Pilgrim Priest

Ordinary Time, 8th Sunday (C) Imagine looking back on your Lent from the perspective of Easter. Is it easier to give up candy now if you remember that Easter candy is coming? In a similar way, how will your life look different from the perspective of eternity? The trials of this life expose what is in our heart. They also give us opportunities to trust God and to love and give and sacrifice. Without God, I am nothing but a small pile of dust. "Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." (1 Cor 15:58)

(2 Mar 2025)

Going Deeper: Consider your Lenten sacrifices as a response to the love God showed you at Christmas and other times in your life. Also, consider your fasting and sacrifices from the vantage point of Easter feasting and eternal life.

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Ordinary Time, 6th Sunday (C) Today we hear an excerpt from the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:17-49). Jesus admonishes us to "love your enemies" and "do good to those who hate you." At first glance, these words look like admonishments that any teacher or guru might give to his disciples. He wants us to be kind to others, right? Look again... these words seem like a terrible idea. Why would I turn my other cheek and give expecting nothing back? Why is Jesus expecting us to respond to evil in a way that is so impractical and unwise?

We can expect three key things from a good father: protection, providence, and presence. When Adam and Eve first lived in the garden, they trusted God to protect them, provide for them, and be present to them. Then they sin and fall into isolation, self-reliance, and self-protection.

David is on the run from King Saul. Saul is an especially tall, handsome, and good-looking guy. But he relies on himself and is not obedient to God. Unlike Saul, David trusts God to protect him and provide for him. He resists the urge to take matters into his own hands.

Every time the parishes have needed to hire a staff person, God has provided. One of our parishioners experienced God's providence and protection through an abusive marriage and a difficult divorce.

Jesus is inviting us to realize that God is a good father and we can depend on him to protect us, to provide for us, and to be present to us. 

(23 Feb 2025)

Going Deeper: This week, try to notice the times that you choose self-protection and self-reliance, and the times that you choose to trust in God's providence, his protection, and his presence.

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Ordinary Time, 5th Sunday (C) Peter looks good on the surface; he has a good life and a successful career and he's not interested in what Jesus is offering. But underneath, Peter is not so good. He feels like he is failing at fishing and failing at life. Even deeper down, though, Peter is Very Good. He is loved by God and he hasn't ruined God's plans for his life.

Jesus invites Peter to "put out into the deep." He is not only calling him to go fishing, but also inviting Peter to move below the surface, through the layer of "not good", into that place of "Very Good". 

Many couples look like they are good. But underneath, things are not so good. For national marriage week, consider ways that you can move together through the layer of "not so good" into the deeper place that is Very Good.

(9 Feb 2025)

Going Deeper: How is Jesus inviting you personally to "put out into the deep?" What would it look like to go deeper into your own heart with Jesus? What would it look like to go deeper into your marriage or other relationships?

Image Source: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC - The fresco of Miracle fishing Jesus in church Bazilika svatého Petra a Pavla na Vyšehrade by S. G. Rudl (1895) AdobeStock_240185641 | Over 14 years of homily episodes available at PilgrimPriest.us/podcast | Like, subscribe, and share us with your enemies. | Find me on Facebook and Twitter | Powered by Patrons | give through PayPal or leave a nice review on your favorite podcast platform.

Candlemas (Feast of the Presentation of the Lord) • Today we celebrate Candlemas, the final feast day of the Christmas season. Mary received God's gift, helped to grow this gift, and now gives him back to God.

This is what parents do when they have a child Baptized. They give their child back to God. The parents are given a lit candle and told: "Receive the light of Christ. Parents and godparents, this light has been entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly, so that you child, enlightened by Christ, may walk always as a child of the light, and persevering in the faith, may run to meet the Lord when he comes with all the saints in the heavenly court."

They love their children so much that they want them to live forever. The light of faith has to be carried, nourished, and protected so that it can grow brighter and carry us to heaven. All of us are called to light the world by burning with the sacrificial love of Jesus.

(2 Feb 2025)

Going Deeper: Do you know someone who shines with the light of Christ? Read and reflect on Fr. Joel's poem, "A Swedish Candle."

Ordinary Time, 3rd Sunday (C) In addition to a sabbath day, Jewish law also prescribed a Sabbatical Year. Every seventh year, the land was to be left fallow and debts would be forgiven. After seven such sabbatical years, or 50 years, the Bible calls for a Jubilee. This was like a super sabbatical year. Slaves were freed and land that had been sold returned to its hereditary owners. The land is a gift from God and all human ownership is temporary. We all owe debts to God, and we are destined for freedom and not slavery. No one knows for sure if these jubilee rules were followed, but they depict a kind of heaven on earth of rest, freedom, and the chance to have a fresh start.

The Catholic Church has picked up the practice of the Jubilee. A Jubilee is the granting of a special plenary indulgence every 25 years. On December 24, 2024, Pope Francis began opening the Holy Doors of the four major basilicas in Rome. Local Bishops are also able to designate pilgrim sites. In our Diocese, Champion Shrine, St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, and St. Pius X Parish in Appleton are the designated pilgrimage destinations. Pope Francis hopes that we can experience peace, hope, an openness to life, a recovery of the joy of living. This jubilee has been entitled, "Pilgrims of Hope."

Today's first reading we see the Israelites listening to a reading from the scroll of the Torah. They are weeping because their hearts are moved by love: the love that chose them, that has been faithful to them, and has now brought them back to their land and allowed them to rebuild their city. God's love comes first, and our actions are a response to his love.

Dr. Scott Hahn responded to God's love by offering his children a jubilee, a chance to come clean without punishment. He had learned from Jesus that the relationship is what matters most.

In our Gospel reading, Jesus announces a Jubilee. When we draw near to Jesus, we experience the freedom, peace, hope and a fresh start. Jesus himself is the jubilee. "Rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength."

(26 Jan 2025)

Going Deeper: Read and meditate on the words of Pope Francis in the bull Spes non confundit to open the Jubilee year of hope 2025.

Thank you to new Patrons Pete & Patty.

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Ordinary Time, 2nd Sunday (C) The Holy Spirit gives us many gifts: wisdom, knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, mighty deeds, prophecy, discernment of spirits, varieties of tongues, interpretation of tongues. The Spirit gave Donal Walsh a deep sense of faith. His life was a gift, but he realized it was a gift that was meant to be given away. He died of cancer at the age of 16, but he used his short and difficult life to bless others.

At the wedding feast at Cana, the bride and groom find that their resources fall short of the demands. Fortunately, they had invited Jesus and Mary to the wedding. Like a good Mom, Mary is attuned to the needs of the couple. The servants obey Jesus. Once the six stone water jars are full to the brim, they discover an abundance that they never could have made for themselves.

When we try to build our own little kingdom, we will always run out of happiness. When we aren't afraid to faithfully serve each day, we find the Lord is turning our water into wine.

(19 Jan 2025)

Going Deeper: Perhaps watch this video of Donal Walsh and reflect on his legacy. What legacy will you leave?

Thank you to Patrons John & Judy, Todd, and Amanda.

Over 14 years of homily episodes available at PilgrimPriest.us/podcast | Like, subscribe, and share us with your enemies. | Find me on Facebook and Twitter | Powered by Patrons | give through PayPal or leave a nice review on your favorite podcast platform.

Feast of Epiphany • The Feast of Epiphany is older than Christmas. Early Christians celebrated January 6th as three feasts in one: the visit of the magi, the Baptism of the Lord, and the miracle of water into wine at Cana. In the East, the Baptism of the Lord emerged as the most important of the three feasts. In the West, the Baptism migrated to next Sunday and Epiphany became "Three Kings Day."

What can we learn from this feast? Sometimes we need to seek Jesus. It could be a long journey. We will find him not so much in lofty places but more so in the humble places. The Wise Men receive Jesus as a gift and they give the gift of themselves back to Jesus. Gold symbolizes giving Jesus our very best. The frankincense and myrrh are the fruit of where the plants have been wounded. They symbolize giving Jesus our wounds, our very worst.

Christ was born in Bethlehem so that he could be born into your heart. "May we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity." Bring him your best; bring him your worst; allow him to transform you from the inside.

(5 Jan 2025)

Going Deeper: Know, dear brothers and sisters, that, as we have rejoiced at the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, so by leave of Godʹs mercy we announce to you also the joy of his Resurrection, who is our Savior.

On the 5th day of March will fall Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of the fast of the most sacred Lenten season.

On the 20th day of April, you will celebrate with Joy Easter day, the Pascal feast of our Lord Jesus Christ.

On the first day of June will be the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ (May 29 is the actual Thursday). On the eighth day of June, the feast of Pentecost. On the 22nd day of June, the feast of the most holy body and blood of Christ.

On the 30th day of November, the first Sunday of the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

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Christmas, Holy Family (C) The Feast of the Holy Family reminds us that Jesus comes not only to restore us as as individuals, but also to heal our family. The four fundamental identities help to reveal God's original plan for the family. These identities have three characteristics:

1. Relational. Each identity requires another; none are just my sense of me in isolation.
2. Foundational. They build on each other and move us from receiving to giving.
3. Gift. The identities are healthy when I receive the other as a gift and the other receives me as a gift.

Here are the fundamental identities one at a time:

1. Child (son/daughter) -- The infant feels herself to be a gift. Parents welcome her and give her safety, recognition, reassurance, delight, love and belonging.
2. Sibling (brother/sister) -- Siblings treat each other as a gift. They join the parents in receiving one another and loving one another.
3. Spouse (husband/wife) -- Giving and receiving siblings, friends, classmates and co-workers prepares us to give and receive a total gift of self in marriage. 
4. Parent (father/mother) -- Marriage prepares a couple to receive children as gifts and to give to them without counting the cost.

Sin, wounds, and self-protection cause siblings to compete with each other for the scare resources of parental affection. Friendships become a choice and friends are rejected when they no longer meet my needs. Spouses use each other rather than giving themselves to one another. Children are no longer welcomed as gifts, and the cycle repeats itself.

Hannah receives Samuel as a gift and she gives him back to God (see 1 Sam 1 and 2). Jesus comes to heal our families. He does that by healing our fundamental identities. Jesus invites us to discover that our true father is God the Father, and our true mother is Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Even after we our born, our belly button marks the place where we drew life from our mother. Mary is the relationship we need to grow in first. Mary will introduce us to Jesus and Jesus will lead us to God the Father.

(29 Jan 2024)

Going Deeper: Start a daily Rosary. Check in with your spiritual mother Mary once or twice each day. 

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Christmas Eve • There was a time when your ancestors did not celebrate Christmas. Then one day, missionaries came to bring the good news of Jesus Christ. This was their message, "Your Father loves you and he wants you to come home." Remember how God made our first parents and put them in a beautiful garden? There were two trees in the middle of the garden, a good tree and a bad tree. They ate from the bad tree and had to leave the garden. They went out into the cold, cruel world. They learned to hunt and fish and farm, to make warm clothes and build houses. They also learned some really bad stuff: to lie and gossip, to steal and horde stuff, to beat each other up and steal their stuff.

But let me tell you a secret: no matter how far we wandered, we have never gotten out of our Father's back yard! When the time had come, God sent his Son Jesus into this cold, cruel world. He came to tell us that we have a Father who loves us and who wants us to come home.

Jesus not only shows us how to be God's children, but he also remains with us to help us. Remember how there was no room for Baby Jesus in the Inn? Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room in my heart and my life for Jesus. When Jesus comes to live in your heart, you can experience the peace and joy of Christmas all year long.

(25 Dec 2024)

Going Deeper: Sing this carol (or meditate on these words):

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.
The stars in the sky looked down where he lay,
The little Lord Jesus asleep in the hay.

The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes,
But little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.
I love Thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle til morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever, and love me, I pray.
Bless all the dear children in thy tender care,
And fit us for heaven, to live with Thee there.

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Advent, 4th Sunday (C) Imagine for a moment that you attended a school Christmas program but no one was listening to the director. Everyone was singing their own songs and trying to do their own thing. There would be chaos, frustration, hurt feelings, and a lot of giving up. Bishop Barron calls this the "Ego-drama." Each of us is trying to be a star in our own show that is written, produced, and directed by ourselves. We try to get everyone else to be the supporting actors in our show. But each of them wants to be the star!

The Bible tells a different story. We are part of the great "Theo-drama." This play is written by God the Father, directed by the Holy Spirit, starring Jesus Christ and Mary as Best Supporting Actress. Each of us has a special roll to play that is uniquely suited to our gifts and talents. When we accept our roll in the Theo-drama, we experience peace because we don't have to run the universe. Instead of competing with each other to be the star, we give joy to each other by supporting one another in playing their rolls.

In today's Gospel we see the joy that Mary, John, and Elizabeth experience. They are each living their own mission and all supporting one another in playing their part in the Theo-drama. Many people today are living life as if they had no purpose and no mission. They don't realize that they have a part in the play, and their part matters. Play your roll to the very best of your ability. This Christmas, Baby Jesus wants to teach us all how to be children again, each with a special part in the Theo-drama.

(22 Dec 2024)

Going Deeper: Have you experienced joy recently? What did this experience tell you?

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