Father Kevin A. Codd

Old Greedy Guts, 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C), August 3, 2024

"Old Greedy Guts" was one of the worst things someone could say about us when we were kids. When, indeed, we were greedy, the epithet stung because it was true. Most of us learned to be generous most of the time, but some never did and really did grow up to become very much "greedy guts." The opposite of being a greedy person is not just simple "niceness" or even just generosity; for a Christian, the oppositite is to be a Eucharistic Person: humble, self-sacrificial, and an agent of communion. 

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

The God To Whom We Pray: 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C), July 27, 2025

The ancient story of Sodom and Gomorrah, particulalry Abraham's role as intrcessor on behalf of these depraved cities, is our starting point today. The story teaches us two foundational things about God as revealed in the Hebrew scriptures: God feels and God listens. Those two characteristics of God clearly find their way into Jesus' own teaching to his disciples on how to pray. 

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

Desde Abraham a Martha: la hospitalidad biblica, 16o domingo ordinario (C), 20 de julio, 2025

Las figuras bíblicas de Abraham en el libro de Genesis y la de Marta en el evangelio de San Lucas son muy distintas en su manera de vivir la virtud de hospitalidad. Una comparación de los dos nos ensena mucho sobre el valor de hospitalidad en nuestras propias vidas. 

Homilia compartido a los feligreses de la Iglesia de San Francisco en Cuenca, Ecuador. 

From Abraham to Martha: Biblical Hospitality, 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C), July 20, 2025

On the one hand, the figure of Abraham as he joyfully receives and cares for his three guests at the Terebinth of Mamre and on the other, Jesus' dear friend, Martha, as she slaves in the kitchen while her sister, Mary does nothing, could not be further from one another. Yet they are bound together in today's Liturgy of the Word, and dealing with them both offers us a deeply personal challenge as we strive to serve the Lord and his people. 

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

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.