St. Thomas Homily Series
As the fall Homily Series concludes, let us remember what we have learned when it comes to Difficult People and continue to grow in maturity as disciples of Christ.
If you missed a week or need a refresher, you can click below for the “Reminders and Resources” handouts (also available in the Narthex).
- You or Me? Reminders and Resources
- Managing Bad Behavior Reminders and Resources
- Self-Control Reminders and Resources
Please offer your input on the series, — as well as give ideas for future series — by clicking here to take a brief survey. Thank you!
You (yes, you!) are invited to help with future Homily Series. Please contact Donna Cheesebrough at donnacheesebrough@hotmail.com for more information.
A special thanks to the many people who worked together to make the fall Homily Series a meaningful experience for our parish!
St. Thomas Homily Series
Our fall Homily Series is underway: Difficult People. Mark your calendars for the third and final week:
- October 28–29: Self-Control
If you missed week one (“You or Me?”) or week two (“Managing Bad Behavior”), you can click below for the “Reminders and Resources” handouts (also available in the Narthex).
Let us know what you think about the fall Homily Series. Click here to take a brief survey. Thank you!
Homily Series is a great way to foster growth in discipleship, as a parish, by focusing on one topic together. Pairing the weekend readings with the needs of the time, we aim to make each series engaging and inviting. Please take the opportunity to welcome someone who hasn’t been to St. Thomas in a while, or ever, to join us.
Fall Homily Series
Our fall Homily Series is underway: Difficult People. Mark your calendars for the remaining two weeks!
- October 21–22: Managing Bad Behavior
- October 28–29: Self-Control
If you missed week one, “You or Me?” you can click below for the “Reminders and Resources” handout (also available in the Narthex).
Let us know what you think about the fall Homily Series. Click here to take a brief survey. Thank you!
Homily Series is a great way to foster growth in discipleship, as a parish, by focusing on one topic together. Pairing the weekend readings with the needs of the time, we aim to make each series engaging and inviting. Please take the opportunity to welcome someone who hasn’t been to St. Thomas in a while, or ever, to join us.
Mark your calendars for the fall Homily Series
Difficult People
- October 14-15: You or Me?
- October 21-22: Managing Bad Behavior
- October 28-29: Self-Control
Spoiler alert: Jesus dealt with difficult people a lot. Who better to help us find our way?!
Homily Series is a great way to foster growth in discipleship, as a parish, by focusing on one topic together. Pairing the weekend readings with the needs of the time, we aim to make each series engaging and inviting. Please take the opportunity to welcome someone who hasn’t been to St. Thomas in a while, or ever, to join us.
For the livestreams and homilies of the Summer Homily Series, please click here.
Summer Homily Series July 8-9
We hope you’ve been enriched by the summer Homily Series: Building Stronger Relationships — Marriage, Family and Friends. Together let’s prioritize Trust, Healthy Sacrifice, and Rest & Play in our most valued relationships, and see what a difference it makes!
There are “Reminders and Resources” handouts, available below or in the Narthex.
Please tell us what you think about the summer Homily Series by clicking here for a brief survey. Thank you!
Thank you to the Homily Series Team for their work on theme development, promotions, liturgical pieces, organizing receptions, and more! Homilies were co-written by Fr. Peter and Tammy Winn Bocher (www.TammyWinn.com). To volunteer with the Homily Series ministry, please contact Donna Cheesebrough: donnacheesebrough@hotmail.com
Summer Homily Series July 1-2
The summer Homily Series is underway: Building Stronger Relationships — Marriage, Family and Friends. Join us July 8-9 for week three, Rest & Play!
Missed weeks one or two? Click below for the “Reminders and Resources” handouts, also available in the Narthex. There is one for each week, reviewing why Trust and Healthy Sacrifice are necessary ingredients to build strong relationships.
Click here for a one-minute welcome video from Fr. Peter about this summer Homily Series.
Homily Series fosters growth in discipleship by focusing on one topic together. Pairing the weekend readings with the needs of the time, we aim to make each series engaging and inviting. Please take this opportunity to welcome someone new (or back) to St. Thomas.
Thank you to the Homily Series Team for their work on theme development, promotions, liturgical pieces, organizing receptions, and more! Homilies were co-written by Fr. Peter and Tammy Winn Bocher (www.TammyWinn.com). To volunteer with the Homily Series ministry, please contact Donna Cheesebrough at donnacheesebrough@hotmail.com
Please tell us what you think about the summer Homily Series by clicking here for a brief survey. Thank you!
Summer Homily Series June 24-25
The summer Homily Series is underway: Building Stronger Relationships — Marriage, Family and Friends
Join us July 1–2 for week two, Healthy Sacrifice, and July 8–9 for week three, Rest & Play!
Missed week one? Click here for the “Reminders and Resources” handout, available in the Narthex. It recaps why Trust is a key ingredient that is necessary for building a strong relationship.
Scan the QR code or visit stapostle.org/st-thomas-the-apostle-homily-series/ for a one-minute welcome video from Fr. Peter about this summer Homily Series.
Homily Series is a great way to foster growth in discipleship, as a parish, by focusing on one topic together. Pairing the weekend readings with the needs of the time, we aim to make each series engaging and inviting. Please take the opportunity to welcome someone who hasn’t been to St. Thomas in a while, or ever, to join us.
Thank you to the Homily Series Team for their work on theme development, promotions, liturgical pieces, organizing receptions, and more! Homilies were co-written by Fr. Peter and Tammy Winn Bocher (www.TammyWinn.com). To volunteer with the Homily Series ministry, please contact Donna Cheesebrough: donnacheesebrough@hotmail.com
Summer Homily Series
Join us for the summer Homily Series: Building Stronger Relationships — Marriage, Family and Friends over the course of three upcoming weekends: June 24–25: Week One — Trust; July 1–2: Week Two — Healthy Sacrifice; and July 8–9: Week Three — Rest & Play.
In this series we’ll talk about three key ingredients to improve our relationships: Trust, Healthy Sacrifice, and Rest & Play. Starting with Week One, we’ll look at how Trust is foundational for all relationships. Trust needs to be carefully built, actively maintained and intentionally restored if it’s been broken. In Week Two we’ll address the reality that Healthy Sacrifice is part of the territory of relationships. It is important that we undertake to offer love in a life-giving way. Finally in Week Three, we’ll focus on how Rest & Play can help our relationships to thrive. Providing support for each other and taking time to recharge together make a huge difference. Join us for the summer series to explore these topics more!
See below for a one-minute welcome video, from Fr. Peter, about the summer Homily Series.
Homily Series is a great way to foster growth in discipleship, as a parish, by focusing on one topic together. Pairing the weekend readings with the needs of the time, we aim to make each series engaging and inviting. Please take the opportunity to welcome someone who hasn’t been to St. Thomas in a while, or ever, to join us.
Summer Homily Series
Mark your calendars for the summer Homily Series (3 weeks): June 24–25, July 1–2 and July 8–9.
Building Stronger Relationships — Marriage, Family and Friends
- Week One: Trust
- Week Two: Healthy Sacrifice
- Week Three: Rest and Play
One-minute welcome video from Fr. Peter about the summer Homily Series
Homily Series is a great way to foster growth in discipleship, as a parish, by focusing on one topic together. Pairing the weekend readings with the needs of the time, we aim to make each series engaging and inviting. Please take the opportunity to welcome someone who hasn’t been to St. Thomas in a while, or ever, to join us.
Knowing Each Other, Embrace Each Other
Fr. Peter’s Homilies Series “Knowing Each Other, Embrace Each Other” was an invitation to the St. Thomas community to break down barriers and build bridges. His inspiring words reminded parishioners of the importance of reaching out to others within the community.
Andy and Saji were two regular St. Thomas churchgoers who had never met before in person. On Saturday after Mass, they attended a Homily Series reception with their families in the Gathering area. While enjoying refreshments, Andy greeted Saji and his family in Hindi, a language he had picked up while working in India. Slightly surprised, they asked Andy what part of India he visited and as it turned out they discovered they both work for the same Company for over 15 years. In fact, they had both exchanged e-mails a few months ago, and they laughed about how small the world is. Their families look forward to meeting again and each was amused at how we are all more connected than we may realize.
St. Thomas became a place of warmth and welcome, where all were encouraged to reach out to others and build meaningful connections.
Previous Homily Series Updates
As we continue to grow in our sense of belonging to one another, challenge yourself to help build and maintain a strong faith community here at St. Thomas. Use the following steps that were discussed during the spring series as a guide:
- Show Up — just get here
- Participate — join in
- Take Risks — be vulnerable
- Offer Something — take on a responsibility
- Love Mercy — allow for imperfections (yours and others)
- Be Consistent — keep coming back
- Pay Attention — someone is in need, society is in need
- Die to Self — make room for the Spirit working through all of us
- Embrace Diversity — variety is needed and it’s time to get along
- Keep God at the Center — a foundation of Love
Mark your calendars for the Summer Homily Series (3 weeks): June 24–25, July 1–2 and July 8–9. The theme is Building Stronger Relationships — Marriage, Family and Friends. Invite someone you know to join us!
Spring Homily Series
Please return next weekend, April 22–23, for part two of our spring Homily Series: Belonging to One Another — The Blessings and Challenges of Community.
The focus will be: Moving Into Relationship — Connecting With One Another.
All are welcome at St. Thomas, and Homily Series is a great opportunity to extend an invitation to others! Is there someone you know who hasn’t been to St. Thomas in a while? Is there someone you know looking for a church home? Scan the QR code or visit stapostle.org/st-thomas-the-apostle-homily-series/ for a video invitation from Fr. Peter that you can share with others.
This week let us consider ways we can move past anonymity in our lives and let ourselves be known. Keep in mind the following steps for getting out of the comfort zone and engaging more deeply in our parish community.
- Show up — just get here
- Participate — join in
- Take risks — be vulnerable
- Offer something — take on a responsibility
- Love mercy — allow for imperfections (yours and others)
- Be consistent — keep coming back
Mark your calendars for the spring Homily Series (2 weeks): April 15-16 and April 22-23
Belonging to One Another — The Blessings and Challenges of Community
- Week One: Moving Past Anonymity — Letting Ourselves Be Known
- Week Two: Moving Into Relationship — Connecting With One Another
See below for a video from Fr. Peter about the spring Homily Series
Homily Series is a great way to foster growth in discipleship, as a parish, by focusing on one topic together. Pairing the weekend readings with the needs of the time, we aim to make each series engaging and inviting. Please take the opportunity to welcome someone you know who hasn’t been to St. Thomas in a while, or ever, to join us
Reminders from Affirming One Another as Beloved
- All are dearly loved no matter what. Nothing can separate us from God’s love. No one is outside of God’s Love.
- To love others we need to first internalize our beloved-ness.
- Affirming the other as beloved draws forth their goodness and their calling.
- When it’s difficult to love, try dialogue.
- In harmful situations, prayer is a safe, loving action we can take while maintaining healthy boundaries.
- Ignite love by: Doing something for someone else (love is a choice!); naming what you’re grateful for each day; spending time with children who naturally reflect God’s love; leaning into Scripture (See 1 John 4:7-8.).
View the homily here
Homily starts at the 29:40 mark.
Written by Fr. Peter and Tammy Winn Bocher. (Visit TammyWinn.com to view Tammy’s weekly blog, “Words”)
Homily Series Launch Video