19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the spiritual life, it's often the case that when you want to go up, you'll first "feel" like you're going down (emphasis on "feel"). God grows us through struggle and perseverance, and it's in those times when we "feel" like we're going down that God is giving us the opportunity to grow in exactly that place where we feel weak. So the next time you are struggling, don't blame the situation, don't blame yourself or think you're doing something wrong. Perhaps everything is at it's supposed to be. Perhaps you're doing nothing wrong. Perhaps God is giving you the opportunity to grow in this place where you "feel" weak and "feel" like a failure. Maybe what feels like going down is actually going up!

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

It seems to be a natural human tendency to begin something new with energy and enthusiasm...then the path begins to get long and difficult...our energy and excitement seem to dry up...we begin to doubt our initial commitment and wonder whether or not the change is really worth it...then we slowly fall back into the way things used to be - not because the old way was better, but simply because we were familiar with it, which makes it easier. That's the experience of the Israelites in the first reading, and in response God gives them manna, bread from heaven, food for the journey, so that they have the strength to continue down this new and better (but not easier) path. Jesus is the new Bread from heaven, the Food for our journey toward heaven here on earth. Every Mass, if we have eyes to see, we receive this Food and are given just enough strength to walk another week on our journey: away from our old (but easy and familiar) bad habits, and toward our God and our better selves.

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the Gospel today Jesus goes up a mountain to preach. This sixth chapter of John's Gospel, surprisingly enough, is all about the Mass and the Eucharist. People come and gather around Jesus, sitting at His feet and listening to His words - exactly what we do as we gather at Mass. Jesus then miraculously feeds thousands - at Mass we are fed with bread and wine miraculously become the Body and Blood of Christ. The more of ourselves we can put into the Mass, the more we will get out of it. So this week I leave you with three practical tips of how to enter more deeply into every Mass and carry that experience with you throughout the rest of the week.

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In our first reading from Jeremiah, in the midst of very challenging times - the nation's leaders were not following the Lord and Jerusalem was on the path to destruction - God promises that one day He will come and shepherd His people rightly. That promise is fulfilled 500 years later in Jesus, Who comes to us, His people, as the true Shepherd in the line of King David, to lead us to our true home. That sounds very nice and poetic...but if we actually believe it, then it means that certain demands have been placed upon us: to submit to and follow our true Shepherd and King. How am I doing this week?

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the Gospel today, Jesus' apostles "anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them." This is one of the roots of our practice of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. When should someone get anointed? When do you call in the priest? Is it supposed to be during one's final hours on this earth? Or could it be sooner? Listen to find out more.

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

This week I moved from Medford to Superior, Wisconsin to begin my new assignment at the 5 parish cluster in and around Superior. This homily is "some" of my story of re-conversion to our amazing Catholic faith and how I began hearing God's call to the priesthood (I say "some" because there is so much more to the story, just not enough time in one homily to cover it all!).

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our God is a God of life: He creates life and He upholds life. "God did not make death," our first reading says...and yet death is all around us. The reading continues, "but by the envy of the devil, death entered the world." We believe in the supernatural - we believe in angels. Angels are amazing immaterial creations of God! They are smarter, stronger and more powerful than humans, and they aren't limited by bodies like we are. Yet, God chose to make us in His image and likeness, not them. Out of pride and jealousy, some angels chose to turn away from God, becoming envious of the destiny that God has laid out for humanity. Through their envy and temptation of our first parents, death entered the world. Yet, God still calls us to an amazing destiny: made in His image and likeness, becoming a member of His family in baptism, God's plan is to raise humanity above all the choirs of angels and all other creation, to be seated at the right hand of the Father! We have an amazing destiny, and not even death can stop God from fulfilling it!

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.

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!

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!