1st Week of Advent

This is the first of a 4-part Advent homily series on the Mass.  The title of this series is "Invested".  Nothing in our lives can grow unless we are invested in it.  Investing in what is important to us takes many different forms: time, energy, effort, attention, money, care, thoughtfulness (to name a few).  The more we invest, the more we see results.  Our participation in and experience of the Mass is no different: the more we invest, the more we see results.  As we begin this Advent journey, I invite you to take an honest look at how invested you are in the Mass on a typical weekend.  Mark it down as a starting point, so that come Christmas you will be able to look back and count some ways you've grown in your investment in the Mass.

32nd Sunday in ordinary time

The martyrs in our first reading were living for the life to come.  And in our Gospel Jesus gives us a glimpse into this life: a life of such deep and fulfilling relationship with God that earthly marriages are only a shadow of what's coming.  This week we are challenged: Are you intentionally living for the life to come?  Are you intentionally encouraging others to live for the life to come?  Priesthood and celibacy only make sense if we're looking toward the next life.  If young men are going to become priests, it's our job to inspire them by living our lives for the life to come.

What does the Church believe about life beyond death?  How might that existence interact with life before death?  Join me for this 1 hour presentation on death, judgment, heaven, hell, saints, souls, purgatory, ghosts, angels and demons.  We have an amazingly beautiful and powerful faith that answers questions both in this life and beyond.