Anchored In The Lord

4th Sunday of Easter Just a few days ago, on Thursday, May 8th, something happened that I never thought I would see in my lifetime: Habemus Papam! We have a Pope! …And he’s American! Robert Francis Prevost is a native of Chicago; an Augustinian priest (a religious order priest) who spent much of his priestly life as a missionary in South America, and eventually serving as a Bishop in Peru.  More recently, he was called to Rome, where he worked in the Dicastery for Bishops. On this Good Shepherd Sunday let’s pray for our new shepherd, Pope Leo XIV.  I also ask for your prayers for me, your local shepherd.  And finally, prayers for those that you have been called by God to shepherd.  Jesus doesn’t say “follow me” to only popes or priests; he says it to every disciple.  Every one of us who has heard Jesus’ invitation and chosen to follow Him has also been tasked with the responsibility to shepherd specific people the Lord has placed in our care.  May we all model our shepherding after that of Christ, the Good Sh

Easter Sunday "Roll away the stone.  See the glory of God.  Roll away the stone." What stones are still blocking the tomb of your heart?  This Easter, God wants to roll those stones away.   Christ doesn’t roll it away to shame us—He rolls it away so that He can enter in.  Just as He stepped out of the tomb into the garden of new life, bringing into our world something entirely new — so Jesus wants to step into the tombs we’ve been trapped in and say, “Peace be with you, ” bringing His light and His healing, to clear out the old, musty, life-draining, stale air, and bring in a breath of new, fresh, moving, life-giving air! Happy Easter!

5th Sunday of Lent “Then Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you.  Go, and from now on do not sin any more.'” “Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new!” “forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead,”  

2nd Sunday of Lent In our Gospel today, Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a mountain, and He is transfigured before them, they get a glimpse of the dazzling bright white glory of Jesus’ divinity, a foretaste of heaven and of who we are called to be!  But our Gospel today says, “Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory!”  Jesus was already in conversation with Moses and Elijah and showing forth his tremendous glory…before Peter, James and John woke up and realized what had already been happening even as they were sleeping, “missing out on it,” as it were.  What if Peter, James and John had slept through all of it?  Would we even know about this event?  What will it take for us to become “fully awake”?  Fully awake to the presence of God already alive, active and at work around us, within us, and through us?!

1st Sunday of Lent On this Safe Haven Sunday, we are asked to to, first and foremost, make the home a safe haven for our kids by taking practical steps to help our kids engage technology in holy and virtuous ways and, inasmuch as possible, protect them from exposure to explicit content.  This is also an opportunity for individuals of all ages, young and old, to not only ask whether our media use is healthy in regards to explicit content, but also in regards to where it encourages our focus, energy and attention.  Satan doesn't care how good our motivations are so long as we are concerned about things we can't change (politics, national happenings, world happenings) and don't see the real, down-to-earth, practical things that we can!

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus calls us to be transformed, to be renewed in mind and action, to look and act differently than others normally do: this theme runs through all of our readings.  Yes, we are called to be disciples of Jesus, but our mission is more than just following Jesus as a disciple.  Jesus’ last words on this earth before He ascended into heaven give us our mission: “Go and make disciples”.  So we are called to not only be disciples, but missionary disciples, reaching out genuinely and in faith to others that the Lord puts in our path so that we can fulfill the mission Jesus entrusted to us: to make disciples!  The movement from a disciple to a missionary disciple is slight, but it's also powerful...and it makes all the difference!

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time What does our world need?  Whom does God seek?  Not the "perfect" or the "sinless", but the willing.   No matter how unworthy we are, He calls us, and when we willingly say "yes," He cleanses us, and He strengthens us to go on whatever mission He has planned for us. This week, let's be the ones whom God seeks and whom our world needs: the willing ones.  "Here I am, Lord. Send me."

Baptism of the Lord When we are baptized in the waters, we are adopted into God's family and actually become, in Jesus, children of the Father.  Baptism happens once and is the doorway to the other sacraments.  Receiving the Eucharist (which we do again and again and again) is becoming who we are: the Body of Christ.  So ask yourselves a few questions: "How do I come to Mass?  What do I see as my role at Mass?  How am I engaged at Mass?" “Priest of God, Celebrate this Mass as if it is your first Mass, Your last Mass and your only Mass.”   “People of God, Celebrate this Mass as if it is your first Mass, Your last Mass and your only Mass.”  

Epiphany How do I come to Mass?  

Merry Christmas! Come, they told me — pa rum pum pum pum A newborn King to see — pa rum pum pum pum Our finest gifts we bring — pa rum pum pum pum To lay before the King — pa rum pum pum pum     Rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum. So to honor Him — pa rum pum pum pum When we come.

3rd Sunday of Advent We were created by God for the kingdom of eternal life with him; by our own free choices to turn away from God and ‘go at it on our own’ we’ve been captured by the kingdom of sin, death, darkness and Satan.  Jesus becoming a baby at Christmas is the invasion of one kingdom (the kingdom of darkness, hell, death, sin and Satan) by a stronger kingdom (the kingdom of God).   Jesus came as a warrior, a predator.  He became one of us, waited 33 years, lived and taught the kingdom of God by example, both showing us the way and luring in his quarry — Satan, the devil — and then finally on the cross Satan fell prey to the trap set for him in a manger decades earlier! Jesus on the cross is not poor or helpless. He’s not the hunted. Jesus on the cross is the aggressor and the hunter.  And so when death unknowingly took in its jaws, chewed up and swallowed the Author of Life, something extraordinary happened: death itself was slain from within!  That's the good news that we have to share, that's why

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception 3 Levels of the Heart God wants to give us peace at the deepest level, a peace which endures all things.

1st Sunday of Advent During this Advent season we will be doing a 4-part homily series as we Journey to the Manger together to welcome the Christ-child at Christmas.  Our story starts with God’s incredible creation - of the universe, and of each of us - and the hope that it promises. As Fr. Riccardo says: “God created and runs this immense universe, and nothing is more important to him than you and me…He thinks you’re worth the trouble.”  That’s what it means to be created! So on this Journey, when you are feeling “drowsy” from “the anxieties of daily life”, I encourage you to take a moment and look at the world with fresh eyes.  Allow God to reinvigorate you with hope.  Pause and be filled with wonder each day. “O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder,  Consider all, the worlds thy hands have made.”

Solemnity of Christ the King Together, during this Advent season, all 5 of our parishes (along with Christians throughout the world) prepare to welcome Jesus into our hearts and homes in new and deeper ways, and as we are practicing hospitality in opening our hearts and homes to God, let us also practice hospitality by inviting others in our lives to join us.  On this Feast of Christ the King, Christ is a King Who doesn’t force His way into hearts, He doesn’t strong-arm His way into our lives, Christ is a King who came first as a baby, silently, quietly, yet in the full power of God to destroy the darkness of sin and to bring the joy and peace that only God can.  The Journey to the Manger is both the triumph of Christ the King and the Triumph of Christ the Babe, Who wants a warm place of welcome in the manger of your heart, and who wants us to invite others to join us as we Journey to the Manger, so that He can have a warm welcome in their hearts as well!

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time I want to talk about 2 things today: How do we as Catholics respond to an election?   What will actually change our country for the better? This weekend I preached in my hometown of Hudson, Wisconsin, at the parish of St. Patrick where I grew up.  It was a blessing to be home!  (One disclaimer is that the answer to the homiletic answer to first question above I begged, borrowed, and stole from an excellent homily of my own Deacon Dave DiSera of Hayward which he gave the weekend before the election. I thought that his words were so pertinent they bore repeating. So thank you, Deacon Dave!)

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus asks Bartimaeus today, "What do you want me to do for you?"  Bartimaeus's request is granted, he receives his sight, and he follows Jesus on the way.  Being a disciple of Jesus is being in a relationship with Jesus, and a relationship is a two-way street.  When Jesus asks us that question, we are called to respond from the depths of our heart with what we really, really want Jesus to do for us.  But as now-country artist Jelly Roll sings: do we only talk to God when we need a favor?  Are we sometimes one sided or overly self-focused in our interactions with God?  As disciples of Jesus, in a relationship with Him that is a two-way street, do we also ask the question often and frequently, "God, what do You want me to do for You?"

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time Life in a fallen world brings us all plenty of suffering, and our readings today take up that theme of suffering.  Our sufferings - wether mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, or some combination thereof - have varying levels, but the key to all of it is that I have a choice in the midst of my suffering, I can choose to respond in one of two ways: one way is the common response to suffering, the other way was modeled by Jesus in His suffering. Which one will we choose to confront our sufferings today?

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time The famous architect Antoni Gaudi designed the incredible basilica of Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, which has been under construction for 128 years.  A genius of architecture, he built a model of the church with strings...UPSIDE DOWN...to find and test balance and proportion, because each change in balance would immediately change all of the arches and balance throughout the entire upside down structure.  He turned it UPSIDE DOWN to learn how to do it in the best possible way RIGHT SIDE UP.  Jesus turns so many of our human perceptions, assumptions, and ways of thought UPSIDE DOWN in order to teach us how to live RIGHT SIDE UP...which is especially helpful (and a challenge to us all, I believe) in this time of the election cycle.  Are you willing to see and live things seemingly UPSIDE DOWN from what the world and the media tells you in order to actually live RIGHT SIDE UP?!

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time The people in our first reading today, the Israelites, are at a decision point — they need to decide whom they will follow.  This ancient Biblical situation is wildly applicable for us today.  November 5th is the upcoming presidential election.  Everyone is getting so worked up over politics, and we are all guilty of becoming more and more demonizing to anybody who disagrees with what we think.  I'd invite you to ask yourself: “Whose side am I on?  Whom do I support?”  I think you'll be surprised by what ought to be the real answer to that question, O Christian!

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time This weekend is the kickoff for our annual diocesan Catholic Services Appeal (CSA).  The CSA provides incredible opportunities to spread the faith of Jesus Christ in northwestern Wisconsin - for our seminarians, for our youth, for our schools, for our parishes - opportunities that I witness and see the fruits of firsthand!  I'm challenging you this year to stretch yourself in prayerful generosity to all of your favorite organizations and non-profits.   I challenge you particularly this week to think what you might be able to sacrifice monetarily to support the CSA for your parish this coming year.  Jesus Christ is our model of prayer and generosity; let's act more like Christ in this life, so as to become more of who we are called to be in the next!