Burning Strength Homilies

My friends, our readings today describe a similar experience for us as disciples of Christ. If we allow Him, He wants to pull us from the world-view that we're used to in order to see the world from a different perspective To see ourselves from a different perspective As you probably noticed, our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles almost reads like a travel manual. Paul and Barnabas are on fire with the Holy Spirit and have no greater desire than to spread the message of Christ all over the place So they're really going from city-center to city-center Sharing the message of Christ, and drawing in converts The people in these cities, if you read through the Acts of the Apostles, were looking for hope in the world And what is more hopeful than the message of Christ But this being called out of themselves goes back to what we get in our Gospel today In this short Gospel Jesus explains the heart of what it means to be a disciple "they will know you are my disciples through your love"

Our readings today continue to reflect the wonderful mystery of the resurrection How wonderful it must have been to be in Antioch to hear the message of resurrection. And for those listening to Paul and Barnabas, as we hear in our first reading, it wasn't just a story for them It was something they were invited to be part of. They were often shunned by the ancient jewish people because they didn't have cultural jewish lineage. But this new "way" taught by these two disciples of the Risen One, made them equal sharers in eternal life That was a big deal. That meant they could worship God in heaven as we hear about in our reading from Revelation But it also meant that the consoling words of Christ we hear in today's Gospel were not just meant for His fellow Jews, they were meant for all who believe

There’s a good chance that if you’ve watched TV or went to the movies sometime within the last few months, you will have seen quite a number of movie trailers The two that stuck out to me quite a bit, possibly because of the amount that they were played were Batman vs Superman and Captain America: Civil War There’s a theme that is implied within the titles of these two big-budget superhero movies: Those who would normally do just about anything to protect the world, turn on each other. One can sort of assume that there is a difference of world-views that come up. It is something that we all go through – we debate differing worldviews. But of course with superhero movies, they do so with lots of explosions and flexing of superpowers and gadgets. There’s also another theme that’s implied, but much less focused upon – That is the theme of forgiveness. In order for them to be the heroes we all admire, they must be willing to forgive each other for wrongdoings They have t

   We have to remember that many of these Apostles went onto distant lands they did not know Thomas, according to Tradition, would possibly go the furthest as he made his way to India. What gave him the strength and perseverance to do what he did? The peace of the risen Christ   The peace of Christ, my brothers and sisters, is beyond what the world considers peace As he would go on to say “The peace I leave you, the world cannot give” It isn’t a lack of conflict Or quiet moment Rather the peace of Christ is the invitation to retreat in prayer with Him for a moment To be transported to another world So that he can enliven the fire of His love within your heart To inspire you to go out of yourself and become more of who He made you to be But you’ve got to leave that upper room, whatever it might be in your life

  Each one of us has memories that help shape our thoughts and who we are We have memories of family growing up Memories of school Perhaps memories of weddings Memories of trips and vacations For me, going a number of years back, one of those mind shaping memories has been looking at one of the most beautiful of sunrises I had spent the night at the house of a cousin of mine We had just pulled an all nighter When I look down at my watch and realize I should probably just drive home at this moment I was a bit exhausted, but the urge to get in my car and hop on the roadways was strong As I bid my farewell to my cousin, I did just that, hopped in my car and began the 30 minute commute back to my family’s house When I got to the end of my cousin’s country street, just as I was about to get on the highway, a sliver of light peaked over the horizon I pulled off to the side of the road, and for the next 15 minutes, I allowed myself to be encapsulated by this beauty that God had created. It almost s

  It was as a seminarian that I had an opportunity to truly get into what it meant to celebrate my faith. It wasn't because of my status as a seminarian; rather, it was because I was told by the faculty to get involved as much as possible during the Holy Week celebrations at my home parish. As a youth, we would occasionally go to one or two Holy Week celebrations each year, but never any more than that. Part of that was due to my brothers and I complaining to our mother that it was "too much Church." It wasn't until I could put my faith in the context of the whole of Holy Week that I could truly appreciate what my faith was all about.

We all want to be referees of sorts. How often do we find ourselves yelling at the tv or from the crowd while watching a sporting event? The truth is that while we may disagree with the actual referee, we like having the referee. They provide us with a sense of trust knowing that they do their best to enforce the rulebook and make the game run as it should.   But what about the Divine Referee? Not only do we see folks team up against him in today's Gospel, but they walk away humiliated after they are called out for what they are doing and who they really are. Do we sometimes try to do the job of the Divine Referee?

  It is often said that Pride is the root of all sin Because in the moment we choose sin, we are saying by our actions that we know better than God and others We can do things on our own – We don’t need anyone And we especially don’t need God Some could even argue that in a moment of sin, we become atheists – Because we flat out deny God This is what the younger son does to his father in the Prodigal Son story He needs to realize that the farther he is from the Father, the more he loses his sense of identity – he loses who he is.   Pride not only ruins our relationship with God, but ruins our relationship with others As we barrel over the people in our lives, often the ones who love us the most But we always need to remember That when we enter into the dirtiness of life And we’ve hit rock bottom The Father in heaven is always there to pick us up Because he is always willing to give us mercy But we have to be willing to ask for it

Jesus is breaking down the cultural norms of 1st century Jewish life But he is showing us another way to look at scandal – Jesus shows us that scandal can be a good thing Here we have Jesus going to Jacob’s well at midday He sits down next to a Samaritan Woman and asks her for something to drink From her response, I imagine this woman giving Jesus a very strange facial expression here She wonders why a Jewish man is there at noontime speaking with her The Jews never went to the well at midday because it was very hot But the Samaritans went to the well at this time… it was the cultural norm Jesus enters into scandalous activity right from the beginning as he starts talking to a Samaritan woman. Not only was it culturally unacceptable for Jews to interact with Samaritans - It was very scandalous for a Jewish man to speak with a woman who was not his immediate relative Even Jesus’s disciples enter into the scene and begin to ask questions to themselves … why is Jesus doing this &

  What does the supernatural realm have to do with the 2nd Sunday of Lent? Well, for starters, our Gospel features a very supernatural experience for three of the Apostles. But instead of frightening them, it calms and excites them.   Our Gospel message urges us to keep moving forward with courage in life. There are many fears that we can encounter in this world, but most of them deal with the unknown. St. John Paul II urged pilgrims to the Vatican to meet these challenges with "Corragio" (Courage)

On this first Sunday of Lent, we find Jesus entering into his own time of preparation He knows that it is now the time that he has to begin his public ministry But he isn’t quite ready yet So he goes into the desert to get away from the world To get away from distractions and temptations Only… he does encounter a big distraction And he is tempted Somewhat midway through his time in the desert, Jesus encounters Satan Satan believes that he can get Jesus to fall into temptation because he is vulnerable He’s hungry and tired So the first temptation here is a temptation of the flesh Food was something that his body was telling him he wanted Yet the food that Jesus sought in the desert was not physical in origin He wanted to gain spiritual strength He had been training his will When Jesus declines this, Satan tempts Jesus with power Promising to give him all that he sees from the high mountain But Jesus knows that wealth and popularity are not going to make him happy He went into the desert to

Forging a new identity is a theme we can trace in this weekend's readings. Beginning with our first reading, Ezra is looking over the destruction of his beloved Jerusalem It was once a great city He’s heard stories and perhaps even saw it as a little boy But it has since been destroyed by conquerors He looks around and sees his own facial expression in his fellow Israelites. Distraught, saddened, and hopeless. But instead of simply brewing in the reality of the situation Ezra finds a copy of the Torah, the first 5 books of scripture He begins to read from it so that all could hear The stories of their ancestors of faith changed the mood from sorrow to excitement They began to believe and to dream They were to do their best to unite and rebuild And then we get the letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians He too is reminding them of their own heritage And helping them understand that they are to forge a Church with Christ at its head And because of Christ, the whole community is connected in and of one body

  I think just about all of us have seen one of those movies with a riveting motivational speech Most of the time you’ll see them in movies that have battlefields of sorts – whether it be an action adventure movie with a climatic battle, a sports movie, or even a movie about social change where the team or person we’re rooting for seems to be down and out. One of the main characters will step in front of the troops He or she will speak about the reality of the situation they are dealing with – But despite the odds, they owe it to themselves and to the people that they love to give it all they’ve got We’d be kidding ourselves to think that these speeches are a modern phenomenon As a matter of fact, we can find them in the earliest forms of written language And we can even find a number of them in scripture – They are prophetic voices to help God’s people remember that they are the children of the God who made the universe, and still loves them so deeply &nb

  Fr Chris invites you to be a copilot in his car in this new podcast series entitled "The Drive." Just as you would with anyone who you drive along with in the car, Fr Chris will talk about various topics going on in his life. He'll also talk a bit about his experience as a priest.   In this episode, recorded on Christmas day 2015, Fr Chris will enlighten listeners about his Christmas experience as a priest. He'll speak a bit about what it means for a priest to get an emergency call. He'll also talk about a topic many would like to know and that is a bit about the family life of a Catholic priest.

  “What’s a worthwhile investment to you?” This was the question one of my professors posed to us students as he started the class. I wasn’t a business major, but immediately my mind went to investing money. I think if we were to get that question today, that’s where most of our minds would have went. But he took the question a bit further. “most of the time we want a good return on our investments…” We expect that a movie will be good when we spend time and money at a movie theatre to watch one of the latest films. We expect that if we make a financial investment in the stock market, some time later, we’ll get a return of sorts. If we send our kids or ourselves to get music lessons or sports clinics, we believe that it should help. When we buy food in the grocery store or at a restaurant, we expect it to be good And when we use our utilities at home, we expect them to operate as they were made to. And the professor then looked around the room at ea

  When I was in seminary, during Feasts dedicated to the Blessed Mother, they would often play a song called “Virgin of Love” I asked Ryan, our music director, to play it during Mass I remember the first time hearing that song it transported me to a whole different world Everything from the melody to the lyrics just took me somewhere else I’d say that it is one of those songs that capture just a bit of what the Blessed Mother’s love is like. It was like being wrapped in her mantle the first time I ever heard it   My Brothers and Sisters we celebrate today the most ancient of the Church’s celebration for Mary “Mary Mother of God” It was celebrated in the early Church, but became an official doctrine of the Church in 431 during the Council of Ephesus. The feast doesn’t say so much about Mary as it does about Jesus. To call Mary the Mother of God affirms our belief that Jesus is indeed Divine He is indeed the 2nd person of the Trinity   Just as Mary

  Just this past September, Pope Francis came to the United States to share his wisdom with the world. He said in advance of the trip that his main goal of the visit was to come for the World Meeting of Families in Philidelphia. At Mass with a number Bishops, Clergy, and Religious he told a story about St. Katharine Drexel – an American Saint She went to Pope Leo XIII and wanted to speak about the needs of the missions America, after all, was still a missionary nation. Being a wise Pope, Leo XIII turned her question back on her – “What about you?” “What are you going to do?” These words changed the life of St. Katharine The Pope then turned the question on everyone in the congregation “What about you?”

  There are so many images in this world of peace, but none compare to the image of the Nativity. I've never seen a Nativity picture or sculpture that did not look peaceful, that is, because in that moment the world seemed to stop. Our Gospel paints this beautiful picture of this very scene. Many of God's creatures (Animals, Humans, Angels) came together to worship before this very scene. While the stars were shining so brightly, their beauty and radiance did not compare to that of the Christ child in their midst.  

The Ark of the Covenant is one of the most sought after lost relics of scripture. It was believed by the Israelites that the Ark of the Covenant held the presence of God. When we get to the New Testament, we discover that God establishes a New Ark of the Covenant. This New Ark is not an ornate gold box like the old ark; rather, this New Ark of the Covenant is a simple Israelite girl named Mary. Within her womb she carried the true presence of God. Like King David who danced before the golden ornate Ark of the Covenant, the New Ark was received with joy by not only Elizabeth, but by the infant in her womb who "leaped for joy" in the presence of the New Ark. The beauty of this New Ark of the Covenant is that we do not need to go through a labyrinth of dangerous obstacles to experience her like Indiana Jones did in "Raiders of the Lost Ark"; rather, she has been given to each of us from the beginning. The greatest gifts that we have sometimes are the gifts that we already have.

As Christmas draws closer, it seems that our task lists grow ever larger. We're reminded this weekend that the word "rejoice" is not because we simply "get over" Christmas, but because we anticipate Christmas with joy. John the Baptist prescribed the crowds, as their spiritual physician, antidotes to their spiritual illnesses. Sometimes the antidote to our anxieties of our life is simply making sure we put God and people first. Our greatest Holiday memories are very rarely about just ourselves being by ourselves or shopping online. Our great memories that we cherish deeply always revolve around spending time with loved ones.