Nativity of John the Baptist
This weekend we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist. John was a crucial figure, bridging the gap between the Old and New Testaments and preparing people for the coming of the Lord. He spent most of his life in quiet preparation in the desert, and even though his role was crucial when he stepped out of the desert and into the spotlight, his time "on stage" was very short. Maybe in your life you don't feel like you're on the front lines; maybe parts of your life seem un-amazing and un-eventful; maybe you don't feel like God is using you often for a special purpose. Perhaps, like John, this is your time in the desert, when God is preparing you for the time when He wants you to step on stage and play a crucial role in the life of someone else.
Pentecost
The coming of the Holy Spirit CHANGED the first followers of Jesus. We received the Holy Spirit in baptism, we were sealed by the Holy Spirit in Confirmation, we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus at every Mass...but how much are we CHANGED by these experiences? Do you ever feel like you're in a spiritual rut? Do you ever long for more in your faith but just not know why you aren't getting it? If that's ever been you, listen to this homily, and most importantly - remember to breathe (spiritually)!
Feast of the Holy Family
In today's readings we get some very practical advice about how to live as Christians: put the wants and needs of others before your own...as Christ did. Paul gives us a very concrete example of how this looks in one of the most fundamental sets of relationships we find ourselves in: the family. Before getting up-in-arms about how Paul could write, "Wives, be subordinate to your husbands," let's look at the reading in context and see how Paul is challenging everyone to stretch their hearts and love others the way Christ loved us.
Feast of Christ the King
God's judgment is totally different than ours. Our judgment of people and situations is narrow and subjective - concluded based on our limited perception. God's judgment, on the other hand, takes into account every thought, every inclination, every factor, every pressure, every influence - God's judgment is absolutely fair. After our own particular judgment at the end of our life, and after the final judgment at the end of time when everyone's life will be completely laid open for all to see and we will understand how our life fit into God's great story, we will know ourselves (and others) as God knows us (which is fully and entirely, nothing hidden)...and we will end up in exactly the place we belong in God's love: no shame, no pride, just an honest acknowledgment of the decisions we freely chose to make in this life, whether for God, others, or ourselves. God is absolutely fair, and we will end up exactly where we've chosen to be.
Most Holy Trinity
Every time we say, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit," we are proclaiming that our God is a Trinity - that from all time our God has been a relationship of love: 3 distinct Persons, fully united as 1 God. And this God made us - humanity - to share in His love! But to know God as Trinity is not something we can describe with words alone, it is something that has to be experienced to be believed!
Corpus Christi
At the Mass we celebrate each weekend, when the priest says those words in the name of Jesus - "This is my body...this is my blood...." - bread and wine are transformed entirely into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. How might your daily life be different if you experienced Jesus Christ with you, in you, next to you every hour of every day of your week? When we receive Communion, Jesus is physically with us, in us, next to us...and He stays with us every hour of every day, even if we don't realize it. How will this change your week?
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
From all eternity God has existed in a relationship of love - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These Three Persons of the Trinity are so united in love that they are actually 1 God. This is the amazing faith we proclaim every time we make the sign of the cross. And we have personally experienced this life of God: every single time we experience love, we taste for a moment the Trinity - for 'God is love' (1 John 4:8). That's what we look forward to in heaven. That's why, when we don't feel like we have anymore love, patience, kindness or compassion to give during the daily grind, we ask for strength from God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Then we start loving with Trinitarian love.
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're relationship is faltering, when the Church is being looked down on, when someone needs to hear the good news of Jesus, it is the Holy Spirit who will give your His strength and His words to speak into that situation! Come, Holy Spirit!
Solemnity of the Ascension
After a brief word from Pope Francis ; ) we celebrate how Jesus ascends today into heaven. This ascension is still happening every time a faithful soul passes from this life into the next. Those who are in heaven cheer us on and assist us in our ascension to God. But even when every soul is in the presence of God, heaven will still be waiting: waiting for the resurrection of their bodies, and waiting for God to create a new heavens and a new earth. The ascension happened 2,000 years ago, it's happening today, and it will be happening until God's master-plan of salvation is entirely fulfilled.
Solemnity of the Epiphany
In our Gospel today we see the three magi coming from the east. They saw the signs God placed in their lives, and they followed them - straight to Jesus. God wants to lead all people to Jesus, and God works signs in the life of every person on this earth - Christians, Muslims, atheists, agnostics, New Agers...it doesn't matter. The presence of the magi today shows that God IS working in the lives of all, calling all people to His Son, whether they know it or not. What are the signs God is placing in your life? How are you following them?
Solemnity of Christ the King (34th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
This feast is a challenge for us: is Jesus Christ the King of our lives? And by that I mean, is Jesus Christ the King of EVERY area of our lives: family life, work life, public life, private life, personal life, mind, body? Jesus is the King of all, and He wants to be King in your life, but He waits for you to decide. So will you invite Jesus in today to be the King of your heart?
Solemnity of All Saints
Holiness isn't the call of a select few, it is the ordinary call of every Christian - it's the norm! Everyone in heaven is a saint. Saints aren't angels, they're survivors, with their own shares of difficulties and joys in this life, but who turned to Jesus again and again and again. Want a direct path to genuine holiness, follow St. Therese's Little Way, simply ask throughout the day, "What's the right thing to do in this moment?"