I have no idea what common hymn we all could have heard this week. Perhaps the question of the day will be – how did your parish mark the beginning of Catholic Schools Week, if it did so?

I doubt any of you can top Rich Leonardi

I can’t. Our music was, as usual, unmemorable, made all the more so because it was the 8AM Mass, we are all at some stage of illness, and I was exhausted. The homily was odd. It was about what we can learn from the Cross – learning, as in Catholic Schools Week, okay, and the Cross – well, there was this big old pilgrimage cross plunked right in front of the altar, so that was the reference point. But no reference to any of today’s Scripture readings at all, and very oddly, a quite pointed reference to the beginning of 1 John, and then – ba-bum. Nothing. Not a mention of Deus Caritas Est, which I thought for sure was the purpose of the build-up.

By the way, Fr. Philip Powell, OP, offers suggestions on "how to listen to a homily." Discussion ensues!