Homily for the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (September 12 & 13, 2020) How often must I forgive? --I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. During the pandemic this year, I’ve been quarantined at home with my family, like many of you. I am married and the father of four young children all four years old or younger. In one of our rare bits of free time, my wife and I watched the musical Hamilton, which was released on TV around the 4 th of July. I see this musical as very timely for our current moment in history and for our Gospel reading in which Christ calls us to limitless forgiveness and mercy for our brothers and sisters. Let me describe a climactic scene to you from the musical. Two men stand ten paces across from each other, each pointing a dueling pistol at the other. They are in a the midst of a wooded ledge overlooking the Hudson River. It is dawn ...
These posts are the collected homilies of Deacon Ned Berghausen, permanent deacon of the Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville, assigned to St. Agnes Catholic Church. The title "Foot Washer" refers to the Last Supper (John 13:1-20) in which Jesus washed the feet of the apostles and challenged them, "“Do you realize what I have done for you? If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow."