Author: Fr. David Neuschwander

Starting Small, Growing Big

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Ordinary Time

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

When we look at everything around us, we see that God has a way of taking something small and making it BIG!  Whether the shoot from the tree in our first reading, or the mustard seed in our Gospel, God often takes small things and slowly grows them until they are BIG!  He does that in our lives in so many ways, but I believe that the Lord is calling our parishes of St. Ann and St. Joseph here and now to start small in developing relationships with others who believe in and follow Jesus Christ, especially other Catholics, and especially our fellow parishioners.  So the challenge for this summer – get to know 6 more people from Church by the end of summer!  Invite them out for breakfast, lunch, dinner after Mass; invite them over for a beer on the deck or a pontoon ride; get to know them personally.  And when we start with these small but powerful and meaningful efforts, God will grow us over time here at St. Ann and St. Joseph into something BIG!

Getting Personal

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Feasts

Pentecost

Unlike so many other religions, Christianity makes the incredibly bold claim that the God who created all things desires a personal relationship with each one of us.  Our God is anything but impersonal; our God, as revealed through Scripture and especially in the Person of Jesus Christ, is incredibly personal!  But it’s easier for us as humans to be impersonal in all kinds of different matters, and that tendency to lean toward the easy and impersonal can sneak its way into our faith as well.  But God desires a close, deep, rich, personal relationship with each or us.  So this week are you willing to let your relationship with God get personal?!

Only One Eternity

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Easter Season

4th Sunday of Easter

After healing a crippled man in the name of Jesus Christ, Peter says to the leaders and the people in our 1st reading, speaking of Jesus Christ, “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.”  That’s a bold statement!  Could it possibly be true?!  Because if it is, then it also has some very large repercussions that modern society will not want to hear…

Something vs. SomeONE

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Easter Season, Feasts

Easter Sunday

Our faith is not primarily a set of rules and obligations, nor is it a moral code.  Our faith is not a collection of beliefs for a good life or that help us merit heaven.  Our faith is in a person – Jesus Christ! – and the relationship He offers to us!  Without that relationship, all we’re left with is a bunch of rules and obligations that don’t seem to connect or make sense.  In light of that relationship, everything begins to fall into place and make perfect sense because it’s all in light of growing in a relationship with Him!  God is relationship (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), and God in Jesus Christ invites us into this relationship.  So how do you see our faith?  How do you experience the expectations of our faith?  Do you see it as about something or some things…or do you see it as about SomeONE?!

Passover/Paschal Lamb

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Lent

4th Sunday of Lent

The words ‘Passover’ and ‘Paschal’ are often heard in the prayers of Mass…but what on earth do they mean?  As we approach Holy Week, and Holy Thursday – when Jesus celebrated the Last Supper, which was His celebration of the Jewish Passover meal with his Jewish disciples and became the outline for the Eucharist that we celebrate each weekend as Catholics – I think it very appropriate to revisit the meaning of those words ‘Passover’ and ‘Paschal’ and the rich tradition that they draw us into, even unknowingly, at every single Mass!

Behold the Lamb of God

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Lent

2nd Sunday of Lent

Jesus reveals himself in our Gospel as the fulfillment of the Old Testament, signified by his speaking with Moses and Elijah who represent the Scriptural writings of the Law and the Prophets.  Jesus also fulfills what was begun in our first reading with the story of Abraham’s near-sacrifice of his only son, Isaac.  Jesus is the long awaited Lamb of God, who is sacrificed on our behalf for the forgiveness of our sins when we had broken our covenant with God, Jesus who cuts a New and Eternal Covenant in his own Body and Blood to open up for us eternal life!

Ash Wednesday – It’s About Jesus

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Lent

Ash Wednesday

What is Lent about?  Is it about giving something up?  Well…not exactly. Is it about sacrifice?  Well…not exactly.  Lent is about Jesus Christ.  Lent is about us intentionally following Jesus and growing closer to Jesus.  If we forget that, then anything and everything we do during Lent – all the practices, all the sacrifices, all the resolutions – in the end, mean nothing.  The deeper presence of Jesus Christ in our lives is the meaning of Lent.  In our Gospel Jesus gives us three rich Biblical practices for that presence to become a reality in our lives: prayer, fasting and almsgiving.  Done with Jesus and for Jesus, these have incredible power.  Done purely by our own strength of will or just because “that’s the rule”…then we’re just spinning our wheels.

Lenten Resolutions

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Ordinary Time

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

When we think of Lent we often think of some sort of sacrifice that we make, something that we “give up” for Lent.  But a great question to ask the Lord as you consider your Lenten resolution(s) is, “How will this help me grow closer to You, Jesus?”  The whole point of a sacrifice in Lent is to be a sacrifice of love to the Lord, an intentional turning to God.  When our Lenten resolutions simply become a test of our own will power, however, then we’ve missed the whole point.  The whole point of this Lenten season is to draw closer to Jesus Christ.  If we are not intentionally growing closer to the Lord, then our Lent will be in vain.  So as you consider your resolution(s) for this Lent, I want you to ask the Lord, “How will this help me grow closer to You, Jesus?”

Repent, Believe, Go

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Ordinary Time

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings today give us an outline of the Christian life, the three necessary steps of what it means to live as a Christian.  Our destiny is to be in a total, life-giving, rich relationship with Jesus Christ, the Father and the Holy Spirit for all eternity…and to begin living in that reality now through these three steps.  Christianity is quite simple…it’s not easy, but it’s quite simple.  G.K. Chesterton wrote, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting.  It has been found difficult and left untried.”  So this week, will you give it a try?  Today, which step is God calling you to focus on?