Teaching & Preaching: Deacon Matt's homilies & podcasts

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.

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).

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on the First Sunday of Lent, March 6, 2022.

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C), preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC on February 6, 2022.

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on December 5, 2021, for the 2nd Sunday of Advent (C). 

Homily preached on November 7, 2021, by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, for the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B).

"Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood." Mk 12:43-44

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time (B), October 10, 2021, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on September 5, 2021, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

How does the "Messianic Secret" correspond with the Church's evangelical mission?

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on Aug. 1, 2021, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst” (Jn 6:35).

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on Sunday, July 4, 2021, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

Homily for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ (Corpus Christi), preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on June 6, 2021.

Preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on May 16, 2021.

Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter preached on the campus of Western Carolina University by Deacon Matthew Newsome, campus minister, at the final campus Mass of the Spring 2021 semester.

Homily for Easter Sunday preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church, Sylva, NC, April 4, 2021.

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on the 3rd Sunday of Lent (Year A readings for RCIA), March 7, 2021, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome on the 3rd Sunday of Lent, March 7, 2021, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

Homily preached by Deacon Matthew Newsome at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church, Feb. 7, 2021.

Homily preached on the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, by Deacon Matthew Newsome, on the "three mysteries" of the Epiphany.

Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent (B), preached at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on Dec. 6, 2020.

Homily for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A, preached at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on Nov. 15, 2020.

God has made you a caretaker of his vineyard. So what do you know about growing grapes?

Deacon Matt offers six practical and essential elements of Christian discipleship in this homily preached on Sunday, Oct 4, 2020, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church (27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, cycle A).