PhotoCardinal O'Connor's Homily Archives


Feb.24, 2000

Sunday Homily

Cardinal remembers the 'wonderful words' of his friend Mother Teresa

Feb.17, 2000

Cardinal's Homily

With the pope and the sick in Rome, with married couples at home

Feb.10, 2000

Saint of New York

Cardinal comments on Elizabeth Ann Seton's remarkable devotion to Eucharist

Feb.3, 2000

Day of Peace

To the words of Pope John Paul, cardinal adds his thanks and challenge to U.N.

Jan. 27, 2000

'How Can This Be?'

Cardinal traces abortion horrors to society's loss of sense of the sacred

Jan. 20, 2000

Vocation Story

'There could be no Hiroshima if the life of prayer were strong enough...'

Jan. 6, 2000

Homily for Jan. 2

Christ's message to each of us today: 'Do not be afraid...'

Dec. 30, 1999

Holy Family Feast

Cardinal cites teaching on 'mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience'

Dec. 23, 1999

Cardinal's Homily

Mary's visit from the angel speaks of need to trust God completely

Dec. 2, 1999

Advent Begins

Cardinal identifies message for Jubilee Year: Open yourselves to others

Nov. 25, 1999

Christ the King

Cardinal preaches on the suffering Jesus and the kingdom he promises

Nov. 18, 1999

Sunday in the Cathedral

Cardinal calls fear the most destructive force, God's love the answer

Nov. 11, 1999

The Foolish Virgins

'We can not be indifferent to one another and, above all...to our Divine Lord'

Nov. 4, 1999

Passionists Praised

Cardinal stresses power of the cross, value of offering one's suffering

Oct. 28, 1999

'A Responsibility'

Cardinal salutes missionaries, urges all to vocation of love for God, people

Oct. 14, 1999

'My Absence Saddens Me...'

This is Cardinal O'Connor's letter to the Sunday Mass congregation in St. Patrick's Cathedral Oct. 10, which was read by Msgr. Jeremiah P. Monahan, chancellor of the archdiocese.

Oct. 7, 1999

Attacks on Human Person

Cardinal pledges to uphold sacredness of each life until his last breath

Sept. 30, 1999

Addiction

Cardinal talks not of censure of alcoholics and others, but 'how we can help'

Sept. 23, 1999

The 'Puzzling Gospel'

God is saying, 'I'll be the judge of your work, your intentions' for eternity

Sept. 16, 1999

Back in Cathedral

Cardinal links hospital stay and labor struggle in homily on respect, trust

July 1, 1999

Cardinal's Pledge

Catholic health care will continue, despite efforts to get rid of it

June 24, 1999

Salute to Hero Cop

Father's Day homily moves from today's role models to God's love

June 17, 1999

Sunday Homily

Each is called to reach out to the troubled, as Jesus did

June 10, 1999

Sunday Homily

Thoughts on the Eucharist: faith, trust, conversion, unity and love

June 3, 1999

Sunday Homily

Memory of those who fought for right; reminder of 'our nature to live in harmony'

May 27, 1999

Pentecost Homily

Special confirmation brings alive the message of 'different gifts, different ministries'

May 20, 1999

Sunday Homily

Cardinal questions conduct of war, speaks of aging as 'unfolding of truth'

May 13, 1999

Mother's Day

Cardinal reflects on sacrificial and supportive love in Sunday homily

May 6, 1999

Toussaint Suffered

A plea for racial justice at Mass honoring Haitian former slave

April 29, 1999

The Good Shepherd

Cardinal says priests go wherever people are in pain

April 22, 1999

Welcome the Stranger

Cardinal states reasons to open hearts, minds to immigrants

April 15, 1999

Sunday Homily

'We all hope, whatever the turbulence of our lives, we will finally have peace'

April 8, 1999

Easter Homily

Resurrection for those who found truth, prayers for those enduring 'crucifixion'

April 1, 1999

'Build a Society'

With our country at war, our city in conflict, all of us must join hands

March 25, 1999

'A Stone in Our City'

'Let us reflect honestly on some of the things that have happened...'

March 18, 1999

Sunday Homily

'I can give light to those who live in darkness, if they will permit me to do so'

March 11, 1999

Are You Scrupulous?

Cardinal urges trust in God's love to overcome a painful spiritual disorder

March 4, 1999

Lenten Homily

A message about forgiving--ourselves as well as others--in a tense society

February 25, 1999

As Lent Begins

Cardinal reflects on sin, forgiveness and the Father of Lies

February 18, 1999

Tribute to Couples

"Rather than choosing the death of your marriage, you have chosen life"

February 11, 1999

Come Home

Poor example is one of the most difficult obstacles for people returning to the Church

February 4, 1999

'You Give Your Lives'

Cardinal links firefighters, religious, U.N. delegates in tribute to sacrifice for others

January 21, 1999

Horrors in Our Land

Pray to prevent abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide and experimentation

January 14, 1999

The Baptism of Jesus

A meditation on Scripture reveals that God loves each person, no matter what

January 7, 1999

Day of Open Doors

Epiphany feast keynotes spiritual preparation for jubilee year of third millennium

December 31, 1998

Holy Family Feast

Trust in each other, trust in God fulfills the promise of happy marriage

December 24, 1998

Turn to Faith

Cardinal offers condition for ending war and scandals, restoring national integrity

December 17, 1998

'To Know Christ'

The plea from self-sacrificing parents of children with special needs

December 10, 1998

'Christ Is Truth'

"God is not only the God of love, but he sent Christ, his Divine Son, as the great Liberator, not to impose rules on us, but to help us be fully human, to follow the built-in laws of our human nature...Each of the sacraments that Christ has given us through the Church is a sacrament of liberation in one way or another."

December 3, 1998

'Horrifying Situation'

"Advent, of course, is to remind us of the coming of Christ at Christmas. But as this Gospel notes, we are to be reminded, as well, of the end of the world. For some 7,000 people in Honduras and at least 6,000 in other parts of Central America it seemed that the end of the world came very abruptly."

November 26, 1998

A Slippery Slope

"The feast of Christ the King is a wonderful reminder, most desperately needed in this culture of death, that it is indeed still God's world. Christ is the King. Perhaps this reminder is needed particularly when we read in the newspapers that this evening on "60 Minutes," if we understand the reports correctly, Dr. Kevorkian will be pictured actually putting someone to death."

November 19, 1998

From Sunday's Gospel...

Pleas for Central Americans, national debt forgiveness, work for peace

November 12, 1998

Faith and Reason:

'Two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth'

November 5, 1998

Sunday Homily

"...the more I thought about my being accused of being the man behind the person who killed the abortion doctor, the more I wondered if this accusation was really aimed at me or those public officeholders and those campaigning for public office who are pro-life."

October 29, 1998

Faith Without Fear

"What a wonderful example of courage! St. Paul was lonely. He was imprisoned in Rome in a very cold, stone cell. He was well aware of being lonely. He felt abandoned. But he knew his task was to encourage Timothy, to encourage the infant Church."

October 22, 1998

Papal Anniversary

Cardinal sees John Paul as a tireless missionary teaching truth, love

October 15, 1998

Memento Mori

"I have a card here from a woman whose daughter was killed in the crash, and who meant so much to this woman, her mother. She says, "Please note the correct spelling of my daughter's name." She is terribly distressed that the name was misspelled in the newspapers. That is love. That is deep, deep feeling."

October 8, 1998

They Call It 'Choice'

"We are permitted to read these almost lurid descriptions of child abuse, of burnings with cigarettes and so on. But we are immediately criticized when we mention abortion. I shall almost inevitably be criticized for reading what I am about to read..."

October 1, 1998

'Catholics, Unite'

"It is not enough for us to give money to try to take care of Lazarus. It is not enough for us to wring our hands. It is imperative that all of us recognize our responsibilities to the poor of the entire world..."

September 24, 1998

At Lawyers Mass

"Neither the President of the United States nor others who support partial-birth abortion have the moral right to legislate contrary to the will of Almighty God, and introduce infanticide to our land."

September 17, 1998

Sunday Homily

What self-respecting member of the clergy or any other decent-minded human being could be anything but repelled by the behavior attributed to the President of the United States? ...But where has the public outrage been when some of those same legislators and public figures who have denounced such behavior on moral grounds, not political grounds, and have given eloquent addresses on the immorality of such behavior, yet have voted to support so-called partial-birth abortion, that is, killing an infant as it is actually leaving its mother's birth canal to see the light of day?

September 10, 1998

Mother Teresa's Secret

"...she looked at me, she looked at the person on the street that she had to pass before she came in to see me, she looked at the beggar in Calcutta, she looked at the poorest leper in exactly the same fashion: as a person made in the image and likeness of God, sacred to God."

July 2, 1998

'Christ Never Condemns'

"There are those who think that simply because the Church teaches what the Church believes in line with the teaching of Christ is good for people or is bad for people then the Church is condemning. The Church does not do that. The Church says this is right, this is wrong, this is what we believe; this is not a condemnation."

June 25, 1998

'I'm a Catholic, But...'

"How empty it is, how fraudulent it is, if any of us say, if I should say as a bishop, 'Yes, of course, we must have a certain respect for the Church and the Church is very old, but surely we are not to take the Church seriously when the Church talks about this or this or this. This is hardly what Christ would have said.' "

June 18, 1998

His Body and Blood

"Once again we are reminded what Pope Leo I and St. Augustine and many others have pointed out, that all of us, rich, poor, black, white, whatever our ethnic background, whatever language we speak, are united in Christ because we are caught up into his Body and Blood when we receive him in Holy Communion and he receives us."

June 11, 1998

Trinity Sunday

"Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday, perhaps the most easily ignored Sunday in the Church year. The Trinity is the heart and soul of our faith."

June 4, 1998

Pentecost Sunday

"Literally nothing gives me greater pleasure than to be here in this cathedral each year for this confirmation ceremony for those who have intellectual, emotional or physical limitations that many of us do not experience. It is such a joy to be with them, such an inspiration to be with their families, with other caregivers, with teachers, with all who make this particular day possible that they will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation."

May 28, 1998

'Marriage Matters'

"The Church believes unconditionally in the uniqueness of the state of marriage defined as the conjugal relationship between a man and a woman, usually recognized in some formal way by the state. The Church believes that such marriage is divinely ordained, so that no human authority can make any other state of life equivalent to marriage."

May 21, 1998

'Where Are We?'

"Responsibility is not what is required of us but how we respond to it. I believe that as we become older, as we have suffered more, as we have been lonely, so we are able to respond to others in ways that we could not before age began to catch up with us, before problems, sufferings, death in our family and among our loved ones began to catch up with us."

May 14, 1998

Sunday Homily

"We can call ourselves Catholics, but if we say, 'Well, what right has the Church to teach this or this or this?' then we have to ask, 'What right has the Church to exist?' It is either the Church of Christ, teaching what Christ taught, or it is nothing."

May 7, 1998

Sunday Homily

"Pierre Toussaint has been, in my judgment, unjustly called an 'Uncle Tom.' He was not an 'Uncle Tom.' It was not out of fear that he refused to maltreat whites as some had maltreated him. It was out of love, out of the love of Christ."

April 30, 1998

'Take Care of All'

"...as I go down the aisle in procession I know from experience there will be people sleeping in empty pews. Some of them will be very dirty. They come in out of the cold and rain, in the winter out of the snow and in the summer out of the fierce heat. They do not bother anybody. ...I look at them and say, 'That's Christ sleeping there.' "

April 23, 1998

'What Is Faith?'

"Why do we believe? We have been chosen by God. The poorest of us, the richest of us, whatever our color, whatever our background, whatever our nationality, whatever our language, whatever our education. I was not 'educated' into recognizing that Christ is the Son of God. It comes to me by way of the Eucharist."

April 16, 1998

'An Easter Parable'

"I felt saddened by my own initial reaction, reminded, once again, that however I preach about it, I too can forget what so many of us forget--that every human person, everyone, is made in the image and likeness of Almighty God. Everyone is Christ on the street."

April 9, 1998

Palm Sunday

"According to such authority and in my own unconditional conviction, the action taken by the priest in South Africa, however well intentioned, was legally and doctrinally wrong in the eyes of Church law and Church doctrine."

April 2, 1998

Praise of Police

" 'Guess what: Cops are people. They're subject to the same weaknesses, temptations and dark impulses as anyone else. But what's remarkable is not that, on rare occasions, they succumb to them but how rare those occasions are.' "

March 26, 1998

God's Love

"What joy in the heart of a priest when someone comes into the confessional and says, 'I have been away from Mass and confession for 10 years. I have done this and that. I want to come home.' "

March 19, 1998

Sunday Homily

"I meet this kind of holiness day after day among you and hundreds of thousands like you, you honest people, you people who work for a living, you people who try to carry out your responsibilities, you people who marry and try to be faithful to each other and to support each other and try to take care of your children."

March 12, 1998

'A Dazzling Thought'

"Finally, while there are surely many other meanings for me, one of the great lessons of the Transfiguration is that as powerful as it was, Christ was merely assuming, as it were, another appearance, another figure, a glorified figure."

March 5, 1998

Pope to New Yorkers:

The time is right to witness to Christ's truth about the human condition

February 19, 1998

World Day of Peace

"The words of today's Gospel could not have been spoken by one who was only human. They are too contradictory to human wisdom. They are the opposite of everything the world teaches about power and glory, about getting ahead..."

February 12, 1998

Sunday Homily

"It is most unfortunate, however, that we see so few books written about the wonders of marriage, even the so-called ''ordinary marriage,'' of people who go on day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year..."

February 5, 1998

Consecrated Life

"We give ourselves, you as religious, I as priest, others up there as priests. We say we lay down our lives. What do we expect in return? What did Christ get in return? Crucifixion."

January 22, 1998

'The Issue'

Cardinal cites opposition to partial-birth abortion, as Roe vs. Wade debate goes on

January 15, 1998

Sunday Homily

"...baptism achieves a solidarity with all of the baptized all over the world. The baby I will baptize this afternoon will become one with Christians throughout the entire world."

January 1, 1998

Holy Family Sunday

"...if Thomas More was the 'man for all seasons,' I would suggest that Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton was the "woman for all families," even though a number of you here may have never heard of her."


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