Anchored In The Lord

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time "Rabbi" means "teacher".  "Disciple" means "student".  In Israel, 2,000 years ago, there were a couple formulaic statements that a rabbi would use to call a disciple and then invite that disciple to take on the rabbi's worldview and become like him (one statement we find in today's Gospel!).  Then at the end of this period of formation, the disciple is sent out to teach others what he learned from his rabbi.  We are disciples of the Great Rabbi, and Jesus has sent us to witness to what we have seen, heard, learned and experienced!

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity A Lazy River with a bunch of kids is never “lazy” — it’s always moving, surprising, dynamic, alive!  Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.  And what we profess every single time we make the sign of the Cross — “In the name of the F, and of the S, and of the HS” — is that our God isn’t a boring, one dimensional, existence.  What we’re saying is that our God, in Godself, is three persons, living in so close and dynamic a relationship that they are actually united as One God.  God’s very life is not isolated or lonely; God’s very life is moving, surprising, dynamic, alive — like an eternal un-Lazy River…and that’s the kind of life He invites us to join Him in!

Pentecost Sunday On this Memorial Day Weekend we remember our United States Military personnel who have died while serving in the US Armed Forces: we honor them, express our gratitude, pray for them...and even pray to them.  We believe in the Communion of Saints, that we are one body in Christ, and that we help one another on this journey towards fullness of life in God, both during this earthly life and after - not even death can separate us who are united in Jesus Christ!

6th Sunday of Easter As we celebrate Mother’s Day weekend, as we honor mothers who hold their children dear and close in their hearts and minds, we look to Mary as the model of not only earthly motherhood, but also as the model of a disciple who invites the Spirit of God into her life, who ponders and intentionally holds in her mind the experiences that God has given her, and who, as a result, brings the presence of Jesus into the world around her!

3rd Sunday of Easter Acts 2:42 describes what the very first followers of Jesus did: “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.”  Those sure sound like the 4 Marks of a Disciple…because they are!  Christianity isn’t a belief, or a set of beliefs, it’s a way of life, it’s a path to be walked.  And that path looks like followers of Jesus being Quick to Pray, Joyfully Sacramental, Intentional in Relationships, and Committed to Growth. Let’s live this way of life we call Christianity!  Let’s keep walking this path together!

Easter Sunday Happy Easter!  Imagine…imagine that you go to bed one night, and when you wake up in the morning the world has been transformed overnight.  Everything that you envision for a better world, all of the change you’d like to see — in societies, situations, individuals, countries — it all happened, magically, overnight. Now…when you wake up that morning and as you start going about your day...what do you notice first?  What do you actually experience as changed?   This is what I did…except for our parishes: so what did I see when I woke up and everything I envisioned for an ideal life of Catholic followers of Jesus here in the greater Hayward area changed overnight?  What did I experience?  Listen to find out!

Palm Sunday Everything Jesus did, He did for individual people; everything He did was personal.  His life, his preaching, his healings, his interactions, his suffering, his death, his resurrection - Jesus did all of this for individual people; it was personal.  He didn’t do it to “do right” or to “be good”; he didn't do it for a moral code; Jesus wasn’t an impersonal “do-gooder”.  Jesus did everything we celebrate this Holy Week for us: it was personal.   And everything Jesus still does in our world and in our lives is personal.

4th Sunday of Lent This weekend I am speaking on the Third Mark of a Disciple - what it means to be Intentional in Relationship! Last weekend Deacon Brian gave a great homily on the First Mark: Quick to Pray.   That can be found on our Hayward Catholic website in text format (https://haywardcatholic.org/recent-homilies) or, as he sings a couple verses from country songs, you may want to listen to him preach: click into the live stream section, select the 3/11 recording, and fast forward to his homily! (https://haywardcatholic.org/ecatholic-live)

1st Sunday of Lent In this first Sunday of Lent I unpack the second mark of a disciple of Jesus Christ: being Joyfully Sacramental!

Ash Wednesday Here is my homily from Ash Wednesday, introducing our Lenten themes of Fasting and the Four Marks of a Disciple!  

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time I recently went on an 8-day silent retreat.  Many have been asking, “Father, how was the retreat?!”  So I’d like to share with you a bit about silent retreats in general as well as some of what happened and what God was up to on my retreat!

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Listen to a real, down-to-earth story of barstool evangelization!  When we are sharing with others, what we're meant to share is not primarily information, but our own experience of God, faith, prayer, and why it's important to us.  People don't primarily want to hear theological reasons or arguments (even though they might say they do, or start the conversation that way), what people really need is to be inspired by the real example and experiences that others have of God - and that's something that any person of faith can share, no matter how much or little they think they know about the faith!

Merry Christmas! God rest ye merry gentlemen Let nothing you dismay Remember Christ our Savior Was born on Christmas Day To save us all from Satan's pow'r When we were gone astray O tidings of comfort and joy Comfort and joy O tidings of comfort and joy

4th Sunday of Advent In this Advent Homily Series we are journeying through the greatest story ever told, the story that has changed and will continue to change the world (if we let it): our story – the creation, the capture, the rescue, and our response!  Listen this week as Deacon Brian focuses in on what our response can be to the God Who has done such incredible things for us!

3rd Sunday of Advent In this Advent Homily Series we are journeying through the greatest story ever told, the story that has changed and will continue to change the world (if we let it): our story – the creation, the capture, the rescue, and our response!  Listen this week as Fr. David focuses in on what it means to be rescued by Jesus.

2nd Sunday of Advent In this Advent Homily Series we are journeying through the greatest story ever told, the story that has changed and will continue to change the world (if we let it): our story – the creation, the capture, the rescue, and our response!  Listen this week as Deacon Dave focuses in on what it means to be captured.

1st Sunday of Advent This Advent Homily Series we are journeying through the greatest story ever told, the story that has changed and will continue to change the world (if we let it): our story - the creation, the capture, the rescue, and our response!  Listen this week as Fr. David zooms in on what it means to be created.

Solemnity of Christ the King On this great Solemnity, Deacon Brian prepares us for our Advent journey by outlining the great story we will be sharing over the homilies of Advent, the story that has changed and will continue to change the world (if we let it): our story - the creation, the capture, the rescue, and our response.

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time In the midst of very important, but ultimately short-sighted, concerns of this world and concerns of politics, I believe that we are losing our way.  And when we don’t keep our eyes on the world to come, our outlook on this world, on our country and on others begins to degrade - it loses the light of Christ, and it festers into hatred and unnecessary division.  To put priorities in order, I think it's worth stating:The worst thing that can happen in this world, is that a person ends up living a life apart from God for all eternity; the best thing that can happen in this world, is that a person ends up living life with God for all eternity!  Everything else, no matter how important, is secondary to that long distance vision.  Want to know what would actually change the world more than the solving of any moral issue, political issue or cultural practice?  If every Catholic for the last 2,000 years had reached out and brought 3-5 people to Christ during their lifetime, if that's what

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time In our familiar Gospel story of Zacchaeus, Jesus does something that might entirely change how you see Jesus' life, and what that means about how you are called here and now to live as disciples of Jesus!  In our Gospel today, we hear that Jesus came to Jericho and "intended to pass through the town"...Jesus intended to pass through the town, but when he sees Zacchaeus he changes his mind and decides to stay.  For Jesus, following his Father's will didn't look like having a checklist in his head of every single pre-planned-from-all-eternity thing that had to happen on that particular day to achieve our salvation...Jesus changed his mind and his plans during his days with the nudges of the Holy Spirit (and in this case the Holy Spirit moved him to change his plans and have dinner with Zacchaeus - and this interaction changed Zacchaeus' life).  God's plan to change the world is not primarily through heady knowledge of theology, nor is it primarily through large-scale events that nor