19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the spiritual life, it’s often the case that when you want to go up, you’ll first “feel” like you’re going down (emphasis on “feel”).  God grows us through struggle and perseverance, and it’s in those times when we “feel” like we’re going down that God is giving us the opportunity to grow in exactly that place where we feel weak.  So the next time you are struggling, don’t blame the situation, don’t blame yourself or think you’re doing something wrong.  Perhaps everything is at it’s supposed to be.  Perhaps you’re doing nothing wrong.  Perhaps God is giving you the opportunity to grow in this place where you “feel” weak and “feel” like a failure.  Maybe what feels like going down is actually going up!

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the Gospel today Jesus goes up a mountain to preach.  This sixth chapter of John’s Gospel, surprisingly enough, is all about the Mass and the Eucharist.  People come and gather around Jesus, sitting at His feet and listening to His words – exactly what we do as we gather at Mass.  Jesus then miraculously feeds thousands – at Mass we are fed with bread and wine miraculously become the Body and Blood of Christ.  The more of ourselves we can put into the Mass, the more we will get out of it.  So this week I leave you with three practical tips of how to enter more deeply into every Mass and carry that experience with you throughout the rest of the week.

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In our first reading from Jeremiah, in the midst of very challenging times – the nation’s leaders were not following the Lord and Jerusalem was on the path to destruction – God promises that one day He will come and shepherd His people rightly.  That promise is fulfilled 500 years later in Jesus, Who comes to us, His people, as the true Shepherd in the line of King David, to lead us to our true home.  That sounds very nice and poetic…but if we actually believe it, then it means that certain demands have been placed upon us: to submit to and follow our true Shepherd and King.  How am I doing this week?

(I apologize for the delay in getting this out – still trying to settle in here at my new assignment.  I appreciate your patience!)

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the Gospel today, Jesus’ apostles “anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.”  This is one of the roots of our practice of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.  When should someone get anointed?  When do you call in the priest?  Is it supposed to be during one’s final hours on this earth?  Or could it be sooner?  Listen to find out more.

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

This week I moved from Medford to Superior, Wisconsin to begin my new assignment at the 5 parish cluster in and around Superior.  This homily is “some” of my story of re-conversion to our amazing Catholic faith and how I began hearing God’s call to the priesthood (I say “some” because there is so much more to the story, just not enough time in one homily to cover it all!).

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

God has a way of taking something small and making it big.  We see it in the parable of the shoot from a great cedar in our first reading, in the parable of the mustard seed from our Gospel, in the Church that Jesus established which has grown across the world over 2,000 years, and even in our own growth: from a one-celled organism in your Mama’s belly to the 49 trillion-celled person you are today. God has a way of taking something small and making it big.  He wants to do this with your faith as well!  No matter how small you think your faith might be, give it to the Lord this day/this summer, place it on that altar at Mass, and He will make it bigger – it’s just what He does!

10th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The first book in our Bible, the book of Genesis, begins with two different creation stories…two DIFFERENT creation stories!  What does it mean?  What do they mean?  Could they have something to say about who we are, what our relationship to God is, and why there is evil, pain and suffering in the world as we know it?  Listen to hear more!