Fr. Joe Dailey
Episodes
Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family, A
27 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textOne year at the Christmas Eve Children’s Mass, I was walking the children through Luke’s nativity. I had some cloth figures that I w...
Homily for Christmas Mass During the Day
24 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAt Christmas, Jesus, who is close to the Father’s heart, comes to embrace us and welcome us home.I have Mass on Christmas Day at St. I...
Homily for the 4th Sunday of Advent, A
20 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textMatthew’s telling of Joseph’s story empowers us all to take our place on that crowded pageant stage. The rest of us play only suppor...
Homily for Advent weekday, December 17
17 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThere is a principal for interpreting scripture that goes like this, “If something is repeated, it must be important.” Did you notic...
Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Advent, A
13 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textJohn the Baptist was sent as a messenger to prepare the way of the Lord. And now, awaiting execution, John's death at Herod's ...
Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Advent, A
06 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAt the heart of Christmas is the Christ child who is born among us. Imagine you are the child, sleep in the manger, awakening to the vis...
Homily for the 1st Sunday of Advent, A
29 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAbout a month ago, King Abdullah II of Jordan, and his wife, Queen Rania visited Pope Leo at the Vatican. During their photo-op, Rania b...
Homily for the Solemnity of Christ, the King of the Universe, C
22 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWe don't "see" the light itself; we see things because of the light. In the light of Christ, we are being given a glimpse...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 33 C
15 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textJesus, and the crowd around him, are standing in front of the Temple, but they are not seeing the same thing. The crowd are marveling at...
Homily for the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran
08 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWe are called and sent from within these walls, like a river that flows out into the desert, allowing God's Spirit to flow through ...
Homily for All Souls Day
01 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThere is a local cemetery in Lake Orion, right around the corner from the parish where I had been pastor for 31 years. I buried a lot of...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 30 C
25 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textLuke tells a familiar story in chapter 19 about a wealthy tax collector who kept his distance. “Zacchaeus kept trying to see who Jesus...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 29 C
18 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a text“There are moments in the history of humanity,” Tomáš Halík writes, “as well as in the history of the church and in our own liv...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 28 C
11 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe lone Samaritan has a dilemma: to which temple should he report? Jesus surely means the Jerusalem Temple, but as a Samaritan he recog...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 27 C (Sanktuarium Pasyjno-Maryjne, Poland)
04 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textI am preaching this homily on our pilgrimage in Poland. We visited Auschwitz/Brirkenau camp this morning; we are celebrating Mass in San...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 26 C
27 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textI think the key to this parable is the gate. The rich man is on one side; Lazarus is on the other. In the story, the gate never opens. I...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 25 C
20 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe steward realizes that generosity is the best investment. He gets himself out of a hole by building social capital. It is irrelevant,...
Homily for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
13 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textChrist is the word that went forth from the mouth of God, achieving the saving purpose for which he was sent, and then returned to take ...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 23 C
06 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn 2020, I saw the Sundance Documentary Film, “Crip Camp.” The title comes from a 1970’s summer camp for handicapped teens, which ...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 22 C
30 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textA few years later I visited the St. Egidio community in Rome. On Christmas morning, after the last mass, all the chairs in the church ar...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 21 C
23 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAt the opportune time, the caterpillar spins itself inside the narrow space of the chrysalis, to emerge, transformed, into a butterfly. ...
Homily for Ordinary Sunday 20 C
16 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textJeremiah was thrown into a cistern, where he would have died if Ebed Meloch hadn’t pulled him out. Jeremiah’s sin was being faithful...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 19 C
09 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textShifting from a scarcity outlook to one of abundance takes time. We’ve believed the lie of scarcity for so long that we may find it ha...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 18 C
02 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhen we began a style of production and consumption that would eventually ravage planet Earth, Francis decided to love Mother Earth and ...
Homily for Ordinary Sunday 17 C
26 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe Hebrew letter lamed is 30 and the letter vav is six; together, the two letters equal 36 – the number of the righteous in every gen...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 16 C
19 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a text“Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.” We are so sure we know where this story is going, we r...
Alex Delvecchio memorial reflection
13 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textI preached the memorial service for NHL Hockey hall of fame legend, Alex Delvecchio, at Modetz Funeral Home, Saturday, July 12. (2 Cor...
Homily for Ordinary Sunday 15 C
12 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe Samaritan is the despised one who puts himself at risk in coming to the aid of the wounded man. Jesus is already doing likewise. I ...
Homily for Ordinary Sunday 14 C
05 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textSomeone caught up with Jesus and said, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds ...
Homily for the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul
28 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe church is not just the place we come to, it is the place from which we are sent forth. We need both, Peter and Paul. Peter, the Rock...
Homily for the Body and Blood of Christ, C
21 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textNew Testament scholar, Fr. Francis Moloney, OSB, in his essay, “A Body Broken for a Broken People”, writes, “Jesus eats with peopl...
Homily for the Most Holy Trinity, C
14 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textEver since I heard the news of Brian Wilson’s death this week, I keep hearing over and over in my head, “God only knows what I’d b...
Homily for Pentecost Sunday, C
07 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn the Acts of the Apostles, on the day of Pentecost, THEY were all in one place together. A few verses earlier Luke told us exactly who...
Homily for the Feast of the Ascension, C
31 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textSo before leaving them, he tells his disciples to go back to Jerusalem and there wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. If they want to...
Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter, C
24 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAlthough we refer to Scripture as the “Word of God,” it is Jesus of Nazareth who is the "Word of God" made flesh and dwell...
Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter, C
17 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhile the story of the Bible begins with a garden, it ends in a city. The new Jerusalem is the fulfillment of all human dreams for the c...
Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter, C
10 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textHow appropriate that we welcome a new shepherd as the Bishop of Rome on this 4th Sunday of Easter, that we call Good Shepherd Sunday. Th...
Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Easter, C
03 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn our Easter readings from the Gospel of John, there are a series of encounters between various groups of disciples and the risen Lord....
Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Easter, C
26 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textJesus speaks clearly to this moment, not with words, but with a gesture; He showed them his hands and his side.I have Mass on Sunday, Ap...
Homily for Easter Sunday Morning
19 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn John, no well-informed angels rushed in to explain the missing body. Mary had expected to find at least a corpse; instead she found a...
Homily for the Passion According to Luke
12 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textI will be at St. Isidore this Sunday for all three Sunday morning Masses: 7:30/9:30/11:30 am; I will preside at the 7:30/9:30 am Masse...
The Passion according to St. Luke
12 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textLuke 22:14-23:56
Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent, C
05 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThey place the woman alone beside Jesus, which, as it turns out, is exactly where Jesus wished to be. Beside the sinner. I have Mass on...
Homily for Lent 4, Cycle A, 2nd Scrutiny
30 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textI preached a different homily at the Mass for the 2nd Scrutiny with the Elect (Catechumens), using the readings for Cycle A: John 9, the...
Homily for the 4th Sunday of Lent, C
29 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textOne of the characters that I think we overlook in the story is the fatted calf. Do you know how much the fatted calf weighs? About 750-8...
Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Lent, C
22 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe fig tree is standing in for the cross. Only by standing under the cross will we be able to understand how God is leading us out of t...
Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent, C
15 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textRudolph Otto defined the sacred as “mysterium tremendum et fascinans” —a fearful and fascinating mystery. That mysterious Other wh...
Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent, C
08 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe devil tempts Jesus three times with the little word, "If." "If you are" is supposed to cause Jesus to doubt that...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 8 C
01 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIt’s the beam in our own eye that makes the world look splintered. You know how it is with pointing fingers, one is pointed, but three...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 7 C
22 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe Greek word for grace is CHARIS. When Jesus builds his rhetorical crescendo, criticizing reciprocal love (even sinners do that!), the...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 6 C
15 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textKeeping my eyes fixed on Jesus, I find the center, a level ground on which to stand. Jesus is the still point in a turning world. Like a...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 5 C
08 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textSimon Peter is all in. He is entirely present to himself; not just Simon, the big hearted, impulsive man, “If you say so, I will let d...
Homily for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
01 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe child masks the power of God in apparent weakness, yet it is in just such weakness that the true power of God’s saving love is rev...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 3 C (Sunday of the Word of God)
25 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textI was reading about Handel’s famous “Largo” from the Opera, “Xerxes.” I found the music, sat down at the piano and played it. ...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 2 C
18 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe Fourth gospel reveals Jesus’ glory through a series of seven signs. It stands to reason that Jesus’s first public “sign” tak...
Homily for the Baptism of the Lord, C
11 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textLike a shepherd gathering the lost, the glory of God is the sons and daughters of God coming home. (Reading Isaiah 40:1-5,9-11)I have Ma...
Homily for the Epiphany
04 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThere is a wonderful line in The Shack: Mack asks Jesus, “Do all roads lead to you?” He replies, “Not at all. Most roads don’t l...
Homily for New Year's Eve/Day
31 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textBarbara Brown Taylor notices a change of perspective with Christmas. See how Luke describes it in today’s Gospel: “The shepherds wen...
Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family C
28 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textSometimes this story is called “The Child Jesus Lost in Jerusalem” Or “The Finding in the Temple.” Luke Timothy Johnson names th...
Homily for Christmas Day
24 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn receiving the gift of God, we, in turn, become the gift. “He gave power to become children of God.” In this interim time, we must...
Homily for the 4th Sunday of Advent, C
21 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textLuke gives us Elizabeth’s response, "but Mary would have certainly spoken first. ‘Peace, Peace be with you’. And this simple ...
Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Advent, C
14 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textEven Zephaniah, who has been called the “gloomiest” of the prophets, did not give devastation and judgment the last word. Zephaniah ...
Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Advent, C
07 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThis weekend the world will gather to celebrate the restored Cathedral of Notre Dame, Our Lady of Paris, which was nearly destroyed by f...
Homily for the 1st Sunday of Advent, C
30 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textPope Francis read a letter from a Ukrainian student. “When you speak of our pain, when you remember our thousand days of suffering, sp...
Homily for Christ the King of the Universe, B
23 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textFor fifteen days, Maximilian Kolbe occupied the space of death with such a powerful presence and calm that once he had died there was, a...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 33 B
16 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat had seemed like the end is a discovery of something we didn’t know before. “But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor...
Homily for Ordinary Sunday 32 B
09 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe widow says nothing, and yet her action speaks volumes. The Greek word for her ‘giving her whole life’ prefigures the sacrifice J...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 31 B
02 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe new Papal Encyclical, Dilexit Nos, begins, in English, “HE LOVED US”. Dilexit Nos looks inward, to the heart, which Pope Francis...
Homily for the Solemnity of All Saints
31 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a text“How do you expect me to be a saint?” Merton asks. “By wanting to,” Lax answers. “All that is necessary to be a saint is to wa...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 30 B
26 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe blind man knows it is "Messiah time," the time when the blind see and the poor have their debts canceled and beggars becom...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 29 B
19 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThis past Tuesday, October 15, was the feast of the Spanish Mystic, Teresa of Avila. I read this wonderful quote this week from Teresa, ...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 28 B
12 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textLuke paints the picture most vividly. “At that moment, the cock crowed; the Lord turned around and looked straight at Peter.” It’s...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 27 B
05 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe Hebrew word for man, ISH, and the word for woman, ISHA, share the same root word, ESH, which is "fire." The words differ b...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 26 B
28 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a text“All religions are paths to God. I will use an analogy, they are like different languages that express the divine. (Pope Francis to yo...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 25 B
21 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textGod does something beyond anything we could ever have imagined. God takes the place of the one who is cast out.I have Mass on Sunday, Se...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 24 B
14 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe cross seems to lead only to death, not life. But when we come to the cross, or rather, when the cross finds us, we discover the way ...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 23 B
07 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textRather than giving us a geography of the Holy Land, Mark is giving us a geography of the Gospel: Jesus is willing to go everywhere, – ...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 22 B
31 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn September, 2019, The Vatican hosted an inter-religious forum to reappraise the role of Jesus and the Pharisees.I have Mass on Sunday,...
Homily for Ordinary Sunday 21 B
24 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textYou might recognize her signature teaching. “But all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” ...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 20 B
17 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a text“The joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted, are the joys and ...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 19 B
10 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWe find Elijah at a vulnerable moment; it has begun to dawn on him that the God who called him is not at all the God he thought he knew....
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 18 B
03 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAfter the Children of Israel are liberated from slavery in Egypt, the remainder of the Torah – almost four of the five books of Moses ...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 17 B
27 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textOnly John tells us that it was a young boy who offered his meager lunch. The Israelites wandered 40 years in the wilderness; the actual ...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 16 B
20 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe one who is the true Joshua/Yeshua, the one whose name means “Yahweh saves,” has come amongst his sheep. In today's Gospel, ...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 15 B
13 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a text"Before laying the world’s foundation, God chose us in Christ." When God began creating the universe with galaxies and nebul...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 14 B
06 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a text“Is this not the brother of James and Joses?” In Hebrew, Jacob and Joseph. Jacob of course was the father of twelve sons, Joseph bei...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 13 B
29 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe woman's fear proves a threshold to her faith. She knows what has happened to her; she falls down before Jesus and tells him all...
Homily for Sunday Ordinary 12 B
22 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn the night, the disciples seem to have forgotten that Jesus is the one who called them to cross to the other side. The whole time they...
Homily for Ordinary Sunday 11 B
15 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIt’s a bit of a stretch to imagine a mustard plant with branches large enough for the birds of the sky to dwell in its shade, but the ...
Homily for the 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time, B
08 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textInside the house, Mark tells us there are so many people, they are not able to eat. The Greek text says they are not able to eat bread. ...
The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, B
01 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textJesus does not celebrate the meal with his family, nor does he just gather any of the disciples who happened to be around him. Mark make...
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Homily, B
25 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textA song is both lyrics and melody. If you try to teach love just using words you’ll miss a big part of it, because love is something th...
Homily for Pentecost, B
18 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a text“To attempt one language instead of another is to make oneself a learner, a supplicant. It is an act of exploration and of hospitali...
Homily for the Ascension of the Lord, B
11 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn our Reading from the Acts of the Apostles, the 11 disciples have no idea this is graduation day. They are still looking to Jesus to r...
Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter, B
04 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe word translated “friend” is from the verb “to love.” So when Jesus speaks of friends, he is really saying “those who are l...
Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter, B
27 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe language of pruning is also a metaphor for the passion. We see a similar image in John 12:24, where Jesus speaks of the seed tha...
Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter, B.
20 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a text“I lay down my life for the sheep.” Jesus goes before us, first to die, then to rise. Dying and rising is the pattern for all of us ...
Homily for the Third Sunday of Easter, B
13 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe idea of the separation of body and soul comes from Greek thought, which influenced early Christianity. Salvation was said to be remo...
Homily for the Second Sunday of Easter, B
06 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textHe showed them his hands and his side. . .Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.It was his wounds; that’s how they recogn...
Homily for Easter Sunday
30 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhen Mary of Magdala came to the tomb on the first day of the week, while it was still dark; and saw that the stone had been taken away ...