Fr. Lampe’s Podcast: Recent Episodes
Fr. Michael Lampe
King Solomon was called by God to be the king. But he knew that he needed help in order to fulfill this vocation well. So he prayed for wisdom and understanding. In the ways that God calls us to live out holiness and to love one another, we too need His assistance. Please listen to my homily to learn more!
Sometimes the best way to teach a lesson is through telling a story. I start this family by telling the story of a man who wants to give his toddler a fun experience at a waterpark. Listen to my homily to learn about how this story connects with the kingdom of God!
We are blessed to be in the United States of America where we can practice our faith. It’s important for us to fulfill our civic duty and keep our nation the great place that it is. Let us vote Yes on Amendment 3. Please listen to my homily to learn more!
As we celebrate the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, we are mindful of the sacrifices that they made, but also the strength and joy and love that they experienced in their relationship with the Lord motivating them to share Him with others. Consider also the question that Jesus asked in the gospel passage. Who do you say that I am? Listen to my homily to learn more!
Here is a brief reflection upon the spiritual journey of discipleship and our readings for the 13th Sunday in ordinary time. Please listen to learn more!
St. John the Baptist was the precursor and the one who prepared the way for the coming of the Messiah. Listen to my homily to learn more about how we can prepare the way for the Lord to come more deeply into our hearts.
We are called to courageously live out our faith, and as we are also recalling Father’s Day in a special way, we recall how fathers are to courageously live out their faith. Listen to this reflection to learn more!
Prayer is powerful. But sometimes we struggle to persevere, sometimes we struggle to believe that the Lord will answer our prayer prayers. Listen to my homily to learn more about the power of prayer.
As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, we are reminded of the love of God that is everlasting. We are called to love God in return. Listen to my homily to learn more!
Our Lord, Jesus Christ reveals His love to us through the gift of Himself in the Most Holy Eucharist and through His Most Sacred Heart. These two celebrations help us to understand our Lord’s love for us and the connection between the two. Let us respond to His love by loving Him in return. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Christ reveals his love to us, do the gift of himself and the most holy Eucharist. When we honor him and adore him and praise him, we love him in return. Listen to my Harmony to learn more.
As we grow in relationship with God, He reveals more of himself to us. Each person of the Trinity desires to have a personal relationship with each one of us. Listen to my homily to learn more!
What would it be like to hear from the Apostles about their experience in the upper room when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost? What would it be like to hear a trusted friend tell you about their own personal experience of encountering God? Listen to my homily to hear about a recent experience that I had.
Jesus tells his disciples to go, therefore and make disciples of all nations. He is commissioning them and us to evangelize the world. The disciples do not immediately follow this command as they are not yet ready to do so, but once they receive the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, they immediately follow through on this great commissioning listen to my homily to learn more.
Mothers make many sacrifices for their children and love them unconditionally. This gives us a little glimpse of God‘s love for us. Please listen to my homily to learn more.
I love being a priest. Our Good Shepherd shares His ministry with men so that his grace may be distributed to His whole flock. Let us foster vocations to the priesthood. Listen to my homily to learn more.
As the disciples are traveling on the road to Emmaus, they may not realize it, but they are actually participating in the celebration of the Mass. Listen to my homily to find out why I make that claim and what a great blessing the Mass is for us.
Our Lord is truly present in the most Holy Eucharist. He’s eager to be united with us and bless us in Holy Communion. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Unfortunately, I did not save the recording of my homily for this Sunday. So, I reconstructed the main elements of that homily and expanded a little bit upon it. Please listen to this reconstructed homily to learn more about the Mercy of God!
If we think about the moments of joy that we’ve experienced in our lives, it often includes a sense of surprise for our benefit and love. Listen to my homily to learn more about this and how we can set a course for joy using the acronym GPS.!
Have you heard of Clare Crockett before she was born in the 1980s became an actress then had a profound encounter with the Lord during a Good Friday service. That started her journey to become a Religious Sister listen to my homily to hear her story and how God has a personal love for each one of us.
Will you let Jesus wash you? When Peter objects to Jesus washing his feet, Jesus tells him that unless he lets Jesus wash his feet, he will not have a shared in the inheritance. Jesus wants to wash us too. Will you let Him? Listen to my homily to understand what this means more clearly.
This Lenten season we have focused on relationship with the Lord and staying in good relationship with the Lord. We do that by avoiding temptation, which helps us avoid sin. We accept the Lord‘s encouragement and draw strength from it to continue in good relationship with Him. We include in part of our prayers, relational or conversational prayer, allowing ourselves to listen to the Lord and hear what He has to say. We accept the healing that He has to give us and we cooperate with His grace to stay in good relationship with Him we accept His mercy and His forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, allowing ourselves to be spiritually resurrected when we give into temptation and end up in sin. Listen to this reflection for a greater summary of these previous homilies.
Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. This was a physical resurrection, but our Lord wants to offer us a spiritual resurrection. When we commit mortal sin, we spiritually die. And we need the grace of the sacrament of reconciliation to be raised up again in our spiritual lives. Listen to my homily to learn more.
God wants to love us all the way into heaven, but we have to cooperate with his grace to get there. Listen to my homily to learn more!
We’re given a model of prayer with our gospel passage of the woman at the well. We can pull out certain elements that make the acronym ARRR which stands for acknowledge, relate, receive, respond. Listen to my homily to learn more!
There are times in our lives, where we face difficulties and challenges, times when we feel weak and not able to follow the Lord as he calls us. Our Lord wants to strengthen us and that’s what he does for his disciples with the Transfiguration. Listen to my homily to learn more.
In our Gospel passage, Jesus gives us different tips and strategies by his example on how to overcome temptation. Listen to my homily to learn more!
Rules and regulations without relationship leads to rebellion. This Lenten season let us focus on our relationship with God. Listen to my homily to learn more!
Jesus calls us to be the salt of the Earth and the light of the world. But how do we prevent losing that flavor or letting the light dim? There are multiple things that we can do including getting together in small faith sharing groups. Listen to my homily to learn more!
How do I get to Heaven? Our readings give us indications and mile markers to help us on the way. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Looking at our readings, Christ is identified as the light. We share this light to those who are in darkness. Those are in need of knowing our Lord and encountering his love. One of the ways we do this is through our Catholic school. Listen to my family to learn more!
Here am I Lord, I come to do your will. This was our Responsorial Psalm, but what does that mean in light of our other readings? It includes defending the unborn children in the Womb.
We might wonder what does baptism do for us? Well, a lot actually. Listen to my homily to learn more!
Why was it that the Wiseman were able to find Jesus and other people didn’t? Listen to my reflection to find the answer to this question and learn more!
In our first reading and in the responsorial psalm there’s a mention of the Face of God. How do we understand this? Why is it important? Listen to my homily for answers to these questions and for more information!
Jesus wants to be our friend. He wants to save us from sin and set us free to love. Listen to my homily to learn more.
As many gatherings and celebrations for the Christmas season, take place, we can reflect on being welcoming and hospitable to each other. This Christmas season, we are to welcome Christ into our lives and into our hearts, but He is also present in each one of us. Listen to my homily to learn more!
Did John the Baptist doubt who Jesus was? What about us? Do we have the right focus during the Advent season? Listen to my homily to find answers to some of these questions and further insights on how we might answer the others.
God has great plans for each and everyone of us. Today we reflect upon God‘s plan for Mary and why he kept her free from the stain of original sin from the moment of her conception. Listen to my family to learn more.
When a relationship is wounded or broken, it’s good to be reconciled. The same is true with our relationship with God and He gives us the great gift of the Sacrament of Reconciliation in order to be healed. Listen to my homily learn more!
What does our Lord mean by stay awake? How do we prepare during the Advent season? Listen to my homily for answers to these questions and for more information.
Christ is our king. Do we accept Him as our King? What kind of King do we have? We have one that’ll give himself fully and completely to us in the Eucharist. But why the Eucharist? Listen to my homily to learn more about this.
Many of us are afraid to talk about the faith with others because we don’t know how they will respond to it. However, Jesus sends us out at the end of every mass to share the good news to share what we’ve received with others. We grow in our ability to talk about Jesus when we start doing it. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Did you know that we can pray for the souls in purgatory and help them get to heaven faster? Learn more about this and about purgatory and indulgences by listening to my homily.
Today we celebrate All Saints and not just particular ones. But why do we even remember the Saints? Our ultimate goal is to be with God forever in heaven, and knowing those who have already gotten there can help us get there ourselves. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Did you hear about the Eucharistic miracle of the nobleman who pridefully received Holy Communion in a way he wasn’t supposed to and he began to sink into the stone floor? Listen to my homily to learn more about pride, humility, and Holy Communion!
What’s your favorite story? Did you know that the church has a favorite story? The story of salvation is the favorite of the Catholic Church and it’s contained within sacred scripture. Listen to my homily to learn more about this favorite story of the church!
In our Gospel passage, today, we see how the people with leprosy are cured through their obedience to Jesus’s instructions. Jesus told us to remember Him with the celebration of the Mass. Listen to my homily to learn more about the Mass and the Eucharistic Prayer.
Good news! Jesus comes to save us, not only in the sense of bringing us to heaven, but even starting to experience it here on earth. Hear more about this message and about the Gospel and homily at Mass by listening to my homily.
Tomorrow is the Feast of the Archangels and shortly thereafter is the celebration of the Guardian Angels. At the end of October, we have Halloween. So it seemed like it would be a good time to preach about angels and demons. Listen to my homily to learn more!
We act based upon what we believe. How often do we reflect upon what we believe as Catholics? The Creed summarizes our faith, we exercise our faith as we recite the Creed together. Then we put our faith into action with the petitions and and with the preparation of the gifts. Listen to my homily to learn more!
Recently, I preached on the Our Father, but I didn’t explain the ending part of it. There are multiple reasons for this, one of them being I didn’t want the homily to be too long. Another being I had preached on those topics many times before. However, I would like to offer the explanation now. Please listen to this reflection that you may understand what we mean when we pray ending part of the Our Father.
Some scripture passages need a closer look in order to properly understand them. Saint Paul talks about slavery and Jesus, talks about hating people. What did they mean and how does this apply to our lives today? What does this have to do with Mass? Listen to my homily for answers on these questions and for more information.
Our Lord calls us to humility, which is all about truth. The truth is God considers you worth dying for. When we live out of this truth and inspires us a greater desire to glorify God and to relate to him in prayer. Listen to my homily to learn more.
The second reading reminds us that we are sons of the heavenly Father. Our Father in heaven loves us so much and wants us to be with Him forever in heaven, but as Jesus tells us in our gospel passage, it’s not easy to get to heaven. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Sometimes we can misunderstand each other, and that can lead to division. Our Lord says He came to establish division rather than peace, but what does He mean by that? It could be that we misunderstand Him.Listen to my homily to learn more.(I added an announcement to this homily re-recording which makes it seem longer than it actually was when given at Mass).
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We might wonder, what does that mean? One of the things we can do is look at the proper prayers during the Mass for the day, including the preface, which is the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Faith, Preparation, and the Mass these are things I would like to discuss in this reflection. Listen to this reflection to see how they are related to each other.
We are to seek what is above. Our journey towards heaven begins with baptism, and when we enter the church, we’re reminded of our baptism with the holy water font. Listen to my homily to learn more!
Did you know that all the baptized are priests? They’re a part of the common priesthood also known as as the baptismal priesthood. It is different than the ministerial priesthood, but still important. Listen to my homily to learn more!
In this reflection, I summarize the missionary priest’s message and add to it a brief explanation of the structure of the Mass. Listen to this reflection to learn more about these things.
In the familiar parable of the good Samaritan, the victim encounters the good Samaritan who takes care of him. We are the victim in need of encountering our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who for us is the good Samaritan. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Priests celebrate Mass for us. They also draw people to God and provide grace for them to go deeper in their relationship with the Lord. Let us pray that the Lord gives us more priests to be at His service.
As we recall the Saints, Peter and Paul, we also recall how Peter was the first pope and Paul was an apostle called by Christ on a special mission. The Apostles established grew the church started by Christ and made the bishops their successors. Listen to my reflection to learn more.
Our Lord reveals His love to us using a parable about the good Shepherd. Love is often represented by a heart, and as we celebrate the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus we’re reminded of His love. He gives us His Heart in a special way in the Eucharist. Listen to my homily to learn more!
St. John the Baptist prepared the way for the coming of Christ how do we prepare the way for Christ coming? How do we prepare for Mass? Listen to my homily to learn more.
Are you familiar with the Eucharistic miracle that took place in Bolsena, Italy? Do you know why we believe that Jesus is really present in the Eucharist? How does any of this affect our daily lives? Listen to my homily for answers to these questions.
This Trinity Sunday happens to also be Father’s Day. As we examine the inner workings and relationship of the members of the Trinity, especially God the Father, we can see how the Father participates in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. He does so in a spiritual way, and we are called to also participate spiritually in the celebration of the Mass. Listen to my homily to learn more!
Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit and by the Holy Spirit we are able to say “Jesus is Lord“. Let us pray for a greater outpouring and presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives! Listen to my homily to learn more.
When I asked where I wanted to go, I simply said heaven. Heaven should be our ultimate goal. Are we living our lives here on earth for the sake of heaven what next steps can be taken so that we can continue our journey on the way to this ultimate goal? Listen to my family for some ideas.
Piece is something that we desire, but it can be thought of in different ways. It can be thought of as an absence of conflict, but it can also be thought of as being in good relationship or right relationship. Listen to my homily as I explore these ways of considering peace.
Jesus tells us to love as he loved. How did he love? What does that look like in our lives? Where do we get the strength to love like he did? Listen to my family to finance to these questions..
As a nation, we are celebrating Mother’s Day. Mothers make lots of sacrifices for their children and want what is truly best for them. In my homily, I invite you to reflect upon the church as mother.
In this homily, I talk about the Pope in order to help us gain a greater understanding of this leader of the Catholic Church. Listen to my homily to learn more.
This is a great day for our second graders, who will for the first time be united with our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist.
Although I didn’t preach any of our regular Masses, I did prepare this miniature homily for those who are interested.
Have you ever met someone who just seemed to be perpetually joyful? Where might that come from? What kind of joy is it? It could be the joy of the Lord! The joy of the Lord is a joy beyond what earth can offer. Listen to my homily to learn more.
When we suffer, we can suffer for a purpose. There’s can be good reasons we choose a path that includes suffering. Jesus chose a path in which He suffered His passion and death out of love for all of us. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Blessed Carlo Acutis, who will be canonized on April 27, 2025, created a website (therealpresence.org) with the Vatican approved Eucharistic miracles of the world. His collection also includes information about other things too like the Holy Grail, that is, the chalice Jesus used at the Last Supper. Listen to my to learn more!
Both sons in our gospel passage today forgot who they are and who their father is. We sometimes do the same, but the father is quick to forgive and we are invited to imitate him. Listen to my homily to learn more.
How we understand, God, the father affects how we live out our faith. Listen to my family to learn more.
To see one’s face is to see what best reveals the whole person. Our Lord wants to reveal Himself to us, and in heaven, we will get to see Him face-to-face as He truly is, but here on earth we can only recognize Him through indirect means. But He still gives us glimpses of Himself and His glory to strengthen us on our journey. He also gives us ways to make up for our sins. Listen to my homily to learn more.
When we are firm in our identity as a beloved child of God, then it becomes more difficult for us to be tempted towards sin. Listen to my homily to learn more!
Father Steven Schneier should have died back in 1985 from a car accident, but miraculously not only survived, but even had a full and complete recovery without surgery. He remembers. He was at his own personal judgment before our Lord Jesus. Listen to my homily to hear the story.
Jesus gives us some hard sayings in our Gospel passage today, including love your enemies, and do to others what you would have them do to you. How do we live out these things in our own lives? What does that look like? What should we be doing on the state and national level? Listen to my homily to hear more.
When someone stubs their toe, the whole body reacts and works for the good of the toe because the toe is needed as a member of the body to serve the good of the whole body. So we as members of the Mystical Body of Christ are to contribute and to help one another in the building up of the Kingdom of God here on earth. Listen to my homily to learn more.
With all the snow that we’ve had lately one might consider building an igloo. The “snow bricks” of an igloo need to lean on each other in order to hold each other up. We need to lean on each other to hold each other up in the faith listen to my homily to learn more.
Have you ever been caught up in awe and wonder? God works in beautiful ways in our lives and through human history. When we take a step back and see the connections and how He is at work, we can be amazed and grow in our faith. Listen to my homily to hear how we can respond to God‘s beautiful work..
If someone were to ask you, who are you? How would you respond? You’d probably give your name and maybe some other things about you. In our Gospel passage today, Jesus receives His name. In my homily I explore the question, where we get our identity from, and how that affects our lives.
With many Christmas gatherings, there can be a lot going on, and sometimes there can be temptations towards being judgmental, critical, envious, jealous, or other ways think poorly of other people. However, even the holy family had their struggles, and they were the most perfect of all families. Listen to my homily to learn more!
As we begin the Christmas season and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, we also share stories with each other as we gather with friends and family. Listen to my homily to hear a portion of my story of my faith journey and reflect on your own journey. This homily is slightly different than the midnight mass homily since the readings are different. However, the main points are the same.
As we begin the Christmas season and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, we also share stories with each other as we gather with friends and family. Listen to my homily to hear a portion of my story of my faith journey and reflect on your own journey.
When we recognize the Lord’s presence and that He’s at work in our lives, then we can call that a God moment. We could have many God moments throughout our day and the more we recognize them the easier it is for us to be aware of His presence, build up our faith, and help us in our relationship with the Lord. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Today is a special day since we are celebrating our patron Mary, the Immaculate Conception! She is also the patroness of the United States of America. Listen to my homily to learn more!
It can be easy to simply dismiss what it said in our Gospel passage, but what if we went a little deeper into what is being shared with us? Listen to my homily for an explanation of our Gospel!
First Sundayof Advent. Our Lord calls us to be prepared, not only for His second coming at the end of time when He comes in glory, but also when He comes to us at the celebration of Christmas. Listen to my homily to learn about some ways we can prepare for His coming.
In our Gospel reading, we recognize the humility of Christ. In the story of salvation we see the profound love of Christ, our King for us. But, He wants us to choose Him as our King and to follow the way of life He guides us in. it’s important for us to reflect upon the question of whether or not Christ is our king, and if He is, is He King of all aspects of life or only some? Many of us still have room for growth in holiness, and greater surrender to the Lord, allowing Him to rule over all aspects of our lives.
Sometimes Jesus’ teaching can be confusing. Listen to this homily to hear an explanation of our Gospel passage, and be ready for our Lord!
God calls us to be the best that we can be and has a plan on how he wants to do that in our lives. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Heaven and earth meet at Mass. We are taken up into the heavenly worship that we hear about in the book of Revelations. Listen to my home to learn more.
In the story of Bartimaeus, we see how a relationship with Christ unfolds. Let us consider the different phases of discipleship and where we might be in our own relationship with the Lord. Listen to my homily to learn more.
All of us are made to be in relationship with others. Friendship is a common way in which this happens. Listen to my homily as I reflect upon friendship and apply it to our relationship with Jesus.
Why are you here? This is a question that hat’s good for us to ask ourselves from time to time with regards to the things that we do like go to Mass. What’s our motivation? What’s our reason for being there? This can help us understand ourselves better, and help us figure out what is the next step in our relationship with the Lord. Listen to my homily to learn more.
God‘s plan for marriage is that it lasts the lifetime of husband and wife. Sometimes their own relationship is neglected and they drift apart. However, there are some tips that can help prevent this. Listen to my homily to find out more.
All of us who are baptized and especially those confirmed share and the prophetic office of Jesus Christ. This means we have the grace to tell the truth and spread the gospel and defend it. Being a profit includes sharing the truth, not only about our Lord, but about other important things like the Missouri constitutional Amendment 3 and how bad it really will be for our state if it passes. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Jesus wants us to grow in the virtues of humility and love. In my homily, I explore these teams with our gospel passage today and apply them to our lives.
Each one of us has to answer for ourselves the question Jesus asks in our gospel, “who do you say that I am?“ Some authors have sought to answer that question by summarizing the different possibilities. Who Jesus is to each of us, makes a difference on how we live our lives. Listen to the homily to learn more.
Living out, our faith includes taking risks. Listen to my homily to hear how I took a risk while trying to live out the faith. The rewards are much greater than the negative aspects that may come from the risk of following our Lord and living out the faith.
Sometimes, in our faith journey, we find ourselves just going through the motions. It can be as if we weren’t talking to anyone, but simply trying to complete a task. Listen to my homily to find out what can help overcome such a situation.
As we conclude John chapter 6, we see that some of the disciples of Jesus turn away because they cannot accept the teaching on the Eucharist, but the 12 remain because they know Jesus, even though they don’t understand the teaching. Where are you in your relationship with the Lord? Listen to my homily to learn more!
Jesus talks about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, and we know that he’s referring to Holy Communion. Listen to my homily to learn more about being well disposed, and receiving the God of the universe in Holy Communion.
On this holy day of obligation, we are blessed to celebrate the Blessed Virgin Mary and her bodily assumption into heaven. She is the new ark of the covenant carrying the special presence of our Lord to His people.
As Elijah needed food for the journey to fulfill God‘s plan and to make it to his destination, we too need food for the journey. Jesus reveals that the food for our spiritual journey to heaven is Himself in the Eucharist. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Sometimes when God does something new or different in our lives, we may not be completely open to it. We may resist it; we may ask “what is this?” Let us consider how we may be open to a greater faith, trust and obedience to the Lord. Listen to my homily to learn more.
How do you know that you’re loved? Many of us perhaps have not thought about it. How do we express and receive love? Some theories would put it at five different love languages. Listen to my homily to learn more.
When the Apostles return after their mission of spreading the good news, Jesus calls them to come and rest with him. We’re also reminded by Jesus that we need good shepherds to lead the flock to care for them so let us pray for the shepherds, the leaders of the church.
Jesus calls His 12 disciples to have a radical trust in him as He sends them out 2 x 2 but not letting them bring food or money or additional clothing. We are also called to trust in the Lord and even though we may not feel equipped for what He asks of us, such as sharing the good news of the gospel with others he still desires us to rely upon Him, and spread the Gospel.
It’s easy for us to take the people the blessings we have in our lives for granted. But we should be grateful for these things and we should take whatever appropriate actions are needed in order to maintain these relationships and these blessings that we have received. It’s important for us to be open to go deeper into our understanding of the faith, including in the pro life issues and in the proposed amendment to our state constitution. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Have you ever woken in the midst of doing something there can be a sense of confusion as to what’s happening and what’s going on and might ask ourselves these questions. Sometimes we can be spiritually asleep and need to be awakened. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Through the lived experience of the disciples they get a greater understanding of who Jesus is and what he’s about. Listen to my reflection to learn more.
As we celebrate Father’s Day, we are mindful that God the father uses human fathers to be his representatives here on earth, and as they protect and save their children, so God, the father desires to save us listen to my homily to learn more about how fathers can help protect and raise their children so they may be with God the Father forever in heaven.
In Ordinary Time, we are called to grow in our relationship with God. Sin is an obstacle to that growth, and our Lord wishes to be reconciled with us by receiving God‘s grace we become members of his family. Listen to my homily to learn more.
In Ordinary Time, we are called to grow in our relationship with God. Sin is an obstacle to that growth, and our Lord wishes to be reconciled with us by receiving God‘s grace we become members of his family. Listen to my homily to learn more.
When you love someone you want to be with them. Jesus loves us so much. He makes himself truly present in the Eucharist in order to be with us even physically. Listen to my homily to learn more.
In my homily today, I share a story about how the Holy Spirit inspired me to help someone. Let us all open our hearts in our minds to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. Following God‘s will is for our benefit and the benefit of others. Listen to my homily to learn more!
You can probably recall happy moments of mom trying to help you. God tries to help us too. He tries to help us to get to heaven. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Our Gospel passage and our second reading talk about love. But what do we mean by that? Listen to my homily and find out!
I love being Catholic, and I hope you do too. Our Lord calls us to remain in him to live out our faith. Listen to my homily to learn more!
Service can help us draw closer to God and as we get closer to God, there’s a natural desire to want to serve others. Listen to my talk to learn more.
Prophecy, the reaction of the disciples in our gospel passage, and miracles help us to know that what our faith teaches us is all real. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Today we celebrate how Jesus became man. At the moment of conception, He was fully human, and retained his Divinity. Listen to my homily to learn more.
In my homily today I talk about two young women who had experienced and recognized the grace of God at work in their lives. Our Lord wants to fill us with His grace in the sacraments to help us be the best that we can be and as we celebrate His Resurrection. We also celebrate all the gifts and graces He gives us especially through the sacraments. Listen to my homily to hear their stories.
We have two examples in our Gospel passage of what we can do when we find ourselves in a difficult position. We have what Pontius Pilate chose, and we have what Jesus Christ chose. Listen to my homily to learn more about these examples, and what we are called to do by God.
The Mass of the Lord’s Supper commemorates how Jesus instituted the Eucharist and the sacred priesthood, and gives us an example of service and love to others. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Peter thought that his love was so great that he would rather die than deny Jesus, but when he had the chance, what did he do? Listen to my homily as I reflect upon Peter, and how we may not know ourselves as well as we think we do. Let us also learn from our mistakes and persevere in the hope of the promises that Christ has for us.
If we want to see Jesus, we need to dispose ourselves well for the encounter. We do that by following Him. Listen to my homily to find out more.
Ever wonder what confession is like from a priest perspective? What would it be like to be on the other side of the screen? I talk a little bit about this in my homily today; listen and find out more!
Ever wonder what confession is like from a priest perspective? What would it be like to be on the other side of the screen? I talk a little bit about this in my homily today; listen and find out more!
We are given a great gift, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, also known as Confession. Listen to this teaching to find out more about this awesome sacrament!
God the Father is the best of all fathers, and He tries to help us to know how to be in a relationship with Him by giving us the 10 Commandments. His only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, tries to help us make room in our hearts and our minds for a good relationship with the heavenly Father. His example of clearing out the temple, reminds us of how we are to clear our souls from sinful tendencies. Listen to my homily to learn more!
Sometimes it can be difficult to live out our faith and hard to pray. We should turn to the Lord and seek His strength and recall the times that He has revealed His trustworthiness, His love, His presence, and draw strength from those past experiences; listen to my homily to learn more.
Temptation takes place before sin and understanding temptation can help us to better avoid the sin that can follow. So let us consider different ways of how we can better overcome temptation. Listen to this reflection to learn more.
Why do we put ashes on our forehead on Ash Wednesday? What are we trying to accomplish for the season of Lent? Listen to my homily for answers to these questions and more!
Our souls can be afflicted with spiritual leprosy, called sin, but our Lord has the miraculous cure for it the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Listen to my homily to learn more about the opportunities to go deeper into the beautiful mystery of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the opportunities for receiving this sacrament.
Our Heavenly Father wants us to find fulfillment and joy by drawing closer to Him through His Son, and our growth in holiness. He has a specific plan for each, and every one of us. Let us be open to His plan for us, for our children and for our grandchildren. Listen to my homily for more information.
Our Heavenly Father wants us to find fulfillment and joy by drawing closer to Him through His Son, and our growth in holiness. He has a specific plan for each, and every one of us. Let us be open to His plan for us, for our children and for our grandchildren. Listen to my homily for more information.
Our readings remind us of the need to speak the truth and there are some moral evils in the world today that need to be spoken about. Listen to my homily to hear more.
We are given the gift of free will and have the ability to choose to follow Christ or not. Jesus tells us to “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” He wants us to choose Him. Listen to my homily to learn more.
We are blessed in many ways, and the word blessing can be used in many ways. Listen to my homily to learn more about blessings, especially the blessing on the celebration of the Epiphany!
Mary always points us to Jesus and the title Mary Mother of God helps protect the truth about Jesus. Listen to my family to learn more!
Today we celebrate the holy family. Unfortunately, we are not as holy as they are but we are called to be faithful and humble like they are. In our own family lives, there can be difficulties and struggles which we can work through with the help of God’s grace. In my homily today I provide a few tips to help families work through the difficulties, challenges, and struggles that they may face. Listen to my homily to find out more!
Sometimes it can be difficult for us to accept that the God of the universe. The creator of all would want to become human. Why would He do that? Perhaps a story from famous radio show host Paul Harvey can help us understand. Listen to my homily for the retelling of this story, and the answer to this question.
In our final installment of the series, Understanding the Mass, we learn about the Liturgy of the Eucharist and the Concluding Rites. It is in the Liturgy of the Eucharist that we have what makes Mass what it is, that is the sacrifice of Christ made present for us at the altar. At the words of consecration, the words that Jesus used at the last supper, He truly becomes present, and His sacrifice on the cross is made manifest for us, so we may glorify God, and receive His grace and blessing.
St. Paul tells us to rejoice always to pray without ceasing and to give thanks in all circumstances. But how can we do that if we’re struggling, if we’re suffering, especially from the loss of a loved one? Listen to my homily to learn more about these things.
In this part of the series, I talk about the Introductory rites and the Liturgy of the Word. The Lord wants us to encounter Him and the Introductory rites prepare us to do so such that we can encounter Him not only in the Liturgy of the Word, but in the most excellent way in the celebration of the Mass that is in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Liturgy of the Eucharist will be covered in Part 3 of the series along with the Concluding Rites.
Listen to what it was like for me to go back to confession, after having been away for several years. Confession is a great gift away for us to say we’re sorry to God and receive his merciful forgiveness. Let us consider the opportunity is available to us to go to confession this advent season.
If you could create your own mother, wouldn’t you make her perfect? Is there biblical support for the belief that Mary was conceived without sin? Listen to my homily to learn more.
In this first part of the series, I introduce what the mass is, who it’s for, and how to best participate. I also talk about the liturgical year the different liturgical colors, the vestments, the sacred vessels, and the furniture of the church. The next part, Part 2, will cover the introductory rites and the liturgy of the word, and the final part, Part 3, will discuss the liturgy of the Eucharist and the concluding rights.
Hunters and fishermen need to be prepared for hunting and fishing. They also need to wait and be patient because they don’t know when the deer will come or the fish will take the bait. If they’re not prepared, if they are not ready, then they won’t have the desired outcome. We are called to be spiritually prepared to watch and wait for the coming of Christ. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Why do genuflect we first arrive at church? We are giving due honor, reverence, respect, submission, obedience, and showing humility to our King, who humbled Himself to be among us by taking on our human nature. Listen to my homily to learn more!
God gives all of us special gifts and talents, things that we can do to help build up the kingdom of God. He expects us to make good use of these things so that as many people as possible can be with Him forever in heaven, let us consider what our gifts and talents are, and how we may best use them in accordance with God’s will.
Sometimes Jesus, his parables can be confusing. Listen to my homily as I explain this parable about the wise and the foolish virgins and their oil lamps as they prepare for the wedding feast.
Jesus warns us to guard against pride, and instead to be humble. In my homily today I give a couple of examples from my own life and invite all who listen to go deeper into the reality of God’s love for them.
What are your top priorities? Is God or relationship with God one of them? God wants to be first in our lives as we heard today in our Gospel passage about the greatest commandment. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Today’ is World Mission Sunday. What does mission really mean? Where does it come from? How do we know what we’re supposed to do? Listen to my homily to find out answers to these questions and learn more about our faith.
The wedding feast of the lamb is the great celebration of the marriage of Christ and his bride, the Church. The celebration starts on earth, the celebration of the Mass!
What a great blessing for us to be celebrating Mass in the Basilica of Saint Peter in Rome!
What a great day in which we get to not only see the relics of the Eucharistic miracle of Siena, but also get to pray before it, and be blessed with it.
Today we get to start the day with Mass and anticipate what good things God has for us today.
What a great day in which we visited two sites and saw the relics of two Eucharistic miracles!
This Sunday Mass is a special one since it marks the midway point of the Pilgrimage but also reminds us of our connection with everyone back home.
This is the most famous of all the Eucharistic miracles, and we get to celebrate Mass in the chapel right next to the relics of this Eucharistic miracle where bread and wine, not only became Jesus, but also as scientifically verified, had become real human flesh and real human blood.
In this second part of the homily, which unfortunately was not recorded when it was given while on the Pilgrimage, I attempt to recall what I had previously said when we were there.
Listen to the first part of my homily at San Giovanni Rotondo in the church where Saint Padre Pio spent most of his life.
What would’ve been like to be a day laborer in the parable today? What was the parable about? What was the point? Listen to my homily to find the answers to these questions.
Forgiveness is beneficial for us. It is like tossing aside a huge rock that we have been carrying around. Our Lord is eager to forgive us, but we are not always eager to be forgiven. Listen to my homily to learn more about forgiveness!
Out of love for our neighbors we are to help guide them back to the Lord. Love is truly willing what is best for someone, and what’s best for everyone to be in right relationship with God!
God dupes us, or tricks us, to follow Him and to do His will for our own benefit. Listen to my homily to hear more about this, as it appears in the Scriptures and in my own life.
At a dinner party, I was asked the question why we believe that not everyone will be saved. There were many things I could have said, but instead, I simply lifted up my glass of water, and extended it towards him. Listen to my homily to find out how the story ends!
It’s such a blessing that our Lord has expressed His victory over death, not only in His own bodily resurrection, but also in the Assumption of Mary, so that she, too, has her body and soul in heaven. Listen to my Homily for a greater understanding of this mystery.
My first homily at Immaculate Conception in Old Monroe is about the Transfiguration of Our Lord and seeing the hidden glory of Hod in our daily lives. Listen to it for more information.
Why doesn’t God punish the evil people right away? Why aren’t the weeds removed from the field? Listen to my homily for some insights.
How do I get more out of Mass? I offer in my homily some tips on what you can do to better receive God’s grace in the celebration of the Mass.
Listen to examples of when people put God first and it worked out well for them and others.
Jesus tells us about how much He cares about us and how much more we are worth than sparrows. In my homily, I talk about what we should do if we’re worried about something, especially about fallen away children.
When someone gives us a great gift, how do we respond? Jesus gives us the great gift of himself in the Eucharist. How do we respond to this great gift? Listen to my Homily to learn more!
The trinity is one of the great mysteries of faith. When we celebrate the Mass, we are entering into the mysterious union and relationship among the Persons of the Trinity. Listen to my Homily, to learn more!
With Pentecost, we see a huge change in the apostles as they are filled with the Holy Spirit. They go out and share the good news with others, drawing them into relationship with the Lord. With the all things new planning process announced, there are certainly changes taking place throughout the diocese and even here at ICD, we should share with the Lord in prayer what we think and what we feel about all of these things that are taking place and let the Lord speak to us about our experience and help us in this time. Listen to my homily to learn more!
Anticipation can help us grow our desire, so that when we get what we anticipate we can greater appreciate it, and receive it better. Listen to my homily to learn more!
Jesus says I will be with you until the end of the age. How is that possible since we’re celebrating the Ascension? Listen to my homily and find out!
When my niece was little, she would walk around pick something up and then offer it to the person nearby saying “this.” When we come to Mass, what is it that we offer?
In our Gospel passage, we are told that the sheep know the voice of the shepherd. But, do we know His voice? How do we recognize the voice of God? Listen to my homily for some tips!
Receiving Holy Communion for the first time, is such a gift! Every time we receive Holy Communion is an awesome union with Jesus Christ! Listen to my homily to learn more.
When we go to Mass what is the primary point or purpose of it? How do we participate? I can recall when I first returned to the Catholic Church and I returned to Mass. I had no idea what was going on or why I was supposed to be there, other than God told me to. I have learned a lot since then. Listen to my Homily to learn more!
Our heavenly Father loves us, and wants what is best for us and will guide us to Himself if we let Him lead us and show us that love in what Matthew Kelly calls holy moments. Listen to my homily to learn more including a couple of holy moments that I’ve recognized in my own life regarding the passing of my father.
It’s one thing to be told that Jesus died for us. It’s another to experience it in prayer. Listen to my homily is a share, and experience I had with Christ dying for me, and know that he died for you personally, and individually so that you may be with him forever in heaven.
What are you doing? Sometimes the people around us could be doing things that just don’t make sense to us. We might want to ask him this question, and the same can be true with God. However, God has a plan and he’s in charge and he knows what he’s doing and he can bring good out of anything. Listen to my homily to learn more.
It’s hard to see in a dark room, but if the door were cracked open, and light came in, we can start to see see ourselves and see what’s around us more. Christ is the light of the world and wishes to be the light in our darkness, but we need to be in relationship with Him in order to be transformed and become the best version of ourselves. In our relationship with the Lord, sometimes we turn away from Hum through sin. Listen to my homily to learn more about light, relationship with Jesus, and sin.
What makes Christianity unique? What does this mean for our daily lives? What can we learn from Jesus his conversation with the woman at the well? Listen to my homily define answers to these questions!
Why do we hear about the Transfiguration now? Why did Jesus even have this at all? How does this impact us today? Listen to my home and find answers to these questions.
When we receive our ashes, we hear, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” What does that mean? And why do we say that? Listen to my homily to find out!
We are called to be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect. But what does that mean? It is a call to be perfected in charity. We are to be holy, for God is holy what does that mean? We are to be set apart from the rest listen to my home line to learn more about charity and holiness, and how to prepare for Lent.
Do your children always listen to you? What are some reasons why they might not do that? Do we always listen to God? The reasons are typically pretty similar listen to my homily to hear more about following the commands of God.
What does it mean to be the salt of the earth? What does it mean to be the light of the world? Listen to my homily and find out.
It’s important for us to be humble, but what does that mean? I hear about to be attitudes a lot, but what are the eight beatitudes mean? Listen to my only find answers to these questions anymore!
I share a true story about how the Lord transformed the life of a wife and mother. The Lord wishes to be a light in our darkness, and bring his transformative love into our lives to make us the best version of ourselves. Let us allow the Lord to work in our lives and make us the saints He wants us to be.
Why is Jesus called the Lamb of God? What does that have to do with baptism? Find the answers to these and more by listening to my homily!
What is wisdom? How is it different from knowledge? What makes the wisemen wise? How is it that we can imitate them? Listen to my homily to find answers to these questions!
Why did Jesus come when He did? What does the fullness of time mean? How can we better follow Mary’s example in our pursuit of holiness? Listen to my homily to find answers to these questions!
Let Jesus Christ be the light in the darkness that you experience in this life. So that you may be with Him forever in the next! Listen to my homily to hear how the Lord was the light in my life and redirect to the course of my life.
The Angel Gabriel said to name the child Jesus, and the prophecy said they shall name him, Emmanuel. How does that work? And how is it that God is with us? listen to my homily to find out!
How many of us are able to recognize the ways that God is at work among us how many of us are so busy that we don’t notice the ways in which God is trying to reveal himself and his love to us? let us prepare the Way of the Lord, for His coming at Christmas by recognizing how He is at work among us.
Listen to my homily to hear about my first time, returning to Confession after I’ve been away from the faith for a while. Also learn about a technique that Jesus and John use in our Gospel in order to confess the faith of who Jesus truly is. Listen to my homily to learn more.
His special Ness kicks off the 40 hours of adoration devotion. What a blessed and awesome time this is, let us rejoice and be glad for the Lord’s humility, and his willingness to come to us in the most holy Eucharist! Listen to my homely to learn more.
Mary is the new Eve, and she will guide us to her Son, Jesus Christ. So we should not hesitate to go to her. Listen to my home away from information!
Now is the time of mercy. Now is the time for us to turn back to the Lord, to be reconciled to Him. Let us prepare for the coming of the Lord by repentance and bearing good fruit. Listen to my homily learn more.
The season of Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of the Lord. Listen to my homily to learn more about the different ways the Lord comes to us, especially the way that he comes to us in the Most Holy Eucharist, and how to be prepared for Him.
What do you think of when you think of a king? It’s probably not the image of a king we see in our Gospel passage today. And yet, we truly have the King of Kings as our King, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Listen to my homily to learn more.
In this homily I briefly describe part of my vocation story since this is a vocations awareness week and my story may help others discern what vocation they are called to. Also, talk about the universal vocation to holiness. Listen to my homily more information.
In our Gospel passage today Jesus gives us an example of bringing about conversion through loving the sinner. We too can follow that example and help others be drawn to Christ through our love for them. They will not care what we know until they know that we care. Listen to my homily to learn more!
In my homily today I talk about prayer and encountering the Lord in silence. How do we do that?What does that look like? Listen to my homily to learn more!
What if the only things you had today were the things you said thank you to God yesterday? Would you have anything at all? The readings today have a theme of gratitude. Listen to my homily to learn more about the reading, gratitude, and Mass!
Our readings today point us to faith. We are called to exercise our faith and to trust in the Lord and to follow Him. Listen to my homily for examples and tips on this.
We are all called to be a good stewards of the gifts given to us to help us on our journey to heaven. Listen to my homemade to learn more! Also, I added bonus material at the end after the homily.
Your gospel passage we hear about the dishonest steward, but what was Jesus trying to say? Listen to my family and find out!
We can see Mercy at work in our readings and in our lives. Listen to my homily to hear about these things!
Jesus explains the cost of discipleship in our gospel passage today. He says that we must hate mother and father brother and sister etc. but what does he mean by that? What does it mean to be a disciple? Listen to my homily for answers on these questions and more!
We are encouraged to grow in the virtue of humility and to avoid pride. Listen to my homily to get some tips on how to do this!
In our Gospel passage Jesus tells us to strive to enter through the narrow gate and that many will try but not make it because they are not strong enough. What does that mean? Listen to my Homily to find out!
Jesus said he came to cause division. What does he mean by that? Listen to my homily and find out.
Today we hear about Abraham and how he lived out his faith following the Lord acting on what he believed even though he could not see how it could work out or happen. He trusted in the Lord and did what the Lord commanded him. Our Jesus Christ encourages us to live out our faith in our Gospel passage, acting on what we believe not living for earth, but instead living for heaven! Listen to my homily to learn more.
God wants us to be with him forever in heaven, so He warns us against the things that can prevent us from reaching Him, including hoarding and greed. Listen to my homily to learn more!
God our Heavenly Father, who loves us tremendously, wants what’s best for us. Sometimes we don’t always agree with Him but He has what’s in our best interest in mind. He wants to give us many blessings and gifts, and we should open our hearts and our minds to them. The Lord gives us the great gift of free will, love, sexuality, children, natural family planning, Reconciliation, and His very own Son our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist! Listen to my Halloween to learn more about it.
We are all called to love our neighbor as ourselves but first we need to be strengthened by the love of God in a relationship with him in order to love our neighborhood. Listen to my homily to hear about the time that I could have but didn’t love my neighbor as I ought, as well as how we can love our neighbors by first being filled with the love of God.
We are all called to be laborers for the harvest drawing as many people as possible to heaven by sharing with them the good news of the Gospel. We are all called to evangelize, but what does that look like? Listen to my homily to learn more.
Jesus Christ is truly present in the Eucharist and wishes to bless us with his abundant grace. If we are well dispos and prepared to receive that grace at mass and ina ration that our lives will change for the better. Listen to my Homily to learn more.
In this homily, I talk about the Trinity and attempting to understand the mystery. The best description of it is perhaps the Athanasian creed. Listen to my homily to learn more!
In this homily I recall the grace of confirmation. The first confirmation being Pentecost! Let us all open our hearts and our minds to the Holy Spirit being active in our lives!
What are your top three goals in life? Take a moment to reflect upon this. Was union with God forever in heaven, or some thing similar, somewhere on the list? The Ascension helps us to remember and we should leave for heaven and not for earth. Listen to my homily to learn more!
Family life can be a joyful and awesome experience, but I can also have its challenges. Whether it be our spiritual family that is the church, or our personal families, it’s important to prioritize our families. Listen to my homily to learn more.
Ordination for Priesthood for St. Louis is in about two weeks. As such it is a good time to reflect upon why do we have priests? My homily I go deeper into answering this question and how we can respond to the gift of priests.
In this homily today I recall the ordination of Bishop Rivituso and discuss the role of bishops as successors of the Apostles.
Pope St. John Paul II came to St. Louis in 1999. I recall my experience when he came, and talk about the papacy in general, and Peter our first pope in this homily. Listen to my homily and how Peter our first pope and all his successors are called to be a source of unity for the whole church.
This is a joyous occasion, the first time these second graders will receive our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist!
The Divine Mercy of God is revealed in Sacred Scripture, but we as human beings often forget how loving and merciful our Lord can be. So, He chose to remind us through Saint Faustina Kowalska. Listen to my homily to learn more about the divine mercy of God!
Alleluia, He is risen, He is risen indeed! Today we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord, which is a very important moment in history. But some people may find it difficult to believe. In my homily today, I share some of the evidence that supports the Resurrection as a true historical fact. Listen to my homily to learn more!
In this homily I briefly talk about the history of the Good Friday service and veneration of the True Cross.
Today we recall the triumphant entry of Christ into Jerusalem as well as the Passion He under went out of love for all of us that we might have the grace necessary to go to heaven. His Suffering reveals His love and meditating on it can help us strengthen our faith, hope, and love.
As we continue the seven deadly sin series we reach our last two deadly sins and they are anger and lust. We have examples of these found in our Gospel passage. We talk about the sins as well as the virtues to counter them in order for us to overcome sinful behavior and to live in according to the loving plan that God has for all of us. We do not identify sins for the sake of beating up or blaming ourselves or others but rather to stir up a repentance and to seek the mercy and love of God and his forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This forgiveness we see as Jesus forgives the woman caught in adultery and he tells her to sin no more.
Today we have the story of the prodigal son, or perhaps better titled a father and his two sons. Continuing with the seven deadly sins series today we are going to talk about greed and envy as we see it in the story of the father and his two sons. Also we are going to cover how to overcome these sins and grow in virtues of detachment, generosity, charity, gratitude, love of others, and contentment.
We continue the series on the seven deadly sins and their corresponding virtues, covering today the sin of gluttony and sloth, with temperance and perseverance in the faith countering them. Listen to my homily to learn more.
This Lenten season the priests of ICD are doing a series on the seven deadly sins and the corresponding virtues to counter them. In this first homily of the series I briefly explain sin in general then talk about pride in particular and the virtue of humility to counter pride.
What is temptation? We know that everyone experiences it, even Jesus as we hear in our Gospel passage today. Listen to my homily to better understand temptation and how to avoid and overcome it.
Almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, are given to us as great practices during the season of Lent to help us refocus on our relationship with God in preparation for Easter. Listen to my how many to learn more!
What past do you choose? How do you want to live your life? In our Gospel passage today Jesus challenges His disciples to make a choice. Listen to my homily to learn more!
Pray for those who mistreat you. In this homily, I share a story of when I lived those words out. What we hear in our Gospel is also seen lived out in our first reading by David. Jesus Himself in his Passion and Death and Resurrection practiced what he preached. Please listen to my homily to learn more!
Our faith is all about relationship with God, an intimate friendship as it is presented to us in Sacred Scripture or sometimes presented even as a romantic relationship. Today is also World Marriage Day and sacramental marriage represents Christ and His bride in the Church. Our Gospel passage today is perhaps best understood in the context of this broader concept of relationship. Listen to my homily to learn more about the blessings and woes in the context of relationship and how to pray like a pirate!
There are many methods of prayer, but I would like to share with you the one called Lectio Divina. Listen to my home to learn about my own experience with it what are the steps to this method!
Archbishop Rozanski initiated the All Things New strategic planning process and has shared the beginning of it with us in a letter. As part of the Homily I read the letter and talk about its contents. Please listen to my homily for more information.
How are we to understand the Bible? Doesn’t it contradict what we know by science? Listen to my homily to get a greater understanding of Holy Scripture and how we are to read it!
All of us desire to be known and loved for who we truly are. The faith, Scripture, and salvation history are all about a love story of God and humanity. In this love story God in the person of Jesus Christ marries His bride the Church, the community of believers. Listen to my homily to learn more.
What will it be like to be there at the baptism of the Lord? We can use imaginative prayer to get some insights to answer that question. In this family I lied imaginative prayer to go deeper into this mystery of the baptism of our Lord and baptism in general.
There’s such a richness to our Catholic faith. There’s the fulfillment of prophecy, so much symbolism and foreshadowing, and connections of so many things. God is very much at work and interested in our lives. Listen to my homily to learn more!
Mary helps us to understand Jesus correctly and always guides us to Him but sometimes we can be mistaken about her and her Son. Listen to my homily to learn more about our Blessed mother and her Son, Jesus Christ.
Merry Christmas! As we celebrated the mystery of the incarnation we might wonder, why did God become man? Listen to my homily and learn some of the reasons!
Blessed to be a part of ICD‘s Christmas novena tradition. This reading from Isaiah is provides hope. Listen to my homily to find out more!
With less than a week before Christmas there’s a theme of giving gifts. Listen to my homily to find out what I mean.
Rejoice! We are called to rejoice sine we are closer to the celebration of Christmas than when we first began the Advent season. Let us prepare for the joyous occasion of the birth of Christ seeking the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness in the sacrament of Confession. Listen to my homily for more information.
Today we celebrate the solemnity of immaculate conception! Today we also dedicate our new tabernacle! Listen to my homily to learn more about both!
In this homily I recall my first time going to adoration while I was still in college at Rolla. I also answer the questions “what is adoration?” and “what do you do during adoration? “. Listen to my homily to hear more of my story and answers to the questions.
How many things in life do we miss out on because we aren’t prepared for it? Listen to my homily to learn more.
In this homily I closely examine the Gospel passage and how it relates to our celebration of Christ the King and His tremendous love for us! Listen to my homily to learn more.
As we approach the end of Ordinary Time, we are reminded about the end of time as mentioned in our readings, and the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell.
Jesus uses both negative and positive examples to show us how to be truly Pius and to trust in our Heavenly Father. Listen to my homily to learn more!
What is purgatory and why would people go there? Learn about it by listening to my homily!
Today we celebrate all saints that is all saints in heaven! What a joyful and awesome day it is. Listen to my homily to learn more about the Saints!
Have your heard about Sr. Clare Crockett? She encountered the Lord's love and it redirected her whole life! Hear a little of her story and learn some tips about how to encounter God's Love by listening to my homily!
The Lord shows us how to be servant leaders like Himself so that we may serve and not be served. Before we can do that though, we must first be filled with love and grace of God so that we can share it with others. Listen to my homily to learn more!
Where do you want to go? Today we hear about the rich young man who desires eternal life, listen to my homily to go deeper into this Gospel passage!
What is marriage? How do we understand it? Why is it so important to the Church? Listen to my homily for answers to these questions and to learn more about marriage!
I broke the rules as a boy and put myself into serious danger. Our parents give us rules to follow for a reason. The rules are often for our own good and safe keeping. Similarly with God, the commandments He gives us are to help us reach the goal of Heaven. Jesus warns us about sin and how it can prevent us from reaching that goal. Listen to my homily to find out more!
We all have those moments where we say or do something prideful. In my homily I share one of those moments in my life and what we can do to overcome pride.
Have you ever disagreed with God? I share one example of when I tried to tell God what to do. Listen to my homily to find out what happened.
Jesus healed the deaf and mute man. We are like the him spiritually speaking in that we often struggle to hear God speaking to us and do not often speak about God and our relationship with Him to others. In this homily, I share some ways that God can speak with us if we are open to it. Listen to my homily to learn more!
Sometimes we can get caught up with the rules of the faith, and forget what the whole point of it is. The Pharisees and scribes did this, but Jesus calls them out on their hypocrisy. Listen to my homily to learn the point of our Faith.
Did you know that Jesus Christ is married? St. Paul tells us that His bride is the Church! In this homily I make connections among, St. Louis, Marriage, and the Eucharist. Listen and learn.
What do we mean by Assumption? Does it mean that we aren't sure if Mary is in Heaven? What reasons do we have to believe that she is there? What does it mean for all of us? Listen to my homily to get answers to these questions!
We all have a desire to be known and to be loved for who we are. We desire to reveal ourselves and be accepted and cared for even in our weaknesses. Jesus knows us perfectly and loves us more than we can imagine. He wants to be known and loved too. Jesus reveals something personal and risks rejection when He says, "I am the Bread of Life"! Listen to my homily to go deeper into this mystery of the Eucharist.
To receive God's grace we must believe that we can, be open to receiving it, step out in faith to seek it, and clear our hearts and minds from distractions. Listen to my homily for more tips and inspiration!
God wants us to be in relationship with Him. He calls us and invites, but does not force us to be His disciples. He chooses us for holiness, but will not force us to be holy, we must choose to live a life of holiness cooperating with His grace. Once we are built up in loving relationship with Christ, He sends us to draw others to be in relationship with Him too. God called me to be a priest, but I was a Nuclear Engineer first. Listen to my homily and get a glimpse of my transition into the priesthood!
If we want to encounter God and receive His grace, then we need to have faith and be open to it. Listen to my homily and learn more about it including how in my weakness I fell away from the Catholic faith, and by God's mercy came back again.
My last Sunday homily at Ascension. We see a theme of healing in our Gospel passage. God wants to heal us, especially in ways that help us get to Heaven! Listen to my homily to learn more and hear my final farewell to the first parish I was a part of as a priest.
We can face many kinds of storms in our lives and wonder where God is in all of it? Does He care? Why is He letting this happen? Listen to my homily and get some answers!
What makes Mass, Mass? What is the most important part of Mass? Some may say Holy Communion, but actually that isn't the most important part. We can go to Mass without receiving Holy Communion and it still is Mass... Listen to my homily to find out more and learn about the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist.
The Mystery of the Trinity can be hard to accept. It is something that should be pondered and the more we ponder it the easier it will be to accept it. Listen to my homily to help you enter more deeply into this mystery.
At Pentecost the Holy Spirit was given to the Church in a powerful way. It was the first Confirmation. God gives us the grace to spiritually mature, but He also gives us additional graces or gifts to be shared with others in the Church and the whole world. Listen to my homily and find out where I am being called to share my gifts.
Holiness is our first vocation. As we pursue it, God will reveal to us His plan and any particular vocations such as priesthood, religious life, or holy matrimony.
In our readings we hear about how Jesus was taken up into Heaven, or “ascended in to Heaven” as we say in the creed. Is that all? Is it just about Jesus going up? Why would we celebrate Jesus seemingly leaving us? What is the Ascension all about? Listen to my homily and find out!
"Remain in me, as I remain in you. ... I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit," What does it mean to remain in Jesus and how do we do it? Listen to my Homily and find out!
Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the Church and He is the Good Shepherd. Our place in the Church depends on our relationship with the Cornerstone. The Good Shepherd knows what is best for us and wants to guide us to our greatest joys. God wills only what's best for us, so we should discern His will and follow Him.
Final episode of the Spiritual Roadmap to Heaven.
The Spiritual Roadmap to Heaven series was a radio show mini-series for Covenant Network that originally aired in January and February of 2020.
Hope for personal growth by recognizing our progress and looking forward to the blessings to come
Saints can help us see that possibility of growth and desire it
Warning signs of getting off track
Growth in the spiritual life through the Sacraments and the need of being well disposed to receive the grace
Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist
Sacraments of Healing: Confession and Anointing of the Sick
Sacraments of Service / Community: Matrimony and Holy Orders
Meritorious works out of love of God, which grows our charity
Conditions to always have our prayers answered the way we want it answered
God crowns His own gifts
Additional resources for growth in the Spiritual Life
The Spiritual Roadmap to Heaven series was a radio show mini-series for Covenant Network that originally aired in January and February of 2020.
Detachment / Freedom from disordered attachments to sensible things
Dark Night of the Senses and Transitioning from the Purgative Way to the Illuminative Way
Confusion when in the Dark Night of the Senses because God is trying to encounter them in a different way
Dark Night of the Spirit is for the detachment from spiritual things
Social Media, Superficiality, and lack of fulfillment
St. Peter's Spiritual Journey, and that of the other Apostles
As we grow in holiness, we understand ourselves better
The Spiritual Roadmap to Heaven series was a radio show mini-series for Covenant Network that originally aired in January and February of 2020.
How do we transition from one age to the next?
Active purgation includes: Examinations of Conscience, Mortification, actively seeking to overcome sin
Passive purgation is like having surgery on the soul
St. John of the Cross - Contemplation
St. Therese of Lisieux and being childlike
St. John of the Cross and the Dark Nights of the Soul
St. Ignatius of Loyola - Consolation and Desolation
Detachment from the things of the world
Unforgiveness and Forgiveness
Happy Easter! Jesus is risen from the dead! This is a joyous occasion... Listen to my homily about the Joy of Easter.
Here are 3 suggestions to help us be disposed to receiving joy from God. You could call it GPS: Gratitude, Prayer, and Sharing.
Jesus said, “It is finished.” But, what is finished? Why even say this given the pain and agony that would be necessary for a crucified man to speak? In order to simply breathe Jesus would need to push up from the nail in His feet and pull Himself up using the nails in His wrists and the muscles that were bruised or torn by the scourging. To speak would require even more air, meaning He would experience even greater pain while trying to hold Himself up to speak. This must be something important to make it worth saying. Listen to my homily to find out more!
Sabrina, was the actress of Veronica in Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion of Christ. Listen to the homily to hear what happened to her while she played this role!
The Spiritual Roadmap to Heaven series was a radio show mini-series for Covenant Network that originally aired in January and February of 2020.
What is it like for the proficient in the Illuminative Age?
What about Evil in the world? How does that effect the faith of someone in this age?
What is it like for the perfect in the Transformative Union (Unitive Way)?
The Spiritual Roadmap to Heaven series was a radio show mini-series for Covenant Network that originally aired in January and February of 2020.
How do we go from ordinary person to becoming a saint?
Three Ages of the Spiritual Life: Purgative (Beginner), Illuminative (Proficient), and Transformative Union (Perfect)
What is it like for the beginner in the Purgative Age?
Mortal and Venial Sin
A river is beautiful, majestic, and life giving when it stays within its riverbanks. Our spiritual lives are like rivers with the commandments as our riverbanks. Listen to my homily to learn more.
We willingly go through difficulties when we know we can get something good from it. Similarly, with the season of Lent, we have our Lenten practices to help us grow and be ready for Easter. Listen to my homily for more information.
As we start our season of Lent, we mark the beginning of this season with ashes. Why though do we put ashes on our heads? Couldn’t we start the season in some other way? What do the ashes mean? Listen to my homily and find out!
For us to firmly assent to that which is unseen is called faith. We have faith in what people tell us even though we don't see it for ourselves because we consider them trustworthy and believable. For example, believing how software works based on what a person is told without checking the source code is a kind of faith. This kind of faith that is called natural faith. We use natural faith on a regular basis, believing and even acting on what others tell us because we considered them credible witnesses or trustworthy people.
Typically, in the Church when we say faith, we don’t mean this kind of natural faith, we mean supernatural faith. Supernatural faith is different because it is about God and His promises, which are above and beyond but not opposed to reason. God is the one who bears witness to Himself, and with Supernatural Faith, we believe Him. We have our reasons to believe Him and He has His credible witnesses.
Listen to my homily to learn more!
Although I didn't preach a homily for the Solemnity of the Epiphany, I did provide a reflection for our Children's Liturgy. Listen to the reflection to learn more about the Epiphany!
The title of Mary, Mother of God, helps us to know that Jesus is one person, but has two natures, human and Divine. Mary points us to Jesus, let us thank her for all she does for us!
Marriage is said by some to be the most difficult of all relationships on earth. In my homily I provide tips and strategies to overcome conflicts in marriage, but are also applicable to other relationships that may be struggling with conflicts too. Listen to my homily to be better equipped to overcome conflict!
This homily is similar to my homily on Christmas Eve, but there are some differences including a joke.
Jesus Christ is the light of the world. I can recall how He brought light to my darkness and guided me to a better more joyful life with Him. He came to bring light to the darkness of all, coming to us as a little baby. Listen to my homily to hear my reversion story and how it connects to Christmas!
Jesus Christ is the light of the world. I can recall how He brought light to my darkness and guided me to a better more joyful life with Him. He came to bring light to the darkness of all, coming to us as a little baby. Listen to my homily to hear my reversion story and how it connects to Christmas!
God has a plan for everyone, plans for your life and for your eternal life. He prepares us for such things as we are on our journey to Him.
Happy Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception! This is a great day for our country! Yes, this is a great day for our country! Today we celebrate the patroness of the United States of America! Mary, the Immaculate Conception! Listen to my homily to find out more connections between the two!
We should prepare ourselves for Christmas by making room for the Lord in our hearts. We can clear away the clutter of sin with Confession. Listen to my homily to learn more!
Ascension's website has resources to help prepare you for Confession: https://www.ascensionchesterfield.org/guide-to-confession
When we desire something and are waiting for it, we are increasing our capacity to enjoy it when it comes. Such anticipation helps us to be prepared for it when it is here. If we don’t prepare, if we aren’t ready, if we don’t anticipate, wait, and watch, then we might just miss out on something great and wonderful.
God gives us gifts according to our ability and we are to use them for reach our ultimate goal of union with Him!
We must always be ready to meet the Lord because we "know neither the day nor the hour" when He will come.
At one point in time, many people believed that only priests and those in religious orders were called to become saints. Only they were to pursue the life of holiness. However, everyone is called to be holy, everyone is called to be a saint! Only saints are in heaven. If you want to be in heaven, then you have to become a saint.
Wait! The Church has to declare someone a saint right? Listen to my homily to get the answer!
There are lots of things that are going on in our lives and demanding our attention. Globally, there is the pandemic. Nationally, we have our elections coming up. The holidays will be here soon too. We are bombarded with many forms of entertainment and material things to consume. How do we figure out what is most important? How do we prioritize the many options of our lives? Listen to my Homily to find out!