2nd Sunday of Lent

In our Gospel today, Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a mountain, and He is transfigured before them, they get a glimpse of the dazzling bright white glory of Jesus’ divinity, a foretaste of heaven and of who we are called to be!

But our Gospel today says, “Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory!”  Jesus was already in conversation with Moses and Elijah and showing forth his tremendous glory…before Peter, James and John woke up and realized what had already been happening even as they were sleeping, “missing out on it,” as it were.  What if Peter, James and John had slept through all of it?  Would we even know about this event?

What will it take for us to become “fully awake”?  Fully awake to the presence of God already alive, active and at work around us, within us, and through us?!

1st Sunday of Lent

On this Safe Haven Sunday, we are asked to to, first and foremost, make the home a safe haven for our kids by taking practical steps to help our kids engage technology in holy and virtuous ways and, inasmuch as possible, protect them from exposure to explicit content.

This is also an opportunity for individuals of all ages, young and old, to not only ask whether our media use is healthy in regards to explicit content, but also in regards to where it encourages our focus, energy and attention.  Satan doesn’t care how good our motivations are so long as we are concerned about things we can’t change (politics, national happenings, world happenings) and don’t see the real, down-to-earth, practical things that we can!

4th Sunday of Lent

We were created in love by God (white), then we fell into and were captured by sin (black), but “even when we were dead in our transgressions” “God, who is rich in mercy…brought us to life with Christ…raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus” (white).   And now, all throughout each day, in so many ways, we are making choices — about what we say, what we do, what we think about, what we listen to, what we watch, what we read.  We are either choosing black or choosing white; choosing to let a little more darkness into our life and world, or choosing to let a little more light into our life and world.

Black and white.  Black and white.  There will be a final day, when we stand before the Lord, and for the final verdict “gray” is not an option, it will be black or white.

2nd Sunday of Lent

The Birkie is an incredible yearly event!  So many people, come from all over the country (and the world) to make this experience possible — whether it’s the skiers, the many volunteers, the family members, the friends, the staff, all our business owners — everyone comes together, preps, and plays their part to make this week happen.  Could the Birkie be a lens, a window, an analogy, into how God wants us to live the entirety of our lives?!

Palm Sunday

Everything Jesus did, He did for individual people; everything He did was personal.  His life, his preaching, his healings, his interactions, his suffering, his death, his resurrection – Jesus did all of this for individual people; it was personal.  He didn’t do it to “do right” or to “be good”; he didn’t do it for a moral code; Jesus wasn’t an impersonal “do-gooder”.  Jesus did everything we celebrate this Holy Week for us: it was personal.   And everything Jesus still does in our world and in our lives is personal.

4th Sunday of Lent

This weekend I am speaking on the Third Mark of a Disciple – what it means to be Intentional in Relationship!

Last weekend Deacon Brian gave a great homily on the First Mark: Quick to Pray.   That can be found on our Hayward Catholic website in text format (https://haywardcatholic.org/recent-homilies) or, as he sings a couple verses from country songs, you may want to listen to him preach: click into the live stream section, select the 3/11 recording, and fast forward to his homily! (https://haywardcatholic.org/ecatholic-live)

1st Sunday of Lent

In this first Sunday of Lent I unpack the second mark of a disciple of Jesus Christ: being Joyfully Sacramental!

Ash Wednesday

Here is my homily from Ash Wednesday, introducing our Lenten themes of Fasting and the Four Marks of a Disciple!

4th Sunday of Lent

Do you ever get distracted in prayer?  It’s normal, it’s human; sometimes focus is within our control, sometimes it is not.  There are, however, better and worse ways to respond to distraction, better and worse ways to enter back into prayer and time with our God.  Want to know what some are?  Then listen to this weekend’s homily!