Category: Ordinary Time

Preparing To Hit The Mark

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Feasts, Ordinary Time

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.

From Small to Big

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Ordinary Time

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!

Two Creation Stories

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Ordinary Time

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!

Explaining The Trinity?

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Feasts, Ordinary Time

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.

Lenten Resolutions

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Lent, Ordinary Time

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!

How to Share Your Faith

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Ordinary Time

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!

Overcoming Anxiety

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Ordinary Time

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.

Daydreams

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Ordinary Time

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.”

Exactly Where We’ve Chosen

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Feasts, Ordinary Time

Feast of Christ the King

God’s judgment is totally different than ours.  Our judgment of people and situations is narrow and subjective – concluded based on our limited perception.  God’s judgment, on the other hand, takes into account every thought, every inclination, every factor, every pressure, every influence – God’s judgment is absolutely fair.  After our own particular judgment at the end of our life, and after the final judgment at the end of time when everyone’s life will be completely laid open for all to see and we will understand how our life fit into God’s great story, we will know ourselves (and others) as God knows us (which is fully and entirely, nothing hidden)…and we will end up in exactly the place we belong in God’s love: no shame, no pride, just an honest acknowledgment of the decisions we freely chose to make in this life, whether for God, others, or ourselves.  God is absolutely fair, and we will end up exactly where we’ve chosen to be.

Enter Into Joy

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Ordinary Time

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Master in this weekend’s gospel puts a serious amount of cash into the hands of his servants, gives them absolute freedom, and then leaves on a trip.  When he comes back, we realize that his end game is NOT about the money: it’s about having his servants share in his work so that they can also share in his JOY.  Do you lack joy in your life?  God has given us everything we have – our faith, education, personality, interests, money, business skills, life experiences, talents – along with absolute freedom, and then “stepped back”…so that we can decide (like the first two servants) to use what He’s given us to build up His kingdom – then we’ll experience His JOY!  Or not…like the third servant.  How will you use what you’ve been given this week?