Official Website of the
Catholic Diocese of Little Rock
Bishop Taylor Homily Library
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor celebrates Mass across Arkansas and beyond. This library features the homilies delivered from March 2014 to the present. To listen to earlier homilies, please visit the bishop's Homily Archive.
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26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Published: Sunday, September 27, 2020 The good news is that once they begin to follow Jesus, their lives take a decisive turn for the better and from now on they become more and more faithful and obedient to God. |
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25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Published: Saturday, September 19, 2020 Our life in the Church and indeed also in the larger community, should in some measure be a foretaste of the fuller life that is waiting for us in the Kingdom of God, where everyone gets the same pay: eternal life, who could want more? |
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24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Published: Saturday, September 12, 2020 The person who will not forgive hurts a lot of people. He destroys relationships, he alienates people and he breaks hearts. But most of all, he hurts himself; and the only way to end the torture is to forgive and forget. |
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Installation of Acolytes in Diaconate Formation Published: Saturday, September 12, 2020 As acolytes, it will be your responsibility to assist priests and deacons in carrying out their ministry, and so you — like them — should strive to live a life of sacrificial love modeled on that of Jesus, who gave his life for our salvation and is the victim we offer to the Father every time we celebrate the Eucharist. |
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St. Teresa of Kolkata Mass 2020 Published: Saturday, September 5, 2020 And we do this by explaining how his actions are hurting us, spending time listening to him describe the problem from his point of view, trying to build bridges of understanding. With Jesus that was the primary thing, to save the relationship, not to win the fight. |
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Priesthood Ordination of Deacons Daniel Velasco and Joseph Friend Published: Saturday, August 15, 2020 All Christians, and especially we who are priests, are called to infiltrate the world, to change it from within. In the world but not of the world. And Daniel and Joseph, will you do that? First, you must be consecrated to the truth. If you preach the full truth of the Gospel, not just the easy parts, you can expect a lot of resistance. |
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Deacon Ordination of Brian Cundall and Ben Riley Published: Friday, August 14, 2020 Brian and Ben, the bigger sacrifice you make today is the promise of obedience, which involves the sacrifice of your will. Obedience is more than just compliance; it has to do with what goes on inside your heart. |
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Deacon Ordination of Emmanuel Torres Published: Thursday, August 13, 2020 People who don’t love themselves have a hard time loving others. And so Jesus raises the bar: How has Jesus loved us? Totally, sacrificially, to the death. And so that’s how we are to love one another. |
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Deacon Ordination of Omar Galván Published: Wednesday, August 12, 2020 Your life is now a life lived for others. Through you, people will encounter Jesus at every stage of life: the babies whom you baptize, the couples whom you marry and the dead whom you bury. |
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Deacon Ordination of Alex Smith Published: Tuesday, August 11, 2020 Chastity requires us to be pure not only in our overt actions, but also in our thoughts and in our words, pure in the way we deal with others — no deceit, no mixed messages. Pure and sincere in the desires of our own heart. And of course, this requires death to self, which is the foundation of a life lived for others. |
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Chrism/Jubilarian Mass 2020 Published: Monday, August 10, 2020 Jesus was both priest and victim, the one who offered and the one who was offered, and so are we, in union with Jesus. He did so in the concrete circumstances and all the adversities present in 33 A.D. We do so in the concrete circumstances and all the adversities present in 2020, and I want you to know how proud I am of you, the priests of the Diocese of Little Rock. We are walk by faith. |
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19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Published: Sunday, August 9, 2020 It is not my role to enter into the politics involved, but it is my duty to point out the moral issues and explain the explicit teaching of the Catholic Church, which in this case is stated clearly in the catechism for all too see. |
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40th Anniversary of Priesthood Published: Sunday, August 2, 2020 That call to Little Rock, was the most unexpected blessing of my life! We have faced a few challenges together during these last 12 years, but even so, it has been such a joy to serve here. |
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Memorial of Blessed Stanley Rother 2020 Published: Tuesday, July 28, 2020 The days of Jeremiah and Blessed Stanley were fearful times and given the COVID-19 pandemic, we live in fearful times too — although in our case it is a different kind of threat, but still a time of tears, insecurity and loss. |
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16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Published: Saturday, July 18, 2020 All of us are sinners and there will always be hypocrites in the Church. There will always be people who use their church membership for selfish ends. Sometimes we do have to intervene and pull out the most damaging weeds by the roots, as with the great evil of the clergy abuse scandals, but most of the time prudence requires us to just be patient. |
