The thoughts and writings of Fr. Lawrence E. Polansky, a Priest of the Diocese of Camden
Daily Homilies
I have never posted my daily homilies before, so this is a first. I began with the daily homilies for the Octave of Easter, 2025. Going forward, I will post homilies for two (2) weeks and then delete the oldest as I add the current one. This is due to storage restrictions and the sheer volume of material I generate.
05/15/2025 -- Thursday - 4th Week of Easter [Isidore the Farmer]
Today is the feast of Saint Isidore the farmer, born near Madrid around 1070. His story is inspiring, not because it is extraordinary, but because it seems so ordinary. Isidore spent his life working on the estate of a rich man, plowing his fields and caring for his animals. But hard work did not prevent him from praying. He was faithful to daily Eucharist and then through the day he prayed as he plowed.
05/14/2025 -- Wednesday - Matthias, Apostle
Lotteries, casinos, and games of chance attract their share of public debate and ballot issues every election season. But, seldom, if ever, is Scripture cited to support poker tournaments or even church bingo nights. Yet, chance comes up in Scripture with some regularity. For instance, a figurative throw of the dice was how sailors decided to throw Jonah overboard. Jonah probably didn’t consider that good luck – though it worked out well for the people of Nineveh.
05/13/2025 -- Tuesday - 4th Week of Easter [Our Lady of Fatima]
Today we commemorate the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of “Our Lady of Fatima.” The Blessed Virgin appeared to three shepherd children in Portugal in 1917. From May 13 to October 13, 1917, the Blessed Virgin appeared six times to Venerable Lucia Santos, and her cousins, Saint Francisco and Saint Jacinta Marto. Our Lady asked that prayers and sufferings be offered in reparation for sin, for the conversion of sinners, for world peace, and for dedication to the Blessed Virgin Mary, especially by praying the Rosary with devotion.
05/12/2025 -- Monday - 4th Week of Easter
[Nereus, Achilleus, and Pancras, Martyrs]
All of us want to go to heaven, but we ask, “How do I get there?” Today’s Gospel gives the answer. Jesus is the gate: “Whoever enters through Me will be saved.”
05/10/2025 -- Saturday - 3rd Week of Easter [Damien de Veuster of Moloka'i, Priest & John of Avila, Priest]
There is an old story about a man on his hands and knees on the sidewalk, searching the pavement. “Did you lose something?” a passerby asks. “Yes,” the searching man replies, “a contact lens.” Having a few spare moments and taking pity on the man, the other bends down and begins to do likewise.
05/09/2025 -- Friday - 3rd Week of Easter
I think we’re all familiar with the story of Saul’s conversion. Portraits of that great event on the road to Damascus are seared into our mind’s eye, a standard component of cultural Christianity. I think that perhaps a less-remembered facet of the story is the response of Ananias.
05/08/2025 -- Thursday - 3rd Week of Easter [Bl. Miriam Teresa Demjanovich]
Blessed Miriam Theresa Demjanovich was an American Ruthenian Greek Catholic Sister of Charity who was beatified by the Catholic Church in 2014. The beatification ceremony was the first to take place in the United States being held in Newark, New Jersey. As a postulant and novice, Demjanovich taught at the Academy of Saint Elizabeth in Convent Station during 1925–1926. In June 1926, her spiritual director, Benedictine Father Benedict Bradley, asked her to write the conferences for the novitiate. She wrote 26 conferences which, after her death, were published in a book, Greater Perfection.
05/07/2025 -- Wednesday - 3rd Week of Easter
Today’s First Reading reverses a famous quote from Charles Dickens: “It was the worst of times; it was the best of times.” It was the worst of times in one place but joyful times in another! Thus literally, this is a tale of two cities: Jerusalem and Samaria.
05/06/2025 -- Tuesday - 3rd Week of Easter
A pop culture anthem by the Rolling Stones, which is now over 50 years old, sings of not getting any satisfaction from life’s current situation. The lyrics speak of lack of satisfaction from what is being advertised on TV, the latest clothing, and lack of success in dating.
05/05/2025 -- Monday - 3rd Week of Easter
T.S. Eliot’s famous play Murder in the Cathedral deals with Saint Thomas Becket’s conflict with Henry II. As the play pro¬gresses, Thomas is forced to acquiesce to the pressure from the king or face death. He utters an often-quoted line: “The greatest treason is to do a right deed for the wrong reason!”
05/03/2025 -- Saturday - Philip and James, Apostles
First allow me to begin with a bit of a biography of the two saints we remember today. Philip was born at Bethsaida and was a disciple of John the Baptist before becoming a follower of Jesus. Philip is seen several times in the Gospels, especially helping Jesus to provide food for the crowds. Philip is thought to have preached in modern day Turkey.
05/02/2025 -- Friday - Easter Weekday
[Athanasius, Bishop & Doctor of the Church]
Saint Athanasius lived from 297 to 373 and was Bishop of Alexandria, Egypt. He was a great champion of the Faith against the Arian heresy at the First Ecumenical Council of Nicea … where the Profession of Faith … the Nicene Creed comes from. The Arian heresy was an early belief that Jesus, the Son of God was subordinate to God the Father because God the Father begot Him at a point in time and therefore was not equal to God. The Creed we recite every Sunday dismisses that … God from God, Light from Light, True God from true God. He suffered persecution, including seventeen years of exile for refusing to compromise in the essentials of the Faith. He wrote many works defending the Faith and is one of the great Doctors of the Western Church.