Anchored In The Lord

1st Sunday of Lent Lent is a great opportunity for us - an excuse to slow down a bit, a time to shake us out of our daily routine (through fasting and no-meat Fridays, with our personal resolutions: giving something up or adding healthy spiritual practices). Lent provides us more chances to LOOK UP to our God and ask for His help in our lives.  The Israelites were led by Moses out of Egypt, they were tempted in the desert and failed three times by not turning to God and trying to fix the issue themselves.  In our Gospel today, Jesus is led into the desert for forty days and forty nights, tempted by the devil, and Jesus wins three times!  How?  He LOOKS UP to the Father for help and doesn't try to do it alone.  This Lent you will be led into the desert (some things in your life will be hard and difficult), and you will be tempted (like the Israelites, like Jesus).  Will you try to do it alone, or will you LOOK UP?

Ash Wednesday The day you're a little more self-conscious (if you went to Church in the morning).  The day people look at you funny, wondering why your forehead is dirty but probably not willing to say anything to you about it.  The day you find out which of your co-workers are Catholic.  The ashes placed on the foreheads of millions of Christians throughout the world this day proclaim three things: we belong to God, we are totally dependent on God, and we have decided today to take concrete steps during these next 40 days to turn back to the Lord!

8th Sunday in Ordinary Time In our Gospel today Jesus challenges us, before pointing the finger at someone else, to point it first right into the mirror.  "How do I look (spiritually)?  How could I look better (spiritually)?"  This week, this Lent, take a long, hard look in the mirror...give some serious thought to what you'd like to do to make this your best Lent ever! Once again I encourage everyone (all listeners, wherever you're from - if you're listening consider yourself part of our parish community) to register for FORMED by going to superiorcatholic.formed.org.  Should it ask you for an Access Code ours is: 6RC4CN.  This week's homily was 3 minutes short so that you would use those 3 minutes to register for FORMED, login, and see the resources they have to offer. Take advantage of this great opportunity for your own study and spiritual growth, available at your fingertips wherever wi-fi or data is present ; )

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time This weekend Jesus tells us, "Stop judging and you will not be judged."  Seems straightforward...but it also seems to put us as followers of Jesus in a crossfire.  On the one hand, God shows us the path to a fulfilled life in this world and the next, asks us to follow it, and invites us to challenge others to do the same.  On the other hand, when we challenge others to follow this path, when we stand up and say that certain actions are right and wrong, that certain decisions are good and bad, we're told, "Stop judging!"  So can I judge, or can't I?  (Hint: the answer to that questions is, "Correct!").  Listen to find out why! 

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time Lent is just around the corner (2 1/2 weeks away) and I am excited to announce an incredible opportunity for all of my parishioners, as well as anyone from afar who stays connected with us through my website, podcast or recorded homilies.  FORMED is a top-quality online resource that gives you access to all the best Catholic content, all in one place, and it has been provided FREE for our parishes (and listeners)  thanks to a generous donation this year!  As you look forward to Lent, as you consider the ways you want to grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ this year, I would encourage you to see what FORMED has to offer - for you, for your family, for your friends - and work some of it's many possibilities into your Lenten resolutions.  Register through us online, for free, at superiorcatholic.formed.org 

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time God's calls to us often come as thoughts, just simple thoughts.  It's easy to miss them if we're not paying attention, or (if you're like me) you reason yourself out of them.  But God calls us every day, in little moments, to reach out to others, to pray for others, to share our experiences of the Lord.  Like Isaiah and Peter in our readings today, we might not feel like we're the best fit for the job, we won't know what following a call will actually entail.  But like Isaiah and Peter, when we hear these calls of God during our day, these simple thoughts and tugs of the heart, let's go for it and unleash more of God's life into this world bit by bit!

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Walls are necessary for security, to protect the life that is fostered within those walls. Just before our first reading begins, the Jewish people have finally been allowed to go home to Jerusalem after being conquered and sent away years ago.  The first thing they do is rebuild the walls to ensure their security.  Then our reading picks up with the great stories of their history being retold to this people who had in many ways forgotten their heritage and identity as God's Chosen People - they are being formed again so that they can become the light to the world that God intended.  It is much the same in our Catholic Church today.  To be strong and secure in our Catholic faith we do need to be set apart, we do need to build walls to protect our life inside from the attacks of the outer world.  But we are also invited – like the Israelites – to reclaim our identity and then throw open the windows to let this life transform those around us: it’s both/and.  Where do you need to stren

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time In this week's Gospel Jesus performs his first known miracle: turning water into wine at a wedding reception.  Jewish wedding receptions lasted 5-7 days; it was the third day of this wedding reception and they're already running out of wine - it would have been a complete humiliation for the newlyweds. For this miracle, however, Jesus didn't magically become aware of the wine shortage, snap his fingers and fix it all in an instant.   Rather, this miracle involved a number of people: noticing a problem, bringing it to Jesus, persevering through seeming rejection, carrying out laborious and seemingly useless orders, all backed by a trust that it would turn out OK in the end.  What would have happened if one link in that chain had been broken by someone stopping from discouragement or doing something other than what Jesus asked because it would have been the more logical or sensible thing to do?   The miracle probably wouldn't have happened.  This week: how will you fit into that chai

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 gift 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!  

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 was born into a human family, with everything that entails.  He learned to live with an immediate and extended family (and based on the lineage we hear in other Bible passages, his relations were far from perfect).  In an imperfect world, with imperfect people and imperfect families, today's readings give us some very practical advice on how we can live more fulfilling lives: 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.

Merry Christmas! What child is this, who, laid to rest, On Mary's lap is sleeping? Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, While shepherds watch are keeping?

4th Sunday of Advent We’ve looked at the light of Christ in our thoughts and actions.  Now, in this final week of Advent, we look at the light of Christ in our words.  In my experience, people WANT to talk about God and faith in their lives…they’re just afraid of what others will think and uncertain where others stand on the issue — so they don’t say anything.  Our words have the power to give people that opportunity to speak about God's presence in their life.  Our words have the power to invite God into a conversation.  Our words have the power to crack open the door to God’s presence.  Others don’t have to walk through that door; they can pass by our invitation.  But for those who want to go there and just don’t know how, we can give them that opportunity.  Something as simple as, “I’ll pray for you,” can be enough.  This week: use your words to invite God into a conversation! (I think you'll be surprised by how positive responses can be!)

3rd Sunday of Advent Last week it was spending time at the manger, allowing the Light of Christ to settle in our thoughts and minds.  This week it's allowing the Light of Christ into our actions.  Little kids are so good at giving presents: at first glance their artwork  might not be a Van Gogh or Monet, but their intention in making these various works as gifts turns them into masterpieces!  Intention and generosity can transform something mediocre into something truly beautiful.  As we prepare for Jesus's Birthday, let's make some presents for Him this week, let's make some works of art for Him - an extra act of generosity, an extra prayer, a task of holiday preparation or an hour of ordinary work, intentionally offered up to God as a gift: these actions might not be perfect in themselves, but given as a gift to the Lord they are transformed into something that He sees as beautiful and worthy of going up on the heavenly frig.  Let the Light of Christ into your actions this week: "God, I made this for You!"

2nd Sunday of Advent Have you ever put yourself in the manger scene?  Have you ever experienced the birth of Jesus or the time after His birth, with Mary and Joseph, or the shepherds, or the wise men?  Lectio Divina (Latin for "Divine Reading") is a form of Christian prayer where we read a passage of Scripture and then use our imagination to place ourselves in the scene: then we see, hear, touch, taste and feel everything as if we were there!  We interact with others in the story.  We take on different roles.  And through this form of imaginative prayer the Scriptures come alive!  At Christmas we celebrate the coming of Christ into the world, the coming of clear Light into a sometimes foggy and murky world, into our sometimes foggy and murky lives.  This week, find some time to let the Light of Christ enter your mind - spend some time in that manger scene.  (Then next week we'll talk about the Light of Christ shining in our actions, and the final week of Advent how the Light of Christ can shine in our words.)

Feast of Christ the King We as Americans don't always like the idea of authority, a king, a ruler.  We pride ourselves on democracy, equality, independence and standing on our own two feet.  But as Christians we claim that God is God and we are not, as Christians we claim to submit ourselves to Jesus Christ, as Christians we claim to bring about the reign of God's kingdom on earth - beginning with our own lives: minds, hearts, words and actions.  So what am I?  Am I more of a modern American with a mind of independence?  Or am I more of a Christian with the mind of being entirely dependent on my God?  This feast is a challenge for us as a Church and as individuals to ask ourselves, "Where in my life do I still try to be independent?  What in my life have I not offered to God?  Do I allow Christ to be the King of my life?  Is He King of all of it, or just some of it?"  We will always feel like something is missing in life, like there must be something more, like something in us is just not quite filled, until

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time What do you see when you look in the mirror?  The problem is that we can only see the external; a mirror can't show us what we look like internally: how our souls look, how our thoughts, words and actions are changing us, for better or for worse.  Our first reading and Gospel are apocalyptic readings that refer, in part, to the end of time.  "Apocalypse" doesn't mean "destruction," it means "pulling back the veil, uncovering."  The day will come when the veil will be pulled back and we will see not just the external, but the whole truth of every person and situation: we will see everything as it truly is, and everything will see us as we truly are - all things will be unveiled.  Will we be attractive?  Will we be the beautiful, genuine person God created us to be?  If you invite Jesus in now, He can heal those deeper, darker, blemished parts of your heart and soul...but only if you invite Him in. What do you see when you look in the mirror?  Can you look deeper?

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time This weekend I joined almost 60 high schoolers from around our diocese for the winter High School Discipleship Weekend.  These are young men and women serious about living out their Catholic faith: they want to continue growing in a deep and genuine relationship with Jesus Christ, they are learning to be active leaders in the faith, they are growing in intentional service to God and others, and they freely chose to give up their entire weekend in order to make these things a priority in their busy lives.  Although I had basically lost my voice by Sunday morning, here is my homily from this amazing weekend!  Themes: trust in God, giving what little we have, God compares us to our former selves (not to other people), knowing when spiritual growth really begins to happen (which is opposite of what we usually think) - all of which, by the way, lead to a freedom in life, a freedom of heart, a deeper peace that we all want but that can only be given by God!

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time In our Gospel this weekend Jesus sums up the entirety of the Scriptures with the simple teaching to "love God and love neighbor."  Christianity IS that simple...but it's not that easy!  Growing in love of God and others is painful: like the pain and frustration you see go across a child's face when they have to learn how to share with someone else, we experience that same pain of transformation as we say goodbye to our selfish inclinations and learn to open ourselves up to love of God and others - which makes us become more of the person God created us to be!  Our belief in Purgatory (which separates us as Catholics from all other Christians) is rooted in this idea of transformation from the inside out.  Heaven is a place where every individual completely loves God and completely loves others...that transformation, those growing pains, have to take place at some point, whether during this life or after.

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time When I was young, I didn't like doing the dishes - it was an obligation, a duty, something I HAD to do.  When my parents came up to visit me the other week, I cooked them a nice meal, and then miracle of miracles...I wanted to do the dishes!  Out of thankfulness for all they've done for me, I WANTED to do that service for them.  In our Gospel today Jesus heals a blind man who then follows Him along the way.  This once blind man is not living his faith out of a sense of duty or obligation - he's living his faith with enthusiasm because he's thankful for what Jesus has done for him.  How do we live out our faith?  How do we live out our relationship with God?  Is it under a burdening sense of duty and obligation, or as an energizing, thankful and joyful response to what Jesus has done in our lives?  What has Jesus done for you recently?  Keeping that answer at the forefront of your mind will transform your faith!