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Homily stories

27 Aug 2017 - Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

In the spring of 1934, Margaret Mary McNulty died at the age of 18. She had lived with kidney disease nearly her entire life. It was a condition that perhaps could have been cured in our own time, but in the 1930s there was no hope of such a miracle. Margaret Mary was the beloved second child of Bill and Molly McNulty, the child they worried about, the little girl on whom they doted. Family stories make it clear that her fragile health was foremost in the minds of her parents, her older brother, Billy, and even her much younger sister, Joann. Margaret Mary was bright and kind, unassuming and innocent in the way a protected child might be. She was too sick to go to school herself but would dress up in a nun’s habit and “teach” school to Joann. By the time Joann was ready to go to the country school down the road, she had enough schooling to skip the first grade. Margaret Mary had done a fine job. In 1950, Joann, by then grown and married, gave birth to a daughter, her first born. Joann and her husband named their baby girl Margaret Mary. Little Margaret Mary grew up very aware that she was the namesake of the beloved aunt who had died too young. She understood that it was her responsibility to do justice to the memory and legacy of her Aunt Margaret Mary. More defining life experiences would come. But her name gave her a way to begin to understand herself and her role and place in the world. Sometimes our names help us understand who we are in the eyes of others. Even Jesus was curious to know who others said that he was. Ultimately it is God who calls us each by name and gives us a way to understand our calling in the world.

Authors Peggy Ekerdt

names namesake

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Homily stories

02 Nov 2025 - Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls’ Day), Cycle C

Saints. Given the church’s Feast of All Saints, what do we know about them? Some of us carry a saint’s name as our given name. Perhaps it also is included with our surname. In the finest Southern Italian tradition, my four older siblings were given the names of my grandparents, which meant one brother was named after a grandmother. Being the youngest and no grandfolks left, I should have been named after my father, who himself was too far down the line to be named after his grandfather. So he conveniently got named after the saint of his birth date, Saint Rufina, a female martyr from the third century, anglicized to Ruffo and shortened to Ruff. Every time a dog barked, I’d feel I was being called. Instead, I got named Dominic after a rather unsaintly uncle. It translates to “Belonging to the Lord.” My surname “Grassi” means “the Fat One.” I am officially “The Fat One Belonging to the Lord." Oh well! There’s Saint Dominic the Preacher, founder of the the Dominicans. And Dominic Savio, who died at 14 and is patron of juvenile delinquents. He once held up a cross to stop a fight between two teens. And there's several Vietnamese Dominics martyred in the 1800s. After 77 years I can say there’s a little of all of them in me (including being the fat one). On the Feast of All Saints and the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, take time to think about who you are named after and how well you bear their legacy. Don’t have a namesake saint? There are countless to choose from. Start googling.

Authors Father Dominic Grassi

Solemnity of All Saints Feast of All Saints namesake names All Saints' Day

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