Father Joseph Illo, pastor of Star of the Sea church in San Francisco, gave a 12-minute homily on Sunday, February 16.
The sin of Adam and Eve is distrust.
Jeremiah says, cursed is he who trusts other men.
No man, no political leader, no technology will save you.
There is no perfect marriage. No amount of wealth can make us happy.
Jesus comes down from the mountain and came down with the law, just like Moses. But here it is the Beatitudes.
Blessed are those who are poor…. God is the giver of all gifts.
Blessed are those who weep now. There is good reason for weeping in this life.
Blessed are those who hunger now.
Blessed are those who are hated for the sake of the Son of Man.
God hates idols, We have a lot of idols in American. Look how popular American Idol is.
Nothing wrong with enjoying a TV show.
Well, it depends on the show, right? I think Father is raising that sort of question here.
But as to whether he’s actually saying that American Idol is idolatrous or, less seriously, somehow symptomatic of idolatry, perhaps indirectly, I can’t say myself. I just wish he had developed his point more; it has pretty weighty implications for how people are to form their consciences.
Reply to TV show: What did Padre Pio have to say about television? To Padre Pio, television was responsible for the destruction of the family life and he warned others not to buy one when asked.
2/22/25– Pope Francis is now in very serious, critical condition, as everyone may know. Many prayers are being lifted up to God for him. We all watch and pray, worldwide. God’s Will be done.
I hope and expect that we will have a conclave this year.
Excellent Homily! Put your faith and trust in God. Deus Caritas Est. God is love.
I don’t think Fr. Illo knows what American Idol is. It’s just an entertainment show… a talent show and competition. It has nothing to do with worshipping idols. Conservative priests should really learn about culture before they criticize it. The whole world isn’t Catholic, and the whole world isn’t evil.
Does he really believe the show is about worshipping false gods?
Thank you, Fr. Illo, for your excellent sermon. Putting anyone or anything — whether husband, wife, lover, celebrity, politician or material possessions – before God IS a form of idolatry, which we all need to overcome. St. John Chrysostom told us that we really own nothing, and that all is a loan from God that will be repaid when we die. We can buy a beautiful field and think we own it until we realize that millions of people before us “owned” or used that field too.
Dust to dust. Ashes to ashes.