For the homiletically challenged

Homily services abound, their quality ranging from the banal to the brilliant, with occasional slips into the heretical. Usually, however, it is less a matter of heresy than of banality: a few minutes of more-or-less impromptu reflections vaguely related to the Scripture readings, combined with a cute story, joke, or personal anecdote. If there is a well-crafted homily that manages to tie together all the readings of the day (including the Psalm), that is a bonus, and something of a surprise. Which is why I am favorably impressed with these video reflections on the Sunday Mass readings, courtesy of the folks at John Paul the Great Catholic University in San Diego.