Fr. Jim's Weekly Homily

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter (May 11, 2025) Total Time: 10m18s

Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Easter: Total Time: 17m6s

Reflection shared during homily: 

You waste a lot of time, however, worrying about storms you can see forming along the horizon of your life. In the past many of the storms you had anticipated veered off in another direction, never reaching you. Although some of them did actually hit, usually they had lost much of their power by the time they got to you. I urge you to switch your focus from difficulties that may come your way to My Presence, which is always with you. 
 You will never find security by trying to anticipate all the storms that may reach you someday. Remember that I control the atmosphere of your life. Trust Me by relaxing and releasing your concerns into My capable care. It saddens Me to see you obsessing about possible problems rather than bringing these matters to Me. 
 When you find yourself anxiously scanning the horizon of your life, use that as a reminder to seek My Face. You will not find Me off in the distance. I am here beside you, nearer than you dare believe. Instead of wasting time worrying, devote that time to building close friendship with Me. Talk with Me about everything that concerns you—your pleasures as well as your problems. 
 
 I am interested in everything that matters to you because I am your perpetual Lover. Remember that I am holding you by your right hand. I guide you with My own counsel, based on eternal wisdom; so there’s no need to worry about the future. When the time comes, I will personally take you into Glory. For now just live near Me. My friendship is your best refuge in the storms of life. 
 
 Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. 1 CHRONICLES 16:11
 
  “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” JEREMIAH 31:3 
 
 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. . . . But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. PSALM 73:23–24, 28

Young, Sarah. Jesus Lives (pp. 272-273). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. 

Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday) April 27, 2025 Total Time: 12m54s

My mercy is greater than your sins and those of the entire world. Who can measure the extent of my goodness? For you I descended from heaven to earth; for you I allowed myself to be nailed to the cross; for you I let my Sacred Heart be pierced with a lance, thus opening wide the source of mercy for you. Come, then, with trust to draw graces from this fountain. I never reject a contrite heart. Your misery has disappeared in the depths of My mercy. Do not argue with Me about your wretchedness. You will give me pleasure if you hand over to me all your troubles and griefs. I shall heap upon you the treasures of My grace. 

                                                                                 St. Faustina (Diary #1485)

Homily for Easter Sunday (Vigil Mass at St. Barbara parish - August 19, 2025) Total Time: 8m16

Homily of Pope Francis at the Easter Vigil at St. Peter Basilica (April 20, 2019)

Homily for the Solemn Celebration of the Lord's Passion (April 18, 2025) Total Time: 8m57s (**Please note I made a mistake and said Mark chapter 24 and should have said Matthew chapter 24**)

Homily for the Solemn Celebration of the Lord's Supper (April 17, 2025) Total Time: 10m13

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent (Recorded at the 11AM Mass - St. Aloysius, Buckley, WA on April 6, 2025) Total Time 13m58s)

Angelus Message of Pope Francis (March 10, 204)

Dear brothers and sisters, buongiorno!

On this fourth Sunday of Lent, the Gospel presents us with the figure of Nicodemus (cf. Jn 3:14-21), a Pharisee, “a ruler of the Jews” (Jn 3:1). He saw the signs Jesus performed, he recognized him as a teacher sent by God, and he went to meet him by night, so as not to be seen. The Lord welcomes him, converses with him and reveals to him that he came not to condemn, but to save the world (cf. v. 17). Let us pause to reflect on this: Jesus came not to condemn, but to save. This is beautiful!

Often in the Gospel we see Christ revealing the intentions of the people he meets, at times unmasking their false attitudes, such as with the Pharisees (cf. Mt 23:27-32), or making them reflect on the disorder of their life, as with the Samaritan woman (cf. Jn 4:5-42). There are no secrets before Jesus: he reads them in the heart, in each of our hearts. This ability could be disturbing because, if used badly, it can harm people, exposing them to merciless judgements. Indeed, no one is perfect: we are all sinners, we all make mistakes, and if the Lord were to use his knowledge of our weaknesses to condemn us, no one could be saved.

But it is not like this. Indeed, he does not use them in order to point the finger at us, but to embrace our life, to free us from sins and to save us. Jesus is not interested in putting us on trial or subjecting us to judgement; He wants none of us to be lost. The Lord’s gaze upon every one of us is not a blinding beacon that dazzles us and puts us in difficulty, but rather the gentle glimmer of a friendly lamp, that helps us to see the good in ourselves and to be aware of the evil, so that we may be converted and healed with the support of his grace.

Jesus came not to condemn, but to save the world. Think of us, who very often condemn others; many times, we like to speak badly, to go in search of gossip against others. Let us ask the Lord to give us, all of us, this merciful gaze, to look at others as he looks at us.

May Mary help us to wish the best for one another.

"Mercy Said No" by CeCe Winans

Homily for the 3rd Sunday of. Lent (March 23 2025) Total Time: 10m11s

Meditation From Jesus Lives HERE

Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent (March 16, 2025) Total Time: 13m1s

Peter Burak (Renewal Ministries) Video

Quote from St. John Paul II

If in the planning that awaits us we commit ourselves more confidently to a pastoral activity that gives personal and communal prayer its proper place, we shall be observing an essential principle of the Christian view of life: the primacy of grace. There is a temptation which perennially besets every spiritual journey and pastoral work: that of thinking that the results depend on our ability to act and to plan. God of course asks us really to cooperate with his grace, and therefore invites us to invest all our resources of intelligence and energy in serving the cause of the Kingdom. But it is fatal to forget that “without Christ we can do nothing” (cf. Jn 15:5). 

It is prayer which roots us in this truth. It constantly reminds us of the primacy of Christ and, in union with him, the primacy of the interior life and of holiness. When this principle is not respected, is it any wonder that pastoral plans come to nothing and leave us with a disheartening sense of frustration? We then share the experience of the disciples in the Gospel story of the miraculous catch of fish: “We have toiled all night and caught nothing” (Lk 5:5). This is the moment of faith, of prayer, of conversation with God, in order to open our hearts to the tide of grace and allow the word of Christ to pass through us in all its power: Duc in altum! On that occasion, it was Peter who spoke the word of faith: “At your word I will let down the nets” (ibid.). As this millennium begins, allow the Successor of Peter to invite the whole Church to make this act of faith, which expresses itself in a renewed commitment to prayer. (NOVO MILLENNIO INEUNTE #38)

Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent (March 9, 2025) Total Time: 15:14s

Thought of this song that I really like while giving the homily and especially the line "you don't have to prove yourself"