Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

Homily for the Twenty-fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time

September 13, 2026
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Washington, D.C.

Sirach 27:30-28:7
Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12
Romans 14:7-9
Matthew 18:21-35

“Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.” These words from the Book of Sirach, the first reading in our Mass, offer an instruction on anger, vengeance, and forgiveness. Wrath is a destructive force, and because of our emotions we are prone to let it overtake us and drive us farther away from reason. We remember insults and injuries we have received and feel justified in returning the same. Our irritations soon become grudges, and our irascibility frequently turns to wrath and makes us become bitter, entitled, resentful and increasingly irrational. What exactly does it mean to hug anger tight?

Homily for the Third Sunday of Lent

March 8, 2026
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Washington, D.C.

Exodus 17:3-7
Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
Romans 5:1-2, 5-8
John 4:5-42

The woman whom Christ meets at the well is herself thirsty. If she is not physically thirsty, she is at the very least existentially unsatisfied and thirsting for meaning and for love. She has come to the well at the middle of the day, at a time when the women of the town would not have been at the well to draw water. They would have drawn water at the break of the day. Perhaps she has come to the well at that time so as to avoid the shame she would suffer from other women because of her sinful life. Perhaps, she came to the well at midday because she was sleeping at the earlier hour. Perhaps, she has come to the well to seek yet another husband — repeating the same behavior but expecting a different result. Yet, the point is that she has come to the well and she meets Christ, who asks her, a Samaritan, for a drink — because He Himself thirsts. He thirsts for her faith and for her repentance.