Finding God In Our Hearts with Msgr. Don Fischer

By Msgr. Don FischerReligion & Spirituality

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Finding God In Our Hearts with Msgr. Don Fischer episodes

October 18 HOMILY • The 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Original Airdate: October 18, 2020
Isaiah 45:1, 4-6 | 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5B | Matthew 22:15-21

Opening Prayer
Almighty and everliving God, grant that we may always conform our will to yours and serve your majesty in sincerity of heart. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen.

Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, you have called the world onto this amazing path of growth and transformation. It’s interesting that we’re not needing more information about what’s going on. We need more formation, transformation into being able to deal with and listen to and learn everything you’re saying to us. Nothing in the world exists without your permission, and everything in the world you promise us is for us. Open our eyes to the heart of our belief. Open our eyes and hearts to the world. Let us hold both and listen to both and not look for answers as much as to wait to see the fruits of all that you’ve planned for us, and we ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.

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27 min
October 17 PRI Reflections on Scripture | Saturday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time
Original Postdate: 10-19-2024
===
Gospel
Luke 12:8-12
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I tell you,
everyone who acknowledges me before others
the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God.
But whoever denies me before others
will be denied before the angels of God.
“Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven,
but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will not be forgiven.
When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities,
do not worry about how or what your defense will be
or about what you are to say.
For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.”
Reflection
If you peel back all the layers and look to what is it that Jesus is longing to establish within each of us, it is awareness of His Father. Jesus came to awaken us to divinity, living within us, infecting everything around us.
So we have in this message a beautiful image of saying, one cannot do the work of the kingdom, one will not know how to live in the kingdom of heaven without a reliance upon the God who dwells within us. He is there to guide us, to enable us to succeed at what we are seeking, that brings about the Kingdom of God.
Closing Prayer
Father, it's clear that if we are to be engaged in establishing the kingdom of God, if we're here to bring life and peace to one another, we have to be connected to you, God. Who dwell within us, awakening us, teaching us, empowering us. That's at the heart of the entire gospel. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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7 min
October 16 PRI Reflections on Scripture | Friday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time
Original Postdate: 10-20-2023
===
Gospel
Luke 12:1-7
At that time:
So many people were crowding together
that they were trampling one another underfoot.
Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples,
“Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.
“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness
will be heard in the light,
and what you have whispered behind closed doors
will be proclaimed on the housetops.
I tell you, my friends,
do not be afraid of those who kill the body
but after that can do no more.
I shall show you whom to fear.
Be afraid of the one who after killing
has the power to cast into Gehenna;
yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one.
Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?
Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
Even the hairs of your head have all been counted.
Do not be afraid.
You are worth more than many sparrows.”

Reflection
We all know what it's like to be around somebody constantly judging everything and everyone. The Pharisees were like that. They were filled with judgment and condemnation for anyone who wasn't following the letter of the law, and what Jesus wants so much for his disciples to understand, is don't be afraid of their condemnation and judgment because they have no real power. And what Jesus does instead of condemning and judging, is He forgives and offers life. He is a lover. He knows everything about you.

Closing Prayer
There are times we find ourselves caught up in the hypocrisy of the Pharisees when we're excessively judgmental and critical of others. Help us to see others as you see them. Help us to be to each other what you are to us. Love, acceptance, forgiveness, compassion. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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7 min
October 15 PRI Reflections on Scripture | Thursday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time
Original Postdate: 10-17-2024
===
Gospel
Luke 11:47-54
The Lord said:
“Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets
whom your fathers killed.
Consequently, you bear witness and give consent
to the deeds of your ancestors,
for they killed them and you do the building.
Therefore, the wisdom of God said,
‘I will send to them prophets and Apostles;
some of them they will kill and persecute’
in order that this generation might be charged
with the blood of all the prophets
shed since the foundation of the world,
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah
who died between the altar and the temple building.
Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood!
Woe to you, scholars of the law!
You have taken away the key of knowledge.
You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.”
When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees
began to act with hostility toward him
and to interrogate him about many things,
for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.
Reflection
When you look at the evil there was in the system of the scribes and Pharisees, the loss of real truth, real purpose, we’re given an insight into the way in which it works in human nature, that when you live in a system that's corrupt, it will always corrupt you. It was only with the coming of Jesus that this whole system was blown apart and healed by the love of God for everyone who seeks the truth.
Closing Prayer
Father, your condemnation of the religious practices of the times underscores the importance of redemption that you have to enter into any system, any process has to be based in you before it can produce the abundance of goodness that is your will. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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7 min
October 14 PRI Reflections on Scripture | Wednesday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time
Original Postdate: 10-16-2024
===
Gospel
Luke 11:42-46
The Lord said:
“Woe to you Pharisees!
You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb,
but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God.
These you should have done, without overlooking the others.
Woe to you Pharisees!
You love the seat of honor in synagogues
and greetings in marketplaces.
Woe to you!
You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.”
Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply,
“Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.”
And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law!
You impose on people burdens hard to carry,
but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”
Reflection
Father, the spirit that you often point out in people who have lost a sense of who they really are in God, clearly seem to be pointing always to the same thing. They don't understand that they are called to love God, and you can't love God unless you know that God loves you. And there we get to the most powerful, potent teaching of the New Testament.
God who condemns in the Old Testament is the God who loves the sinner in the New Testament.
Closing Prayer
Father, we need to have insight. You need to show us the times and the ways in which we are acting out, not love and not forgiveness and not peace, but the opposite. So bless us with attention to who we are, and underscore for us the importance that we need to be filled with your gift, the gift of love for our brothers and sisters. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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7 min
October 13 PRI Reflections on Scripture | Tuesday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time
Original Postdate: 10-15-2024
===
Gospel
Luke 11:37-41
After Jesus had spoken,
a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home.
He entered and reclined at table to eat.
The Pharisee was amazed to see
that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.
The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees!
Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish,
inside you are filled with plunder and evil.
You fools!
Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?
But as to what is within, give alms,
and behold, everything will be clean for you.”
Reflection
Jesus is pointing out something very important about the question of authenticity.
You can act in any way you want, and it may not be connected to who you are, but who you are will always impact how you act. So what Jesus is pointing out, it's a very important thing, is what is going on on the inside, what is going on inside of you when it comes to understanding who you are and why you're here. That's the real work on the inside.
And the outside takes care of itself.
Closing Prayer
Father, it's obvious that you want us to have a heart filled with you, with divinity. This is a gift. It's not something that we can find on our own, but it's something we've received. So open us to the wisdom that God has placed within us. Pay attention to its beauty and its power to save and choose to be authentic. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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6 min
October 12 PRI Reflections on Scripture | Monday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time
Original Postdate: 10-14-2024
===
Gospel
Luke 11:29-32
While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them,
“This generation is an evil generation;
it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it,
except the sign of Jonah.
Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,
so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
At the judgment
the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation
and she will condemn them,
because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
and there is something greater than Solomon here.
At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation
and condemn it,
because at the preaching of Jonah they repented,
and there is something greater than Jonah here.”
Reflection
In the Old Testament, God used prophets and kings to present things to people that they would have to understand and fathom and grow into the truth of what he was teaching them. The same is now true in the New Testament. But Jesus underscores one crucial element. No one is going to be open to the signs that God has given unless they have a spirit of openness, wonder, curiosity, and a willingness to change.
It's a challenge for all of us to read the signs today that are around us, and we need to be more open and receptive to whatever God is trying to show us today.
Closing Prayer
Father, open our heart, open our minds, open our spirit to what is out there to teach us. Help us to ponder things, wonder about things, spend times reflecting so we can find the kingdom of God that is in our midst. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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6 min
October 11 HOMILY • The 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Original Airdate: October 15, 2023
Isaiah 25:6-10a | Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20 | Matthew 22:1-14

Opening Prayer
May your grace, oh Lord, we pray, at all times go before us and follow after and make us always determined to carry out good works. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen.

Closing Prayer
Father, your invitation is so exciting and scary at the same time. Bless us with the courage to make the right choice so that we can experience the world as you intended us to experience it, with things that are difficult and things that are so wonderful they’re beyond our imagining. Help us to trust in you and everything you teach, and we ask this in Jesus’ name, am

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28 min
October 10 PRI Reflections on Scripture | Saturday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time
Original Postdate: 10-12-2024
===
Gospel
Luke 11:27-28

While Jesus was speaking,
a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, a
“Blessed is the womb that carried you
and the breasts at which you nursed.”
He replied, “Rather, blessed are those
who hear the word of God and observe it.”
Reflection
The woman in the crowd pointed out something beautiful about Mary. That she is a human being trusted in and a promise that seemed impossible that she would somehow have growing within her the presence of God, in the person of Jesus, and then she nurtured it and cared for it. What Jesus then saying is that, you know, that is a great blessing, but it really points to the blessing that everyone participates in, that God comes to everyone whose heart is open and gives him the power to nurse and give life to the people around them.

That's the great blessing.

Closing Prayer
Father, in the person of Jesus you spoke over and over again about the greatest miraculous event in history. God dwelling in human beings. Help us to fathom this great gift. Help us to feel it and know the power that he gives to us. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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6 min
October 09 PRI Reflections on Scripture | Friday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time
Original Postdate: 10-11-2024
===
Gospel
Luke 11:15-26

When Jesus had driven out a demon, some of the crowd said:
“By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons.”
Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and said to them,
“Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?
For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul,
by whom do your own people drive them out?
Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

“When an unclean spirit goes out of someone,
it roams through arid regions searching for rest
but, finding none, it says,
‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’
But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order.
Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits
more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there,
and the last condition of that man is worse than the first.”

Reflection
Jesus makes clear to his critics that their accusation is foolish. Can't use something that is evil to drive out something that is evil. Evil is what it desires. And so we see clearly that Jesus is saying that I will give you a power. The Holy Spirit dwelling within you that will guide you through the issue of dealing with evil.

But then when he says that there is something that can happen to a person who feels that evil has been drawn out of them, and then they think they have this perfect life and everything is swept and put in order, and it thinks it is now capable of dealing with evil on its own. But seven devils, seven spirits come into that kind of person, and they will never, ever survive.

Closing Prayer
Father, there's a way for us to see our life when everything seems exactly as it should be. We've covered all our responsibilities, we've done everything we should. We look at ourselves and say, you know, I'm just, I'm able to handle anything. That's when the demons come back. That's when they do their best work. When we feel that we are immune to their power. We need you. We need you, God, to protect us. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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8 min

About Finding God In Our Hearts with Msgr. Don Fischer

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At a particular time in our evolution, God chose to enter into our world and a story was born. It has been carefully written, proclaimed and pondered. It possesses the power to awaken a knowing that…