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!
3rd Sunday of Easter
When Jesus appears today to His disciples and says, “Peace be with you,” they at first think it might be a ghost. Ghosts and the supernatural are not talked about very much in our current Church culture. What do we believe as Catholics about ghosts? What if we or someone we know claims to have experienced a presence beyond this physical world? Should we be afraid? Can they hurt us? Or can we help them?
2nd Sunday of Easter
In our Gospel, Jesus appears to the disciples behind locked doors and rather shockingly (since most of these people deserted Him during his arrest and crucifixion) He says, “Peace Be With You.” Then He shows them His wounds – His hands and His pierced side, still present even on His resurrected and glorified body. God wants to give us a deep, abiding peace in this life. The path to that peace, however, is counterintuitive: it involves admitting and confessing just how much we have wounded others and God along the way – our sins – because to the extent that we admit our sinfulness, we experience God’s amazing mercy; and to the extent we experience God’s desire and love for us even in the midst of our brokenness, we experience God’s peace!
Easter Sunday
And I will raise you up
And I will raise you up
And I will raise you up on the last day.
What does God want to do for you? How does He want to raise you up? What does He want to do in your life right now?
Palm Sunday
We are entering the holiest week of the year: we celebrate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! Easter can be a beautiful time filled with family and travels and preparations and celebrations (and I hope it is for you), but I encourage you, in the midst of all the preparations, to set aside some special time for the Lord. This Holy Week, for you, will only be as “holy” as you make it – so let’s make it a good one!
(The Triduum is the Church’s liturgical celebration beginning on Holy Thursday with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, continuing on Good Friday with the special veneration of the cross, and concluding with the Saturday night Easter Vigil – one of the most ancient and beautiful liturgies the Church has to offer. If you have never tried to attend the special Triduum liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil, I would highly recommend you put that near the top of your bucket list. Have a blessed Holy 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!
4th Sunday of Lent
I can name plenty of ways that I would be able to grow and improve; I know plenty of areas in my life that could use some more attention and strengthening; I am a work in progress. And Lent is about opening myself to be changed and transformed by God, because God wants to work on me as well! God wants to make me a better me, to make me into the person He has created me to be – both for myself and others. Paul says in our second reading that we are God’s “handiwork”. May our Lenten practices and resolutions open us up to the ways that God wants to work on our lives and transform them for the better!
3rd Sunday of Lent
Every time we say “yes” to something, we’re at the same time saying “no” to lots of other things. When we say “yes” to someone in marriage, we’re saying “no” to all of the other people we could possibly spend our life with. When we say “yes” to having kids, we’re saying “no” to lots of our freedom and comfort…and sleep. When we say “yes” to God, when we decide to enter into a relationship with God, that means we are also saying “no” to lots of other things. But for the sake of that relationship, those “no’s'” are entirely worth it! I’d invite you today to rethink how you see the rules, regulations and practices God asks of us in the Bible and through the Catholic Church. Maybe all these little “no’s” are actually beautiful (sometimes inconvenient and difficult, but beautiful) ways that we can live out our big “yes” to God.
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!
2nd Sunday of Lent
In our first reading this weekend we hear the seemingly troubling story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his only son. Certain situations in our lives, too, can make it seem like God is distant, cruel or mean. Yet, in the end, this story proves God’s trustworthiness and faithfulness. Jesus believed in the Father’s trustworthiness and faithfulness, even it led him to crucifixion and death…but that crucifixion and death led to the resurrection and eternal life for all of us! Today let us thank God for his faithfulness to us, and ask that we might, through this journey of Lent, become more faithful to Him and more trusting of His ways.