Author: Fr. David Neuschwander

Priesthood of the Baptized

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Easter Season

5th Sunday of Easter

Every Christian, by their baptism, is anointed priest, prophet and king.  Peter challenges us this weekend to that first anointing: “be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God.”  There is the ordained priesthood by which priests in the Church offer to God’s people the sacraments, but there is also the priesthood of the baptized by which every Christian, in Jesus, is called to offer spiritual sacrifices to God.  Every day we can offer these spiritual sacrifices, and at Mass we have the opportunity to collect them all from that past week – our thoughts, words, prayers, actions, and intentions…even our anxieties, worries, concerns, hopes, and dreams – and place them all on that altar, asking God to transform them just as He does the bread and wine.

Dreamers or Disciples?

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Easter Season

4th Sunday of Easter

Dreams are hopeful and safe – they can’t be failed.  Goals, on the other hand, are not safe – they can be failed.  It’s easy to dream; it’s not easy to make goals and follow through on them.  In the Gospel this weekend, Jesus calls himself the good shepherd whose sheep hear his voice and follow him as he leads them to good pastures. Dreamers hear that voice but don’t actually move anywhere.  Disciples hear that voice and have the courage to take a step: to set concrete spiritual goals in their daily lives, to fail, to get up again, and to succeed.  How are we disciples?  How are we dreamers?  Where is the Lord calling us to take another step?

First Holy Communion

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Easter Season

3rd Sunday of Easter

In the Gospel today, Jesus joins two disciples on the way to Emmaus, but they do not recognize Him until “the breaking of the bread”.  In the Eucharist, at every Mass, Jesus not only draws close to walk with us on our journey through life, He also transforms bread and wine into His Body and Blood so that He can be physically united with us.  Thanks be to God for this great gift of the Eucharist!

Paying a Visit

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Lent

Palm Sunday

We are entering into the holiest week of the year as we join Jesus for his final days of earthly life: partaking with his disciples at the Last Supper, grieving with his followers as he is led to the cross and crucified, waiting in silence as he lies in the grave, and then rejoicing with the whole world as he rises from the dead!  I know this is a busy time – lots of preparation for Easter and family and travels…but in the midst of this week, take some time to join the Father in “paying a visit”, if you will, to the grave of Jesus, so that come Easter Sunday you can experience in a new and deeper way the unbelievable power of the resurrection!

Why Should I Let You Into Heaven?

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Lent

4th Sunday of Lent

A Catholic university professor once asked a group of his students how they would respond if they were to die that very night, appear before God, and be asked the question, “Why should I let you into heaven?”  All the answers had one thing in common: they were all wrong.  The answers revolved around the things we do for God.  But the Good News of the Gospel is that it’s all about what God has done for us!  Jesus Christ came to this earth to carry the weight of our sins, to suffer and die for us, so that we could enjoy eternal life with Him!  Any good that we do…it’s because of what God first did for us!

Thirsty for Souls

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Lent

3rd Sunday of Lent

In the Gospel today, as Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well, He proves how God is not slowed down in the slightest by our unworthiness or mistakes or sinfulness: God still thirsts for this woman’s faith and trust. Even though she is in what we’d call today an “irregular marital situation” (married 5 times and currently living with a man who’s not her husband) Jesus still offers to her the Holy Spirit.  Jesus thirsts for each and every one of us, too – God thirsts for souls!  Will you give Him a drink of yours?

Taking a Compliment

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Lent

2nd Sunday of Lent

In the Transfiguration, Peter, James and John glimpse for a moment Jesus as He truly is, in His radiant glory as God.  The voice of the Father proclaims “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” and Jesus takes the compliment, allowing it to strengthen Him for his coming suffering and death in Jerusalem.  By our baptism, we are made radiant as God’s children as well, and the Father says to us, “You are my beloved child, with you I am well pleased!”  Those words are meant to strengthen us for the struggles in life, not to be pushed out by all the excuses we come up with.  Do you know how to take the compliment?