Mercy Triumphs: Weekly Homilies of a Catholic Priest

At the conclusion of a 2003 murder trial, families gave “victim impact statements” where two individuals understandably cursed the defendant who was found guilty of taking the lives of multiple people. The victims’ family members said things like, “I wish for him to have a long, suffering, cruel death.” Another said, “He is going to hell, and that’s where he belongs.” Then, a father who lost his daughter gave his statement, and it went like this: “Mr. Ridgeway, there are people here who hate you. I am not one of them. You have made it difficult to live up to what I believe, and that is what God says to do. And that’s to forgive. You are forgiven, sir.” …In today’s Gospel, Jesus said, “[L]ove your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” That actually goes beyond the teaching, “Love your neighbor as yourself” because, for example, if I were guilty of those crimes, I wouldn’t blame those people for cursing me. I would under...

When Pope Francis was first elected in 2013, I didn't like him very much. He was saying things that seemed to confirm people in sin and then upset the people who were actually trying to live according to what the Church teaches. And, around 2015, I started reading a book that compiled many of his speeches and homilies over the couple years he had been Pope. And, as I was reading this book, it was making me angrier. But, as I forced myself to continue reading, he said something in one of his homilies that struck me. And it made me reverse my opinion of him. I had this realization that Pope Francis, at least in my opinion, is through and through a follower of Jesus.  To be clear, despite what almost every single news channel on television says, Pope Francis is not the head or the leader of the Catholic Church. Jesus is. Pope Francis is the head bishop. And, in that position, as Catholics, we owe him respect and a listening ear. Which brings me to the fact that Pope Francis just ...

When I was a brand new priest, about a few years ago, I was stationed at Our Lady of Victory Basilica with a wonderful pastor.   One night, as we were watching television in his sitting room, the doorbell rang at about 9. It was completely dark out and, so, I was too afraid to answer the door by myself, and, without hesitating, the pastor got up, walked downstairs and, like a little kid, I followed close behind wondering who could be at the door.  I did feel a little comforted though because the front door of the rectory is a big sheet of glass and, so, one could easily see and speak to the person without opening the door.  But, unfortunately, because the pastor was a few steps ahead of me, he was able to turn the corner and open the door before I was able to see who it was. In my head, I was wondering why he didn’t first talk to whomever this was through the door to figure out if the person was friendly. So, as I rounded the corner, I saw a towering, almost seve...

As we know, a war is raging in Ukraine. And, because this war takes place in our current day, we can be on the battlefield virtually, and see it with our own eyes.   I saw one video that was incredibly moving. Apparently, the Russians and Ukrainians can be so close to each other’s positions that they can accidentally run into each other’s areas for safety. So, for example, you’re in an open field and a grenade comes in, and you need to get up and run out of your spot, you can very easily wind up taking cover with the enemy who threw that grenade. And that’s almost exactly what happens in this video. There’s a Ukrainian soldier, wearing a helmet camera, shooting his gun in a certain direction and from that same direction comes an unarmed Russian soldier trying to take cover directly next to the soldier who was fighting against him. The disorientation and shock on this unarmed Russian soldier’s face is very apparent. You can tell he realizes he’s in the wrong place. Likewise...

You may have seen advertisements for a documentary on Christopher Reeve: the actor who played Superman and who suffered a spinal cord injury after falling from a horse, which left him, physically, almost opposite of what he portrayed in the movies; paralyzed from his neck down. This led me to research interviews he offered after his injury. And, in the interviews, he admits that, shortly after his injury, he seriously considered taking his own life because he felt he would be a burden to everyone around him. He thought that was the best choice for everybody.  But it was his wife who changed his mind, when she said to Christopher: “You’re still you and I love you .”  The man was paralyzed from the neck down! He didn’t need someone to offer him arguments against suicide or a list of coping skills; he needed his wife.  And it was only after his wife reaffirmed her love for him that he decided to persevere and to work at being the best human being he could be in the ...