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