Father Matthew Wiering Podcast

Tonight the Church gives us the Gospel of John, which gives us a unique account of the Last Supper. Jesus washes the feet of the disciples, and then tells them that they must do the same. Tonight we celebrate the Institution of the Priesthood and two of the Sacraments that only the priest can celebrate: Reconciliation and the Eucharist.

Today as we reflect on the Passion narrative from Luke's Gospel, we can't help but see how the totality of evil and human dysfunction flood over Jesus. But we also can't help but see what comes from Jesus during the Passion: healing and forgiveness and mercy. May we always see the Passion as our safe harbor and refuge as Jesus suffers the consequences for our sins and reconciles us to the Father!

In today's 2nd reading from Philippians, Paul tells us that he considers all of this as "loss". If we open our Bibles, we realize what is the "this" he is talking about: Paul has a pure, Jewish heritage, and he has been a faithful follower of the Law. For much of his life he took pride in this privilege and accomplishment. Yet, when he met Christ, he was radically changed. From thence forward, he knew that his righteousness would come from Christ and not from his own achievement. May we too leave not only a life of sin behind but also a life of identifying with our own achievements. May we discover our true identity only in Christ, the beloved son or daughter of the Father!

This Sunday's amazing readings bring us back to the heart of our faith: Christ has accomplished his Passover for us, and we have been saved by the baptismal waters. Yet we remain in a period of trial and testing until we ourselves reach the Promised Land. What rejoicing there is in heaven when we repent and return to the Father, who makes us into a new creation: His Son.

Jesus responds in a most surprising (and off-putting) way to those who bring him the news of yet another atrocity committed against believers by the Roman legate Pontius Pilate: Instead of saying, "Oh, how terrible that he did that to those people," he says, "Unless you repent you will all die as they did." Jesus's unmistakable message today is, "Repent!" May we respond during this Lenten season to this urgent command of our Savior!

In the Transfiguration of Jesus, Christ's divine nature shines forth in a strange and wonderful way. Interestingly, this revelation of his divinity does not diminish or destroy Jesus's humanity in any way but it is precisely through and out of Jesus's humanity that the divine light shines forth! In our life, too, grace does not lessen our humanity but rather it elevates, enlightens, and glorifies it.

As Adam was driven into the wilderness because of sin, so Christ goes out into the desert wilderness to rescue us from our exile.

Homily from Ash Wednesday 2025.

Today Jesus gives us the very humorous image of a man in need of assistance with a sliver with his eye, and the person who wants to help him has a beam in his own eye! For those of us who are inclined to help others with their issues, Jesus commands, "Remove the beam from your own eye first." What is the beam in my eye? That would make a great focal point for us for our efforts this Lent! In order for us to lead others in faith, which Jesus is asking of us, we first must be healed of our own blindness and be rid of that beam!

In our very challenging Gospel today, Jesus commands us to love our enemies. We could include within this category anyone whom we really struggle to love. St. Thomas Aquinas gives us a definition of love that is very important for us to understand Jesus's command, saying, love is "willing the good of the other as other." We may have strongly negative feelings towards someone, but, since love is not a feeling but rather a choice for the good of the other, we can still love despite negative feelings. We can will the good of the other. To do so is to love like our Heavenly Father, who loves all -- whether we respond to his love in the way he hopes ... or not.