Father Kevin A. Codd

And Who Is My Neighbor? 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C), July 13, 2025

A doctor of the Law approaches Jesus with a question. How do I gain everlasting life? Jesus bats the question back to him...he's the doctor of the Law after all. The doctor of the law responds with the fundamental commandment to love God...and our neighbor, but presses the issue by asking Jesus then, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus offers him a very challenging parable: "A man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho and along the way he was attacked by robbers..." Who is the true neighbor to this poor fellow, as Jesus tells the story, is a moral and spiritual revolution. Our "neighbor" is not defined by class, color, nationality, religion, or...dare we say it: by those with papers or those without. Few parables of Jesus are as pointed as this one to the contemporary concerns of many about dividing God's sons and daughters into "us" and "thems." 

Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Ecuador.

¿Quien es mi projimo? 15o domingo ordinario (C), 13 de julio de 2025

Un maestro de la ley se acerca a Jesús con una pregunta importante: ¿Como puedo alcanzar la vida eterna? Jesús le dirige contestarla por su propia cuenta porque el es el maestro de la ley. El responde bien por citar la ley fundamental de Moisés: que ame a Dios con todo su corazón…y ame también a su prójimo. El maestro de la ley sigue con otra pregunta de inmensa importancia: ¿Quién es mi prójimo? Y con eso, Jesús relata una parábola que explota la idea que nuestro prójimo es uno de nuestra familia, religión o tribu.

Homilía compartida a los fieles de la Iglesia de San Francisco, Cuenca Ecuador.

Luke By The Numbers, 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C), July 6, 20o25

The writiers of the sacred scriptures often used particular numbers to signify important and holy things: 12,7, even little 3! Today's passage from Luke's Gospel continues the tradition with three very important numbers marking his account of Jesus sending forth his disciples to proclaim the Kingdom of God. Each number gives us an insight into our own mission to proclaim and live the Gospel.

Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Ecuador.  (Full Disclosure: this homily is a retooling of previous reflection given on the same Sunday in Sacred Heart Church in Spokane in 2016).

Peter and Paul: The Odd Couple, Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29, 2025

Though tied together by today's liturgy, Peter and Paul were rather an odd couple. The differences between them were substantial in almost every way, and especially their approach to spreading the new faith in the Risen Jesus. One principally a pastor, the other a missionary. The church binds them together in today's feast as a way of saying we need both!

Homily for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Ecuador. 

God's Delight, Trinity Sunday (Year C), June 15, 2025

The magnificent passage from today's liturgy celebrating the profound mystery of the Holy Trinity, (Proverbs 8: 22-31), is worth paying close attention to. It reveals a God who creates our universe, our earth, and we ourselves as human beings filled with delight in doing so. The Wisdom tradition in the Jewish religion in the centuries before Christ, provide us with an alternate view of God the mighty and powerful judge, as well as what may be a sort of  advance look into the Christian understanding both of the Word in John's Gospel and the Holy Spirit. 

Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Ecuador.

Ruach! Pentecost-C, June 8, 2025

"In the beginning..." Genesis tells us that when God created the first human being, he breathed life and spirit into him as an act of pure love. "Ruach" is the word in Hebrew for "breath", but also for "wind", and "spirit". It is this same "Ruach" that we hear about in the great Pentecost story of Acts and in John's Gospel as well. The Pentecost story is that of God doing again what he once did: creating us anew in love. 

Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community of Cuenca, Ecuador. 

Pope Francis: We Will Miss You, 2nd Sunday of Easter (C), April 27, 2025

Though our Easter liturgies carry on, the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday has made the past week a time of grief and hope. We remember Francis for so many lovely gestures of mercy, compassion, and love. We pray that his successor will be a shepherd who brings all his sheep to the Church's Table. 

Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Ecuador

Peace! Easter Morning, April 20, 2025

"Happy Easter" is a fine greeting, but the word "happy" doesn't really communicate the depth of what we experience on this Easter morning. The risen Jesus offers his own "word" for his disciples and for us:  "Peace." 

Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Ecuador, (and wrapping up a long Holy Week, the homilist is a bit weary which seems manifest in his delivery!)

Barabbas and Caesar! Good Friday Comemoration of the Passion, April 18, 2025

John's narrative of Jesus' passion, death, and burial includes the mention of many names. There is Jesus and Simon Peter, of course, but also Malchus, Annas and Caiphas, Pilate, and at the end, the noble Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. But there is also the name of Barabbas, the brigand, and that of Caesar; what significance might these two names hold in this deeply sad story?

Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Ecuador.

Three Prayers and a Fourth: Palm/Passion Sunday (C), April 13, 2025

The Passion of the Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke. All of it...eighteen minutes of it, here told again as so many times before. A simple reflection follows: Jesus prays three times in this long story and each prayer is worthy of its own homily; each one shows us something deeply important about Jesus, his relationship to his Father, and his relationship to us. There is a fourth prayer here, too: that of the criminal crucified next to him. It is one that we keep in our own heart all the days of our lives, sin besmirched as they may be: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

The Passion proclaimed to the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Ecuador.