24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

“Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven… Remember your last days, set enmity aside;”

“So will my heavenly Father do yo you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Last week we heard about how the gates of the netherworld would not prevail against the Church, how Jesus actually sees His Church as being on the offensive, and how the gates of darkness will not be able to hold back His kingdom.  This week's readings continue and clarify that them, showing us what it will actually cost to overcome gates of darkness in our world and bring the light of Christ.  It won't be easy, but it will absolutely be worth it!

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

In our Gospel today Jesus says an often misinterpreted and misunderstood line: "upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it."

In the face of such seemingly steep opposition, pushback and darkness in our modern world, I believe this line of Jesus, correctly understood, provides us the key to understanding how and with what attitude we as Christians are called to engage the world today!  

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

This weekend is the kickoff for our annual diocesan Catholic Services Appeal (CSA).  The CSA provides incredible opportunities to spread the faith of Jesus Christ in northwestern Wisconsin - for our seminarians, for our youth, for our schools, for our parishes - opportunities that I witness and see the fruits of firsthand!  I'm challenging you this year to stretch yourself in prayerful generosity to all of your favorite organizations and non-profits.   I challenge you particularly this week to think what you might be able to sacrifice monetarily to support the CSA for your parish this coming year.  Jesus Christ is our model of prayer and generosity; let's act more like Christ in this life, so as to become more of who we are called to be in the next!

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In our first reading, there’s a strong heavy wind crushing rocks, there’s an earthquake, there’s a raging fire. In our Gospel there’s a stormy sea.

But where is God in the midst of it all?  In the noise of our lives (which will always be there), I want you to look for God in the small moments, the daily moments, the unnoticed moments, in the small whispers.  When we notice Jesus in small ways, even in the midst of our storms, and invite him into our boat, we find a true peace and calm that only He can bring.  And those storms just aren’t as stormy any more.

Look for God in the small moments this week.

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

This week, no matter where you're at, I am challenging you to take one real step in prayer.  I don't care where you think you're at now - whether you only come to church when you're visiting Grandma and Grandpa, or whether you have a daily hours long prayer regimen that you have followed for years - no matter where you are I want all of us to intentionally take one step in prayer this week.  Disciples are Quick to Pray.  Disciples are Committed to Growth.  Let's get a two for one this week and take one step toward growth in prayer!

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

"Rabbi" means "teacher".  "Disciple" means "student".  In Israel, 2,000 years ago, there were a couple formulaic statements that a rabbi would use to call a disciple and then invite that disciple to take on the rabbi's worldview and become like him (one statement we find in today's Gospel!).  Then at the end of this period of formation, the disciple is sent out to teach others what he learned from his rabbi.  We are disciples of the Great Rabbi, and Jesus has sent us to witness to what we have seen, heard, learned and experienced!

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

A Lazy River with a bunch of kids is never “lazy” — it’s always moving, surprising, dynamic, alive!  Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.  And what we profess every single time we make the sign of the Cross — “In the name of the F, and of the S, and of the HS” — is that our God isn’t a boring, one dimensional, existence.  What we’re saying is that our God, in Godself, is three persons, living in so close and dynamic a relationship that they are actually united as One God.  God’s very life is not isolated or lonely; God’s very life is moving, surprising, dynamic, alive — like an eternal un-Lazy River…and that’s the kind of life He invites us to join Him in!

Pentecost Sunday

On this Memorial Day Weekend we remember our United States Military personnel who have died while serving in the US Armed Forces: we honor them, express our gratitude, pray for them...and even pray to them.  We believe in the Communion of Saints, that we are one body in Christ, and that we help one another on this journey towards fullness of life in God, both during this earthly life and after - not even death can separate us who are united in Jesus Christ!

6th Sunday of Easter

As we celebrate Mother’s Day weekend, as we honor mothers who hold their children dear and close in their hearts and minds, we look to Mary as the model of not only earthly motherhood, but also as the model of a disciple who invites the Spirit of God into her life, who ponders and intentionally holds in her mind the experiences that God has given her, and who, as a result, brings the presence of Jesus into the world around her!

3rd Sunday of Easter

Acts 2:42 describes what the very first followers of Jesus did: “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.”  Those sure sound like the 4 Marks of a Disciple…because they are!  Christianity isn’t a belief, or a set of beliefs, it’s a way of life, it’s a path to be walked.  And that path looks like followers of Jesus being Quick to Pray, Joyfully Sacramental, Intentional in Relationships, and Committed to Growth. Let’s live this way of life we call Christianity!  Let’s keep walking this path together!

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter!  Imagine…imagine that you go to bed one night, and when you wake up in the morning the world has been transformed overnight.  Everything that you envision for a better world, all of the change you’d like to see — in societies, situations, individuals, countries — it all happened, magically, overnight.

Now…when you wake up that morning and as you start going about your day...what do you notice first?  What do you actually experience as changed?  

This is what I did…except for our parishes: so what did I see when I woke up and everything I envisioned for an ideal life of Catholic followers of Jesus here in the greater Hayward area changed overnight?  What did I experience?  Listen to find out!

Palm Sunday

Everything Jesus did, He did for individual people; everything He did was personal.  His life, his preaching, his healings, his interactions, his suffering, his death, his resurrection - Jesus did all of this for individual people; it was personal.  He didn’t do it to “do right” or to “be good”; he didn't do it for a moral code; Jesus wasn’t an impersonal “do-gooder”.  Jesus did everything we celebrate this Holy Week for us: it was personal.   And everything Jesus still does in our world and in our lives is personal.

4th Sunday of Lent

This weekend I am speaking on the Third Mark of a Disciple - what it means to be Intentional in Relationship!

Last weekend Deacon Brian gave a great homily on the First Mark: Quick to Pray.   That can be found on our Hayward Catholic website in text format (https://haywardcatholic.org/recent-homilies) or, as he sings a couple verses from country songs, you may want to listen to him preach: click into the live stream section, select the 3/11 recording, and fast forward to his homily! (https://haywardcatholic.org/ecatholic-live)

1st Sunday of Lent

In this first Sunday of Lent I unpack the second mark of a disciple of Jesus Christ: being Joyfully Sacramental!

Ash Wednesday

Here is my homily from Ash Wednesday, introducing our Lenten themes of Fasting and the Four Marks of a Disciple!

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

I recently went on an 8-day silent retreat.  Many have been asking, “Father, how was the retreat?!”  So I’d like to share with you a bit about silent retreats in general as well as some of what happened and what God was up to on my retreat!

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Listen to a real, down-to-earth story of barstool evangelization!  When we are sharing with others, what we're meant to share is not primarily information, but our own experience of God, faith, prayer, and why it's important to us.  People don't primarily want to hear theological reasons or arguments (even though they might say they do, or start the conversation that way), what people really need is to be inspired by the real example and experiences that others have of God - and that's something that any person of faith can share, no matter how much or little they think they know about the faith!