12/30/12 Never Give Up

Homily from the Mass of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

"It is so easy to feel helpless, it is so easy to feel powerless as a Catholic mom or a Catholic dad in the face of our children's decisions. And so the good news is this: you don't have to feel powerless. You don't have to be powerless. ...The story isn't over yet. The game is not finished. There is always, always hope. Embrace and enact these four powerful things that every Catholic parent can do for their kids: to continue to teach them how to pray, to continue to bless them, to continue to live that life centered on Christ, and above all, to pray, to fast, and to intercede for them."

Mass Readings from December 30, 2012:
Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14
1 John 3:1-2, 21-24
Luke 2:41-52

12/25/12 "And the Word became flesh..."

Homily from the Christmas Day Mass celebrated in Brainerd, MN.

"We still say, "God, why don't you do something?" That is still a cry from all of our hearts, every person here who has had their heart ripped open, there is a line that goes right down all of our lives, and we realize that we are all broken: 'God, why don't you do something?' Well today, this is incredible, today is the day that we come to Mass and we proclaim definitively, God has done something. God's answer to your suffering and mine, to your broken life and mine, to your broken marriage, to your broken family, to your broken heart and mine, God's answer is not a bunch of words, God's answer is one word: God's answer is, 'I will not take away your freedom. But I will give you myself.' 'And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...'

Mass Readings from December 25, 2012:
Isaiah 52:7-10
Hebrews 1:1-6
John 1:1-18

12/16/12 Will We Risk the Fire?

Homily from the Third Sunday of Advent.

"Do you know what real freedom is? Real freedom is not the ability to do whatever I want. Freedom is the power to do as I ought."

Mass Readings from December 16, 2012:
Zephaniah 5:1-9
Philippians 4:4-7
Luke 3:10-18

12/09/12 Finishing the Race

Homily from the Second Sunday of Advent.

"If there is only one real tragedy in life, to get to the end and to not have been a saint, then I need to get this into my head and into my heart: that a fall is not necessarily a tragedy; that a sin is not necessarily a tragedy; and that to be running the race and to fall down is not the end of the race yet. ...Because a fall is just a fall."

Mass Readings from December 9, 2012:
Baruch 5:1-9
Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11
Luke 3:1-6

12/02/12 Do What You Gotta Do

Homily from the First Sunday of Advent.

"So many of us, we find ourselves right now coming into the end of the semester like, 'Listen, if I fail this class, it's all over.' No it's not! 'Listen, if I mess up in this area, then I will never be able to recover.' Yes you will! 'No, but if I lose this thing my life will be worth nothing.' No it won't! And Jeremiah reveals this to us, 'Listen. You're in exile? You feel like there is no hope? There is a bigger story at work. There's a larger story at play. And your life is actually bigger than your life.' Jesus tells us, 'Focus. Don't distract yourself.' Jeremiah tells us, 'Realize that there is a bigger story that you are a part of.' And then Paul, writing to the Thessalonians who are in persecution, he tells them and he actually encourages them, he says, 'Don't distract yourselves. But do what you know you need to do.'"

Mass Readings from December 2, 2012:
Jeremiah 33:14-16
1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2
Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

11/25/12 The Royal Family

Homily from the Solemnity of Christ the King.

"When you were baptized, you were brought into a family. That family is called the Church. And if you want to belong to Him, you have to belong to it. If today I'm going to worship Christ the King and I'm going to say 'Jesus is my King,' what I have to realize now is that I am part of a Kingdom. And if I am part of a Kingdom, if I am part of a family, then that family is going to be able to make demands on me. ...We can't weigh the Church based off of the people who don't listen to the Church and apply it's teachings, what we have to do is weigh the Church based off it's saints."

Mass Readings from November 25, 2012:
Deuteronomy 7:13-14
Revelation 1:5-8
John 18:33-37

11/18/12 Your Body: A Living Sacrifice

Homily from the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"In the Incarnation, Jesus shows us that the body is good and that it's worth loving. In the Sacrifice of His Body, Jesus shows us that even though the body is good, it is not worth being worshipped. But it is worthy of sacrifice."

Mass Readings from November 18, 2012:
Deuteronomy 12:1-3
Hebrews 10:11-14,18
Mark 13:24-32

11/11/12 The Real Owner

Homily from the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"What's one of the reasons you and I offer sacrifices? One of the reasons is because you and I need it. ...In the old covenant, they understood the power that money can have over someone's heart, how it could enslave someone, because almost nothing can enslave someone like money can. So they said right away to just give God your best, give God your first fruits. And the question I can ask myself tonight is this: do I give God my best? Or do I give God whatever's left?"

Mass Readings from November 11, 2012:
1 Kings 17:10-16
Hebrews 9:24-28
Mark 12:38-44

11/04/12 The Great COMMANDments

Homily from the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"If I am going to love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, love means keeping His law. When you and I obey His commandments, that's an incredible, powerful act of love. What does pride do? It brings me in on myself. What does love do? Love calls me out of myself. Love sets me free from the tyranny of my feelings. Actual love, the command, sets me free from the dictatorship of my emotions. Because even when I don't feel like it, I am called to live in love."

Mass Readings from November 4, 2012:
Deuteronomy 6:2-6
Hebrews 7:23-28
Mark 12:28-34

10/28/12 "What Do You Want Me to Do For You?"

Homily from the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"Jesus comes to you today and says, 'What do you want?' Do you know what you want? If the Lord was standing right in front of you and saying, 'What do you want? What is the desire of your heart? What is it that I can do for you?' Would I have a ready answer? And am I willing to bring that to Jesus? The answer is irrelevant, it might be silly, it might be profound, the question is: do I even know what I want?"

Mass Readings from October 28, 2012:
Jeremiah 31:7-9
Hebrews 5:1-6
Mark 10:46-52

10/21/12 Atoning Love

Homily from the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"We have a God who had all strength, and He emptied Himself of all strength. We have a God who had all power, and He emptied Himself of all power. Why? So that not only would we know ourselves, but also so that we could know HIM. ...When I know me, I know humility. When I know Him, I know confidence. Because I know a God who has an atoning love for me, He is not afraid and He is not ashamed to embrace my weakness. He is not ashamed to pour out His strength so that I can be strong."

Mass Readings from October 21, 2012:
Isaiah 53:10-11
Hebrews 4:14-16
Mark 10:35-45

10/14/12 Have I Met Jesus?

Homily from the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"''You're a good boy? That's not what I need, I don't need a bunch of good little boys.' Jesus looks at us and says, 'I don't need a bunch of good little girls.' He says, 'You lack one thing. You're good, but you could be more than good. You could be mine.' That's the difference. Jesus does not need a bunch of tame, nice, good little boys and girls. He needs people who belong to Him.'"

Mass Readings from October 14, 2012:
Wisdom 7:7-11
Hebrews 4:12-13
Mark 10:17-30

10/07/12 Called to Love

Homily from the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"Now when it comes to marriage, you don’t even have to bring morality into this whole thing. There are all sorts of unnecessary non-essential elements to marriage. But again, what makes marriage a unique relationship in all of humanity? Is it love? No. Lots of relationships have love. Is it commitment? No. Lots of relationships have commitment. What makes marriage unique? It is that it is a specific union of hearts and wills, culminating in biological unity oriented towards the creation of life."

Mass Readings from October 7, 2012:
Genesis 2:18-24
Hebrews 2:9-11
Mark 10:2-16

09/30/12 Should the Church Sell Her Nice Things? Should I?

Homily from the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"Anyone who claims to love God but doesn't love the person next to them is a liar. ...Caring for the poor, caring for orphans, caring for widows, this is the essential identity of the Church, not something extra. But if we don't care for the poor around us, we are not the Church."

Mass Readings from September 30, 2012:
Numbers 11:25-29
James 5:1-6
Mark 9:38-48