7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

This weekend Jesus tells us, “Stop judging and you will not be judged.”  Seems straightforward…but it also seems to put us as followers of Jesus in a crossfire.  On the one hand, God shows us the path to a fulfilled life in this world and the next, asks us to follow it, and invites us to challenge others to do the same.  On the other hand, when we challenge others to follow this path, when we stand up and say that certain actions are right and wrong, that certain decisions are good and bad, we’re told, “Stop judging!”  So can I judge, or can’t I?  (Hint: the answer to that questions is, “Correct!”).  Listen to find out why!

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lent is just around the corner (2 1/2 weeks away) and I am excited to announce an incredible opportunity for all of my parishioners, as well as anyone from afar who stays connected with us through my website, podcast or recorded homilies.  FORMED is a top-quality online resource that gives you access to all the best Catholic content, all in one place, and it has been provided FREE for our parishes (and listeners)  thanks to a generous donation this year!  As you look forward to Lent, as you consider the ways you want to grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ this year, I would encourage you to see what FORMED has to offer – for you, for your family, for your friends – and work some of it’s many possibilities into your Lenten resolutions.  Register through us online, for free, at superiorcatholic.formed.org

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!

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?

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?

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

What do you see when you look in the mirror?  The problem is that we can only see the external; a mirror can’t show us what we look like internally: how our souls look, how our thoughts, words and actions are changing us, for better or for worse.  Our first reading and Gospel are apocalyptic readings that refer, in part, to the end of time.  “Apocalypse” doesn’t mean “destruction,” it means “pulling back the veil, uncovering.”  The day will come when the veil will be pulled back and we will see not just the external, but the whole truth of every person and situation: we will see everything as it truly is, and everything will see us as we truly are – all things will be unveiled.  Will we be attractive?  Will we be the beautiful, genuine person God created us to be?  If you invite Jesus in now, He can heal those deeper, darker, blemished parts of your heart and soul…but only if you invite Him in. What do you see when you look in the mirror?  Can you look deeper?

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

In our Gospel this weekend Jesus sums up the entirety of the Scriptures with the simple teaching to “love God and love neighbor.”  Christianity IS that simple…but it’s not that easy!  Growing in love of God and others is painful: like the pain and frustration you see go across a child’s face when they have to learn how to share with someone else, we experience that same pain of transformation as we say goodbye to our selfish inclinations and learn to open ourselves up to love of God and others – which makes us become more of the person God created us to be!  Our belief in Purgatory (which separates us as Catholics from all other Christians) is rooted in this idea of transformation from the inside out.  Heaven is a place where every individual completely loves God and completely loves others…that transformation, those growing pains, have to take place at some point, whether during this life or after.

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

When I was young, I didn’t like doing the dishes – it was an obligation, a duty, something I HAD to do.  When my parents came up to visit me the other week, I cooked them a nice meal, and then miracle of miracles…I wanted to do the dishes!  Out of thankfulness for all they’ve done for me, I WANTED to do that service for them.  In our Gospel today Jesus heals a blind man who then follows Him along the way.  This once blind man is not living his faith out of a sense of duty or obligation – he’s living his faith with enthusiasm because he’s thankful for what Jesus has done for him.  How do we live out our faith?  How do we live out our relationship with God?  Is it under a burdening sense of duty and obligation, or as an energizing, thankful and joyful response to what Jesus has done in our lives?  What has Jesus done for you recently?  Keeping that answer at the forefront of your mind will transform your faith!