26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

First, I will share a story with you of an inheritance.  Then, moving to our Gospel, Jesus speaks very forthrightly about a place of unquenchable fire called Gehenna and that sin is what leads us there.  Do we believe Jesus’ words?  Do we believe in hell and that sin leads people to it?  Or have we learned now, having outgrown the narrow mindset of that antiquated time that the Son of God walked this earth, that God loves everyone so much that nobody would ever go to hell?  Have we learned that Jesus was wrong?  And what does that have to do with an inheritance?

24th Sunday In  Ordinary Time

Peter is often the first of the Apostles to step up and, while he is also very quick to fall, in today’s Gospel he confidently proclaims that Jesus is the Christ.  I have been proud in these past months when, after a homily, you have responded by acting and living out the challenges — going out of your comfort zone to come to confession, meet new people at Church, or thank others for coming to Church (especially those that might be near the age of your own kids and grandkids that you wish would come back to Church).  I want that to be a common experience: that you’re regularly talking about and celebrating how you’ve gone out of your comfort zone, stepped up by putting into practice what’s been said here, and what happened when you did!  Then step up again…and repeat!

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

We as Catholics have a set of beliefs that stem from a particular, fundamental platform out of which all of our beliefs make sense.  Other Christian denominations and their beliefs stem from a particular, fundamental platform out of which their beliefs make sense.  The problem is, we often use the same words or do the same actions and rituals, but we actually understand them quite differently…which leads to confusion because it looks and sounds like we’re talking about the same things, but we’re actually understanding them quite differently (examples being Communion, confession, and the intercession of the saints just to name a few).

In this homily I lay out the fundamental Catholic platform as well as a best attempt at a fundamental non-Catholic Christian platform (I say “best attempt” because there are so many denominations with various platforms that no one platform unites them all…otherwise it would be one denomination…but I believe the distinctions I make are a fair representative of the whole).  These distinctions help explain a number of differences between Catholic and non-Catholic Christians, with a very important one being a much more complete understanding of the Sacrament of Reconciliation!  Enjoy!

(If you would like to read the text of Deacon Brian’s excellent and challenging homily from last week, it will be available shortly on this page of our website: https://stjoseph-hayward.org/recent-homilies)

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Part 1: The current practice of the Anointing of the Sick.

Part 2: In today’s Gospel Jesus sends out his Apostles two by two to preach repentance and drive out demons.  He doesn’t send them out alone, not one by one, but two by two…together…because we’re always stronger together, and we’re made to walk this path of faith together with other believers, especially Catholic believers.  Being an individual believer…alone…the demons love that!  They have a heyday with our minds and fill us with every seemingly reasonable excuse to  NOT take that next step in faith that we know God is calling us to.  But together, we as fellow Catholics call out each other’s mediocrity, we encourage each other in the faith, we support someone when they’re falling and we are supported when our faith seems to fail, we rejoice with each other in spiritual growth and victories.  Two by two is always better than one by one!

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The parting words of Jesus to his followers before He ascended into heaven (His ‘final words’, if you will) were: “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Jesus called all of his followers to go on mission and bring others back to the Father.  Too often, however, we have forgotten that mission, as a Church and as individuals, and we find ourselves simply going through the motions, stuck in a maintenance mode that is not the energetic, grace-filled, difficult yet joyous life that Jesus lived and called His followers to.   We at St. Joseph and St. Ann will be embarking on a journey over the next number of years to reclaim the vibrant life that Jesus calls us to live in our parishes.  Step #1: Christ-Centered Relationships.  The first followers of Jesus lived in close relationship with each other centered on Christ; there was a true community grounded in deep faith and they encouraged and challenged each other onward.  If we want our parishes to have a vibrant life and faith, we need to reclaim first the importance of Christ-Centered relationships!  Because if we can’t confidently talk about and learn about our faith with each other, how on earth are we ever going to share it with someone who doesn’t yet believe?!

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

When we look at everything around us, we see that God has a way of taking something small and making it BIG!  Whether the shoot from the tree in our first reading, or the mustard seed in our Gospel, God often takes small things and slowly grows them until they are BIG!  He does that in our lives in so many ways, but I believe that the Lord is calling our parishes of St. Ann and St. Joseph here and now to start small in developing relationships with others who believe in and follow Jesus Christ, especially other Catholics, and especially our fellow parishioners.  So the challenge for this summer – get to know 6 more people from Church by the end of summer!  Invite them out for breakfast, lunch, dinner after Mass; invite them over for a beer on the deck or a pontoon ride; get to know them personally.  And when we start with these small but powerful and meaningful efforts, God will grow us over time here at St. Ann and St. Joseph into something BIG!

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

When we think of Lent we often think of some sort of sacrifice that we make, something that we “give up” for Lent.  But a great question to ask the Lord as you consider your Lenten resolution(s) is, “How will this help me grow closer to You, Jesus?”  The whole point of a sacrifice in Lent is to be a sacrifice of love to the Lord, an intentional turning to God.  When our Lenten resolutions simply become a test of our own will power, however, then we’ve missed the whole point.  The whole point of this Lenten season is to draw closer to Jesus Christ.  If we are not intentionally growing closer to the Lord, then our Lent will be in vain.  So as you consider your resolution(s) for this Lent, I want you to ask the Lord, “How will this help me grow closer to You, Jesus?”

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings today give us an outline of the Christian life, the three necessary steps of what it means to live as a Christian.  Our destiny is to be in a total, life-giving, rich relationship with Jesus Christ, the Father and the Holy Spirit for all eternity…and to begin living in that reality now through these three steps.  Christianity is quite simple…it’s not easy, but it’s quite simple.  G.K. Chesterton wrote, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting.  It has been found difficult and left untried.”  So this week, will you give it a try?  Today, which step is God calling you to focus on?

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

This last week we celebrated both All Saints Day and All Souls Day.  On All Saints we rejoice and thank God for those whose souls are fully united to God in heaven; on All Souls day we pray for those people who have died and whose bodies are decomposing yet whose souls live on into eternity.  Why do we pray for them? What need would they have that we can help with?  Why not just celebrate All Saints Day and forget about All Souls Day?  When the word “purgatory” gets brought up in conversation I’m usually met with incredulity, people thinking of it as an outdated or unnecessary idea – if God is love why would there be a purgatory?  But maybe the way we’re thinking about it is all wrong; maybe there’s something incredibly relevant and timely about purgatory, both for us and for all souls, whether living in the body or out of it.