St. Patrick Catholic Parish Podcast

In this homily given on Sunday November 12 2023, Fr Mathias preaches on parable of the ten virgins and the suddenness of Jesus' return. Perhaps the safest sign that we will have oil in our relationship with God to enter the Wedding Feast of Heaven is the presence of a sincere desire and longing for God in our lives. Contrary to what the world thinks, Christianity is a religion of desire and fulfillment. If understood correctly and done in Christ, our deep human desires are a powerful impetus to growing in our relationship with God. If we can remain in our strong desire for God, then we'll have oil in our relationship with God and will be ready when he comes (when we die or the Second Coming). Father ends his homily with two pointers on how to stay in our longing and desire for God: 1) Remember who Jesus is in our desires and 2) Acknowledge the tendencies to not express our desires to God in prayer.

In this homily given at St Pat's on November 5, 2023, Fr. Miguel preaches on God the Father and who Jesus reveals Him to be.

In this homily given on Sunday October 29th 2023, Fr. Mathias preaches on the need for us to turn away from dead idols in order to serve the living and true God. Anytime we put something above God and our obedience to him, that thing becomes and idol and acts like poison on our lives, taking us away from God who alone can bring us the love, joy and freedom we seek. After Father Mathias gives several examples of what idolatry can look like in our lives, he offers a two-step process to help us turn away from idols to worship the living God.

On World Mission Sunday, October 22nd, 2023, Deacon Dave shares a story from a parishioner that illustrates with great clarity the truth that even our own neighborhoods are mission territory.  Deacon Dave also reads an excerpt from a mid-second century letter that describes how a Christian is called to live in the world.  The main focus of the homily asks “Whose image and likeness do we most resemble, the world around us or the God who made us?”

In this homily given at St. Pat's on Sunday, October 15th, 2023 Deacon Joshua Fons unpacks the scripture readings for this Sunday, reflecting on how we are all invited to the Wedding Feast of Heaven, but that this is an invitation we either accept or reject. He highlights the sad reality that we often reject the invitation because we can't imagine how glorious Heaven will be.

In this homily given at St Pat's on October 8, 2023, Fr. Miguel draws from Covenant Eyes' book, "Equipped: Smart Catholic Parenting in a Sexualized Culture '', and preaches on how we can make our families safe haven's from online pornography.

A link to Resources from Covenant Eyes: Resources on Porn Recovery and Internet Safety | Covenant Eyes
https://www.covenanteyes.com/e-books/

In this homily given on Sunday September 24th 2023, Fr Mathias talks about how gratitude for what God has given to us in Christ is the fundamental shape of our response to all he's done for us.  As a result we are called to live as thankful stewards of what God is entrusting to us:  our time, talent and treasure.  Disciples of Christ are good stewards of God's gifts when they share them and invest them in this world.  We do this not primarily because there will be an account of our stewardship when we die, but out of thanksgiving for all he's done for us. In this first homily of a two-part series Father breaks open how we can begin to understand our time and talent as gifts of God and how we can start stewarding them well. 

In this homily given on Sunday September 17th, 2023, Fr Mathias breaks open Jesus' parable about the unforgiving servant. Forgiveness means to release someone from the debt they owe to us, a debt they incurred when they committed an injustice against us. Because we've been forgiven a massive debt we cannot possibly repay, we are to forgive those who owe us much smaller debts which are rather insignificant in comparison. If we don't, we risk losing the forgiveness Jesus won towards us.The key to forgiving others is, therefore, living in the awareness of the big context of God's infinite mercy toward us.  

Recognizing how much we've been forgiven, it's much easier to forgive others who owe us much less and insignificant amounts. Fr Mathias then distinguishes the moral difference between refusing to forgive and struggling to forgive, noting that the latter is a sign of need of healing or deliverance. Since forgiveness is a decision, one can have forgiven and not feel it. Father ends his homily offering two signs that we know we've forgiven others.

In this homily given at St. Pat's on Sunday, September 10th, 2023 Deacon Joshua Fons preaches on how the call of the Prophet Ezekiel to be a watchman is a call for all of us today. He lays out practical ways that we can be watchman over our own hearts and minds, and those of our family's, in a culture that is growing increasingly hostile to the Faith.

In this homily given at St Pat's on September 3, 2023, Fr. Miguel dives into God's invitation for us to engage in the renewal of our minds and the transformation that follows when we adopt a heavenly perspective.