Teach What You Believe
Homilies by Deacon Jim Knipper of the Catholic Diocese of Trenton, NJ.
Episodes
139 episodes
Homily: 32 Sunday in Ordinary Time
This weekend’s gospel compares the Scribes, who were focused on money and power versus the widow who gave all that she has because of her faith and trust in God. Actually, if you look through all the Gospels you will find Jesus critical of the ...
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9:21
Homily: 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2024
Today’s gospel is so much more than just the healing of someone with a physical blindness rather it is a story that calls for us to open our eyes to be like Christ and to bring forth God’s life changing message of the liberation for the oppress...
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9:28
Homily: 20th Sunday in OT
The Synoptic Gospel writes all give us the story of the institution of the Eucharist – the story of Jesus gathering his disciples at table: blessing, breaking and giving them bread and asking them to do the same thing over and over again and…to...
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7:59
Homily: Trinity Sunday
Countless volumes have been written trying to explain the mystery of three persons in one true God, leaving us to resort to metaphors such as the three-leaf clover to try to comprehend the Divinity. Many of us grew up with the quintessential py...
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9:09
Homily: 2nd Sunday of Lent
This weekend we heard the famous biblical story of Abraham and his son Isaac, and the angel who stopped Abraham at the last minute from sacrificing his son as God had ordered. While this passage demonstrates Abraham’s unbelievable faith in God ...
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9:08
Homily: The Epiphany of the Lord
For the past 12 days we have heard the stories of the birth of Jesus Christ as God incarnate indeed good news of great joy all people. So, on this Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord we celebrate Jesus revealed as the Christ Child to...
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8:15
Homily: Feast of the Holy Family
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family…and tomorrow the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And I like the fact that this Feast comes hours before the Solemnity for it allows us to really look at how this God incarnate, born of the B...
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7:17
Homily: 4th Sunday of Advent 2023
With the calendar only providing us 3 full weeks of Advent, how have you been spending your time? What, perhaps have you been seeing…or feeling or doing differently? For Advent calls us to be conscious, awake, alert. Advent calls us to be...
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9:30
Homily: 2nd Sunday of Advent
As we each walk through this season of Advent, we may just find ourselves in some form of wilderness, thirsting for peace, reconciliation and healing – and thus it’s a time we need to be alert, awake, watchful and vigilant to God’s presence. So...
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8:22
Homily: Christ the King
Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe: to some degree I think the title of today’s feast day could miss the mark of its original purpose and design. For did you ever notice, nowhere in the Gospels does Jesus say to worship him, much less ...
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9:07
Homily: 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Biblical scholars tell us that this Parable of the Ten Virgins was likely cobbled together from a few sources meant to drive home the message of always being prepared – a Gospel theme we will hear often between now and Christmas. But was ...
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8:07
Homily: 29th Sunday in Ordinary
For the past few weeks, we have been listening to Jesus telling parables to the Chief Priests and Pharisees. For Jesus is attempting to get their attention to think differently, choose differently and to open their eyes to his teachings o...
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8:14
Homily: 22nd Sunday in OT, Cycle A
This Sunday we heard the conclusion of the Gospel story that began last week when Jesus said he would build his Church upon the rock of Peter. But a few lines later Jesus calls Peter, ‘Satan’ and he is told to get behind Christ and follow him. ...
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8:35
Homily: Sixth Sunday of Easter
The Surgeon General of the US, Dr. Vivek Murthy, just announced the ending of COVID-19 as a global emergency. But at the same time declared a new number one epidemic in our country today – one that affects 50 % of our population, and even highe...
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9:42
Homily: Good Friday
During these past weeks of Lent, our Gospels have focused on the quintessential theme of life, death and rebirth – or what some call order, disorder, and reorder. However you look at this universal pattern, one thing is for sure – there is no s...
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8:29
Homily: Third Sunday of Lent
This Sunday we heard the gospel that provides the longest dialogue recorded between Jesus and a woman. By breaking with social ‘norms’ Jesus reaches out with acceptance, self-worth and compassion to one who was socially outcast. For this ...
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8:38
Homily: 3rd Sunday of Advent
This weekend we hear in Matthew’s Gospel of John the Baptist sitting in a jail cell and wondering if he placed his bets on the wrong guy…questioning if the Lord is anywhere near to him. Then again, when we are faced with adversity, doubt, and l...
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10:12
Homily: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
This weekend we hear the parable of the widow and the judge. The Gospel writer begins with a summation that the parable talks “about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.” But if we just left it there, we would miss the ...
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8:20
Homily: 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Gospel this weekend begins with the question that is asked a number of times across the gospels – and one that each of us may have asked in our own spiritual journey: “Lord, will only a few be saved? Or better said – who is going to heaven ...
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7:39
Homily: 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Luke speaks about prayer more than any of the other Evangelists…and in this weekend’s gospel we hear the disciples, asking Jesus to teach them how to pray and he responds with a simple version of the Lord’s Prayer. With prayer being so foundati...
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8:11
Homily: Trinity Sunday
Hindered by our language many have resorted to using metaphors to describe the Trinity such as a 3-leaf clover or a harmonic cord. But what if we stopped looking at God as a noun and considered God as a verb? Early Christians described the Trin...
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8:20
Homily: Pentecost 2022
As we gather on this Feast of Pentecost our Scripture focuses on the “what’s next” in our call to discipleship. What does “being sent” & discipleship look like for each of us? What are we called to do and not to do? So how can an Afri...
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10:25
Homily: Feast of the Ascension of the Lord
If we look at the scripture that addresses the Ascension, it is no surprise that we find several conflicts across the Synoptic writers. But I believe it is John who gives us the line that opens up for us the best way to get to the deeper meanin...
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8:28