Father Kevin A. Codd

Ovejas sin pastores, 16o Domingo Ordinario (B), 21 de julio de 2024

"Jesus vio una numerosa multitud que lo estaba esperando y se compadeció de ellos, porque andaban como ovejas sin pastor..." En este momento tierno del Evangelio de San Marcos, la falta de pastores para las ovejas de Israel es algo notable. ¿Donde estan? Nos urge a todos nosotros examinar bien nuestras vidas como discipulos de Jesus; ¿estamos actuando como pastores a las ovejas que buscan la presencia de Dios en sus vidas diarias? 

Homilia compartida en la Iglesia de San Francisco, Cuenca, Ecuador. 

Sheep without Shepherds, 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time (B), July 21, 2024

As Jesus encounters the crowds looking to him for an experience of God in their lives, he is moved deeply and describes them as "sheep without shepherds." But where were those "shepherds" who were supposed to be caring for them? The priests of the temple, the students of the Law, and others who should have been with them were occupied elsewhere. The implicit critique of these non-shepherding shepherds, together with the powerful indictment in the prophet Jeremiah (first reading of the day), calls all of us who are pastors in one way or another to examine our consciences as to how absent we might be from the sheep the Lord has given to us. 

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

From Disciple to Apostle, 15th Sunday of the Year (B), July 14, 2024

Life has its unexpected changes. Such was true for many of the great figures in the Scriptures, including Jesus' Twelve. In Mark 6, they experience the unexpected and challenging change from their status as "disciples" to "apostles."

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

Desde discipulo a apostel, 15o Domingo Ordinario (B), 14 de julio de 2024

En la vida, siempre hay cambios  Asi era para los grandes figuras de las Escrituras y en particular para los Doce. En el sexto capitulo de San Marcos, la vida de los Doce se cambia en una manera grande e inesperaba: se cambian de discipulos a apostoles. 

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

 

Family Stress, 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time (B), July 7, 2024

Jesus' return to his hometown of Nazareth is marked by the unappreciative (and unbelieving) response of his family and neighbors. Perhaps tangled expectations, part of every family's life, are the reason. 

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

Mark's Gospel Sandwich: 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time (B), June 30, 2024

The evangelist, Mark, chooses a very rare literary form in his fifth chapter; he "sandwiches" one beautiful story between two halves of another. Let's explore what he might be up to even as we learn so much from both Jesus' encounter with Jairus, the synagogue official and the woman suffering for twelve years with a debilitating flow of blood. 

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

"Teacher, do you not care...?" Twelfth Sunday of the Year (B), June 23, 2024

Mark's version of the storm at sea contains one line that should stop us cold: "Teacher, do you not care that we are about to perish?" It is a terrible thing to say to Jesus who is "care" incarnate. What Jesus' apostles miss in the midst of their storm is the reality that Jesus is in the boat with them. We, too, often forget this same truth in the midst of our life's storms. 

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

 

Revisiting Adam and Eve: 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time (B), June 9, 2024

The character of Adam and Eve's first great sin in today's story from Genesis was not really that of "disobedience" as much as it was good, old-fashioned "hubris". Their attempt to make gods of themselves was the beginning of the troubles our human race has struggled with almost forever. It is the "great sin" still at the heart of just about all our present troubles. The Jesus story found in the Gospels lets us know we can rest in our humility for it is thus that the one and true God loves us, as evidenced by his coming to us as one of us. (And apologies for the gravelly voice today...a cold virus got to me earlier in the week.)

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

Adan y Eva y Su Pecado Original, 10o. domingo ordinario (B), 9 de junio de 2024

La historia de Adan y Eva es una de las mas importantes del Antiguo Testamento. Con su "pecado original" comenzamos una historia por los siglos de mucha maldad. No es tanto un pecado de desobedienca, sino uno del orgullo humano que siempre quiere ponernos como dioses. Y asi, continuamos a vivir una historia de una maldad humana desastrozo. (Pido disculpas por mi voz; estoy un poco resfriado hoy). 

Homilia compartida en la capilla de las Hermanas Carmelitas, Virgen de Bronce, Cuenca, Ecuador.

Sweet Graces, Corpus Christi-B, June 2, 2024

The expansive display of sweets of all kinds here in Cuenca's Parque del Calderon this Corpus Christi weeks raises the simple question, "Why?" The answer is clear if we understand what sweets symbolize in the popular Catholic imagination, particularly in Latin America. Just about everything dealing with God and his love for us! Sweet are God's abundant graces in our lives!

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