Author: Kevin Aldrich

  • Palm Sunday

    Palm Sunday

    For a Doctrinal Homily Outline for Palm Sunday, click here. Here are some points in regard to the Gospel reading, which is Mark’s account of the Passion. The Gospel reading ends before the Redemption is complete, before Christ rises from the dead. Christ did all he did out of love for us. Christ first left…

  • Fifth Sunday of Lent

    Fifth Sunday of Lent

    Here is a link to a full doctrinal homily outline for the Fifth Sunday in Lent, Year B. The central idea I discerned is loving life by hating it. The doctrinal focus is the virtue of temperance or selfless self-preservation. A practical application is a personal encounter with Christ. Here is a brief excerpt: Our…

  • Fourth Sunday of Lent

    Fourth Sunday of Lent

    A Doctrinal Homily Outline for the Fourth Sunday of Lent is here. The focus is medicinal suffering and virtues needed to live the truth. Here is an excerpt from the first Lectionary reading (32): The sacred writer shows God’s punishment to be medicinal. The Chosen People’s suffering caused them to turn back to God who…

  • Third Sunday of Lent

    Third Sunday of Lent

    Here is a link to a Doctrinal Homily Outline for the Third Sunday of Lent, Year B, Lectionary 29. The central idea is God’s Law and Jesus Christ. The doctrine discussed is God’s law, the natural law, civil law, and conscience. The practical application focuses on obeying God and not men. Here is one principle…

  • Second Sunday of Lent

    Second Sunday of Lent

    Here is the link for a doctrinal homily outline for the Second Sunday of Lent. Its focus: Central idea: God wants to bestow life. Doctrine: The problem of suffering. Practical application: Alleviate others’ suffering. The proper response to another’s suffering is kindness and mercy, to alleviate that suffering if we can. What are some things we might be…

  • The First Sunday of Lent: Concupiscence

    The First Sunday of Lent: Concupiscence

    Here is a link to a Doctrinal Homily Outline for the First Sunday of Lent for Year B. The Gospel is Mark’s summary of Jesus’ experience in the desert and the beginning of His public ministry. The first reading recounts the Covenant God established with Noah and his descendants after the Flood. The second reading…

  • Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Kindness and Artigas

    Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Kindness and Artigas

    For a Doctrinal Homily Outline for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, click here. Its focus is on kindness. After this Sunday, Lent begins. These reflections on books that I have found especially helpful in my life as a Catholic man seem to have turned into reflections on authors I have found especially useful. This…

  • Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Optimism and Hope, and the CCC

    Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Optimism and Hope, and the CCC

    For a Doctrinal Homily Outline for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, click here. Its focus is on the natural virtue of optimism and the theological virtue of hope. A final book or author I have found especially helpful is the Catechism of the Catholic Church. As a writer about Catholic things, the Catechism is…

  • The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Marriage, and the Problem of Evil

    The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Marriage, and the Problem of Evil

    For a Doctrinal Homily Outline for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, click here. Its focus is on the vocation to marriage and its defense. Another book that has done me a lot of good is hardly a book at all. It is hard bound (like a book should be) but only 46 pages long.…

  • Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Contrition, and Fr. John Hardon, S.J.

    Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Contrition, and Fr. John Hardon, S.J.

    For a Doctrinal Homily Outline for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, click here. Its focus is contrition. Some theologians, even some who have received the Sacrament of Holy Orders, make ambiguous statements that seem to mean it is not necessary for a sinner to repent, that is, to turn away from his sin. Yet,…

  • The Baptism of the Lord, the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, and another book

    The Baptism of the Lord, the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, and another book

    For three Doctrinal Homily Outlines for the Baptism of the Lord (January 8) and one for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (January 14), please click here and then scroll down. A Catholic philosopher and religious writer that 20th Century popes considered perhaps the greatest of their time was Dietrich von Hildebrand. One of his…

  • The Epiphany and Pieper

    The Epiphany and Pieper

    For four Doctrinal Homily Outlines for the Epiphany, please click here and then scroll down. Another book that has been a big help to me Josef Pieper, a married layman, was a German philosopher who worked in the tradition of St. Thomas Aquinas. His dates are 1904 to 1997. He is famous for a slim…