Sermons from St. Francis
Listen to sermons and homilies from Sunday Mass at St. Francis.
Sermon for September 7, 2025
A reflection on why bad things happen to good people, and how Christians can hold two truths together: tragedy is real in this fallen world, and God always loves us and wishes the best for us. Drawing on St. Paul’s words that our sufficiency is from God, it remembers the simple, deep faith of earlier generations and the old gospel song “Further Along.” The story of a faithful man who lost nearly everything and still asked “Why not me?” points to Jesus’ healing of the man born blind, so that the works of God might be made manifest. No matter what this world takes from us, God is always there to save our eternal souls.
Sermon for March 9, 2025
A Lenten reflection on words heard every week in the Last Gospel from St. John: “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” Light and darkness shape how we understand the world, and our lives are a struggle between the false promises of darkness and the truth of Christ’s light. In 1611, “comprehended” meant both to understand and to overcome, and the darkness can do neither. Love is better than hate, mercy better than cruelty, forgiveness better than vengeance, and the light of God’s love will never be overcome.