Burning Strength Homilies

What does it look like to be persistent? How can persistence help us in our spiritual life? How can it help us in our every day life? Does God honor persistence? This Sunday's Gospel about Jesus and the Canaanite Woman answers these questions.

Do you ever lay your heart open before God in prayer, but you wonder if He is really listening? Is He answering our prayers? The readings this weekend give us a few answers to our questions.

There are many experiences in life that leave us in awe...transfixed, if you will. Going to the museum, a concert, or holding a newborn are among those experiences for us. But there is one human experience that transcends them all.

We often search for treasure in our lives, but many times, this search leads us to be vastly underwhelmed and disappointed. There's one treasure search that continues to keep on giving and will never disappoint.

When we think about the concept of justice, we tend to think about the inverse - injustice. What does this weekend's readings teach us about justice?

This weekend's readings are very agriculturally themed, but we don't have to be green thumbs to understand the parable Jesus presents - the parable of the seed and four soils. What does this parable have to do with us today? I learned a lot more about it when I tried to plant a flower garden at my mother's house years ago.

What do you do when life's storms come at you? Where do you go? Who do you turn to? Jesus establishes Himself as a refuge from the storms of life.

The 4th of July brings all sorts of excitement with the traditions we hold, but very few things compare to the anticipation we feel leading up to a fireworks show. To me, the most significant part of the show, is that 1st firework that is set off and illuminates the sky. Jesus calls us to be like that firework.

What are your greatest fears? How do you overcome them? Our reading this week from the Prophet Jeremiah gives us an insight as to how God answers our prayers in times of distress.

How can one person change the world? Look at the lives of the saints. St. Teresa of Calcutta had a saying "Do good, and it will never be enough. Do good anyway." Sometimes it feels like an uphill battle each day, but consistency is the way of sanctity.

It was shortly after that response that the death march began. It was a two day journey by foot to their eventual place of martyrdom. One of the eldest boys knew what was coming, but also wanted to help the younger boys to keep the faith. The boy, Matthias Kalemba, began to shout words of encouragement along the way. It was said that his final words to his executors were: "God will rescue me. But you will not see how he does it, because he will take my soul and leave you only my body." Angry and annoyed with him, the executors decided to do away with Matthias early. They cut him up and left him along the way to die on the road.

How one Pope changed the shape of history by inspiring others through the words in today's readings.

  "Never grow weary of doing what is right." Quite often we are the greatest obstacles to doing what is right We know what is right, but we talk ourselves out of it. "Maybe someone else will do it"… we might say to ourselves We become fearful because of some terrible result we expect to happen if we do something… much like the Apostles often did But they became so successful in their ministry because they went with courage They knew Jesus walked with them "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you" He tells us in today's Gospel

Mothers tend to be one of the greatest examples of accepting even the simplest or strangest of gifts with a smile... especially if these gifts are from their children. This quality of mothers certainly helps us understand our relationship with God even better.

Shortcuts have become somewhat a way of life. Sometimes they work out and sometimes they don't. But there's one shortcut, in this Sunday's Gospel, that Jesus advises us not to take.

Determination is the theme of the Acts of the Apostles. It is a "highlight reel" of sorts for the early Christian community. What does our highlight reel of faith look like?

What does haven look like? Its a question many of us ponder from time to time. 2000 years ago, the disciples of Jesus not only saw a piece of heaven by witnessing the resurrected Jesus, but they received the 1st message of the resurrection: "Peace" and "mercy"