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!).
Nativity of John the Baptist
This weekend we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist. John was a crucial figure, bridging the gap between the Old and New Testaments and preparing people for the coming of the Lord. He spent most of his life in quiet preparation in the desert, and even though his role was crucial when he stepped out of the desert and into the spotlight, his time “on stage” was very short. Maybe in your life you don’t feel like you’re on the front lines; maybe parts of your life seem un-amazing and un-eventful; maybe you don’t feel like God is using you often for a special purpose. Perhaps, like John, this is your time in the desert, when God is preparing you for the time when He wants you to step on stage and play a crucial role in the life of someone else.
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!
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Some things we experience in life are beyond description – words can’t reach as deep or as high as the reality. Love is a good example. We can use all different kinds of images and words and phrases to try and describe it, but in the end it’s something indescribable with words – the experience and reality of love is deeper and truer than any words can express. In the Trinity, we bump up against another reality (or is it actually the same reality?) that words will always fail to describe. Words might fail, but we can live in and experience the reality of the Trinity in our lives if we are willing.
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
We are about to enter into the Lenten season. Lent is an opportunity to encounter God in a new way, to pause the distractions in life and focus on those things that matter most. As you consider what your Lenten resolutions will be, I have a few suggestions: ADD something to your days for the Lord, do something POSITIVE that will provide you with opportunities to encounter Jesus, give God the space, time and attentiveness He needs in your life to speak to you. Don’t just give up chocolate this Lent. DO something that will bring you closer to Jesus; GIVE God the time to transform you!
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Paul felt an obligation to preach the Gospel…but he can’t be the only one. Every Christian, as a follower of Jesus, is called to be a light in the world, to share with others what God has done for them. So how? How do we share our faith in a way that is attractive but not pushy, engaging but not offensive? I have a few ideas, and I’ll share them in this homily. Today’s young adults and students are a different generation who require a different way of hearing and experiencing the Gospel – let’s be willing to speak a language they will understand!
4th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Paul says in our 2nd reading: “I should like you to be free of anxieties.” That would be pretty nice…but how on earth are we supposed to do that?! Paul’s life gives us an answer.
2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
God speaks to us every day. Yet, if we’re not careful, we can miss the Lord’s voice or mistake it for someone or something else. The Mass is a particular hour each week when God speaks directly to us – do we know what His voice sounds like? Or are our minds sometimes distracted by all the other things going on in our lives? Samuel is being called by God in our first reading…but he mistakes the voice of God for the voice of another person. It’s not until the fourth time God calls his name that Samuel finally says, “Speak, Lord, you servant is listening.” It might take us a few tries, too, but let’s start making Mass a time when we spend our energies not on daydreams, but focusing on what God has to say to us that week: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”