Top five most gruesome apostle martyrs. Coming in fifth, St. Thomas, stabbed to death with a spear. Coming in fourth St. James, the Lesser, clubbed to death. Coming in third St. Simon sawed in half. Coming in second, our very own first Pope St. Peter crucified upside down and coming in first St. Bartholomew skinned alive. Today, the feasts of St. John LA and you walk into this basilica and you see statues of the apostles holding the tools of their martyrdom. This is the witness of the saints. Death had no power over the witness of the apostles. Death has no power over Jesus Christ and as Catholic Christians, death has no power over you. Go be witnesses of Jesus. Just don’t get skinned alive.

Have you guys ever heard of the term skinny fat? Yeah, it’s a thing. It’s a person who looks pretty normal on the outside, but on the inside, fat is growing over all of their organs. Even though you may look fine on the outside, it’s a silent killer. This weekend, we’re celebrating All Souls’ Day, where if we don’t take care of our souls, that’s like…

The Nightmare Before Christmas. The one character that people love to hate is the Mayor of Halloween Town. The Mayor is smiling on the outside, but on the inside is absolutely selfish. This is the perfect example of what we see in the gospel with the Pharisee—the Pharisee, smiling on the outside, but absolutely selfish on the inside…

It’s getting close to Halloween. Let’s talk about fear, and I’m not talking about the “It’s a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” kind of fear. I’m talking about the virtue of holy fear, that in the gospel for this Sunday, it says that the judge did not fear God, and that’s a bad thing, and it’s not being scared of God, he’s going to come and smite me…

By location, being in two places at once. You know who could do that? Kill me. Padre Pio, reading other People’s Souls. You know who could do that? Who? Padre Pio. Loving Jesus with his whole heart. Who could that be? Yeah, you guessed it. Padre Pio. Pope Benedict the 16th set about Padre Pio. There were significant and epic things he would do, but what made him a saint wasn’t any of those things….

Dr. John Watson. If you know anything about Sherlock, Dr. John Watson is the person who really grounds Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock is kind of crazy. He’s over the top. He’s unhinged. Dr. John Watson roots him and grounds him, keeping him rooted in reality. And not only that, but Watson speaks truths to Sherlock, revealing to him where he is wrong and where he needs to grow. In the gospel, this is precisely…

Purple underwear. Say one that’s right in the gospel for the Sunday. This rich man may have been wearing purple underwear. Many scripture scholars have discussed this fine linen, highlighting the absolute extravagance of this rich man’s life. And the heartbreaking thing was the wealth consumed. I need it for us in our lives. Some things consume us that take us away from Jesus. Wealth in and of itself…

Did Jesus tell us to cheat the system? Did he instruct us to falsify our tax returns? Did he give us financial advice like the mafia would? In the gospel for this Sunday. Jesus, of course, is not advocating fraud. But what Jesus is saying is that this dishonest steward was hustling, striving, putting in all this effort to make all this money. And the question is, are we hustling when it comes to Heaven? It’s easy…