I will be gone this weekend taking time with my entire extended family…so no homily to post : (

Have a blessed week and weekend!

~Fr. David

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

It seems to be a natural human tendency to begin something new with energy and enthusiasm…then the path begins to get long and difficult…our energy and excitement seem to dry up…we begin to doubt our initial commitment and wonder whether or not the change is really worth it…then we slowly fall back into the way things used to be – not because the old way was better, but simply because we were familiar with it, which makes it easier.  That’s the experience of the Israelites in the first reading, and in response God gives them manna, bread from heaven, food for the journey, so that they have the strength to continue down this new and better (but not easier) path.  Jesus is the new Bread from heaven, the Food for our journey toward heaven here on earth.  Every Mass, if we have eyes to see, we receive this Food and are given just enough strength to walk another week on our journey: away from our old (but easy and familiar) bad habits, and toward our God and our better selves.

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our God is a God of life: He creates life and He upholds life.  “God did not make death,” our first reading says…and yet death is all around us.  The reading continues, “but by the envy of the devil, death entered the world.”  We believe in the supernatural – we believe in angels.  Angels are amazing immaterial creations of God!  They are smarter, stronger and more powerful than humans, and they aren’t limited by bodies like we are.  Yet, God chose to make us in His image and likeness, not them.  Out of pride and jealousy, some angels chose to turn away from God, becoming envious of the destiny that God has laid out for humanity.  Through their envy and temptation of our first parents, death entered the world.  Yet, God still calls us to an amazing destiny: made in His image and likeness, becoming a member of His family in baptism, God’s plan is to raise humanity above all the choirs of angels and all other creation, to be seated at the right hand of the Father!  We have an amazing destiny, and not even death can stop God from fulfilling it!

I will be out of town this weekend and will not be preaching.  Hope you have a wonderful weekend and you’ll hear from me next week!

I did not give a homily the weekend of March 18th, so you’ll just have to wait for one more week to hear my voice again.  God bless and have a wonderful week!

A number of people approached/called/emailed me over these past weeks asking something along the lines of, “Am I doing something wrong?  I can’t get on your website or listen to your homilies.”  My answer: “No, you aren’t doing anything wrong.  I can’t get onto my website either!”  The site was down for a number of weeks, but I’m happy to announce that it is back up and running!  I have posted below below all of the homilies you may have missed (I was sick one weekend in there, forgive me).  I’m glad to be a part of your life again!

I will not be preaching at the parish this weekend, and next weekend I get to be at a camp serving high schoolers from around our diocese.  The theme of the weekend will be: “Restless: Made for Union with God”.  Please keep me and these high schoolers in your prayers in a particular way next week and weekend.  God bless and have a great couple weeks!

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Michelangelo, one of the greatest artists of all time, loved sculpting most of all.  He could look at a block of marble, see the potential, a vision for what that block of marble was hiding, and then carve away everything that was not that potential.  Each one of us is standing in front of a block of marble called, “The rest of your life.”  Do you have a vision for what you want that block of marble to look like at the end of your life?  God has a vision for each one of us, He sees so much potential, He tells us in the Gospel today that within each of us is a heart that can love God with everything we’ve got and love our neighbor as ourself.  What do you want to look like at the end of your life: a roughly carved block of untapped potential tromping around heaven, or a true masterpiece of God’s creation?  It’s already inside of you!  So what are you carving?

Soon I will be going on a pilgrimage to hike a 250 mile portion of the Camino de Santiago in Spain, which ends at the remains of St. James the Apostle. Because of that, I will not have homilies to post for a while.

Also, effective mid-July, I have been reassigned as the associate pastor of the parishes in Medford and Whittlesey, Wisconsin.  To everyone in the Rice Lake area: thank you so much for receiving me so warmly and welcoming me into your lives over these last 3 years; it has been a pleasure and a privilege to be your priest and I will miss you all greatly! Please pray for me during this time of transition, and I will be praying for you.

After pilgrimage and once I’m settled into the new parishes, I will continue recording and posting my homilies: so we can stay connected even after I’ve moved!  God bless and have a wonderful start to the summer.

This weekend we have a missionary priest visiting who will be giving the homilies, so no homily for me : (

Have a blessed week!