Father Kevin A. Codd

Mary Magdalene's very bad week is about to take a very weird turn as she heads to the tomb early on the first day of the week.

This Easter lmorning homily was preached to the Saint Francis Catholic Community of Cuenca in the Iglesia San Francisco, Cuenca, Ecuador. 

One startling and distressing detail of John's Passion story is the profession of fidelity of the Chief Priests to Caesar: "We have no king but Caesar!" This is a kind of blasphemy and idolatry for it was no secret that Caesar pretended at divinity. How did those Chief priests get to such a place, these holiest of holy men? That is a profound question that reaches back to the sin of Adam and all of us ever since: taking God's gifts and claiming them as our own. Pride. The Cross we venerate on this night stands as a potent counter to that Pride. It is all humility and self-giving sacrifice. In its veneration we are called to mercy, compassion, and loving self-sacrifice. 

This homily was shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca at the Iglesia de San Francisco. (Sadly, the audio of the prior proclamation of the Passion was not adequate so had to be deleted.)

Of the many important details that make the story of the raising of Lazarus so powerful, perhaps the one most likely to be overlooked is the simple, three-word sentence: "And Jesus wept." That Jesus would weep as we weep, especially in the face of the death of a beloved friend, reminds us of Jesus' humanity. His tears mingle with ours and ours with his. His trembling before the cold, dark tomb of his friend reminds us of his cosmic battle, his divine battle really, with the forces of death, destruction, and evil itself...a trembling which is expressed in the God-command: "Lazarus, come out!"

Homily delivered to the Saint Francis Catholic Community of Cuenca, Ecuador. Iglesia de San Francisco, Cuenca

The Man Born Blind (too bad we never get a name!) in today's Gospel from John shows forth incredible metal and character as he grows through adversity upon adversity. At first, his healer is just "than man Jesus", then he is a prophet, and finally he worships Jesus, the Son of Man. He stands before us this Lenten season as a great model of what it means to open our eyes to the Lord's presence with us every day of our life. 

Homily delivered to the Saint Francis Catholic Community of Cuenca, Ecuador, (Iglesia de San Francisco).

Jesus' encounter at the Well of Jacob with the Samaritan woman is a great story! It merits unpacking. We move from Jesus alone, tired, thirsty, to an entire village of Samaritans acclaiming him "the Savior of the World!" In between is a story filled with twists and turns, unexpected revelations, and even some light humor. And it all begins with a simple request: "May I have a drink of water?"

Homily delivered to the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Iglesia de San Francisco, Cuenca, EC. (Based on a homily from 2017).

One constant in the Gospels is the command Jesus' Father in Heaven gives to his followers: "This is my beloved Son; LISTEN TO HIM!" Like Peter, we have a hard time listening to Jesus; wrapping our head and our heart around his Way of salvation is not easy, but especially in this Lenten season, "listening to Jesus" in the coming Gospel stories leading us to Holy Week, is precisely what we are called to intensely do. 

Homily delivered to the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Ecuador, (Iglesia de San Francisco).

Temptation, Sin, and Evil: as Lent begins, we are forced by today's scripture readings to confront the reality of human evil that has plagued us since the beginning. The stories of our first parents and their great sin of hubris to that of Jesus in the desert and the extraordinary humility he demonstrates in the face of temptation, give us our "Lenten Program". 

Homily delivered to the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Iglesia de San Francisco. 

To the ancient "Law of Talion", better known as the law of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth", Jesus takes his gospel hatchet. He calls his disciples to a higher moral code, one that enshrines mercy into how we are to calculate justice in this world. 

Homily delivered to the Saint Francis Assisi Catholic Community in Cuenca, Ecuador, Iglesia de San Francisco

Commandments, especially commandments written in stone by God's own hand, are not to be trifled with. But with time, some become faithful to the letter of the law and not the love that undergirds it. As Jesus continues his "Sermon on the Mount", he challenges his disciples to live not just the letter of the law, but its deeper richness founded in love of God and neighbor. 

Homily preached at the Iglesia de San Francisco in Cuenca, Ecuador. (Forgive the echo in the audio...its the best we could do today!)

Salt and Light could not be more different one from the other. One a mineral, the other pure energy. Yet Jesus matches them together in today's gospel as he continues his "Sermon on the Mount". One a symbol of humility, the other a symbol of joy, together they let Jesus' disciples know who they are.

Homily delivered to the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Ecuador