Feast of the Holy Family – Holy and Ordinary
(December 28, 2025)
On the Feast of the Holy Family, we reflect on a powerful truth: holiness is found not in extraordinary places, but in ordinary family life. Jesus chose to grow within a real human family—one marked by love, sacrifice, misunderstanding, and daily tension—showing us that God’s primary path to holiness is lived through relationships.
This reflection explores how everyday moments of friction, sacrifice, and care within families become opportunities for growth in love, patience, and mercy. Drawing from Scripture, it reminds us that putting the needs of others before our own—spouses, children, parents, coworkers, and neighbors—creates a ripple effect of grace that extends far beyond the home.
The Holy Family teaches us that real holiness is not perfection, but faithfulness: choosing love in the midst of ordinary life. As we look to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, we ask for the strength to recognize the opportunities God places before us each day to grow in authentic, lived holiness.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph—pray for us.
About Father David
Father David is the lead pastor of the Lac Courte Oreilles & Hayward Area Catholic Churches in northern Wisconsin, serving multiple parishes across the Northwoods. Rooted in the sacraments and the teachings of the Church, his ministry focuses on preaching, pastoral care, and helping individuals and families welcome Christ into daily life.
Father David also serves as the Director of Vocations for the Diocese of Superior. www.callednorth.org
Learn more at www.haywardcatholic.org.
Hear more reflections at www.anchoredinthelord.com.
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross — How Should Christians Respond?
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Sept. 14, 2025) This weekend, we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The Cross, once a sign of suffering and death, has become for us the ultimate sign of hope: the place where God’s love conquered sin and death.
In light of recent tragedies, including the heartbreaking shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, how are we as Christians called to respond?
With prayer — not as a last resort, but as a powerful act that lifts the suffering to God.
Through the sacraments — especially the Eucharist and confession, where Christ’s grace enters our broken world.
By intentional relationships — reaching out, befriending, and witnessing God’s love to those who may feel unseen.
With courage as disciples — stepping out of our comfort zones to share the Gospel, even if it feels uncomfortable or seems to make only a small difference.
The Cross reminds us that love is stronger than death, and Christ is stronger than violence. Even if it feels like there’s just a 1% chance that our words or actions could help someone turn back to God, that 1% is worth it — because eternity is at stake.
So we lift high the Cross: proclaiming the love of Christ, living as disciples with conviction, and trusting that God can transform even tragedy into hope.
Solemnity of Saints Peters and Paul
We are not on this journey of faith alone. We turn to each other so naturally when we need help, especially to our friends and family. The saints are our friends in heaven, our family in heaven; they are alive in Christ! So ask for their help, their prayers, their support as fellow members of the Body of Christ.
St. Peter...pray for us.
St. Paul...pray for us.
All you holy men and women...pray for us.
Pentecost Sunday
God is doing great things here in our family of parishes! More people are coming to Church; more young couples are attending Mass; more kids are being baptized; more families are joining the Church; more people are becoming Catholic — great things are happening here because of you and your witness!
God's Spirit is being poured out in other places as well. God is doing great things in vocations in our diocese. God is doing great things at St. Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee (where we send our graduate seminarians in final preparation for priesthood).
Baptism of the Lord
When we are baptized in the waters, we are adopted into God's family and actually become, in Jesus, children of the Father. Baptism happens once and is the doorway to the other sacraments. Receiving the Eucharist (which we do again and again and again) is becoming who we are: the Body of Christ. So ask yourselves a few questions: "How do I come to Mass? What do I see as my role at Mass? How am I engaged at Mass?"
“Priest of God,
Celebrate this Mass as if it is your first Mass,
Your last Mass and your only Mass.”
“People of God,
Celebrate this Mass as if it is your first Mass,
Your last Mass and your only Mass.”
Solemnity of Christ the King
Together, during this Advent season, all 5 of our parishes (along with Christians throughout the world) prepare to welcome Jesus into our hearts and homes in new and deeper ways, and as we are practicing hospitality in opening our hearts and homes to God, let us also practice hospitality by inviting others in our lives to join us.
On this Feast of Christ the King, Christ is a King Who doesn’t force His way into hearts, He doesn’t strong-arm His way into our lives, Christ is a King who came first as a baby, silently, quietly, yet in the full power of God to destroy the darkness of sin and to bring the joy and peace that only God can. The Journey to the Manger is both the triumph of Christ the King and the Triumph of Christ the Babe, Who wants a warm place of welcome in the manger of your heart, and who wants us to invite others to join us as we Journey to the Manger, so that He can have a warm welcome in their hearts as well!
Holy Trinity
Each time we make the sign of the cross we are proclaiming that our God is a Trinity - God IS a relationship, so united that the Three are actually One, and yet the One remains Three. And we, caught up in this relationship of God through baptism, are called by Jesus today to, “Go and make disciples.”
Luckily, it’s not as complicated or scary as it might sound - it's all about relationship! God is a relationship. We are connected to God through our relationship with Him. We are connected with others through our relationships with them, and the goal is that through us they would also come to experience God and a life of faith and hope and fulfillment and that they would be inspired to enter into relationship with God themselves!
So making disciples is like MAKING TRIANGLES!
Pentecost
The Holy Spirit comes on this Pentecost day to strengthen us in 3 ways:
Every day this week, pray, "Come, Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit." When you feel your relationship with the Lord is not what it could be, when the Church is being looked down on, when someone needs to hear the encouragement of a life lived in faith, it is the Holy Spirit who will give you His strength and His words to speak into that situation! Come, Holy Spirit!
Merry Christmas!
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled.”
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!
Corpus Christi
You ever wonder why you brought your kids up going to Church and educated them in Catholic schools…and yet most of them don’t go to Church anymore? You ever worry about why, even though you tell your kids and grandkids that they should go to church and pray, and even though you tell them that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist, they still don’t come and don’t believe? I mean, that’s how you were raised, and you’re here, right? So that’s how you raised your kids…so why aren’t they here?! Christendom times vs. Apostolic times - that's the reason! We have gone from Christendom times to Apostolic times, but we're still trying the tactics that used to work but don't anymore. The good news: the Catholic Church thrives in Apostolic times - we just need to remember anew how to live in them!
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Last summer I challenged everyone to Meet 6, to meet six people from church. This summer I'm asking you to take the next step. Christian community isn't simply meeting or knowing people or getting together; that's a first step...but Christian community involves Jesus Christ! Christian community is about Christ-informed relationships, faith-filled friendships and interactions. The next step in the process, whether it's someone you know well or someone you don't know at all, is to ask a very simple, yet a very powerful, question once you've met them: “Is there something I can pray for you for?” “How can I pray for you?”
This summer, Ask 6! Step out of your comfort zone to ask six people, “Is there something I can pray for you for?” Then bring that intention to prayer before God on that person's behalf. We all know our world needs the light of Christ, and you, O Christian, have the power to bring that light into our world with an extremely simple and inviting question: “Is there something I can pray for you for?” “How can I pray for you?” Then pray!
Feast of the Holy Family
Jesus not only came as a baby at Christmas, He also entered into a human family - with all the joys and frustrations that go with it. We are challenged in all relationships, but especially in the family, to put the wants and needs of others before our own, to stretch our hearts, to learn how to love more, to sacrifice for each other. Our readings today all challenge us to put others first, "Children, obey your parents in everything...Wives, be subordinate to your husbands...Husbands, love your wives." Jesus loved us, and so He subordinated Himself to our needs, even to the point of death. We can practice this kind of love every day, especially in the family!
Solemnity of the Assumption
In heaven, Scripture says, we shall be like God, for we shall see Him as He is (1 Jn 3:2). Today we celebrate the Assumption of Mary, that she was assumed/taken up soul and body into heaven by a singular grace of God. Mary, by God's grace and her free will, radically followed and trusted God - she already looked like God in this life! Our call as "Christians" is to be "followers of Christ", "other Christs" - to look like Christ; we start looking more like Christ when we start acting more like Christ.
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 practiced prayer and generosity to the point of death; let's act more like Christ in this life, so as to become more of who we are called to be in the next!
Pentecost
Unlike so many other religions, Christianity makes the incredibly bold claim that the God who created all things desires a personal relationship with each one of us. Our God is anything but impersonal; our God, as revealed through Scripture and especially in the Person of Jesus Christ, is incredibly personal! But it's easier for us as humans to be impersonal in all kinds of different matters, and that tendency to lean toward the easy and impersonal can sneak its way into our faith as well. But God desires a close, deep, rich, personal relationship with each or us. So this week are you willing to let your relationship with God get personal?!
Easter Sunday
Our faith is not primarily a set of rules and obligations, nor is it a moral code. Our faith is not a collection of beliefs for a good life or that help us merit heaven. Our faith is in a person - Jesus Christ! - and the relationship He offers to us! Without that relationship, all we're left with is a bunch of rules and obligations that don't seem to connect or make sense. In light of that relationship, everything begins to fall into place and make perfect sense because it's all in light of growing in a relationship with Him! God is relationship (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), and God in Jesus Christ invites us into this relationship. So how do you see our faith? How do you experience the expectations of our faith? Do you see it as about something or some things...or do you see it as about SomeONE?!
The Baptism of the Lord
Today Jesus is baptized, not to be washed by the water but to wash the water; not to be cleansed by the waters but to cleanse the waters. Today Jesus isn't baptized by water - water is baptized by Jesus. So when we go down into the water in baptism, we no longer just get wet, we get Jesus Christ! At our baptism we were set free from the hold of sin, worry and anxiety in our life, brought into God's family, and given the power of the Holy Spirit to live this new life in God. The challenge this week: how are we doing? How are we living out the graces of our baptism? Have we in some ways forgotten the power and strength God gave us on our baptism day and settled for a less than full and vibrant life of faith? This week, let's ask for a renewal of that strength of our baptism!
Feast of the Holy Family
Jesus not only came as a baby at Christmas, He also entered into a human family - with all the joys and frustrations that go with it. We are challenged in all relationships, but especially in the family, to put the wants and needs of others before our own, to stretch our hearts, to learn how to love more, to sacrifice for each other. Our readings today all challenge us to put others first, "Children, obey your parents in everything...Wives, be subordinate to your husbands...Husbands, love your wives." Jesus loved us, and so He subordinated Himself to our needs, even to the point of death. We can practice this kind of love every day, especially in the family!
Feast of Christ the King
We've been so concerned recently with who's going to be our president, have we stopped to ask ourselves how concerned we've been with Who's going to be our King? This weekend, as we near the end of our liturgical year, we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King as we we look ahead to the end of time - when Jesus Christ will come in glory to rule all of creation forever. If politics can get us passionate and worked up about a man who will run our country for a handful of years and then go into the history books, then our faith and relationship with Jesus Christ should inspire us to incredible passion for sharing Who is going to be our King for all eternity! As citizens of God's kingdom, we're not called only to live personally as disciples of Jesus Christ, but we're also expected to reach out call others to join this incredible kingdom. How do we do that? Start listening to find out!
Corpus Christi
As a freshman in high school I remember the day it hit me: that Jesus is physically present in the Eucharist! How many times had I heard that in religion class or at Church? And yet it seemed to always go in one ear and out the other. But this particular day it finally hit me - what looks like bread and what looks like wine is actually changed entirely into Jesus! If the Eucharist is a nice symbol of Jesus...so what? There are lots of nice symbols of Jesus in our world. But if the Eucharist IS Jesus Christ...then that changes everything! That was the start of my reconversion to the faith, and that was the start of my call to the priesthood. So what does it mean for you that Jesus is physically present in the Eucharist (vs. symbolically present)? What difference does that make in your life? For me it's made all the difference!
Ascension Sunday
This weekend we celebrate Jesus' Ascension into heaven - that after rising from the dead and appearing to His disciples for a number of days, Jesus ascends to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. The ascension is not just a one-and-done event of history, though: creation is called to follow where its Master has gone before. The ascension is still happening - heaven is waiting for it to be complete in three distinct ways! Can you name them?
Epiphany
Today three wise men/three kings/three magi arrive at the place where Jesus was born after following the sign of a star. The presence of these three non-Jewish kings shows that God is calling not only the Jewish people but ALL people of the world to believe in and follow His Son Jesus. God’s sign was a star; everyone can see the stars. So why is it only these three wise men who followed that star? Was everyone else just too busy? Were they so caught up in life that they didn’t even notice the sign? We encounter three different kinds of people in the Gospel today: those who don’t notice the sign, those who notice the sign but don’t follow it, and those who notice the sign AND follow it. This week: What are the signs God is placing in your life (what are the stars)? And when you see a sign, do you follow it?
Feast of the Holy Family
Jesus not only came as a baby at Christmas, He also entered into a human family - with all the joys and frustrations that go with it. We are challenged in all relationships, but especially in the family, to put the wants and needs of others before our own, to stretch our hearts, to learn how to love more, to sacrifice for each other. Our readings today all challenge us to put others first, "Children, obey your parents in everything...Wives, be subordinate to your husbands...Husbands, love your wives." Jesus loved us, and so He subordinated Himself to our needs, even to the point of death. We can practice this kind of love every day, especially in the family!
Solemnity of Christ the King
As Americans we are naturally weary of anything having to do with a "king", we also don't like the word "authority" all that much - it was the abuse of power by some oppressive authority, even some kings, that brought many of our ancestors to America in the first place. Scripture, however, has no problem with the idea of a king or authority; in fact, Scripture makes it very clear that all authority has been given to Jesus Christ, that Jesus came to this earth to bring a kingdom, and that He is the King of that kingdom! As Christians we proclaim that we are followers first and foremost of Christ, our true King, and that we are committed to bringing His kingdom more fully onto this earth. His kingdom started in us at our baptism and is meant to grow in us throughout our lives. Can you invite Jesus to reign in your heart for a little bit longer each day this week? Think, if we each did that for a few more minutes every day, how much more of a reality the words we pray in the Our Father would become - thy kingdom come!