Teaching & Preaching: Deacon Matt's homilies & podcasts

Homily for the Solemnity of the Ascension preached on June 1, 2025.

Peter looms large in the readings for today, which is fitting, given that Peter — or the successor of Peter — looms large in the public conscience at the moment, as the Church stands poised to elect the next pope, the 267th Bishop of Rome. So what do our readings tell us about the ministry of St. Peter?

Across all cultures and times, light has been used as a symbol of knowledge and truth. It's easy to see how this makes sense. Human beings are very sight-oriented. We have many senses, but the one that provides us with the most information about the world is our sight. To be without sight is a very serious handicap. Those who are blind, like the man in today's gospel, have to navigate the world without a lot of the information we ordinarily take for granted. And any of us can find ourselves in a similar situation at any time by simply turning off the lights. We need light to see, otherwise we are left in darkness, effectively blind. So just as light is equated with knowledge and truth, darkness is equated with ignorance and falsehood. Today's readings are all about spiritual light and spiritual darkness; living in God's truth or living apart from it. 

So often we get this idea in our heads that our sin makes us unlovable to God, that we have to earn God's affection by our good behavior. God's not like that. God never stops loving us. So God provides a remedy for when we separate ourselves from him by our sin. We call that remedy the Sacrament of Penance, Reconciliation, or Confession. Just like all the sacraments, God's grace is truly made present to us through confession, where by visible signs and rituals we manifest the invisible action of God in the world. And the gospel we've just read, the parable of the Prodigal Son, has a lot to tell us about the invisible drama that takes place every time one of us makes a good confession.

Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent (Year C), preached March 9, 2025.Those of us who are already baptized don't need to be baptized again, but we do need to remember what our baptism means for us, to renew our rejection of Satan and all his empty promises and to rejoice in what Christ has accomplished for us through his passion, death and resurrection — what we call the Paschal Mystery. We need to remember these things. The scripture scholar Dr. John Bergsma says that, “one of the enemies of the spiritual life is forgetfulness. We forget what God has done for us,” he says. “We forget who we are, what we have experienced as God's people, where we come from, and where we are going. As they say,” he continues, “those who forget history are condemned to repeat it. Applied to the spiritual life,” he says, “that means those who forget the bondage God has saved them from will slide back into that bondage.”

At the heart of our faith is the theological truth that at the beginning of all things was a word — the Word, in fact, through whom all things were spoken into being. And in the fullness of time, that same Word took on human flesh and gave himself for our salvation. That means words matter.

The Church teaches that we all have a universal call to holiness. We are all called to be like God. That means we are all called to love, to give ourselves in some way for the good of others. We are all called to carry our cross and follow Jesus. In fact Christ says we are to do this daily. That means every day we have a new opportunity to tell the Lord, “Here I am, send me." That's really all that's expected of us: to show up ready to do the Lord's work.Homily preached on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

On the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, we begin to look at the public ministry of Jesus, which begins, as we find recorded in Luke's gospel, with the public proclamation of the scripture. In fact both our Old Testament reading today, as well as the gospel, are all about the public proclamation of scripture. So it is fitting that, in 2019, Pope Francis named this Sunday, the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, as the Sunday of the Word of God... Homily preached on Jan. 26, 2025, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church.

Because hope is a virtue that looks forward, you could say it is like a pilgrimage; a journey toward something greater. And today we celebrate the very first Christian pilgrimage — the journey of the magi to pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews. Homily for the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, preached at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on Sunday, January 5, 2025.

In the gospel for the 1st Sunday of Advent, Jesus does not say we should pray to escape tribulations, but rather we should pray for the strength to escape tribulations. That's because the way we escape them is the same way that Christ escaped death on the cross — by passing through it. But what kind of strength are we talking about? St. Paul tells us in the second reading today that we must strengthen our hearts with love, so that we might be found blameless at the coming of the Lord. We must be strong in love, because the kingdom of God is a kingdom of love. There is no room for hatred or malice or selfishness in that kingdom... Homily preached at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024.

Homily for the 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B), preached at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church by Deacon Matthew Newsome on Sunday, November 3, 2024. Christ shows us the mind and heart of the Father in the most intimate way and invites us to be his friends. No other religion in the world could imagine their gods doing such a thing, because our perspective, our understanding of reality is just too small and limited. God widens our narrow perspective. That's what love does.

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on Sunday, October 6, 2024, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. ...there is more going on in our readings today than just an exposition on the good of family life. There is a deeper spiritual reality here. The human family on earth is important because it is a sign of an even greater family in heaven; a family God wants us to be members of.

Homily for the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B) preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on September 1, 2024, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

Homily for the 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B) preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on August 4, 2024. We all begin to seek Jesus for many reasons. We may come to him hungry for food, for consolation, for community or companionship. These are not bad reasons. Like the people who seek Jesus in today's gospel, our problem is usually not that we ask too much from God, but too little. Whatever it is we want God to do for us, God always wants to do more. And often we are not prepared for what God wants to do for us. So it seems too hard. Or it seems impossible. But we must remember that all things are possible for God (Mt 19:26). 

Homily for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B), preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks,and distributed them to those who were reclining,and also as much of the fish as they wanted.When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,"Gather the fragments left over,so that nothing will be wasted."So they collected them,and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragmentsfrom the five barley loavesthat had been more than they could eat. (Jn 6:11-13)

Homily for the 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time (B) - this is the opening homily for a parish Eucharistic mission. To request Deacon Matt to speak at your parish, please visit https://matthewnewsome.com/

Homily for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Corpus Christi), preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on Sunday, June 2, 2024, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church.

Two of my college students received the sacrament of Confirmation on the 6th Sunday of Easter. This homily was preached at that Mass and focuses on the importance of sacraments of initiation and the role of sacramental preparation and catechesis.

In this short gospel passage, Jesus uses the word “command” or “commandment” five times and the word “love” nine times. For most of us, these two things don't go together. We have very different reactions when we hear those words.  When someone starts talking about “commands” we tense up. We don't like being told what to do. We think of commands as hard, rigid things that constrict our freedom, so we resist them.  When we hear the word “love” we have the opposite reaction. The idea of love makes us feel warm and fuzzy. It is a comforting thought. Love is not rigid, like a command. It's soft, like a hug. We love hearing about love.  So these two things, love and commands, are not usually associated in our minds, yet Jesus seems to think they have quite a bit to do with one another. . . Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on Sunday, May 5, 2024.

We should honestly ask ourselves, what is the principal thing that is giving direction to my life? Whatever that is, that is your shepherd. That is your god. And if it is anything other than God our Creator, who has revealed himself to us in Christ Jesus the Good Shepherd, you have to wonder where is that false shepherd leading you? And is that really where you want to go? Homily preached on the 4th Sunday of Easter, April 21, 2024, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

God cannot spare us from death without contradicting himself. Nor can he allow death to reign without also contradicting himself. It seems like a paradox. What is God to do? Easter homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church on Sunday, March 31, 2024.

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on Feb. 25, 2024. To truly understand the Mass, to understand everything that God does for us in Christ, it is so important for us to know the story of salvation history, because this is our story. It's a story told for us and about us — about God's eternal love for us. As St. Jerome said, “Ignorance of the scriptures is ignorance of Christ.” This is why the Church continues to offer us an Old Testament reading in addition to the gospel at Mass, to underscore the connection between the two. But just listening to the readings passively once a week is not sufficient. We need to study the text, to make the story our own, for it truly is the story of God's undying love for us, a story written in history. It is the greatest, most beautiful, and the truest story ever told.

Life is a drudgery? Days without hope? “I shall not see happiness again?” What on earth, we might wonder, is this text doing in the Bible? The Bible, as we are told, is the word of God. The Church encourages us to look to it for inspiration. We open its pages when we feel hopeless, hoping to find hope! We turn to the scripture when we are unhappy for some sense of assurance and comfort. We don't expect to find such lamentations as we do in the Book of Job.

Proclamation of the date of Easter and the moveable feasts and homily for Epiphany, 2024.

Today is the 4th Sunday of Advent. It is also Christmas Eve. Because this year Advent is as short as it can be, with Christmas falling on a Monday, we don't really get a “fourth week of Advent.” We only get a 4th Sunday, and even then not the whole Sunday, with our Christmas celebrations beginning with the 4:30  Vigil Mass. Once every seven years we get Christmas and Advent in one Sunday like this.  The altar is decorated with poinsettias, in anticipation of that celebration. The crib has been laid out, in anticipation of the Christ-child. This can all make it feel like Christmas is already here, but it isn't. We are still in purple. The crib is empty. It is still Advent for a few hours more. 

Homily for the 1st Sunday of Advent (Year B), preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. For everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven. Today begins the season of Advent; the beginning of a new liturgical year. So what is the reason for this season? Advent reminds us that we have something to look forward to. Isn't it a wonderful thing to have something to look forward to? Having something to look forward to has a marvelous tempering effect on us, tempering both our joys and our sorrows. What do I mean by that?

We're sometimes tempted to think of the sin of the Pharisees as being too rigorous when it comes to religious practice. But Jesus never condemned the Pharisees for their religious observances. Rather, he condemned them for hypocrisy. The definition of hypocrisy is to hold others to standards that you don't observe yourself. It is one of the sins that makes us the most angry when we see it in others, and it can be one of the most difficult to recognize in ourselves. Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on November 5, 2023.

October is a month dedicated in a special way to the Rosary. Apart from the Holy Mass itself, the rosary is without a doubt the most iconic form of Catholic prayer. In films, if a director wants to show that a character is Catholic, all they have to do is place a rosary in their hands. In a round-about way, I can attribute my own conversion to the rosary.

What is worship? What kind of worship does God ask of us? And how do we offer God worship in a way pleasing to him? Ancient cultures across the globe worshipped their gods by means of offering sacrifice, and God instructed the people of Israel in how to offer sacrifices to Him. But all these ancient sacrifices were but shadows or signs pointing toward the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ. How do we, as Christians, participate in that one perfect sacrifice? Readings: Jer 20:7-9  Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9  Rom 12:1-2  Mt 16:21-27  

Homily for the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A) preached by Deacon Matt Newsome on July 30, 2023, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. How many of us pay attention to the Collect Prayer during Mass? In case today's Collect went by you without notice, here it is again: O God, protector of those who hope in you, without whom nothing has firm foundation, nothing is holy, bestow in abundance your mercy upon us and grant that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may use the good things that pass in such a way as to hold fast even now to those that ever endure. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.  This prayer says some very important things about who God is and what it is we ask of Him.

Every Christian should be familiar with the two great commandments. “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind,” (Dt 6:5) and, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lv 19:18). Jesus says that, “The whole law and prophets depend on these two commandments.” (cf. Mt 22:36-40). In today's gospel passage, Jesus is telling us the ramifications of these commandments. It is easy enough to say that we love God more than anything else, but what does this mean in practice? Jesus is clear about the stakes. He says, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me” (Mt 10:37a). This statement is meant to shock us a little bit. Homily preached by Deacon Matt Newsome on Sunday, July 2, 2023, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Sunday, June 4, 2023, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. Many struggle to understand why the doctrine of the Trinity is relevant. Sure, it might be of interest to theologians, but what does it have to do, practically, with our lives? I'll give you three reasons why the doctrine of the Trinity is important. One: The whole purpose of the Christian religion is union with God, and that requires an understanding of Who and What God is.  Two: We are called to be holy, and to be holy is to be like God, which again requires an understanding of Who and What God is.  Three: We are made in the image and likeness of God, so if we desire to know ourselves, we need to have an understanding of Who and What God is.  For these three reasons we should be very interested in the fact that God has revealed himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three Persons in one God. But how are we to understand it?

Homily preached by Deacon Matt Newsome at the Chapel of Our Lady of the Annunciation at the Catholic Student Center at Western Carolina University on Sunday, May 7, 2023, for the final Mass of the semester. "Life is full of beginnings and endings. Amidst all this change, what can we hold on to? What can be our sure foundation, our rock, our refuge and our stronghold? What can we really have faith in that we know will never change and never fail us?"

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter (Year A) preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on May 7, 2023, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church. "...this is not a funeral Mass. This is the Mass for the Fifth Sunday of Easter. And this is not a eulogy. This is a homily. And it is my Christian duty in this moment to proclaim to you the good news of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Joe would be disappointed in me if I didn't. I was in the middle of writing my homily when we found out Joe had passed, so you'll forgive me if I wasn't able to finish it. But I will tell you what I was going to say."

“Who can climb the mountain of the Lord? Who can stand in his holy place? (Ps 24:3). Who, indeed? Who can climb this mountain with Jesus? Who can approach the Temple and enter the Holy of Holies that is Calvary? Who can bear his suffering? Or who can bear his glory, for that matter? Psalm 24 gives us the answer: “The man with clean hands and pure heart, who desires not worthless things, who has not sworn to deceive his neighbor” (Ps 24:4). Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent (Year A) preached on Sunday, March 5, 2023, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church by Deacon Matthew Newsome.

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. "When you commit murder, or steal from someone, tell a lie, or commit adultery, these things are not sins because they are forbidden by the Church. They are forbidden because they are sins. The law is there to help us steer clear of them, but they are wrong with or without the law. They are wrong because they violate the goodness of human nature and our human dignity. This is called natural law morality and it's the moral system favored by the Church because it is based on how God made us as human beings."

When we think about all the things that make Mary great, what is it that merits her the great honor of being the Mother of the Lord? Is it that she was immaculately conceived? No. Is it that she was assumed into heaven? No. Is it because she was a virgin, or that she was descended from the line of David? No. None of these things about Mary caused her to be the Mother of God? So what did? It was her “yes.” It was the fact that Mary said to the angel, “let it be done to me according to your word,” and she meant it with all of her being. Homily preached at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on Jan. 1, 2023.

Homily preached by Deacon Matt Newsome on Dec. 8, 2022, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church. I aim to answer three questions in this homily. 1) What is the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception? 2) Where does it come from? And 3) What does it matter to us?

Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Advent (Year A) preached by Deacon Matt Newsome on Dec. 4, 2022, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. Advent is all about preparing for the coming of Christ; both his first coming in history in Bethlehem at Christmas, but more importantly his second coming at the end of history in glory. The readings for the Second Sunday of Advent begin with an image of the wolf lying down with the lamb and end with an image of unquenchable fire. These very different images seem at odds with one another; one tells of peace, the other of destruction. But they each in their own way tell us what that second and final coming will be like.

A Thanksgiving Day homily from Deacon Matt. Preached at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic parish on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 2022 (the memorial of Sts. Andrew Dung-Lac and companions). In his first letter to the Thessalonians, St. Paul teaches that it is the will of God that we give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thess 5:18). All circumstances. It's easy for us to feel thankful when things are going well for us, but being thankful in difficult times is… well, difficult. Yet this is precisely what we are called to do.

Homily for the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C) preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on Nov. 6, 2022. The ancient Gnostics considered the soul to be the real person and the body just a shell. Salvation for them meant liberation from the body. Many in our culture — including professing Christians — seem to have adopted this same attitude. That's why it's important for us to not forget the final words of our Creed. “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come.”

How do we go above and beyond in our faith? Doing good is a moral obligation, but enduring evils is also something Christians are called upon to do with charity and patience, trusting in the Providence of God. Homily preached at by Deacon Matt Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on Sunday, October 2, 2022.

When Jesus says, “Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost?” he's not really talking about building a tower. He's illustrating a point about Christian discipleship. Being Christ's disciple is a major undertaking. It's not just coming to church on Sunday. It's about taking up your cross and following Christ every single day of your life; in all your actions, all your decisions, all your relationships. Have we thought about what discipleship will cost us? Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on Sunday, Sept. 4, 2022, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

When asked how many would be saved, Jesus doesn't offer a number but says that we should "strive to enter through the narrow gate." Having a narrow focus helps us achieve our goals in life in general, but especially in the spiritual life. Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome, campus minister at Western Carolina University, on Sunday, Aug. 22, 2022, at the first campus Mass of the new academic year.

“Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and the evidence of things not seen" (Heb 11:1). But is it reasonable to believe in things not seen? Is faith just superstition? Deacon Matt talks about the reasonableness of the Catholic faith in this homily preached at St. Mary Mother of God Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on Sunday, August 7, 2022.

Homily preached on July 3, 2022, the 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C) at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church. Jesus sends his disciples out "like lambs among wolves" to proclaim the kingdom of God. Today, proclaiming God's kingdom means upholding the dignity of all human life, especially the most vulnerable.

As important as the Holy Spirit is to our lives as Christians, it's safe to say that the Third Person of the Trinity remains something of an enigma to most of us. In this homily, Deacon Matt talks about why that is and helps us to relate to the Holy Spirit by exploring the Spirit's role in the life of the Trinity and in the life of the Church. Preached at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on June 5, 2022.

It's very easy, after encountering Christ, to return to our usual routine and live our lives as if nothing has changed. Like Peter and the other Apostles, we sometimes need a reminder of our calling, or our mission. What is the mission of a Christian? Do we even know? Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on the 3rd Sunday of Easter, May 1, 2022, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

Homily preached by Deacon Matt Newsome on Easter Sunday at St. Mary Mother of God parish in Sylva, NC. "When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed" (Jn 2:6-8).

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent (Year C readings) preached at the Catholic Campus Ministry chapel of Our Lady of the Annunciation at Western Carolina University on Sunday, April 3, by Deacon Matt Newsome. "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her" (Jn 8:7)

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent, using the readings from Year A for the scrutinies, preached on Sunday, April 3, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die" (Jn 11:25-26).