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.

Remember To Breathe

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Easter Season, Feasts

Pentecost

The coming of the Holy Spirit CHANGED the first followers of Jesus.  We received the Holy Spirit in baptism, we were sealed by the Holy Spirit in Confirmation, we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus at every Mass…but how much are we CHANGED by these experiences?  Do you ever feel like you’re in a spiritual rut?  Do you ever long for more in your faith but just not know why you aren’t getting it?  If that’s ever been you, listen to this homily, and most importantly – remember to breathe (spiritually)!

Ascend

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Easter Season, Feasts

Ascension Sunday

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers!  This weekend we celebrate Jesus’ Ascension into heaven – that after rising from the dead and appearing to His disciples for a number of days, Jesus ascends to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father.  The ascension is not a one-and-done event, though.  We are the Body of Christ still present on this earth, so His ascension is still happening in us.  As we follow Jesus, as we run faster and jump higher, as we overcome the obstacles of life and refuse to give up in our pursuit of a more meaningful relationship with God, we also ascend!

Love: Intention AND Action

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Easter Season

6th Sunday of Easter

Love requires both intention AND action: a good action without good intention is not love; the best intention without action is not love.    Our readings today challenge us to love if we are to remain in God.  But how can we remain in love all day long in the midst of our many different obligations and mundane duties?  The good news is that every daily, ordinary action we do can be transformed into an act of love when we attach it to a good intention by offering it up with a short prayer!  In our faith life, too, love is intention AND action.  Intending to love God isn’t enough: we actually have to act on it!

Remain In Me

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Easter Season

5th Sunday of Easter

All day, every day, we are making decisions.  Ultimately, what we do and don’t do, how we respond or don’t respond to different people and situations, is our decision.  I believe everyone WANTS to be a good person: a good mother or father, husband or wife, family member, friend, worker and coworker…but it’s our daily decisions (regardless of what we say we want to be) that determine whether we actually ARE any of those things.  In the Gospel today Jesus challenges us to remain in Him always.  God never stops being with us, but we often, on account of our many obligations and pressures and duties, choose not to remain in Him.  But those things are only excuses, because our decisions are entirely ours.  What will I decide to do this week to remain in God just a little bit longer each day?

Who Goes To Heaven?

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Easter Season

4th Sunday of Easter

Peter says in our 1st reading today, speaking about Jesus Christ, “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.”  If salvation is only in Jesus, then who can be saved?  Can non-Catholics go to heaven?  Can Hindus or Buddhists or Muslims go to heaven?  And what part do we have to play in it?  Listen and find out!