10/26/08 Take A Stand

Homily from the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Will we ignore evil because of a potential good or are willing to be honest and call a spade a spade?
Readings from October 26, 2008:

Exodus 22: 20-26

1 Thessalonians 1:5-10

Matthew 22:34-40

10/19/08 Be Authentic

Homily from the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"He [Jesus] is saying, 'Do not compartmentalize your life! Do not pretend to be one thing at home, to be one thing at Church, and to be another thing in the marketplace, in the voting booth, in the classroom!' He is saying, 'Stop pretending, but be authentic!'"
Readings from October 19, 2008:

Isaiah 45:1, 4-6

1 Thessalonians:1-5b

Matthew 22:15-21

10/12/08 The Need for Hell

Homily from the Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"We are free to love like angels and we are free to destroy like demons. And God respects this choice, because He doesn't want slaves. He wants sons and He wants daughters who love Him."

Readings from October 12, 2008:

Isaiah 25: 6-10

Phillipians 4: 12-14, 19-20

Matthew 22: 1-14

10/05/08 What Are You Focused On?

Homily from the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"We look at our lives and say, 'Are you kidding me?! '...no anxiety...', there's nothing I can control!' Or is there? We can break the circle of worry, we can break the circle of anxiety by taking control over what we can control."
Readings from October 5th, 2008:

Isaiah 5:1-7

Phillipians 4:6-9

Matthew 21:33-43

09/28/08 The Moment of Truth

Homily from the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time:

"Tell God the truth. 'God, I'm afraid I don't always like choosing You. So help me.' 'God, I'm afraid I love someone or something more than I love You. But help me.' 'God, I don't know if I want you to be my Lord.' Pray that prayer! Pray as you can, NOT as you can't. Let that be the moment of choosing, the moment of choosing to tell God the truth, instead of telling Him what we think He wants to hear."

Readings from September 28, 2008:

Ezekiel 18: 25-28

Phillipians 2:1-11

Matthew 21: 28-32

Scripture verses referenced in the homily:

2 Peter 3:9-10

James 2:19

Romans 3:28,24

James 2:20,24

09/21/08 Life is Christ

Homily from the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time:

"To choose greatness is to know what you could possibly be and then strive to become that person."
Readings from September 21st, 2008:

Isaiah 55:6-9

Psalm 145: 2-3.8-9,17-18

Phillipians 1:20c-24, 27a

Matthew 20:1-16a

09/14/08 The Power of the Cross

Homily from the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

"If you and I are going to become mature Christians, the Cross of Christ must be at the center of our lives."
Readings from September 14th, 2008:

Numbers 21: 4-9

Phillipians 2:6-11

John 3: 13-17

09/07/08 Risk It.

Homily from the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"Hell is being surrounded by other people, and not having one friend. Hell is being surrounded by people, and not having one of those people you could call a brother, not having one of those people you could call a sister, in the truest sense of the words."
Readings from September 7, 2008

Ezekiel 33:7-9

Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9

Romans 13:8-10

Matthew 18:15-20

08/31/08 What's Your Origin?

Homily from the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"This is GOD, like the three-syllable God, this is GA-AH-DA saying, 'Listen, I know your name. I've got a plan for you.' This is God saying, 'I know who you are, I know every weakness you have, I know every strength you have. I have got an adventure for you. You have a role. I am calling you to be one of the greatest prophets of all time.' What would you say to that?"

Readings from August 31st, 2008
Jeremiah 20:7-9
Romans 12:1-2
Matthew 16:21-27

08/09/08 Hope & Sacrifice

Homily given at the wedding of Greg Atchinson, teacher of Our Lady of Grace school in Edina, MN on August 9, 2008, and Kate Boran, both friends of Fr. Mike.

"Lord, as You, the Groom, laid down His life for His Bride, the Church, so may Greg, the groom, lay down his life for his bride, Kate. This is the mystery of all mysteries: that in love, there is both hope and sacrifice."

05/11/08 Say "Yes."

Homily from the Feast of Pentecost.

"How many times have we come to Mass, and here comes God on this altar, He comes into your hands and comes onto your tongue, and we don't do anything with Him. We don't let Him change us, we don't let Him burn us up. It's not a trick. There's no secret. All you and I have to do, to be that fuel, is to say 'Yes.'"
Readings from May 12, 2008:

Acts 2:1-11

Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34

1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13

John 20:19-23

05/04/08 "Do What I Do."

Homily from the Feast of the Ascension.

"Peter starts walking on water. Even when he fails, even when he falls, and brothers and sisters we know this, we get called out of the boat. You’re going to do some amazing things in the power of Christ, but are you going to fail? Are we going to sin? ABSOLUTELY! What happens? Peter starts to sink, so what does Jesus do? He descends, He grabs him, catches him, and raises him back up, because that’s what Christ does. He descends in order to raise us up."
Readings from May 4, 2008:

Acts 1:1-11

Psalm 47:2-3, 6-9

Ephesians 1:17-23

Matthew 28:16-20

04/27/08 The More You Know...

Homily from the Sixth Sunday of Easter.

"What is it they [people who are questioning their faith] really want to hear? What they really want to hear, in a lot of ways, they want to hear that word that sets them free. Don't you just want to hear that word that says, 'You know what? Jesus died for YOU,' and have that penetrate into your heart? Don't you want to hear that word that says, 'You know how you're carrying around those heavy weights, those heavy chains? You don't have to, you can be set free from that kind of life!'?"
Readings for April 27, 2008:

Acts 8:5-8, 14-17

Psalm 66:1-7, 16, 20

1 Peter 3:15-18

John 14:15-21

12/24/07 Intimacy With Christ

Homily from the Christmas Eve Mass.

"I have to ask you this. Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Can you say, 'YES! I am friends with God!' Because brothers and sisters if I can’t say yes to that question, you know what Christmas means to me? It’s nice, it’s cute. But if I can say, 'Yes, I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ,' what I’m saying is, 'Christmas CHANGED my life. God took on flesh so that I could hold on to Him. God took on flesh so that He could change my life and I could meet Him.'"
Readings from December 24th, 2007 (Christmas Vigil Mass:

Isaiah 62:1-5

Psalm 89:4-5, 16-17, 27, 29

Acts 13:16-17, 22-25

Matthew 1:1-25

04/20/08 The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Homily from the Fifth Sunday of Easter.

"What’s true has to be more than just what’s true for me or true for you. Sometimes we hear people say, “There is no such thing as absolute truth.” It’s really easy to talk to those people because all you have to say is, “Okay there’s no such thing as absolute truth? Is that true? Is that ABSOLUTELY true that there is no such thing as absolute truth?” Well then all of a sudden there IS absolute truth somewhere. “You can’t know absolute truth.” “Are you sure? Because if you know that, then you CAN know absolute truth.”
Readings from April 25, 2008:
First Reading: Acts 6:1-7
Psalm: Psalm 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19
Second Reading: 1 Peter 2:4-9
Gospel: John 14:1-12

04/13/08 Will You Do It?

Homily from the Fourth Sunday of Easter.

"Do we really think that if someone buys into Christ, they’re going to live a better life? Because if we do, we need to start talking about Christ as if our life depended on it. We need to start being able to share the love of God that we know, not like knock people over the head with it, but to share the love of God, that we know deeply, as if our lives depend on it. Because brothers and sisters, they do."

Readings from April 13, 2008:

Acts 2:14, 36-41

Psalm 23:1-6

1 Peter 2:20-25

John 10:1-10

04/12/08 The Gift

Homily from the Wedding of Tanner and Sarah Lundy (fathermike's sister!)! :)

"Marriage is not just giving gifts, marriage is BEING the gift. It's being willing to BE the gift in every moment, and that's what Sarah and Tanner desire with all of their hearts, minds, souls and strengths, is to BE a gift for the other."

04/06/08 Were Not Our Hearts Burning Within Us?

Homily from the Third Sunday of Easter.

"A witness can only go so far. We can have the best, absolute best Christian who is living the best Christian life and witnessing to us that they know Christ, we can have an ANGEL come to us in witness of Christ's Resurrection! But they need more. People in the Scriptures today, they needed more, and you and I need more. What did they need? They needed to encounter Him for themselves."
Readings From Sunday, April 6, 2008:

Acts 2:14, 22-33

Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-11

1 Peter 1:17-21

Luke 24:13-35

03/22/08 "You Are Mine."

Homily from the Easter Vigil Mass.

"Tonight is about what it looks like when we say, "God is my Father." When the Father looks at you, and He says, "You are mine."

03/09/08 Fear Nothing

Homily from the Fifth Sunday of Lent.

"Every Sunday you get a chance to feed on THE Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of God Incarnate, Jesus Christ Himself. That bread and wine that transforms into Christ's Body and Blood, you've been receiving That in your hand or on your tongue into your very body, and we leave and we walk out of here. Can anyone tell the difference?"
Readings from March 9, 2008:

Ezekiel 37:12-14

Psalm 130:1-8

Romans 8:8-11

John 11:1-45

03/02/08 Is God a Joke to Us?

Homily from the Fourth Sunday of Lent.

"Love changes the way we see. When we start to love someone, we don't laugh at their pains; we don't laugh at their sufferings. and that's how God sees you. He doesn't see your life as a joke."
Readings from March 2, 2008:

1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13

Psalm 23:1-6

Ephesians 5:8-14

John 9:1-41

02/24/08 You Are Made For Me

Homily from the Third Sunday of Lent.

"What is the moment that changes her? It's not when He reveals her own brokenness to her, it's when He reveals Himself to her."
Readings from February 24th, 2008:

Exodus 17:3-7

Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9

Romans 5:1-2, 5-8

John 4:5-42

02/17/08 If You Go I'll Go

Homily from the Second Sunday of Lent.

"No one was saved by seeing God's glory shine through Jesus. But the world was redeemed and saved by Jesus emptying Himself on the Cross."
Readings From February 17th, 2008:

Genesis 12:1-4

Psalm 33:4-5, 18-20, 22

2 Timothy 1:8-10

Matthew 17:1-9

02/10/08 Let Him Be Your Father

Homily from the First Sunday of Lent.

"He won't be a dictator. In fact, God refuses to be a dictator, and who He reveals Himself to be in this story (of Adam and Eve in the Garden) and in the Gospel today is our Father."
Readings from Sunday, February 10, 2008:

Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7

Psalm 51:3-6, 12-13, 17

Romans 5:12-19

Matthew 4:1-11

02/03/08 Be Free

Homily from the Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time.

"Every single one of your heart's desires is meant to point you and lead you to the greatest desire of your life..to God Himself."

Readings from Sunday, February 3, 2007:

Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13

Psalm 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Matthew 5:1-12

01/27/08 Our Mission

Homily from the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time.

"Helping the unchurched become disciples but then equipping disciples to go out and be apostles."
Readings from Sunday, January 27, 2007:

Isaiah 8:23-9:3

Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14

1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17

Matthew 4:12-23

12/16/07 Be Patient.

Homily from the Third Sunday of Advent.

"Every human being is good. Every human being has an intrinsic dignity and an infinite worth. Each and every human being, you, have been specifically chosen and are being shaped to not just be good...but to be more than good."
Readings from Sunday, December 16, 2007:

Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10

Psalm 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10

James 5:7-10

Matthew 11:2-11