Anchored In The Lord

2nd Sunday of Lent The Birkie is an incredible yearly event!  So many people, come from all over the country (and the world) to make this experience possible — whether it’s the skiers, the many volunteers, the family members, the friends, the staff, all our business owners — everyone comes together, preps, and plays their part to make this week happen.  Could the Birkie be a lens, a window, an analogy, into how God wants us to live the entirety of our lives?!

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time In our Gospel today we see Jesus healing those who are sick or possessed by demons, restoring some people physically and some people spiritually.  Jesus' wholeness heals others.  While His apostles aren't yet healing others at this point in their lives, we know that one day they will.  While the saints aren't yet healing others when this Gospel passage happened, we know that one day they will.  And all of it comes from closeness with the Father, often exemplified through prayer-Jesus in our Gospel goes off early in the morning to pray to His Father.  Their wholeness/holiness came from deep union with God, often in prayer, and it spilled over into those around them, bringing restoration and healing...and God will do the same through us when we spend time growing in deep union with the Father, too! 

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time The spiritual life, I believe, is actually very simple; it’s not easy, but it’s simple.  It’s following the impulses that come from deep within, the calls that arise from the depths of our soul and heart, from the place within us where God already dwells.  God is so much closer to us than we realize.  God molded our inmost being, He created us, He placed a spark of eternity in each of us, He gave each of us the breath of His Spirit to give us life; God already dwells deep, deep within each of us.  “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

Merry Christmas! Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King! Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.”

4th Sunday of Advent Mary is hailed today as full of grace, full of God's blessings.  Our lives, too, are filled with God's blessings...but it's so easy to forget and miss those blessings (and our sins lead us to forget God's blessings as well).  As we enter into this Christmas season, let us, like Mary, recognize our blessings and remind ourselves and others of the good things God has done!

2nd Sunday of Advent Christ comes to bring a peace that every heart and soul longs for but which nothing in the world is able to provide.What we need is more of God, more holiness, more of God's light shining in and through us.  And as we experience God's light shining out through us, both we and others experience the peace that this world cannot give!

34th Sunday in Ordinary Time At the end of this liturgical year our readings focus on the end of time, the final judgment, and the coming of God's kingdom in its fullness, the completion of God's great plan for all of creation. Jesus speaks of all people being assembled before the Son of Man, and that "he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left." And those on his left "will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."  Is God fair?  Is this treatment fair?  Listen and find out why this is actually incredibly GOOD news for us!

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time No matter how many talents we believe the Master has given us, no matter if we have used them wisely up until this point or not, we all still have at least one talent (and an important one) - faith!  And our Master expects us to use whatever we have right now, engage with it, "trade" with it, and intentionally multiply that talent. Our Master hasn't yet come back to settle accounts with us, so we still have time to engage others and the world with that talent and make a good return on what He has given to us!

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time This weekend I am thankful to preach back at my home parish of St. Patrick in Hudson.  Thank you to all of you who inspired me in the faith and grew me into who I am today.  I am a priest because of you.  As Paul said in our second reading, "We were determined to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our very selves as well."  Thank you for sharing with me and others not only the Gospel of God but your very selves as well...and keep doing that!

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time I’ve been hearing a lot of discouragement at the state of our world, our country: the divisions, the politics, the games, the manipulation from all sides.  I hear people sad that many of their own kids have fallen away from the active practice of the Catholic faith, that their own grandkids or great-grandkids aren’t baptized.  I hear people lamenting that our younger generations are spending so much time on their phones and on social media. All legitimate feelings.  But there is a very evil temptation/conclusion that can come about as a result of these feelings.  It's a temptation that must be rejected, with a positive call to action from God that must be accepted and lived out by His followers here on earth if we wish to see souls saved and lives changed for the glory of God!

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time As we realize the state of the world around us (perhaps recently we have been awakened to the ever-present realities of atrocities and evils throughout our world by the media coverage of the war in Israel), but as we realize the state of the world around us, we can respond to what's happening in three ways: by being discouraged from our task, by being distracted from our task, or by being encouraged in our task.   What is our task?  It's the same it's always been!  (And perhaps now we are waking up anew to the reality of just how needed it is!) 

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time Last Advent we preached about the 4 Marks of a Disciple: Quick to Pray, Joyfully Sacramental, Intentional in Relationships, and Committed to Growth.  Since then, I hope that you’re finding yourself on certain weeks striving to grow in one or another of those Marks as we have continued to bring them up in preaching.  This weekend we return to the first -- Quick to Pray -- and after some examples of how we as a staff here at our Central Office have been changing our habits and actions to grow in being Quick to Pray, I'd invite you to consider for yourself: How have you been more Quick to Pray in your daily life?  What are some ways you’ve thought of being more Quick to Pray but maybe just haven’t acted on yet?  (That’s likely the Holy Spirit inviting you to take the next step.)  The call in these days ahead: start challenging yourself, as we the staff are challenging ourselves, to grow in being more Quick to Pray!

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!