St. Patrick Catholic Parish Podcast

Excited about Michigan's recent National Championship, Deacon Joshua Fons preaches about the kinds of moments that alter the course of our lives. But seldom do these moments happen on a football field; rather, they are moments of encounter with the Living God.

In this homily given on the Solemnity of the Epiphany (January 7 2024), Fr Mathias suggests that Herod's response to the coming of Jesus the newborn king may have been rooted in a fear that Jesus was a threat to his kingship. Even though we don't know if this was the case with Herod, the dynamic of fear in the heart that sees Jesus a threat is precisely what prevents people from not submitting to his loving reign.  In the event of the Epiphany, God is revealing to the world that in his Son the newborn King, that God is not a threat to us.  He's only a threat to that which threatens us: selfishness, brokenness, illness, sin, and death.  While we know this intellectually, Jesus continually reveals to us structures of unbelief in our hearts in which we see him as a threat. Recognizing such fear-based thinking, Father Mathias exhorts everyone to be like the Magi and open up the treasures of their hearts and lay our fears at his feet so that Jesus can grant us little epiphanies (revelations) of his love so he can save us from our fear.

In this homily given at St. Pats on Sunday, December 31st, 2023 Deacon Dave preached on the Holy Family and encouraged every family to seek after holiness, to be different from the world around it.  Deacon Dave emphasized the need for deliberate expressions of love within the family and how it can transform the culture and the world.

“The future of humanity depends in part on parents and the family life that they build in their homes.” Pope John Paul II  1979

In this homily given at St Pat's on December 24th, 2023, Fr. Miguel Colunga preaches on how Jesus wishes to save us from our sins from within us, but first we must open the door of our hearts to him.

This Christmas, December 24th, 2023, Deacon Joshua Fons describes God's incredible plan to save the world that was revealed on Christmas. It is a plan that took millennia to prepare, and now we must make a response for ourselves. 

In this homily given on the Third Sunday of Advent (Dec 17 2023), Fr. Mathias exhorts us to rejoice at the coming of Jesus. After noting that deep abiding Christian joy is a gift from God, that it is a fruit of the Spirit that is borne by us when we are rooted in Christ, Father also describes joy as the soul's response to the presence and action of God not unlike Mary's response in the Magnificat. In order to pursue joy this Christmas, Father challenges us to focus on God's personal love for us, not our circumstances. After all, God's love doesn't depend on our circumstances. When we realize how personal his love for us is, it not only puts our circumstances in perspective, it also enables us to live in the joy of being desired, known and loved by God.

In this homily given at St Pat's on December 10, 2023, Fr. Miguel preaches on how we are called to cultivate love of God and neighbor during our pilgrimage to heaven, and provides one way to know we are doing so on our way to heaven.

In this homily given on the First Sunday of Advent (Dec 3 2023), Fr Mathias preaches on being watchful and awake for the coming of Christ upon our own death when each of us will be judged by Christ on our love.  The biggest temptation to spiritual sleepiness is a kind of worldliness that is nothing other than a self-absorbed rejection of God and his call to love that blinds us to the value of eternity.  

Since being worldly usually involves some sort of deception or trickery and since we don't know when we will die, we need to stay awake in our faith and the call to love.  Fr Mathias ends his homily by challenging everyone to live as if this is the last day of our lives and offers some ways of living in the present moment.  If we're living as if every day is our last and we're alive in Christ, then the coming of Jesus at our death is a joyful time of reward for having faith in Christ and entry into eternal life.

On the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, Deacon Joshua Fons expounds on the implications of Christ's kingship. Either He is our King, or He isn't. There is not a third option. Will we live under His Kingship?

In this homily given at St Pat's on Nov. 19, 2023, Fr. Miguel preaches on the Charisms of the Holy Spirit, and how knowing what God can do through us we are less tempted to bury our spiritual gifts out of fear of what he might ask us to do.