How to Live as a Family

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Christmas Season, Feasts

Feast of the Holy Family

In today’s readings we get some very practical advice about how to live as Christians: put the wants and needs of others before your own…as Christ did.  Paul gives us a very concrete example of how this looks in one of the most fundamental sets of relationships we find ourselves in: the family.  Before getting up-in-arms about how Paul could write, “Wives, be subordinate to your husbands,” let’s look at the reading in context and see how Paul is challenging everyone to stretch their hearts and love others the way Christ loved us.

Presents of Presence

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Advent

4th Sunday of Advent

God made a promise to King David, that He would establish a house and kingdom for him that would last forever, and that an heir of his would rule in this kingdom.  1,000 years later, that promise came true in a little baby born on Christmas – Jesus.  God gave us, in Jesus, the greatest present of all: a savior to be present with us always, so that we would never be separated from God.  This Christmas our Father wants a special present from us (in fact, the only thing He ever wants from us) – our presence with Him!

Christ is Coming!

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Advent

3rd Sunday of Advent

Christ is Coming!  Amidst all the preparations for Christmas – food, shopping, cleaning, gifts, cards, travel plans – it’s all because Christ is coming!  The most important preparations we make, then, aren’t the externals of the beautifully cleaned and decorated house or the delicious food we’ve prepared, but the internals of how we’ve cleaned and made room in our heart for Jesus, how we’ve prepared a meal for Him in our souls – through prayers and actions – when He comes at Christmas.  All the preparations are necessary, but the most necessary ones are the preparations that no one else can see but God.

No Homily for 2 Weeks

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Uncategorized

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!

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?

Stocking Up On Oil

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Ordinary Time

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

The image most often used in the Bible to describe God’s relationship with us is that of a marriage.  In the Gospel parable today, 10 virgins are waiting for the groom to arrive and lead them all (with the bride) to the wedding celebration.  The groom was running late.  Five of the virgins brought extra oil for their lamps while five of them did not.  When the five who did not had to leave to get more oil, they missed the groom leading everyone to the wedding.  Arriving to the door late, they found themselves locked out.  The oil is our relationship with God.  We are called to stock up on it throughout a lifetime of shared experiences as we come to know the Lord more and more deeply. Jesus wants to lead all to eternal life, to the wedding party, but He warns us to be ready.  If our relationship with God is not a top priority for us and we think we can wait to stock up on this oil, or that we can just borrow from others in a pinch, we may find ourselves missing the party, too.

Vocations Start With YOU!

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Ordinary Time

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Every person in this world is called to have a deep, rich, personal relationship with God – that is the first and primary vocation (call) from God to each and every one of us.  After that universal vocation comes our particular vocations – how we can best share our love for God with others – whether that’s through marriage, priesthood, religious life or single life.  As we focus on vocations to the priesthood and religious life during this National Vocations Awareness Week, what are some practical steps that can be taken to support our young people in these particular vocations?  You’d be surprised, but the answer starts with YOU!

What Are You Carving?

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Uncategorized

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?