05/25/14 Resident or Citizen?

Homily from the Sixth Sunday of Easter.

"That's our ratio, that's our statistic right now, 6% of Catholics are doing over 80% of the work, 80% of the giving, 80% of the service, 80% of what the Church is. And that's the crazy thing, think about this: the Catholic Church is the single largest charitable organization in the world. The Catholic Church does more service for the entire world than virtually every other service organization combined. That's a pretty good statistic, imagine, we are running off of 6%! Think about this! We are doing more for the world than any other organization and we are only running off of 6% power! Can you imagine if you're in your car, driving down the road, and you're only using 6% of the power your car has the potential for? Would you say, 'This is pretty good,' or would you say, 'No, no, no, this is not good enough'? If we are doing more for people around the world than every other service organization using only 6%, what would happen if only 1% [more] of Catholics stepped up? What kind of difference would that make? We don't even have to go to 20%! What if today, in this church, rather than saying 'I am here to consume, I am here to show up,' you were to say, 'You know what? I am here to serve. ...Rather than be residents, let's be citizens.'"

Mass Readings from May 25, 2014:
Acts 8:5-8, 14-17
1 Peter 3:15-18
John 14:15-21

05/11/14 Follow Through: Schedule to Love

Homily from the Fourth Sunday of Easter.

"When you get into bed at night, it's a wonderful time to have dreams. But when you get out of bed in the morning, that is when you need a goal. ... Until your dream becomes a goal, and until your goal gets on your calendar, it's still just a dream. ... This is the truth, the reality is this: if I don't put the Lord on my calendar, if this is not important enough for me to schedule time with Jesus, then basically I am deciding that I am okay with leaving my spiritual life up to chance."

Mass Readings from May 11, 2014:
Acts 2:14, 36-41
1 Peter 2:20-25
John 10:1-10

05/04/14 Follow Through: Pressure and Time

Homily from the 3rd Sunday of Easter.

"I know some of us here tonight, you might find that there is something enslaving you. Maybe it's some kind of sin and you're just like, 'Man, I just can't get out of this, I just can't get free from this!' You might feel like a prisoner. But if you're moving forward, if you're rowing, if you're taking those steps forward, if you're engaging, if you're following through, you are not a prisoner. You are escaping. Some of you might find yourself in this terrible place where it's like, 'I don't even know what to do. I'm that guy that skipped all those classes, the rest of the semester looks terrible for me, I don't know what to do.' But if you are doing what you need to do, you are not a prisoner, you are escaping. When it comes to your spiritual life you can just say, 'Man, I'm dead in the water, there's no life in Christ, you talk about joy and Jesus, I don't have that! I feel like a prisoner.' But if you're praying, you're picking that one thing and then actually doing it in a cumulative way, a little bit every day, you are not a prisoner. You are escaping. You're on your way from Shawshank to Zihuatanejo. And all it takes, all it takes, is pressure and time."

Mass Readings from May 04, 2014:
Acts 2:14, 22-33
1 Peter 1:17-21
Luke 24:13-35