the iconic Michael Buffer, who coined the equally iconic catchphrase, "Let's get ready to rumble!" There was something electric about those moments — the anticipation, the drama, the sense that something big was

January 11, 2026 The Baptism of the Lord Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7 | Psalm 29 | Acts 10:34-38 | Matthew 3:13-17 One of my favorite TV characters is Michael Scott from "The Office," probably (ok definitely) because I relate to him on some level. One of his great quotes is, "I love inside jokes. I hope to be a part of one someday." When I look back at my high school days, one of the things I hated the most — besides my haircut at the time — was the power and exclusivity of the cliques

January 4, 2026 Second Sunday after Christmas, Year A Isaiah 60:1-6 | Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-13 | Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6 | Matthew 2:1-12 When I was a little kid, my favorite Christmas decoration was my mom’s manger scene. I used to love looking at it and imagining I was there. It was unthinkable to me that the King of the Universe could be born in such humble circumstances, surrounded by animals, with a feeding trough for a crib! I loved the stories of the shepherds and the thr