Father Kevin A. Codd

The Three Strangers, Solemnity of the Epiphany, January 5, 2025

We have warm and loving feelings for our Three Magi, so prominent on this final solemn feast of the Christmas season. Because of that love, we have many names for them: the Three Magi, the Three Kings, the Three Astrologers, and the Three Wisemen. Perhaps, we missed one though: "The Three Strangers", for their coming from a far-away land, their strange dress and customs, even their status as non-believers in the God of Abraham, may make such a tital far more important to the Epiphany story than the others. 

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

Mary Remembers: Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, (Year C), January 1, 2025

Arguably one of the most poignant lines in all of Luke's Gospel is at the heart of today's feast: "And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart." It tells us so much about the character and spirituality of our dear Mary. She was at heart, a contemplative, and remembering all that God had done for her was an integral part of her contemplative spirit. 

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

Jesus Grows Up: Feast of the Holy Family (C), December 29, 2024

The boy Jesus' extended stay in the Temple of Jerusalem marks a significant turning point in his life as Luke tells the story. As he listens to the great rabbis teach and preach, he also asks them the big questions that have been on his mind for a long time. Over the three days he spends among them, something remarkable happens: he grows up. He lets go of the hands of his father and mother and takes the hand of his Father. He comes to know who he is and what his mission is: to be God's feet, his hands, his very face to the People of God! 

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

God Unmighty: Christmas Morning (C), December 25, 2024

It seems that the more we honor God as "Almighty", the further he seems to be from us. We imagine the Almighty God as a severe judge, a king enthroned on high, or even as Michaelangelo's old man with a great beard floating on heavenly clouds. As God becomes ever more distant from us and our lives here on this earth, so too the cry from our hearts: "Where are you God; I need you HERE!" Those images of God Almighty are shattered on this day, when God becomes the Unmighty: nothing but flesh and blood like us, poor, cold, defenseless against the night. This is the great mystery we celebrate on this great morning: An Unmighty God Among Us!

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

Gettting to Know Elizabeth, 4th Sunday of Advent (C), December 22, 2024

Elizabeth is one of those dear people you just want to get to know. So today, using the gift of homiletic imagination, let's spend some time with her and listen to her tell her story...

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

What Should We Do? 3rd Sunday of Advent (Year C), December 15, 2024

The question is repeated several times over; John is asked: What should we do? John's answer is a baseline of moral behaviour; it is nothing extraordinary. John is just trying to get his people up to the minimum of decent human and Jewish behavior. John knows that the One Who Is To Come will ask far more of them: a much deeper kind of love, a self-giving love!

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

Placing Jesus in Our History, 2nd Sunday of Advent (Year C), December 8, 2024

Luke opens his version of Jesus's story with a bit of historical context. It is important in telling us that the story that follows is not a fable or a fairy tale or a great work of fiction. It is history. And this very real story begins with John in the desert...

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

Come, Lord, Come! The First Sunday of Advent (Year C), December 1, 2024

The great prayer of Advent is a simple one: "Come, Lord, Come! It expresses our humility before God; we cannot save ourselves! It trusts in God's ability to save us. It places full faith and confidence that God, indeed, WILL save us! The pattern of crying out to God in our tribulations to come, then waiting for his coming, and finally experiencing his coming to save us is an old one, but it is especially present in the story of Jesus. His story of victory over the worst humanity could throw at him opens up our own story's end to be one of ultimate victory over evil and the forces of death and destruction. And so we yet pray:  Come, Lord, come!

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

Two Kings: Solemnity of Christ the King (Year B), November 24, 2024

The Gospel passage from John this final Sunday of the Church's liturgical year presents us with two "kings" facing one another. One is typical of most human kings: power and domination are the currency of their reign. The other is far from typical: a humble carpenter, a controversial prophet, one willing to let go of all power in self-sacrificial love, destined for a cruel death. How can he be considered a "king" of anything? Let's ponder that question in this homily...

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

Stars Falling from the Sky, 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B), November 17, 2024

As the church year draws to a close, our liturgical readings are replete with apocolyptic imagery. Some of it is deeply consoling while other passages make us shiver with fear and trembling. Perhaps, the images in today's gospel can be read a different way: as images of a great love and a new life being born. 

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