Pilgrim Priest

Second Sunday of Advent (Year C)

God has not forgotten His people: He loves you, He is caring for you, He is coming for you. Most of us try too hard. We are trying to make this work on our own instead of waiting for God. The work we really need to do is to level the mountains and fill in the valleys. The mountains are all the ways we exalt ourselves, usually at the expense of others. The valleys are all the low points, especially our sins and failures. God needs a smooth place free of obstacles so he can “land” in our hearts. The valleys need to be filled with God’s love; the mountains need to be humbled before God. Here are four practical suggestions to give God a level landing:

* Sunday Mass

Take time at the beginning of each week to thank God for all His blessings and open your life to more blessings.

* A Decade of the Rosary

Gather as a family each day of Advent and pray one decade of the Rosary. The Rosary can do the same thing on a daily basis as the Mass does every week.

* The Sacrament of Reconciliation

It’s a great way to all the merciful love of God to fill in the deeper valleys of our failure and sins.

* Dedicating your Family to the Holy Family

Bishop Ricken is asking all families to dedicate themselves to the Holy Family on December 27th. If you are registered at a local Catholic parish in our Diocese, look for a mailing from the Bishop.

God has not forgotten you and He is coming for you. Are you prepared to receive Him?

(6 Dec 2015)

Point to Ponder: Is my Christmas to-do list really preparing me to celebrate Jesus’ birthday?

Point to Discuss: Talk to a friend about how your life would be different if you waited in joyful hope for the coming of Christ.

First Sunday of Advent (Year C)

Keep your heart awake and vigilant! Don’t let the anxieties of daily living put your heart to sleep. The holiday season can be full of anxiety and tribulations. How can we avoid the stress, frustration, lack of joy and loneliness of the holidays? Two pieces of advice:

* Gratitude. Stretch the Thanksgiving spirit throughout the holidays. Start a Gratitude Journal, or instead of a wish-list to Santa write a Thank You letter to God.

* A Decade A Day. Pray a decade of the Rosary as a family each day. God wants to bless us, but we have to be open to receive the blessings. Mary knows best how to receive God’s blessings; she will help you.

We look back with gratitude and thank God for His blessings. We look forward and expect more blessings from God. The joy of the holiday season comes, not from a finished list, but from a heart awake and open to receive God’s presence. Jesus comes to meet us in the little moments of daily life. Let us wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior each day of Advent.

(29 Nov 2015)

Point to Ponder: Try making a list of 5 things you are grateful for. What do you learn?

Point to Discuss: A Decade A Day Keeps the Devil Away! Pray a decade of the Rosary each day this Advent. Here’s a handy guide: How to Pray the Rosary

Thanks for a Great Year!

Greetings from the Brother Priests Preaching Podcast! First of all, “Thank You” for listening: you have made 2015 a very good year for my podcast. The new church year begins in Advent. It’s kind of like car models – the 2016s are out already. Right away last Advent, I saw a big jump in downloads per episode. And that increased popularity continued all year. Of the top 10 most downloaded episodes of all time, 7 of them were released in 2015. At the end of the post I will include a chart to of the most popular episodes.

The Long Tail of Podcasting

When looking at the stats from last year, I noticed something else: the “long tail” of podcasting. The so-called “long tail” means that an episode is downloaded a lot right away, but continues to be downloaded for months and even years after it is released. I always assumed that the homily I recorded and posted today would continue to get listened to for a few weeks or months. I had no idea that my audio recordings had such a long shelf life. Let me give you an example. Our busiest day last year was February 19, Ash Wednesday, which featured a whopping 267 downloads.* As you might expect the most popular homily was the Ash Wednesday homily which accounted for 24 downloads. But a total of 112 different homilies were listened to that day, some from as far back as 2009. Literally years after a homily is recorded people are still pulling them off the shelf and listening to it.

What’s New In 2016

Today I’m introducing the new album for 2016: UN/BELOVABLE. I know it’s a little bit of a pun, but I think it captures perfectly what I want to say. The deepest source of drama in my life is the struggle with being lovable, or with believing that I am lovable and living that way. I know that goes for so many of my listeners too. Think of all the wars, the grasping for power, the putting down others, the grasping for wealth and pleasure and friendships — all these things are ways of insulating ourselves from the fear of loneliness and ways of proving our worth. But If we are loved, really and truly, we don’t need any of them. God loves you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

I’ve been reading Henri Nouwen’s book The Return of the Prodigal Son, which is based on Rembrandt’s masterful painting of the same parable. We see the younger son who fears he is un-lovable and the older son who cannot truly admit that he is beloved. But we also see the father whose love is so generous, it’s unbelievable. UN/BELOVABLE captures the heartache of fearing we are unlovable, our unwillingness to love, and a God who just keeps loving unconditionally. My daily prayer for you and for all the people I serve is that you can come to know how much God loves you. May this year be the year you discover God’s love is unbelievable.

Thanks so much for listening. If you just listen casually, consider subscribing. If you listen through iTunes, please review the podcast. It helps other people find us. Visit BrotherPriests.com to add your comments or send a donation. Most of all, just let God’s love flow into you and through you. Have a beautiful year!

Top Ten Most Downloaded Homilies of All Time

(at least since February 2009)

Downloads

Episode Title

Release Date

786

Ord29 – True Greatness

2012-10-21 22:45:16

536

Your Mamma Is So Beautiful (#508, Mary the Mother of God)

2015-01-01 20:27:55

436

Thanksgiving Day. It’s easy to forget how blessed we are. God warns the Israelites that when they live in the promised land and enjoy His abundant blessing, not to forget the God who blessed them and think they have done all this for themselves. (Deuteronomy 8). This is exactly what has happened in America. God has blessed us abundantly and we have forgotten God. Thanksgiving reminds us of the proper attitude.

But what about the sufferings in our lives? Jesus can still thank God on the eve of His passion and death. The Father truly wants what is best for us. Everything, even the hard things, are gifts from the hands of our loving Father. In all things give thanks. Squanto, the native who brought us Thanksgiving, was a Catholic who was grateful. Our attitude can be the same. Let’s make the “holiday season” be a Season of Thanksgiving.

(26 Nov 2015)

Point to Ponder: How would your holiday season look different if it were a Season of Thanksgiving?

Point to Discuss: What does President Washington teach us about Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving Proclamation

Issued by President George Washington, at the request of Congress, on October 3, 1789

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and—Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favor, able interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other trangressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally, to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

The Solemnity Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. Pilate find himself judging the true King. Just like Truth, Jesus’ kingdom is above and beyond human control. His kingdom extends to everything in the universe — stars and planets, stuff, animals, even our own lives. There is only one thing Christ the King does not rule: Your heart. You have free will; you have control over your own heart, mind, and soul.

Unlike all the powers of this world, Jesus will not force us to obey Him. He offers, invites, encourages. The choice is ours. But we don’t choose who is King. Jesus is already the King. You choose to join His kingdom, or you choose to remain outside.

The Kingdom of God contains goodness, truth, holiness, love, joy, peace, happiness and life itself. God does not allow into his kingdom lies, sins, hatred, violence, suffering, death. If our hearts are filled with these things, we will not be able to enter the Kingdom of God.

Do you choose Christ as your King? Then what about your stuff — do you treat it as God’s property? How about your life and your gifts and talents — do you use them for the glory of God and the building up of others? What about your family and your sexual life — does it respect the integrity of yourself and others, and represent a true gift? How about your mind — do you fill your mind with the things of God’s kingdom?

The king invites us but he will not force us. Do you want to enter God’s kingdom? Then you must allow the Kingdom of God to enter you.

(22 Nov 2015)

Point to Ponder: Do I understand that I am a steward of the property entrusted to me, and use it for God’s glory? Take a look at your family budget and see if you are truly being generous, as God is generous to you.

Point to Discuss: We have all seen in recent news reports the bitter fruits that grow when people cultivate hatred, violence, and revenge in their hearts. Talk to a friend about a positive story that shows what good can happen when someone lives as a child of the King.