Author: Fr. David Neuschwander

God’s Calls

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Ordinary Time

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

God’s calls to us often come as thoughts, just simple thoughts.  It’s easy to miss them if we’re not paying attention, or (if you’re like me) you reason yourself out of them.  But God calls us every day, in little moments, to reach out to others, to pray for others, to share our experiences of the Lord.  Like Isaiah and Peter in our readings today, we might not feel like we’re the best fit for the job, we won’t know what following a call will actually entail.  But like Isaiah and Peter, when we hear these calls of God during our day, these simple thoughts and tugs of the heart, let’s go for it and unleash more of God’s life into this world bit by bit!

Walls and Windows

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Ordinary Time

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Walls are necessary for security, to protect the life that is fostered within those walls. Just before our first reading begins, the Jewish people have finally been allowed to go home to Jerusalem after being conquered and sent away years ago.  The first thing they do is rebuild the walls to ensure their security.  Then our reading picks up with the great stories of their history being retold to this people who had in many ways forgotten their heritage and identity as God’s Chosen People – they are being formed again so that they can become the light to the world that God intended.  It is much the same in our Catholic Church today.  To be strong and secure in our Catholic faith we do need to be set apart, we do need to build walls to protect our life inside from the attacks of the outer world.  But we are also invited – like the Israelites – to reclaim our identity and then throw open the windows to let this life transform those around us: it’s both/and.  Where do you need to strengthen a wall this week?  And where are you being asked to open a window?

How Many to Make a Miracle

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Ordinary Time

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

In this week’s Gospel Jesus performs his first known miracle: turning water into wine at a wedding reception.  Jewish wedding receptions lasted 5-7 days; it was the third day of this wedding reception and they’re already running out of wine – it would have been a complete humiliation for the newlyweds. For this miracle, however, Jesus didn’t magically become aware of the wine shortage, snap his fingers and fix it all in an instant.   Rather, this miracle involved a number of people: noticing a problem, bringing it to Jesus, persevering through seeming rejection, carrying out laborious and seemingly useless orders, all backed by a trust that it would turn out OK in the end.  What would have happened if one link in that chain had been broken by someone stopping from discouragement or doing something other than what Jesus asked because it would have been the more logical or sensible thing to do?   The miracle probably wouldn’t have happened.  This week: how will you fit into that chain of events as God tries to use you to work a blessing, even a miracle, in the life of someone else?

Why is Jesus Baptized?

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Christmas Season, Feasts

The Baptism of the Lord

Today Jesus is baptized, not to be washed by the water but to wash the water; not to be cleansed by the waters but to cleanse the waters.  Today Jesus isn’t baptized by water – water is baptized by Jesus.  So when we go down into the water in baptism, we no longer just get wet, we get Jesus Christ!  At our baptism we were set free from the hold of sin, worry and anxiety in our life, brought into God’s family, and given the power of the Holy Spirit to live this new life in God.  The challenge this week: how are we doing?  How are we living out the gift of our baptism?  Have we in some ways forgotten the power and strength God gave us on our baptism day and settled for a less than full and vibrant life of faith?  This week, let’s ask for a renewal of that strength of our baptism!

Following Stars

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Christmas Season, Feasts

Epiphany

Today three wise men/three kings/three magi arrive at the place where Jesus was born after following the sign of a star.  The presence of these three non-Jewish kings reveals that God is not only calling the Jewish people but ALL people of the world to believe in and follow His Son Jesus.  God’s sign was a star; presumably everyone could see it.  So why is it only these three wise men who followed that star?  Was everyone else just too busy?  Were they so caught up in life that they didn’t even notice the sign?  We encounter three different kinds of people in the Gospel today: those who don’t notice the sign, those who notice the sign but don’t follow it, and those who notice the sign AND follow it.  This week: What are the signs God is placing in your life (what are the stars)? And when you see a sign, do you follow it?

How to Live as a Family

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Christmas Season, Feasts

Feast of the Holy Family

Jesus was born into a human family, with everything that entails.  He learned to live with an immediate and extended family (and based on the lineage we hear in other Bible passages, his relations were far from perfect).  In an imperfect world, with imperfect people and imperfect families, today’s readings give us some very practical advice on how we can live more fulfilling lives: put the wants and needs of others before your own…as Christ did.

Paul gives us a very concrete example of how this looks in one of the most fundamental sets of relationships we find ourselves in: the family.  Before getting up-in-arms about how Paul could write, “Wives, be subordinate to your husbands,” let’s look at the reading in context and see how Paul is challenging everyone to stretch their hearts and love others the way Christ loved us.

The Light of Christ: in my Words

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Advent

4th Sunday of Advent

We’ve looked at the light of Christ in our thoughts and actions.  Now, in this final week of Advent, we look at the light of Christ in our words.  In my experience, people WANT to talk about God and faith in their lives…they’re just afraid of what others will think and uncertain where others stand on the issue — so they don’t say anything.  Our words have the power to give people that opportunity to speak about God’s presence in their life.  Our words have the power to invite God into a conversation.  Our words have the power to crack open the door to God’s presence.  Others don’t have to walk through that door; they can pass by our invitation.  But for those who want to go there and just don’t know how, we can give them that opportunity.  Something as simple as, “I’ll pray for you,” can be enough.  This week: use your words to invite God into a conversation!  (I think you’ll be surprised by how positive responses can be!)

The Light of Christ: in my Actions

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Advent

3rd Sunday of Advent

Last week it was spending time at the manger, allowing the Light of Christ to settle in our thoughts and minds.  This week it’s allowing the Light of Christ into our actions.  Little kids are so good at giving presents: at first glance their artwork  might not be a Van Gogh or Monet, but their intention in making these various works as gifts turns them into masterpieces!  Intention and generosity can transform something mediocre into something truly beautiful.  As we prepare for Jesus’s Birthday, let’s make some presents for Him this week, let’s make some works of art for Him – an extra act of generosity, an extra prayer, a task of holiday preparation or an hour of ordinary work, intentionally offered up to God as a gift: these actions might not be perfect in themselves, but given as a gift to the Lord they are transformed into something that He sees as beautiful and worthy of going up on the heavenly frig.  Let the Light of Christ into your actions this week: “God, I made this for You!”

The Light of Christ: in my Mind

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Advent

2nd Sunday of Advent

Have you ever put yourself in the manger scene?  Have you ever experienced the birth of Jesus or the time after His birth, with Mary and Joseph, or the shepherds, or the wise men?  Lectio Divina (Latin for “Divine Reading”) is a form of Christian prayer where we read a passage of Scripture and then use our imagination to place ourselves in the scene: then we see, hear, touch, taste and feel everything as if we were there!  We interact with others in the story.  We take on different roles.  And through this form of imaginative prayer the Scriptures come alive!  At Christmas we celebrate the coming of Christ into the world, the coming of clear Light into a sometimes foggy and murky world, into our sometimes foggy and murky lives.  This week, find some time to let the Light of Christ enter your mind – spend some time in that manger scene.  (Then next week we’ll talk about the Light of Christ shining in our actions, and the final week of Advent how the Light of Christ can shine in our words.)