Don’t Stop, Ever

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Ordinary Time

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the Gospel today, a pagan woman approaches Jesus asking Him to heal her daughter.  Jesus’ actions should bother us: First, Jesus doesn’t respond.  Second, He rejects her.  Third, He insults her.  Then finally, when she refuses to stop, He works a miracle for her.  What is Jesus doing?  He’s coaxing out of her an extreme act of faith and perseverance.  Have you ever asked for a deeper faith?  Does it ever seem like some of your prayers haven’t been answered by God?  Maybe He’s trying to do the same thing with you that He was doing with this woman in the Gospel – maybe He’s trying to call out of you an extreme act of faith; maybe He’s trying to grow in you a heroic faith!

From Big Moments to Small Moments

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Ordinary Time

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus comes to the disciples today walking on the water – that’s a Big Moment, a miraculous moment, one that’s hard to miss, and it strengthens their faith.  Elijah is told in our 1st reading that the Lord will be passing by: there is a great wind, a tremendous earthquake, a blazing fire, and yet, Scripture says, God was in none of those seemingly big moments.  Rather, God was in a tiny, whispering voice – a Small Moment, so small it could be easily missed, but just as real as a Big Moment…and I would say even more important!  God’s ordinary language is in Small Moments, countless little whispers to us throughout the day.  He gives us a few privileged Big Moments precisely so that we will continue looking and listening for Him in the hundreds of Small Moments every day.

Trip and Moving

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Uncategorized

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.

Experience the Trinity

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Feasts, Ordinary Time

Most Holy Trinity

Every time we say, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” we are proclaiming that our God is a Trinity – that from all time our God has been a relationship of love: 3 distinct Persons, fully united as 1 God.  And this God made us – humanity – to share in His love!  But to know God as Trinity is not something we can describe with words alone, it is something that has to be experienced to be believed!

Unleash the Holy Spirit

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Easter Season, Feasts

Pentecost

In our baptism we received the same Holy Spirit that the disciples received 2,000 years ago.  By our Confirmation we were sealed and strengthened in that Holy Spirit.  So why don’t we see the miracles and wonders that the presence of the Spirit brings, like those in our 1st reading?  In order for the power of the Spirit (which is already within us) to be unlocked and unleashed through our lives, we have to be able to say, in all areas of our life, with our whole heart, “Jesus is Lord!”  The more we can say that, the more the Holy Spirit can come out with power!

Priesthood of the Baptized

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Easter Season

5th Sunday of Easter

Every Christian, by their baptism, is anointed priest, prophet and king.  Peter challenges us this weekend to that first anointing: “be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God.”  There is the ordained priesthood by which priests in the Church offer to God’s people the sacraments, but there is also the priesthood of the baptized by which every Christian, in Jesus, is called to offer spiritual sacrifices to God.  Every day we can offer these spiritual sacrifices, and at Mass we have the opportunity to collect them all from that past week – our thoughts, words, prayers, actions, and intentions…even our anxieties, worries, concerns, hopes, and dreams – and place them all on that altar, asking God to transform them just as He does the bread and wine.

Dreamers or Disciples?

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Easter Season

4th Sunday of Easter

Dreams are hopeful and safe – they can’t be failed.  Goals, on the other hand, are not safe – they can be failed.  It’s easy to dream; it’s not easy to make goals and follow through on them.  In the Gospel this weekend, Jesus calls himself the good shepherd whose sheep hear his voice and follow him as he leads them to good pastures. Dreamers hear that voice but don’t actually move anywhere.  Disciples hear that voice and have the courage to take a step: to set concrete spiritual goals in their daily lives, to fail, to get up again, and to succeed.  How are we disciples?  How are we dreamers?  Where is the Lord calling us to take another step?

First Holy Communion

On By Fr. David NeuschwanderIn Easter Season

3rd Sunday of Easter

In the Gospel today, Jesus joins two disciples on the way to Emmaus, but they do not recognize Him until “the breaking of the bread”.  In the Eucharist, at every Mass, Jesus not only draws close to walk with us on our journey through life, He also transforms bread and wine into His Body and Blood so that He can be physically united with us.  Thanks be to God for this great gift of the Eucharist!