Month: November 2020

Daily

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Uncategorized

1st Sunday of Advent

We humans change one step at a time – it’s just the way we’re wired.  And once we’ve made a change that tends to become the new normal and we stick to it,  for better or for worse.  This Advent season God wants to work in your life in new and powerful ways!  But for that change to occur, there is a requirement: DAILY prayer and reflection.  To give Jesus the space He needs in our lives and minds and hearts to work out His grace within us requires the daily practice of openness to God in prayer and reflection.  One day a week is okay, 2 days is all right, 3 is getting better…but if we’re wondering why we’ve plateaued and not much seems to be changing or growing in our spiritual life, it’s because God needs our daily permission to work His good grace in us, one step at a time!

Kingdom Citizens

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Feasts, Ordinary Time

Feast of Christ the King

We’ve been so concerned recently with who’s going to be our president, have we stopped to ask ourselves how concerned we’ve been with Who’s going to be our King?  This weekend, as we near the end of our liturgical year, we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King as we we look ahead to the end of time – when Jesus Christ will come in glory to rule all of creation forever.  If politics can get us passionate and worked up about a man who will run our country for a handful of years and then go into the history books, then our faith and relationship with Jesus Christ should inspire us to incredible passion for sharing Who is going to be our King for all eternity!  As citizens of God’s kingdom, we’re not called only to live personally as disciples of Jesus Christ, but we’re also expected to reach out call others to join this incredible kingdom.  How do we do that?  Start listening to find out!

Why Purgatory?

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Ordinary Time

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

This last week we celebrated both All Saints Day and All Souls Day.  On All Saints we rejoice and thank God for those whose souls are fully united to God in heaven; on All Souls day we pray for those people who have died and whose bodies are decomposing yet whose souls live on into eternity.  Why do we pray for them? What need would they have that we can help with?  Why not just celebrate All Saints Day and forget about All Souls Day?  When the word “purgatory” gets brought up in conversation I’m usually met with incredulity, people thinking of it as an outdated or unnecessary idea – if God is love why would there be a purgatory?  But maybe the way we’re thinking about it is all wrong; maybe there’s something incredibly relevant and timely about purgatory, both for us and for all souls, whether living in the body or out of it.