This week, my good friend and brother, Fr. Cristiano Barbosa and I returned to St. John's Seminary to say "goodbye" as we conclude our full time work there. Fr. Cristiano offered the Mass and I preached.  Homily on the Memorial of St. Vincent DePaul St. John Seminary September 27, 2023 “Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there.” “Enter. Stay. Leave.” So much of priesthood is lived in these three movements.  Enter:  The priest enters into the lives of people. It really is astonishing the places the Lord allows us to enter. The people to whom we are ..read more

It was a real honor yesterday to preach at the First Mass of a newly ordained priest. An incredible joy filled this entire weekend. God is so good to us. “They Went to the Upper Room.” Homily on the Occasion of the First Mass of Fr. Peter Schirripa Seventh Sunday of Easter May 21, 2023 Throughout the Liturgical Year, the Church’s Liturgy invites us to enter particular places so as to enter into the Mysteries of Christ’s Life. We enter Nazareth as the Angel announces to the Blessed Virgin that she is to be the Mother of God. At Christmas, we enter with the shepherds into the Manger, an ..read more

 This is my homily at St. John's Seminary on Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time February 13, 2023 “If you trust in God, you too shall live.”   Before Jesus delivered his magnificent Sermon on the Mount, St. Matthew tells us that Jesus first saw the crowds. Then he climbed the mountain and sat down. His disciples came to him and then he began to teach them. As we read through this sermon—which takes up three entire chapters of St. Matthew’s Gospel—we should always keep in mind how it began. Jesus saw the crowd. He saw them truly. He saw the complications of their lives, their si ..read more

  This is the homily I preached today at St. John's Seminary for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. “If you trust in God, you too shall live.”   Before Jesus delivered his magnificent Sermon on the Mount, St. Matthew tells us that Jesus first saw the crowds. Then he climbed the mountain and sat down. His disciples came to him and then he began to teach them. As we read through this sermon—which takes up three entire chapters of St. Matthew’s Gospel—we should always keep in mind how it began. Jesus saw the crowd. He saw them truly. He saw the complications of their lives, thei ..read more

Homily on the First Monday of Advent I don't post very much these days, but here is a homily for the First Monday of Advent that I preached at Mass today at the seminary. Hope it is helpful to someone. The other evening, I was watching a World Cup match with a priest friend of mine who is 80 years old. He leaned in towards the TV to read aloud a quote that appeared on the screen. “You Can Be Anything .”  He said, “That’s a lie.”   Even though it is a lie, marketing experts are bright enough to know something about the human heart. They know that the human heart has ..read more

This week, I celebrate the 25th Anniversary of my Ordination to the Priesthood. This past Sunday I offered Mass in the seminary chapel with some family and friends in Thanksgiving to God for the gift of the past 25 years. This was the homily. I do with that I could have invited tons more people, but our capacity was limited.  Homily on the Occasion of the 25th Anniversary of Priestly Ordination   Dear Friends in Christ,  There’s a scene in the novel “Brideshead Revisited,” where the two main characters spend an afternoon lying out in the countryside, drinking wine. O ..read more

  Every year at St. John's Seminary, in the weeks before priestly ordination, we celebrate "Deacon's Night." It is an opportunity to honor the men about to be ordained. It is a fun night, marked by a lot of joy, humor, and gratitude.  This year, I was one of the speakers, and was asked to share some thoughts on priesthood. Brothers:  I was really surprised when Third Theology asked me to share a few brief reflections on priesthood this evening. I was even more surprised to learn that my script would not have to be submitted to Fr. Tom for editing and approval. But then I ..read more

 I don't blog much these days, but sometimes when I write out a homily, I still post it.  Here is my homily from today--Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time--delivered at St. John's Seminary. After the fall of the Soviet Union, a priest arrived in a major city in Belarus, looking to serve Catholics there. After seven decades of communist rule, however, nobody really understood what he was talking about. Eventually, someone mentioned to him a nearby village where he might locate people who were still Catholic. He discovered a Catholic community there. Seventy years earlier ..read more

Matthew 18:21-19:1  At the end of a Friday morning Latin class when I was a seminarian, a seminarian sitting a few rows behind me raised his hand and asked the professor, "Father, did you mean not to assign us homework for the weekend or did you just forget?" I whipped my head around so quickly in disbelief that I am surprised my  head didn't snap off.  I always think of that moment when I read the Gospel passage about Peter asking Jesus, "Lord, how often must I forgive my brother?" We could have been fine, but Peter had to show off and raise his hand at the end of class ..read more

  Today I concelebrated the Ordination Mass of five men to the Transitional Diaconate for the Archdiocese of Boston. I had the privilege of vesting one of the newly ordained deacons, a young man from Nigeria who will, along with his classmates, serve the Archdiocese of Boston. It was a beautiful Mass, but I was especially moved during Holy Communion. As the newly ordained deacons were distributing Holy Communion to the Faithful, I looked around the sanctuary as the concelebrating priests received Holy Communion. What I saw was really moving to me. Firstly, I saw Cardinal Sean ..read more