reVerb Homilies

reVerb Homilies

I have always loved the idea that God is more than just a name or even idea; rather, that God is a verb. In God, we “live and move and have our being”. Everything we do is a response to what God has already done. So when I started to consider a name for this blog, reVerb came quite easily. We are responding to God’s word moving in and through us. If you are visiting this blog, it is most likely because you are responding to the Word that you heard this past Sunday. Of course, you don’t hear the Word of God (though you can read it linked to this page); rather you will hear my homily as a commentary on the Word, as it was heard this past Sunday. The idea is quite simple: Catholics rarely take notes during Mass, so I thought it might be helpful to record my homilies so you can hear them again, or in the case of those who are ill or far away, you now have access to a homily you didn’t hear before. This blog is also an easy way to share what you are learning with your friends and family who do not come to church. You an either listen online or subscribe to the RSS Feed and download it to your portable media player (see the next page for those instructions). In the end, all I ask in return is that you pray for me as I do my best to interpret the Word of God for myself and those around me. Many blessings, Fr. Chris Valka, CSB

Episodes

June 3, 2019 6 mins
HUMAN HOLINESS The Ascension is most closely related, in meaning, to Christmas, for both are incarnational.  At Christmas, what it means to be God became fully a part of what it means to be human.  In Jesus, the human and divine become united in the person and life of one man. That’s what happened in Christmas.  At the Ascension, this human being – the person and the resurrected body of Jesus – became for all eternity a part of w...
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RITUAL AND TRANSITION First of all, I want to congratulate you on all that has brought you to this day, as well as the people who have brought you here: your families, friends, mentors, teachers, coaches and supporters. It is an honor to be able to celebrate this moment with you. Ironically, it is a day I did not participate in myself. I simply didn’t like the pomp and circumstance, and I have never liked a lot of attention....
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May 18, 2019 7 mins
5th Sunday of Easter by Fr. Chris Valka, CSB
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May 12, 2019 6 mins
MOTHER'S DAY Traditionally, today is known as Good Shepherd Sunday because of the shepherd and the sheep who hear his voice.  Of course, it is also Mother’s Day – a day when we also celebrate our shepherds who have sheep who don’t always hear their voice! It is a day when I always feel little awkward trying to reflect on the experience of motherhood.  The sanctity of the relationship between a mother and child gives me pause and ...
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May 5, 2019 11 mins
Next Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Easter, is commonly known as Good Shepherd Sunday, because of the Gospel regarding the sheep who hear the Master’s voice. And for that reason, it is also regarded as day when speak about vocations - to the priesthood specifically, though most homilists include all vocations. However, my experience has taught me that today’s Gospel is really the more accurate one about vocations – especially to ...
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April 27, 2019 10 mins
THE MOTIVATION OF CHANGE What is it that Thomas couldn’t believe?  That Jesus rose again?  That Jesus appeared to his friends?  Perhaps it was that he and his friends would be able to do even greater works than Jesus? That they would have the power of the Holy Spirit to forgive sins and transform the world?  That they could set a foundation, then, for what we do today?   Admittedly, that is a little hard to believe.  I think we,...
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April 20, 2019 7 mins
MYSTERIES WE DON'T NEED TO SOLVE Over the past few days, we have been contemplating the limitations of our own mentalities – how we tend to think that everything is limited.  The resurrection, it seems to me, is the ultimate example of God’s abundance.  Nothing is impossible with God.  The rules simply do not obey.  In 1965, the Late Jewish Rabbi Abraham Heschel wrote, “As civilization advances, the sense of wonder declines.  I ...
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April 19, 2019 8 mins
THE ABUNDANCE OF GOD We said yesterday that THIS is the instruction manual.  This is the path.  At its most basic level, what we learn from last night – the Last Supper and the washing of the feet - is that the love of God and love of neighbor are not two commands, but one.  Our service to one another breaks down the scarcity mentality that usually drives our decisions and actions.  Our service to each other challenges our competi...
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April 18, 2019 10 mins
PARTICIPATING IN OUR HOLINESS There has always been an inherent danger in the celebration of this great feast:  which is to make it more “holy” than “human”. That is to say, that it is so very easy to believe that Jesus, as the Son of God, was following a kind of divine script– which consequently puts distance between him and us.  Jesus becomes more of an example or model, held up on a kind of pedestal, rather than a life to be sh...
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REFLECTION FIVE:  THE HOLINESS OF OUR HUMANITY In our last discussion, we will look ahead to Holy Week as a celebration of our humanity as well as God’s divinity, as we seek to heal our dualistic division between the things of heaven and the things of earth.  We will consider what it means to be citizens of our community and the Kingdom of God, rather than consumers.  Belonging, as we will discuss, is associated with the creative ...
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April 7, 2019 13 mins
5th Sunday of Lent by Fr. Chris Valka, CSB
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