4th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Paul says in our 2nd reading: “I should like you to be free of anxieties.” That would be pretty nice…but how on earth are we supposed to do that?! Paul’s life gives us an answer.
Daydreams
2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
God speaks to us every day. Yet, if we’re not careful, we can miss the Lord’s voice or mistake it for someone or something else. The Mass is a particular hour each week when God speaks directly to us – do we know what His voice sounds like? Or are our minds sometimes distracted by all the other things going on in our lives? Samuel is being called by God in our first reading…but he mistakes the voice of God for the voice of another person. It’s not until the fourth time God calls his name that Samuel finally says, “Speak, Lord, you servant is listening.” It might take us a few tries, too, but let’s start making Mass a time when we spend our energies not on daydreams, but focusing on what God has to say to us that week: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”
I Saw The Sign
Epiphany
Today three wise men/three kings/three magi arrive at the place where Jesus was born after following the sign of a star. The presence of these three non-Jewish kings reveals that God is not only calling the Jewish people but ALL people of the world to believe in and follow His Son Jesus. God’s sign was a star; presumably everyone could see it. So why is it only these three wise men who followed that star? Was everyone else just too busy? Were they so caught up in life that they didn’t even notice the sign? We encounter three different kinds of people in the Gospel today: those who don’t notice the sign, those who notice the sign but don’t follow it, and those who notice the sign AND follow it. This week: What are the signs God is placing in your life (what are the stars)? And when you see a sign, do you follow it?
How to Live as a Family
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.
What Child Is This?
Merry Christmas!
What child is this, who, laid to rest,
On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
Presents of Presence
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!
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
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
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
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?