San Francesco Catholic Church

22870 S. Nunneley Road, Clinton Township, MI 48035

Call Us: 586-792-5346

San Francesco Catholic Church

22870 S. Nunneley Road, Clinton Township, MI 48035

Homilies

Homily for the 30th Sunday in Ordinal Time, October 23rd, 2022

Today is World Mission Sunday. We pray for the missionaries in distant mission lands and our brothers and sisters whom they serve, and support them financially by putting some money in that pink envelope we picked up last Sunday. Having done all that, would we be good for another year, until the next World Mission Sunday? In our Country, the sad fact is that few in the hierarchy and among the faithful remember the crucial truth “that the Church is by its very nature missionary.” (Vatican II). This bold, sweeping statement, written nearly 60 years ago, has yet to

by Fr. Dino Vanin
Homilies

Homily for the 29th Sunday in Ordinal Time, October 16th, 2022

Today, Jesus teaches us “The necessity (for them) to pray always without becoming weary.” Luke 18:1 Psychology 101 tells us that, in case of repeated failure, the desired outcome cannot be attained unless the stimulus is reinforced by some success. This concept seems evidenced in our modern, fast-paced world of instant gratification as so many people grow weary and stop praying unless they get quickly what they want. But I think that Jesus is trying to delve into the very core of prayer: Prayer as a vital necessity equal to air, food, water, and anything else w

by Fr. Dino Vanin
Homilies

Homily for the 28th Sunday in Ordinal Time, October 9th, 2022

At least a couple of times a year we find this miracle with which we are so familiar. We know that it is about the need for showing gratitude for what Jesus does in our life and about His desire to be thanked by us. However, if we remember that the original setting for just about any passage of the Gospel is Eucharistic, we might discover a new way of looking at this miracle and benefit from it when, in the past, we might have turned to the next page a bit too quickly. We soon discover a story that fits well any corner of the world, any situation of pain, in an

by Fr. Dino Vanin
Homilies

Homily for the 27th Sunday in Ordinal Time, October 2nd, 2022

In the Our Father we learned to pray: “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” A better translation would be: Do not subject us to the test. I have yet to find a single person on the face of the earth who likes to take tests, and exams. They can all be unforeseeable, unpredictable, and unpleasant. The prophet Habakkuk (1:2-3; 2:2-4) knew a thing or two about the tests of life and how they can weigh us down, even crush us at times: How long, O LORD? I cry for help, but you do not listen! I cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not intervene. 3 Why

by Fr. Dino Vanin
Homilies

Homily for the 26th Sunday in Ordinal Time, September 25th, 2022

When Jesus told this story of the rich man and Lazarus, his audience must have cringed in disbelief and shock. The reason was simple: his contemporaries were convinced that prosperity was clearly God’s reward for a good life and, vice versa: they thought that a miserable life in straits and poverty was the result of dissolute living. Hence, what is the message of Life that Jesus wants to convey to us by retelling this shocking story? One thing is for sure: that no one of us here present lives the caricature life of decadence and self-indulgence described in t

by Fr. Dino Vanin
Homilies

Homily for the 25th Sunday in Ordinal Time, September 18th, 2022

I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Luke 16:9 What could possibly be the meaning of such an obscure phrase? Evidently both back then and nowadays, dishonest, and heartless people are not heeding Jesus’ advice. They are totally focused on making money in any possible way, unmindful of how many people’s lives they might destroy in the process. In today’s gospel passage we are confronted by an unusual way of creating a relationship with others. We receive a strange sugges

by Fr. Dino Vanin
Homilies

Homily for the 24th Sunday in Ordinal Time, September 11th, 2022

Today’s readings, obviously, deal with losses: how we handle our losses vis-à-vis how God handles his losses. Personally, my heart breaks whenever I see on TV the anguished faces of those struck suddenly by natural calamities, or fire. Perhaps clenching a few pictures in their hands, they face the camera and say something like: “We lost everything. This is all we have left of our life.” What we feel in similar circumstances is compounded by our ability to do very little to help them. We feel almost as powerless as when we are confronted with a mother who has just

by Fr. Dino Vanin
Homilies

Homily for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinal Time, September 4th, 2022

Today’s gospel passage illustrates plainly how the Bible needs to be interpreted correctly by the Magisterium (teaching authority) of the Church and how fundamentalism, prevents people from learning what God is truly revealing us through Holy Scripture. Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:33 In the same way anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple. Concerning the 1st statement: What about the fo

by Fr. Dino Vanin
Uncategorized

Homily for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinal Time, August 27th, 2022

Usually, we let Jesus get away with a lot of stuff just because he is the Son of God and can do no wrong. However, if we start from this standpoint, we will fail to appreciate the message Jesus wants to leave with us today. Jesus was invited to a formal dinner into a house of a prominent Pharisee so that he could see that he was considered on equal footing with the host and the other guests. Eventually, according to local etiquette, Jesus would have had to reciprocate. What ensues, instead, is something more than shocking. Jesus acts in an extremely rude and

by Fr. Dino Vanin
Homilies

Homily for the 21st Sunday in Ordinal Time, August 20th, 2022

The image of a grandiose, endless banquet is the most common image used in Holy Scripture to describe heaven. It is the lavish wedding feast of Christ, the Lamb of God, and his Bride, the Church. It is meant to have all nations and all peoples as wedding guests. And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the Kingdom of God. Luke 13:29 With hope-filled hearts we should long incessantly for admission into that heavenly banquet hall. Yet, we need to be deeply startled by the warning which Jesu

by Fr. Dino Vanin
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