12/24/13 "I Played My Worst for Him"

Homily from the Christmas Eve Mass.

"Paul said, 'Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a good person, although perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die.' But here's the kicker, here's the line, here's what Christianity is: 'But God proves His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.' This recognition that God's not waiting for you, He's not waiting for me to get better in order to listen to us or in order to come close to us or in order to get involved in our lives. Because the story of Christianity, Christmas, is a story of God's love: not how well I love. It's the story of God's faithfulness: not how faithful I am. It's the story of God's goodness: not my goodness, and not your goodness."

Mass Readings from December 24, 2013:
Isaiah 62:1-5
Acts 13:16-17, 22-25
Matthew 1:1-25

12/22/13 "I Don't _______ You"

Homily from the Fourth Sunday of Advent.

"Sometimes we ask the question, 'How can this be?' Or we make the statement, 'I don't understand You.' Sometimes the Lord is really clear in His answer and sometimes the answer is very cryptic, or very muddled, or we just don't hear it very well. Or the answer is simply silence. But in those times, in those places, what we can be is we can be imitators of Mary. And we can imitate that confidence and that faith. We can imitate that saying, 'Behold, I am the handmaid, or the servant, of the Lord. May it be done unto me according to Your Word.'"

Mass Readings from December 22, 2013:
Isaiah 7:10-14
Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-24

12/15/13 Repentance: Waiting Well

Homily from the Third Sunday of Advent.

"What God does in us while we are waiting is often as important as what we are waiting for."
--Ben Patterson

Mass Readings from December 15, 2013:
Isaiah 35:1-6, 10
James 5:7-10
Matthew 11:2-11

To see the video of the experiment that's referred to in the homily, click here!

12/08/13 Repentance: A Chance to Change

Homily from the Second Sunday of Advent.

"Jesus came to actually give us freedom from that besetting sin, from that thing that just keeps holding us back from having that kind of joy, and the kind of life, and the kind of freedom that you know you want. So the question is this: why not purify your environment? I am going to ask you to do this one thing. What is that one besetting sin in your life right now? What is one thing that you can do tonight right after Mass to change your environment and open up the way for the Lord? To get the obstacle out of the way?"

Mass Readings from December 8, 2013:
Isaiah 11:1-10
Romans 15:4-9
Matthew 3:1-12

12/01/13 Enough

Homily from the First Sunday of Advent.

"This line of enough is really important, but it's really subtle, and it's so vital: because if I have more than enough I have excess, but if I have less than enough I have suffering. ... At the end of the day, each of us has to know and has to choose what enough actually is. We actually have to do the hard work of thinking it through and saying, 'So I can't feel my way to what is enough because I am a terrible judge of that when I go by my gut, literally and figuratively. But also, if I don't decide what enough really is, then I will never actually be happy because I'll never know if I have it. I'll never actually know if I have enough.' ... As we enter into Advent, the big question comes up: what is enough? And not just what is enough stuff. But the question is this: do I love Jesus enough? ... What is there in my life that I might actually need less of in my life just so that I can have more than enough love for Jesus?"

Mass Readings from December 1, 2013:
Isaiah 2:1-5
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:37-44

11/24/13 The Plan

Homily from the Solemnity of Christ the King.

"God doesn't want to crush Adam. God's heart has been crushed. Because the man and the woman that He loves are hiding themselves from Him. And His plan was that they would never hide, that they would never have feel like they needed to hide from Him. ... Here is Eve, and she doesn't trust in God's love, and so she turns in on herself. And so what does God say? God says, 'The problem is that you've turned in on yourself. The solution is that you need to die to yourself. And so what am I going to do? I am going to allow you to experience pain in bringing forth life so that you can know the cost of love.' ... The point of that pain in childbirth is not punishment. It's meant to be remedial training. ... Eve didn't know how to love, so I am going to teach you that love costs something. And then with Adam, it's the same thing ... His (God's) plan was that we know how to love. His plan was that we would love each other. And that we would love Him. But that plan was thwarted, and God says, 'Listen. I can still go in this. I can still redeem this. I can still make this better. I can enter into every situation and I can bring good out of it.'"

Mass Readings from November 24, 2013:
2 Samuel 5:1-3
Colossians 1:12-20
Luke 23:35-43

11/17/13 Hell is for Real

Homily from the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"Sometimes people think that sin is just messing up, that sin is slipping up, that sin is an accident. Let's get away from that. Sin is never an accident. If you do an accident, that is just an accident. If you make a mistake, that is just a mistake. It's like spilling milk, it was just an accident. God gets that. He understands that. He is not quick to condemn. In fact, Scripture says this, that God is not fast, He is not quick to condemn. He is not looking to catch you in every little thing, every mistake or every accident. Sin is something different. Sin is like this: sin is when we say to God, 'God, I know what You want, but I don't care. I want what I want.' ... And with that kind of stuff, we actually get what we want. And what is it when I say, God I know what you want, but I don't care. I want what I want? And I choose that? What happens when I get that? Ultimately, that is called hell. ... God does not send anyone to hell. If any of us end up in hell, it is because we chose it. We said, 'I don't want You, I want this other thing.' As C.S. Lewis said, 'Hell is a door locked from the inside.'"

Mass Readings from November 17, 2013:
Malachi 3:19-20
2 Thessalonians 3:7-12
Luke 21:5-19

11/10/13 Game Changers: Heaven

Homily from the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"The enemy has been defeated. The game changer of the whole show is Jesus. Because yes, the Greeks gave us reason, and the Jews gave us revelation, but Jesus is the One who actually encountered death, died, and then conquered death. This is what we believe as Christians, is that at death, Jesus faced down the mortal enemy of everything that is ever living, and He actually let it beat him. But when He let it beat Him, He beat it. And He changed it. And so we realize that the Christian view of Heaven is not just a myth. I mean think about this, all of the other myths make Heaven into what we want it to be: it's all about us. We get everything we wanted. But for a Christian, Heaven is this: it is not about self-actualization, not where you become the person you always wanted to be. Heaven is a place of selflessness. Heaven is not a place where you get everything you ever wanted, where you get your puppy back, and you get your family back, and you get to play golf non-stop. Heaven is the place where it is not about you at all. It is about worshiping God for all eternity. In fact, the Christian view of Heaven does not conform to just the myth. But it's revealed by the only Person who ever entered into death and then beat it."

Mass Readings from November 10, 2013:
2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14
2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5
Luke 20:27-38

To visit the appeal page that Father Mike mentions after the homily, visit this website:

http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Newman-Catholic-Campus-Ministries-At-Umd

10/31/13 For Theirs is the Kingdom

Homily from the Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of All Saints.

"Our brothers and sisters around this world are experiencing great, great trial. But they also, around this world and in Heaven, are experiencing incredibly glory. And that's what this Mass is about right now. It's about the reality that those who have lived in Christ and died in Christ now experience the glory of Christ. And this is your destiny. And this is my destiny. And that's the thing, is that we not only lift up the Saints, but we also ask for their prayers, we ask for their help because the thing is, no one comes to Jesus alone. None of us come to Jesus alone. It's never part of "I want Him so it will be Jesus and me," it's actually always going to be He wants me so He brings me into His family. ...And if you're a Christian, you are in His family. If you've been baptized, you are in His family, and you have absolutely nothing, nothing in Heaven, on earth or under the earth to be afraid of. Especially if at this moment you are feeling discouraged."

Mass Readings from October 31, 2013:
Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14
1 John 3:1-3
Matthew 5:1-12

11/03/13 Game Changers: Contrition

Homily from the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"I have to let go of that past, or else I will just stay exactly the same. Because the thing is, so many people are willing to come to Jesus to be forgiven, but so few people are willing to come to Jesus to let Him change them. A lot of us want Jesus to forgive us. Very, very few of us want Jesus to change us."

Mass Readings from November 03, 2013:
Wisdom 11:22-12:2
2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2
Luke 19:1-10

10/27/13 Game Changers: Honest Prayer

Homily from the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"Here is the deal: you don't have to convince God to pay attention to you. And also, you can't convince Him not to pay attention to you. It goes both ways."

Mass Readings from October 27, 2013:
Sirach 33:12-14, 16-18
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
Luke 18:9-14

10/20/13 Game Changers: The Word

Homily from the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"He [St. John Chrysostom] says this, 'Let not anyone say to me those silly and in-contemptible words, "I don't have time to read the Bible. I am stuck at the courthouse all day," or "I am tied up with political affairs," or "I am in an apprentice program (a.k.a. university)", "I've got a wife," "I'm raising kids," "I am responsible for a household," "I am a business man." Or if people say this, "Reading the Bible isn't for me, that's for those monks over there."' St. John Chrysostom says, 'What are you saying, man?! It's not your business to pay attention to the Bible because you are distracted by thousands of concerns? Then Bible reading belongs more to you than the monks! ... It is more important for people living in the world than for monks to read the Bible, because they are behind their walls and they are kept safe. But you are on the front lines every single day of the week. You are the ones that are under attack by flaming arrows and spears. And so you need the Word of God absolutely more than anyone else.'"

Mass Readings from October 20, 2013:
Exodus 17:8-13
2 Timothy 3:14-4:2
Luke 18:1-8

10/13/13 Undeclared: God's Choice

Homily from the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"I don't want a tattoo. Why? Because I don't want it etched into my body. But in Jesus Christ, He has had your name etched into His Body. Your name is etched into the nail marks on His feet. Your name is etched into the spear in His side and your name is etched into the palm of His hand. Realize this, when Christ rose from the dead, He didn't give up His wounds. He kept them, and that keeping of those wounds is His declaration that He will never ever change His answer when it comes to loving you. ... Are you willing to choose to live today like God actually loves you? Are you willing to actually make the decision today to be able to say, "I'm going to stop asking why He loves me and I'm going to start saying 'Thank you'?"

Mass Readings from October 13, 2013:
2 Kings 5:14-17
2 Timothy 2:8-13
Luke 17:11-19

10/06/13 Undeclared: Integrity.

Homily from the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"Here is Ignatius, he said to make a list of pros and cons, take your counsel, think it out, pray it out, and then take some tentative steps, and if you need to adjust, then adjust. And the last tip from Ignatius was this: after all of that, if you still don't know what to do, use your imagination. Imagine: what would the best version of myself choose right now? If I was faced with this choice, what would the best me choose at this point? He also said this, "What choice do you want to hand to the Lord when you die? After you've died, if you had these two decisions, these two choices, which one do you want to present to the Lord and say, 'God, I chose this. And I chose this for You'? If it ever becomes clear, choose that one.' "

Mass Readings from October 6, 2013:
Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4
2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14
Luke 17:5-10

09/29/13 Undeclared: Caring Enough to Choose

Homily from the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"The rich man, he lost Heaven not because he was mean but because he was apathetic: he didn't love the poor, and God loves the poor. [He lost Heaven] Not because he was cruel, but because he was cynical: there's nothing worth singing about, there's nothing worth fighting for, there's no one worth truly loving. And the question I have to ask myself today is this: is my heart like the rich man's or is my heart like God's?"

Mass Readings from September 29, 2013:
Amos 6:1, 4-7
1 Timothy 6:11-16
Luke 16:19-31

09/22/13 Undeclared: Think, Prioritize, Decide.

Homily from the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"Paul says this, he says, 'Listen. There is one God. And there is one mediator between God and humanity: Jesus Christ. There are a lot of important things in the world, family, friends, work, other things. But there is one absolute important thing in the world, and that is Jesus Christ. My invitation for us today is this: Have I thought about that? Have I thought, 'Is Jesus my number one priority?'"

Mass Readings from September 22, 2013:
Amos 8:4-7
1 Timothy 2:1-8
Luke 16:1-13

09/15/13 The Logic of Love

Homily from the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"When I mention this, that God loves some people more than others, why did I bring that up? Because it's the test: Which son am I? If, when I mention this, that God loves some people more than He loves others, not affectively but effectively, when I said that, did it cause you to be fearful? 'Maybe He doesn't love me?' 'Maybe I've lost His Love.' 'Maybe He's ashamed of me.' 'Maybe He's not proud of me.' Well, then you're the younger son. If the idea that God loves some people more than others makes you afraid, then maybe you are the younger son. Then the thing you need to hear is no, no, no, no, no, the Father rejoices in your presence. The Father rejoices when you come to Him. The Father rejoices in you. If it was one of those things when you heard that God loves some people more than others, if it made you feel kind of resentful, 'Typical. That's how it always goes, someone loves other people more than they love me.' Maybe you are the older son. And what you need to hear is this same kind of thing, this reality, this truth that actually right now, in this place, in this Mass, the Father loves you exactly how much you need, not how much you deserve. He doesn't prefer anyone to you, He loves you in a completely unique way. Because He is infinite, He can do this. ...I invite you to just let this sink into your heart: God has never loved anyone like He loves you."

Mass Readings from September 15, 2013:
Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Luke 15:1-32

09/08/13 "More"

Homily from the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"Jesus is laying it down here and He says, "You can have Me as one of your buddies, you can travel with Me. But if you want to be my disciple, then you have to love Me more. You have to want it, you have to want Me more.' The question is, 'Well, more than what?' The answer: more than anything. But especially more than whatever is Jesus' chief rival for your heart. That's the question I want to ask all of us tonight: what is Jesus' chief rival for my heart tonight? ...Are we willing to do something about it? Even if it means we have to struggle?"

Mass Readings from September 8, 2013:
Wisdom 9:13-18B
Philemon 9-10, 12-17
Luke 14:25-33

09/01/13 Dropping the Pose

Homily from the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"When I get to class the first day on Tuesday morning, when I walk into that classroom, how am I going to walk in? Am I going to walk in with the idea of, 'Okay, I need to keep the pose...', I want to be concerned with how people are looking at me, or am I going to say, 'You know what? I don't need to be caught up in that slavery. I don't need to be posing. I'm just going to drop the act, I am going to drop the pose, and I am going to focus on how to give. I am actually intentionally going to sit next to whomever, someone who doesn't help me, someone who doesn't offer me anything, but so that I can be the one who sees them in the way that Christ shows me to see them.' Because the reality is, here is God Himself, Jesus, and how does He go? He goes, not concerned with His own welfare, but concerned with us. And how does He give? He doesn't give with the mindset that says, 'What can I get from these people?' He goes with the mindset of, 'How can I make their lives better?'"

Mass Readings from September 1, 2013:
Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29
Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24A
Luke 14:1, 7-14

08/25/13 (You) Strive to Enter the Narrow Gate.

Homily from the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"Jesus doesn't just say, "(You) Strive." He says, "(You) Strive to enter the 'narrow gate.'" The question is this: Am I striving for Heaven? This is Gut Check Sunday. We actually have to have a little gut check and ask the question. Those who are going to Heaven are striving. Those who are not striving are going to hell. Question. Gut check. Am I striving? Am I striving for God? Am I striving for Jesus?"

Mass Readings from August 25, 2013:
Isaiah 66:18-21
Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13
Luke 13:22-30

08/18/13 Run So As to Win

Homily from the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"Do I invite things into my life intentionally that slow me down in the race of becoming a saint? Think about this: if you're a professional athlete, and you knew that there was something you were taking in regularly, like some kind of food that if you ate it, you always performed worse after that. Not that it would make you a terrible athlete, but it just wouldn't make you an optimal athlete. But you're a professional athlete, would you even consider taking that food in? Absolutely not. Because you know as a profession athlete that you're not there to just show up and compete and get a finisher's ribbon, you're there to win. This thing slows me down. Therefore, it has no part of my life. It's the same kind of thing when it comes to our faith. If I'm just here to compete, then that's pathetic. I'm here to win. And if something slows me down, it has no part of my life."

Mass Readings from August 18, 2013:
Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10
Hebrews 12:1-4
Luke 12:49-53

07/07/13 The Harvest? Abundant! Laborers? Few.

Homily from the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"If you want to belong to Him, what does Jesus say? 'Anyone who wants to belong to me, they've got to do three things: you have to deny yourself, you have to take up your cross, and you have to follow me. If you're not willing to do these things, you can't be mine.' ...The call for all of us who belong to Jesus is to come and die. And if we don't do that, then we can't have Him. There is nothing to be afraid of. We are all called to die. We are all called to take up our cross, to deny ourselves, and to follow Him. Where do we follow Him? We follow Him to Calvary."

Mass Readings from July 7, 2013:
Isaiah 66:10-14
Galatians 6:14-18
Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

05/26/13 An Eternal Exchange of Love

Homily from the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. Given at St. Joe's in Gnesen, MN.

"Realize that you are made for that, you are made to be a gift. That doesn't have to be romantic. In fact, that's often the last way it is. Often times the first kind of love you are made for is that you are made to be a gift to the people around you. Think about that: is that how we orient our lives? Is that how most of us set our lives up? Is it to be a gift to others, or is it to just get some more? Is it to be a gift, to pour ourselves out for others, or is the way we set our lives up is to become more comfortable? One of the great challenges, one of the great tasks of life, is how can I set myself up, how can I set my life up so that I'm in a position to be a gift to the people around me?"

Mass Readings from May 26, 2013:
Proverbs 8:22-31
Romans 5:1-5
John 16:12-15

05/12/13 A Cross in the Dirt

Homily from the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord.

"Do you know what that word 'witness' actually is in Greek? The word 'witness' in Greek is 'mártys', which actually in English is the word 'martyr'. Jesus said to His Apostles, 'It's a springtime, the first springtime. And in this springtime you will be My martyrs. You will be My witnesses.' ...In the new springtime, what the Church needs is for us to be witnesses. Because it's springtime, it's time to plant some seeds. And the blood of the martyrs is the seeds of the Church."

Mass Readings from May 12, 2013:
Acts 1:1-11
Ephesians 1:17-23
Luke 24:46-53

05/05/13 "Take My Yoke Upon You"

Homily from the Sixth Sunday of Easter.

"This is incredible. There has been no religion, no philosophy in the history of humanity that ever, ever even considered it a possibility that you could be friends with God. And here's Jesus, and He essentially says, 'The cry of My heart, the desire of My heart, is to be friends with you.' Imagine this, God Himself wants to be friends with you! ...To live a life of friendship with Jesus, to live a life of peace, does not mean inaction, and it doesn't just mean, 'I'm going to wait until I have no stress.' What it is is actually this passionate flame of love: 'I love the same thing that Jesus loves.'"

Mass Readings from May 5, 2013:
Acts 15:1-2,22-29
Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23
John 14:23-29

04/28/13 Be Brave

Homily from the Fifth Sunday of Easter.

"If you have an animal that cannot be tamed and cannot be controlled and that cannot be disciplined, what do you do? You de-claw it, you put it on a leash, you put it in a cage. And in so many ways, in so many ways, our culture has looked at you and has said, 'You know what? You can't control yourself. So we're gonna control you. We're gonna make you weaker. We know that young people can't stop themselves from having sex, so we have to have birth control. We know that young people can't be trusted with their own strength, so we have to have gun control,' instead of saying, 'You know what? There's a virtue in self-control.' Which means that those people in power are interested in making you and me weaker. That's not a governmental thing, that's more of a culture thing, because here is what I want to say: I want to say that the Church looks at you and says, 'Actually, we want to make you stronger.' The Church looks at you and says, 'You have claws? Good. Learn how to use them.' The Church looks at you, Jesus looks at you, and God looks at you and says, 'You have a strength in you? Fantastic. Learn how to use it. We want to actually make you stronger rather than make you weaker. Because why? Because you are made to be courageous.'"

Mass Readings from April 28, 2013:
Acts 14:21-27
Revelation 21:1-5
John 13:31-33,34-35

04/21/13 Why Worship?

Homily from the Fourth Sunday of Easter.

"Worship is for us, but it's about God. Oftentimes we get that backwards. We think Worship is for God, but about us. ...Worship is for us, it changes our heart. Here's Louie (Zamperini) in the middle of the life raft. And he realizes, 'I'm not just praying because I want to live, I'm praying because all of these distractions, without all of these other things I can try to pursue, I realize my heart is too small. In fact, when we are given Worship, when we are given the way to pray to God and praise God, what it it actually does is, as I said, it's for us, it changes us, it purifies our love, it purifies your heart. And if I don't do this now, if I don't do this now, then I will be stuck with my me-sized heart for all of Eternity."

Mass Readings from April 21, 2013:
Acts 13:14, 43-52
Revelation 7:9, 14-17
John 10:27-30

04/14/13 What Fuels You?

Homily from the Third Sunday of Easter.

"[Jesus to Peter] 'Now, after being with me for three years, do you love me?' 'Yes.' 'Okay, if you do, then come and foliow me. But you have to follow me like a grown up. You can't follow me like a kid anymore.' …Jesus asks the same question of us tonight: 'Do you love me? Do you WANT to love me?' If the answer is yes, then His response is, 'Come follow me. But you are gonna have to follow me like a grown-up and not like a kid anymore.' As He says, 'When you were a kid, you used to go where you wanted to go, you used to dress yourself, you used to do whatever you wanted to do. But. When you become a mature follower of Christ, the day is coming when someone else will dress you, someone else will bind your hands, someone else will lead you where you do not want to go.' This is the reality of every single Christian: if we are going to be mature Christians, we have to place ourselves under the obligation of Jesus."

Mass Readings from April 14, 2013:
Acts 5:27-32, 40-41
Revelation 5:11-14
John 21:1-19

To see the Kmart commercial that Father Mike refers to in the homily, click here!

04/07/13 Glorious Wounds

Homily from the Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday.

"What is in you that makes God love you? What in you draws God to love you so much? What in you draws God to choose you so much? I'll tell you what: your brokenness. Your woundedness. What is in you that draws God to love you with a Love that will never end is your need. What caused God to race after your heart, to race after the human race? Not our greatness, but our brokeness. Nothing attracts God's love more than your lowliness. Nothing attracts God's love more than your brokenness. Nothing makes God love you more than your wounds."

Mass Readings from April 7, 2013:
Acts 5:12-16
Revelation 1:9-11,12-13,17-19
John 20:19-31

03/31/13 The Truth of Absolute Importance

Homily from the Mass of Easter Sunday.

"If the only thing keeping me from getting to Mass on Sunday is that it's an obligation, I have a bigger problem than an obligation. My problem is that I don't actually believe that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. I don't actually believe that the Eucharist is truly Jesus Christ's Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. It's of relevant importance to me. ...When I had a choice, when I could have chosen, when I set up my schedule, did I fit the Lord into what I wanted to do? Or did I build my life around this truth: that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead?"

Mass Readings from March 31, 2013:
Acts 10:34, 37-43
Colossians 3:1-4
Luke 24:1—12

03/24/13 Will Mercy Change You or Break You?

Homily from Palm Sunday.

"This is the whole secret: The gift that changes the relationship is the Cross. 'I didn't ask Him to do this for me.' Here's the Cross, and the One with all the power in the story is the One who can't move because His wrists are nailed to some wood; His feet are nailed to some wood. He seems powerless, but He is in control. The Cross is a symbol of uncertainty and weakness and powerlessness. It's a sign of my need. Because I live under the illusion of control. And the Cross then, when I am willing to be obedient to the Father and place the Cross at the center of my life, that is when I am truly free. That is when you are truly free: when you let the Cross of Jesus be at the center of your life."

Mass Readings from March 24, 2013:
Isaiah 50:4-7
Philippians 2:6-11
Luke 22:14—23:56

03/17/13 Coffee Table Christianity

Homily from the Fifth Sunday of Lent.

"Whenever we take a good thing and make it the ultimate thing, we enslave ourselves. And we have to obey the #1 commandment of every one of these false gods, every one of these counterfeit gods, every one of these idols. The #1 commandment is this: 'Thou shalt perform.' No matter what it is. To get money? Perform. To get success? Perform. To have a good reputation, you have to act a certain way. 'Thou shalt perform.' ...The reality is this: our main problem with idols is that we think that we need them."

Mass Readings from March 17, 2013:
Isaiah 43:16-21
Philippians 3:8-14
John 8:1-11

03/10/13 Slave or Son?

Homily from the Fourth Sunday of Lent.

"The Sacrament of Confession is where the desire to be impressive goes to die. It is so good! The Sacrament of Confession is where the desire to be admired by the Father goes to die. Because the Sacrament of Confession, just like this Mass, is where we actually get close to the Father, we actually get close to Papa."

Mass Readings from March 10, 2013:
Joshua 5:9, 10-12
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

03/03/13 DIY Religion: If Catholicism is Wrong, Than Christianity is Wrong

Homily from the Third Sunday of Lent.

"When it comes down to it, I don't like man-made religion anymore than you do. That's why I'm Catholic: because we realize that Jesus said in Matthew 16, 'You are rock. And upon this rock I will build my Church.' If you choose to be Catholic, or if you were raised Catholic, you were brought into not a man-made religion, you were brought into a God-made religion."

Mass Readings from March 3, 2013:
Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15
1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12
Luke 13:1-9

02/24/13 DIY Religion: Jesus: Dozens of Models to Choose From, Pick Your Own

Homily from the Second Sunday of Lent.

"What is the idea of creating a Jesus of my own making, of my own choosing, of my own invention? ...Basically, when it comes to all of the Greek gods and goddesses, what they are is it's divinizing, it's a way of making a god out of whatever it is that you want. And so you actually get to, as we'd say in Christian terms, you get to baptize your own desires. So choosing something now simply means choosing God. If I want this thing, of course I would want this, because God would want this. This idea is completely alive and well, not that we believe in the gods or goddesses of ancient Greece, but we have re-cast Jesus so often to fit our own desires. ...Who is the real jesus? ...Is it Jesus who weeps in the face of death at Lazarus' tomb? Yes, Jesus hurts when we hurt. But it's also Jesus who commands death at Lazarus' tomb. The God of the Resurrection. It's Jesus, whose face today in the Gospel is glorified beyond recognition, is also the Jesus in the Gospel, four weeks from now, whose face is beaten beyond recognition. ...We need to recognize this, that I might have to change my vision of Jesus, not make my vision of Jesus based off of me."

Mass Readings from February 24, 2013:
Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18
Philippians 3:17—4:1
Luke 9:28B-36

To download the 40 Days Scripture Readings for Lent, click here!

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02/17/13 DIY Religion: The Life of Grace

Homily from the First Sunday of Lent.

"You might be sitting here like 'I want that, I want that grace, I want that Holy Spirit.' Well here's the reality: if you've been baptized, you've already been given that grace. If you've professed faith, you've already been given that grace. Everyone here, you are post-serum Captain America's! You're not like, 'Oh, I want that grace, give me that grace!' Like I have to beg for it, no no no no. You've already been given the power of the Holy Spirit. ...You do not have to convince God to give you His Spirit, You do not have to convince God to love you. The fact that you are here is proof that He has already chosen you and that He already loves you. It's just up to us to begin living the life of grace. ...The practice of the presence of God is simply being attentive to the fact that God is attentive to you."

Mass Readings from February 17, 2013:
Deuteronomy 26:4-10
Romans 10:8-13
Luke 4:1-13

02/13/13 A Savior for a Sinner

Homily from Ash Wednesday.

"What can I do this Lent so that in 40 days I have what I really want? Which is not just, 'I made it without drinking pop!' And not just, 'I made it without snacking!' But it's, "I love Jesus more.' Because I realize that I cannot just choose to love Jesus more, I have to train my heart to long for Him more. And it starts not by trying harder, it starts by trying smarter. It doesn't start by praying harder, it starts by praying smarter. That's my challenge to myself and to everyone here: what is it that I can do for the next 40 days so that by Easter I just love Him more, I know Him more, I am more like Him?"

Mass Readings from February 13, 2013:
Joel 2:12-18
2 Corinthians 5:20—6:2
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

To download the 40 Days Scripture Readings, click here!

To find out more about the Rice Bowl and to make a donation, click here!

02/10/13 DIY Religion: How Do I Know It's True?

Homily from the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"After the Resurrection, Peter goes out on the feast of Pentecost into the same city that Jesus was crucified, in the same city that Jesus was risen from the dead, with the same people who were there 50 days earlier and he said, "That Jesus you crucified? He died. And He rose from the dead, and we saw Him!' Do you know why 5,000 people that day became Christians? Because the Resurrection actually happened. It's true. And so it changed peoples' lives. Question: if the Resurrection is true, would you let it change your life?"

Mass Readings from February 10, 2013:
Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Luke 5:1-11

02/03/13 DIY Religion: Love In Truth

Homily from the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"There's nothing wrong with going to Old Country Buffet and saying, 'I'll have some of this, but I don't want any of that.' ...It doesn't work when it comes to religion. How come? Because if God is real, that means that God actually has an identity outside of me. Just like if my mom is actually a real person, when my dad loves her, he can't just do what he wants, he has to love her because she has a real identity outside of himself. If God is real, then there is actually a way we can love Him and a way that we can't love Him, if He is an objective reality."

Mass Readings from February 3, 2013:
Jer 1:4-5, 17-19
1 Cor 12:31—13:13
Luke 4:21-30

01/27/13 DIY Religion: Walls, Worship, & the Word

Homily from the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

"We recognize that it's been a month since we've seen each other, maybe even longer. And I imagine that in that time there has maybe been some failure. We have a decision: we can let that failure discourage us and we can quit, or we can let that failure humble us and we can ask for help. But the reality is this: I can't let my failure keep me outside the walls, I can't let my failure keep me away from worship, and I can't let my failure keep me away from the Word. ...We just let our failure humble us, until we realize that I can't do this on my own, I need to start again."

Mass Readings from January 27, 2013:
Nehemiah 8:2-4, 5-6, 8-10
1 Corinthians 12:12-30
Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21