“Your relationship with money has everything to do with your relationship with Jesus.”

Homily Notes

28th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

"The Power of 'Thank You'"

"You say thank you every Sunday. It's not for me...it's for Him—for what He has done on the cross."—Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

Prayers by Children:

"Dear God,

Please send a new baby for Mommy. The new baby you sent last week cries too much."

.......

"Dear God,

Thanks for the nice day today. You even fooled the T.V. weatherman."

.......

"Dear God,

Do you have any helpers in heaven? I would like to be one of the helpers in heaven when I have summer vacation."

.......

"Dear God,

Tomorrow is my birthday. Could you put a rainbow in the sky."

.......

"There is this great wisdom in kids. Kids are always themselves. They never pretend. They tell you what they think. We need to become like children on a spiritual level when we talk to God." —Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

"We have to be like the leper...the 10% who said thank you."—Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

"You may think there is no hope. Jesus is my last hope, so the smart move would be to come to Him on Sunday, and say, 'Thank you.'" —Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

Confidence in Christ:

"The biggest enemy for us, of course, is the devil and his demons. These guys are trying to undermine our total confidence in Christ every day. The devil knows that if we are just thinking of Christ as a wise teacher, if we start thinking in this way, we can start to lose simple, strong confidence in faith that the lepers had in Jesus."—Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

"I know following Christ's commandments and the teachings of the Church is not always easy for us—I understand. Christ demands that we go against our fallen nature, instead of giving in to it. God always helps with His grace."—Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

"If we start thinking of Christianity as one religion among many, or the Pope as one leader among many, then we will have a great excuse for picking and choosing what we want to do and what we want to follow."—Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

"When the Pope speaks ex cathedra, he is not mistaken."—Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

...The last time this happened was 70 years ago.

The Message

"Each one of us is sick—it's called original sin, which was washed away in baptism, but still we suffer, because we commit sins. But, God can heal us. We have to come to Him, and thank Him. Thank Him in your heart for saving you. Be like the kids, and thank Him honestly in your heart."

Watch the Homily above or by visiting the Lourdes YouTube page, at YouTube.com/LourdesDenver

What it Means to Have Christian Faith | 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time | 10.02.2022 | Fr. Brian Larkin by Lourdes Denver

Active Vs. Passive Faith | 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time | 09.25.2002 | Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk by Lourdes Denver

Fr. Sean's Homily | 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time | 09.18.2022 by Lourdes Denver

Homily Notes

The Heart of God | 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time | 09.11.2022 | Fr. Brian Larkin


“You and I need to be rooted & grounded in Scripture. The Bible is a Catholic Book.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

Luke 15: The Prodigal Son—This is the only place in the New Testament where this story is mentioned.

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/15

Luke 15 tells three parables that are actually three forms of the same story:

-The parable of the shepherd who searches for his lost sheep (Luke 15: 1)

-The woman who searches for her lost coin (Luke 15: 8)

-The parable of the Father in search of his lost son (Luke 15: 11)

“Open your heart; this story is the heart of the Gospel.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“If you let this story enter not just your ears, but your heart and your soul, it’ll make you a son or a daughter. This story is about the heart of God.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“Satan loves to give us a false image of the Father. And the world needs the truth so desperately—we need to know the heart of God. It has to start with us.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

The Meaning of Christianity:

“The Father loved us with a costly love.”—Fr. Brian Larkin


A common doubt among Christians:

“I’m here all the time, and I know God loves other people, and I know He has costly love for the sinner who goes astray, but surely for me, God is ashamed.”

“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert

and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy”
—Luke 15: 4

“The heart of God is not like your heart.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“The good news of the Gospel is that the Heart of God the Father is a heart that rejoices in being good and merciful to you. His love for you cost Him his son.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“Go Home and realize that The Father’s Heart rejoices in you.” —Fr. Brian Larkin

Romans 1:16

“I am not ashamed of the Gospel. It is the power of God for salvation for everyone who has faith.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“The power of the Gospel will change your life. And with this, we’ve got to get the order right”—Fr. Brian Larkin

Too many times you and I start with the Law. These things are all true, but they are second. What we should start

with, is love.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“Your homework today is to go home today, and listen to Josh Garrels’ song, ‘At the Table.’ It’s the story of the Prodigal Son.”—Fr. Brian Larkin


Josh Garrels’, “At the Table,” is a song about the Prodigal Son:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L87sCyCjrE

“The Prodigal Son is a remix.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“What Jesus is doing here: We tend to think of God’s mercy to be individual—just for one person. Today’s story is the story of the people of God.” —Fr. Brian Larkin

Genesis 33:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/genesis/33

The patriarch, Jacob, returns home. This is the only other time in the Old Testament that this happens. His father runs to him, and falls on his neck, and kisses him.

“This is God’s promise to us that, when we leave The Father’s House, in Christ, that promise is fulfilled that someday, He will bring us home.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“My identity is that I am a slave who is adopted by a Good Father. And he lost His son, because He loved me.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“We have been redeemed by the Blood of Christ. The centerpiece of Christianity is the redemption of slaves. And, if we get that right, many, many others will come to the Father’s House.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

23rd Sunday of OT

Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

“I love today’s Gospel, because Jesus gets straight to the point… in a way, what you shouldn’t do.”

Point #1:

"Jesus wants us to have no illusions about following him. It’s difficult. This path is a hard path. Our nature is fallen, of course, and to get back up again, even with his grace helping us is going to be hard.” —Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

Point #2:

“Following [Jesus] is more than feelings. You have to be smart. You have to sometimes really sit down and think. Faith is not just about emotions and feelings, because they change. Think about really loving God, not on the level of emotions, but really decisions.”—Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

"If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,

wife and children, brothers and sisters,

and even his own life,

he cannot be my disciple.

Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me

cannot be my disciple.

Which of you wishing to construct a tower

does not first sit down and calculate the cost

to see if there is enough for its completion?"—Lk 14:25-33

"You have to be smart. We have to sit down and think. Faith is not just emotions and feelings, because they change."—Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

Star Wars: “Another message from this great franchise..." :)—Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

“Who is the ‘God the Father’ of Star Wars? George Lucas.”

"We need to decide to take our faith seriously. It takes time."—Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

Even for George Lucas, progress and well-thought-out plans take time:

“How did you write the screenplay?”

“I grew up in a middle-class Midwest-style American town with the corresponding work ethic. So I sit at my desk for eight hours a day no matter what happens, even if I don’t write anything. It’s a terrible way to live. But I do it; I sit down and I do it. I can’t get out of my chair until five o’clock or five thirty or whenever the news comes on. It’s like being in school. It’s the only way I can force myself to write.” – George Lucas
https://overlydevotedarchivist.net/tag/george-lucas/page/21/

(Paraphrased) Sometimes the best work doesn't come until the end of George Lucas's shift. When his goal is to write five pages, sometimes he doesn't write page 1 until hour #7, and the rest come in that last hour. Hours of planning pays off, but it takes time.—Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

“I think this picture with George Lucas and with the third graders show us that we need to really sit down and think what we want to do, and we need to set a time to do it, and we cannot cheat.” —Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

"We have to take up our cross—There are no shortcuts."—Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

"We live in a world where everything is smart, now. Sometimes I think we forget about ourselves."—Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

"We need to sit and think about how we can move forward with our faith."—Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

“The first reading and the Gospel are almost always mutually interpretive. Both talk about humility, today.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

Hebrews 12

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/hebrews/12

Mt. Sinai & Mt. Zion as an image of the two covenants: The Old & New

“You have come to Mount Zion, the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” … “You have come to a judge who is God of all, and the spirits of just men made perfect.”

“That right there is New Testament proof of the Catholic dogma of Purgatory.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“All those who go to heaven are not merely those who have been forgiven by Christ, but those who have been made perfect.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“If we make it to Purgatory, we’ll be on our way. God will make us not just saved, but He will make us perfect.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

G.K. Chesterton

Orthodoxy: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/87665.Orthodoxy

What led Chesterton to Catholicism was when he started to see proportionality in accusations against Christianity, and how they contradicted each other.

“What if Jesus was the perfect man, but all other humans looked at Him and they judged them by themselves. But, what if Christ actually had the perfect proportion?” …which is, of course, true.

“I want you to see how the modern world has Christian virtues in all the wrong places.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“The Christian man was always certain about the truth, but is uncertain about himself. The modern man is uncertain about the truth, but is certain about himself, and so his certainty is misplaced.”—G.K. Chesterton

“The Modern world wants you to doubt that there is any such thing as morality. But, it wants you to be absolutely certain that whatever you feel is solid ground.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“The Modern world puts us in temptations that our forefathers could never have dreamed of.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“The modern world puts sexual temptation in front of every one of us, and pushes it and pushes it and pushes it, and when people fall, there is no forgiveness. And notice how the wisdom and the beauty of our mother, The Church, is exactly the opposite.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“Our mother, The Church, knows that if you fall, there is mercy…there is forgiveness.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“Beauty is about proportionality. It is about having the right things in the right places. It is not enough, Brothers and Sisters, for you and I to have one virtue.”…”We’re called to all of them.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“A lot of Christians today, we think that we’re really virtuous if we’re merciful. But, we’re not just.” —Fr. Brian Larkin

“Humility is the virtue that is most prized by the city of God, because it is exhibited so perfectly in Christ.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“Humility goes hand-in-hand with magnanimity.””For you as a Christian man or woman, your humility is not opposed to your magnanimity.”—St. Thomas Aquinas

Magnanimity: Greatness of soul. Their love calls them to serve great things.


“The common root of magnanimity and humility is love.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“Humility is present from all eternity in the Trinity.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

Philippians 2:4 (RSV): Describes the humility of Christ
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/philippians/2

“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Greek version differs and says,

“Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.”

“Jesus Christ on the cross was both humble and magnanimous.”

“Humility means we choose the lowest place. The most powerful part of our faith, Brothers and Sisters, is that’s what that is (reference to the Crucifixion).”—Fr. Brian Larkin

Doúlos = Slave

“A Christian is concerned with great things. So we take out the trash and we pick up chairs, because we care about the salvation of the world. This is the character of a Christian disciple.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

Striving to Enter through the Narrow Way

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082122.cfm

“If we preach a gospel that is cheap and easy, it is not The Gospel.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“The Gospel is a state of pure joy that will cost you your entire life. It will cost you everything.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

Psalm 16:11:

“Lord, you show me the path of life. In your presence, there is fullness of joy. In your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

“Following God leads to eternal joy, but it starts, Brothers & Sisters, on a hard path.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

Luke 13

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/13?22

Matthew 7:

“Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow, and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

The Holy Land is an incredible place. St. Jerome called it “The Fifth Gospel.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

The Church of the Nativity’s main door is tiny—4 feet tall. To enter the church, you have to make yourself small. They did that because, “In Bethlehem, God made himself small, to choose humility and smallness.” —Fr. Brian Larkin

The Narrow Way:

A Scripture Scholar’s work that Fr. Brian read: “We are to imagine a city, and there’s two gates. One is the normal way—easy to access. The other one is so small that the only thing that can make it through is you.”

“The Christian life is such good news that it will cost you everything. You can’t enter that door and carry your pride. You can’t enter through that door and carry your vanity, or your unforgiveness, or your false gods. When you enter through that gate, everything else will be stripped behind.” —Fr. Brian Larkin

There’s a debate among scholars that says whenever there is a gate, it leads to destruction. Some disagree.

“No one is a Christian by default, because being a Christian is the person who enters through the narrow gate.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“The knowledge of God is q Way. It means discipleship. This Way is not revealed to an uncommitted, permanently neutral observer, but rather is disclosed in the measure in which one sets out on the way.” —Pope Benedict XVI

“In other words, you’ll never be a Christian if you stay at home.”

“To be a Christian, you’ve got to risk something.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

From the marriage retreat:

“I don’t care when your wedding date is. My challenge today for you is, if you’re living with your fiancé, you need to move out tomorrow.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

John 14:6:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

“Being a Christian means walking with and following Christ where He goes.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“Christianity is the most complete revolution that has ever been preached. In fact, it is the only true revolution, because all other revolutions demand the extermination of someone else, but for Christianity, it means the death of the man, but for all practical purposes, you have come to think of as your own self.” —Thomas Merton (Monk)

“If I had not found Jesus…if He had not found me and rescued me from my selfishness, I would do the exact same thing. And maybe you’re the same way.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“Do you want the way to Life? Love the poor.” —Matthew 7

“To forgive someone who hurt you deeply is a death.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“The Men & Women who lose their life through the narrow gate are not sad people. They’re not depressed. Sometimes they’re weird—that’s true. They’re joyful. They have found the gate that leads to life.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

“The world tells us that following Christ is difficult and miserable. It’s hard—it is a hard way, but I promise you it will bring you joy.” —Fr. Brian Larkin

“Jesus, today, may we love nothing more than you.”—Fr. Brian Larkin

Christ Comes for Division, Not Peace? | 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time | 08.14.2022 | Fr. Sean Conroy

Today’s readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080722.cfm

Polish man named Raymond: had a vision of Mary holding a red crown (martyrdom) and a white crown (purity/celibacy)

Years later, he became a Franciscan. Started a radio station, and talked about Mary and the saints to bring people hope. This all arose at the same time of the world wars. September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland from the west, and a few weeks later, Russia invaded Poland from the East, which made Poland the center of the war in many ways. During the invasions, many priests were arrested, including Raymond—twice. The second time, one man was arrested for escaping, and they lined up the male prisoners for execution. The escapee begged for his life, because he had a wife and children. Raymond immediately stepped forward and offered his life in his place. The SS soldier was so touched by Ramond’s compassion, he spared him at the beginning, but he was eventually put in the starvation chamber. And so, Raymond began to sing for hope, because…

“There’s something in this life worth fighting for, There’s something in this life worth living for, and there’s something in this life worth dying for.”—Fr. Sean Conroy

Eventually, the Nazis injected Raymond with a lethal dose of carbolic acid.

"The guards wanted the bunker emptied, so they gave Kolbe a lethal injection of carbolic acid. Kolbe is said to have raised his left arm and calmly waited for the deadly injection. He died on 14 August 1941. His remains were cremated on 15 August, the feast day of the Assumption of Mary.”

“Life can be hard; life can be challenging. When we live the Gospel, it’s going to be challenging. We’re going to be made fun of—we’re going to be persecuted—we may even have to shed our blood, but there is always Christian hope.”—Fr. Sean Conroy

Jer 38:4-6, 8-10

Jeremiah sank into the cistern full of mud, but he never lost hope.

“Then the king ordered Ebed-melech the Cushite to take three men along with him,

and draw the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before he should die.”

Psalm 40:

“Lord, come to my aid!

I have waited, waited for the LORD,

and he stooped toward me.

R. Lord, come to my aid!

The LORD heard my cry.

He drew me out of the pit of destruction,

out of the mud of the swamp;

he set my feet upon a crag;

he made firm my steps.

R. Lord, come to my aid!

And he put a new song into my mouth,

a hymn to our God.

Many shall look on in awe

and trust in the LORD.

R. Lord, come to my aid!

Though I am afflicted and poor,

yet the LORD thinks of me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

O my God, hold not back!

R. Lord, come to my aid!”

“What is fire? Fire is often seen as judgment. But fire also brings hope, because it purifies us. So why does Jesus want to cast fire upon the earth? It’s not to condemn us. Why does he want to bring division? Jesus wants to get rid of anything that does not belong of Him. Like fire-tried gold.”—Fr. Sean Conroy

“Ask Jesus to purify anything that’s in us that’s not of Him. Jesus, we ask you that as you do this, you might give us the grace to be truly in for You. To pull us out of any despair that we may be in. Give us courage to speak Your truth; give us courage to live the Gospel in this world. That even if we’re persecuted, we might be willing to give our life for You, just as St. Maximilian Kolbe did. Amen.” —Fr. Sean Conroy