Fr. Dave Tomaszycki Podcasts: Recent Episodes
Fr. Dave Tomaszycki
Fr. Dave Tomaszycki is a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit, and currently serves as weekend help at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Parish in Farmington, Michigan.
From the 4pm Mass on Saturday, August 1, 2026, the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
My three points:
- We are Rich
- Truly / Humbly listening to God is Hard!
- IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization
From the 10am Mass on Sunday, July 19, 2026 the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
My three points:
- Heaven and Hell
- Mercy: Letting God Love You
- I referenced C.S. Lewis' The Weight of Glory to make the distinction between excusing and forgiving (particularly pp. 178-179, 181).
- Fruitfulness
From the noon Mass Sunday, July 12, 2026, the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
My three points:
- Fruitfulness
- "Gross is the heart"?
- The Soils
Conclusion: I ask the congregation: What can we do to make our souls "rich" soil?
I preached a versino of this homily at the 4pm Mass on Saturday. The livestream can be found here, the homily starts at 33.02.
We had a special 6pm Mass for our parish feast day.
My three points:
- Church Tour of St. Peter Markings
- Serving for Pope Benedict, human weakness
- The Gates of Hell shall not prevail
The livestream of this Mass can be found here (homily starts at 36.37).
From the 10am Mass on Sunday, June 28, 2026, the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
My three points:
- 51%?
- 100%
- Death in Christ
The livestream for the Mass can be found here (homily starting at 35.27).
From the noon Mass on Sunday, June 21, 2026, the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
In this homily, I briefly go over the Kerygma, and then make the point that a major part of our response (the fourth and final part of the Kerygma) is testifying to Jesus.
The Kerygma:
- Created
- Captured
- Rescued
- Response
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, June 14, 2026 the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
We are back in "Ordinary" Time. Just what is "ordinary" for a Christian? Letting Jesus sanctify all the ordinary, boring, mundane places of our lives, and then taking Jesus out that He may sanctify everything.
I also gave a similar homily at the 10am Mass which was livestreamed. The livestream can be found here, the homily starts at 23:00.
From the 8am Mass on The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Friday, June 12, 2026 at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
I juxtapose the Church's calendar (where June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus) with the world's calendar (where June is dedicated to "Pride" Month).
From the noon Mass on The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Sunday, June 7, 2026 at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
My Three points:
- Love and Life
- The Eucharist (some theology)
- How to Receive the Eucharist
References: I quoted St. John Vianney a number of times, mostly from his "Little Catechism," pp. 43-44.
Also, the livestream of this Mass can be found here (homily starting at 30:25).
From the 10am Mass on Sunday, May 31, 2026, Trinity Sunday, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
Our Emiritus Archbishop, Archbishop Vigneron graced us with his presence today.
My three points:
- Moralistic Therapeutic Deism
- The Trinity
- The Call
The livestream for this Mass can be found here (homily starts at 30:34).
From the 7:30am Mass on Pentecost Sunday, May 24, 2026 at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
My practice for the past few years is to "wing" my Pentecost homily and let the Holy Spirit flow.
From the 10am Mass on Sunday, May 17, 2026, the Solemnity of the Ascension, Year A, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens. At this Mass, we celebrated both the Ascension and the 10th anniversary of my ordination. For my homily, I tried to tie it all together.
My three points:
- Doubted
- Hope
- It's Real!
The livestream of this Mass can be cound here (homily starts at 31.49).
From the 4pm Mass on Saturday, May 9, 2026, the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year A at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
In my homily today I highlighted one of my favorite lines in the Bible: "Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope" (1 Peter 3:15).
My three points:
- "A Reason for Your Hope"
- The "Information" Age?
- Love Seeks Understanding
Here is some material I referenced:
- Books:
- Beginning Apologetics (this set of books played a big part in my intellectual conversion)
- Catechism of the Catholic Church (Every Catholic should have this book!)
- Sheen's Life of Christ (one of the best books ever written on Our Lord)
- (I am intending on making a list of my favorite books and making it available, but until that happens, perhaps my Goodreads account can give you some ideas.)
- Podcasts: Anything from Fr. Mike Schmitz is great. Check out his "Bible in a Year" or "Catechism in a Year"
- Radio: Check out Ave Maria Radio or ETWN Radio
- TV: EWTN
From the 10am Mass on Sunday, May 3, 2026, the Fifth Sunday of Easter, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
My three points:
- The Way
- The Truth
- The Life
The livestream for this Mass can be found here, the homily starts at 18:35.
From the noon Mass on Sunday, April 19, 2026, the Third Sunday of Easter at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
I didn't really like how my prepared homily turned out, so I was kind of winging it. The main point I was trying to get across was: We live Lent so well, but what do we do for the Easter Season? The Apostles walked with Jesus before He died (Lent), but it wasn't until they met the Risen Lord (Easter) that they were really set on fire. Catholic tend to live Lent well, but what are we doing for Easter? What are we doing to meet the Resurrected Christ?
The 10am Mass was livestreamed (found here, homily starts at 18:18). At the beginning of the homily I call up a couple of our first graders and we have a whole lot of fun.
From the 4pm Palm Sunday Mass, Year A on Saturday, March 28, 2026 at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
I walk through the characters in the Gospel and their distance from Jesus, and then advertise our Holy Week liturgies.
- The People
- Pilate
- Judas
- Peter
- God the Father
- The Women / Mothers
- Simon of Cyrene
From the 4pm Mass on Saturday, March 14, 2026, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year A at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
My homily covers the theme of light and darkness, especially diving into St. Paul's line to the Ephesians: "You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord" (Ephesians 5:8).
From the 10am Mass on Sunday, March 8, 2026, the Third Sunday of Lent, Year A at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
I didn't have my traditional three points. But here are a couple points I made:
- Let God go there. The Samaritan woman let Jesus go into some very dark places in her life.
- Being willing and able to give a testimony of what God has done in your life.
The livestream of this Mass can be found here (homily starts at 30:09).
From the 4pm Mass on Saturday, February 28, 2026, the Second Sunday of Lent, Year A at St. Peter Catholic Church.
Preface:
- Love: God is Love
- Paradoxes: The Christian life is a series of paradoxes
My Three Points:
- Transfiguration
- Death
- Order of the Mass
This Mass was livestreamed. You can find it here (homily starts at 18:35)
The best explanation I have seen on why we should not attend the weddings of Catholics getting married outside the Church can be found in Fr. Michael Schmitz's book Made for Love, pp. 165-166.
What I say about the flow of the Mass I steal from this talk given by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, February 22, 2026 the First Sunday in Lent, Year A, at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
My three points:
- The Half-Lie
- Identity, God's Beloved
- Must Suffer
Conclusion: Identity, love and suffering all go together.
The 10am Mass was livestreamed. The homily starts at 24:16 and can be found here.
Homily from the 6pm Ash Wednesday Mass on February 18, 2026 at St. Peter Catholic Church.
From the noon Mass on Sunday, February 15, 2026 the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
The Ten Commandments
- To place nothing above God
- To not take the Lord's name in Vain (to not be careless with the Lord's name)
- Keep Holy The Sabbath Day
- Going to Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation
- Not doing needless work, and not making others work on the Lord's Day
- Honor thy Mother and Father
- Those with authority
- Thou Shalt not Kill
- Murder
- Abortion
- Durgs and drunkeness
- Receiving Communion while not in the State of Grace
- Gossip and slander (kills someone's name)
- Thou Shalt not Commit Adultery
- Any kind of sex outside of marriage
- Adultery
- Fornication
- "Birth-Control"
- Pornography
- Masturbation
- Lusting
- Fanisizing
- Thou Shalt not Steal
- Even stealing time from your employer
- Thou Shalt not Lie
- A while lie isn't mortal sin... but it is stepping away from the truth, and the Truth is Jesus
- Thou Shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods
- Are we jelous or envious?
- Thou Shalt not covet thy neighbor's spouse
From the 10am Mass on Sunday, February 8, 2026, the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
My three points:
- Who's "Poor"?
- We Only Need to Know Jesus
- Serving Others with Christ
This Mass was also livestreamed, it can be found here (the homily starts at 26:09).
From the Noon Mass on Sunday, February 1, 2026, the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
My three points:
- Remnant
- We need to demand more of our people
- The Cross
From the 10am Mass on Sunday, January 27, 2026, the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
My three points:
- Christ, the Only Savior
- The Calling
- Mind and Heart of the Church
The livestream of this Mass can be found here, homily beginning at 25.43.
From the noon Mass on Sunday, January 18, 2026, the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
- Intoduction: I give a little update on the priests' meeting from the past week were we met about the restructuring of the diocese
- Body:
- Are we "Safe"?
- "I come to do Your Will"
- "A light to the nations:
- Conclusion: "Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will."
Another version of this homily was given at the vigil Mass on Saturday, January 17. The livestream can be found here (homily starts at 37.06).
From the noon Mass on Sunday, December 28, 2025, the Feast of the Holy Family, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
From the 7pm Mass on Wednesday, December 24, 2025, the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens, using the Midnight Mass readings.
My three points:
- "Do Not Be Afraid"
- ...unless you're the devil
- The Battle for Your Soul
Conclusion: Hold the Baby Jesus
Though I think the delivery of the content was better for this Mass, the Midnight Mass homily was definitely more fun. If you check out the livestream (here), you will see why (homily starts at 1:10.57).
From the 10:00am Mass on Sunday, December 21, 2025, the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year A, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
My three points:
- Yes
- No
- A Flood of Grace
The livestream for the Mass can be found here. The homily starts at 29:08.
From the 65th Anniversary of our church's dedication, Saturday, December 20, 2025 (not the founding of the parish, but the dedication of our currect church building).
My three points:
- A Home
- Marks Specific to St. Peter's
- A House of God
The livestream of this Mass can be found here. The homily starts at 28:30.
From the 4pm Mass on Saturday, December 13, 2025, the Third Sunday of Advent, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
My Three Points:
- The Sad
- The Beautiful
- Hope
Livestream: The livestream of this Mass can be found here (homily starts at 24:36).
From the 6pm Mass on Monday, December 8, 2025, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
My three points:
- On The Demonic, by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
- Mary, and Her Fight against the Devil
- The Immaculate Conception
Resource:
- I draw heavily from Archbishop Fulton Sheen's latest book, On The Demonic. The book can be found at the publisher's website, here. Or on Amazon, here.
- I also quote from Pope Pius IX's encyclical Ineffabilis Deus which can be found here.
This Mass was livestreamed and can be found here (homily starting at 24:18).
From the 10am Mass on Sunday, December 7, 2025, the Second Sunday of Advent, Year A, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
My three points:
- The Lord's Peace
- Right Order
- Putting Things in Right Order
Also, this Mass was livestreamed. The homily starts at 32:45 and can be found here.
From the 4pm Mass on Saturday, November 29, 2025, the First Sunday of Advent, Year C at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
My three points:
- The End Game
- The Sensus Fidei (the sense of the faithful)
- Preparing for the Birth of Christ
Livestream: This Mass was livestreamed (click here). The homily starts at: 39:34.
From the 9am Mass on Thursday, November 27, 2025, Thanksgiving Day.
Today, our local church celebrates the dedication of Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Detroit, while the country celebrates Thanksgiving. So, I gave a little tour of our sanctuary, talked about the Eucharist, and tied it in with Thanksgiving.
From the school Mass on Tuesday, November 25, 2025.
In this homily the children and I pray for one of the mothers at our parish who is battling cancer.
From the 10:00am Mass on Sunday, November 23, 2025, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
My Three points:
- The Bad Thief
- The Good Thief
- Christ the King
- Beware of other gods creeping their way in
This Mass was also livestreamed (video can be found here). The homily starts at 27:48.
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, November 9, 2025 the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
In the spirit of today's feast day, where we celebrate a building--the Cathedral of Rome--my main point was that matter matters, and then I give a tour of St. Peter's to a handful of children.
From the noon Mass on Sunday, November 2, 2025, All Souls Day (this is the first time in eleven years that All Souls Day falls on a Sunday), at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
After a couple orders of business, here are my two points:
- Grieving
- Praying for our loved ones
From the 10am Mass on Sunday, October 26, 2025, the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
Introduction, two orders of business:
- Once the doors are locked, don't open them for people
- CSA, the most effecient way to give to St. Peter's
Body:
- The Poor
- The Love of God
From the noon Mass on Sunday, October 19, 2025 at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens, the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.
We were supposed to have a guest preacher this week, but he couldn't make it. So, I read the homily he had prepared. The homily is on indulgences and was meant to promote our parish pilgrimage coming upon Sunday, November 2, 2025. We are having a 3pm Mass at the Shrine of Jesus the Divine Mercy, 33826 Beaconsfield St., Clinton Township, MI 48035. This Mass will indeed count toward your Sunday obligation and will qualify as an "indulgenced act."
Hope to see you there!
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, October 12, 2025 at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens, the Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.
- Introductory Point: "This Foreigner"
- Main Point: Faith
- Our Faith: Subjective
- The Faith: Objective
The 10am Mass, where I gave basically the same homily, was then livestreamed. The Mass can be found here, the homily starts at 25:13.
From the noon Mass on Sunday, October 5, 2025, the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
I normally have three points, this Sunday I had four:
- Safety
- Salvation of Souls
- Belief "In"
- Protection from Everything?
Here is the audio from the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, September 28, 2025, the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C. I think my wording and phrasing was better at the 7:30am Mass, but the 10:00am Mass was definitely more dynamic and engaging (the livestream for the 10:00am Mass can be found here, the homily starts at 30:56).
I really only had two points:
- Complacent with Neighbor?
- Complacent with God?
From the noon Mass on Sunday, Septmeber 21, 2025 at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens, the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.
My introduction contained kind of a "side note":
- Praying for and loving others, even if we don't "like" them
My three points:
- God and Neighbor
- Jesus
- Mother Teresa
Reference: Miracles Do Happen by Sr. Briege McKenna. Both quotes were pulled from page 78.
From the 10am Mass on Sunday, September 7, 2025, the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
I preached all the Masses this weekend, and gave a report on the listening sessions I have been conducting with parishioners. I limited myself to three points (basically):
- Members of a Body
- I drew from the chapter "Membership" in C.S. Lewis' The Weight of Glory.
- Some Needs
- Bring back the Precious Blood
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, August 31, 2025, the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
In this homily, I address some of the spiritual context around the school shooting on August 27 at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minnesota. My three points:
- Attributes of the Demonic
- Violence
- The Blood of Christ
Resource: I draw heavily from the book On The Demonic, a Sheen compilation.
From the 7:30am Mass, the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, Sunday, August 24, 2025 at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
My three points:
- A Loving Father
- A Loving Father Disciplines
- "Where Are You From?"
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, August 17, 2025, the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
My three points:
- Gospel: Jesus comes to... divide?
- Old Testament: Jeremiah is "demoralizing" us!
- The Fight
P.S. I thought this homily went better than the 10am homily. But, if you want to see the 10am homily, it can be found here (the homily starts at 21:58).
The Ninetheenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C on Sunday, August 10, 2025 at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
I really only had two points this weekend:
- The Wait
- Giving God a Chance
Conclusion: Some concrete ideas:
- On the negative side:
- Turn the cell phone off for a period of time every day
- At least turn the ringer off
- Limiting social media
- Turn off the news
- Turn the cell phone off for a period of time every day
- On the positive side:
- Come to Mass early to prepare our hearts
- Come to church on Wednesday afternoons for Adoration
- Praying with the Scriptures
- Get up a few minutes early to pray and dedicate the day to God
- Putting prayer time right on the calendar
From the 10am Mass on Sunday, August 3, 2025, the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.
I kind of winged this homily. I wrote a homily and didn't like it. When I went to print it, it wouldn't print. I took it as a sign from God, scrapped the homily, and preached off the cuff. Here are the three points I was trying to make:
- Vanity of Vanities
- Earthly things
- I'm going to need a bigger... heart
From the 10am Mass on Sunday, July 20, 2025 at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens, the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.
My three points:
- "Laborers"
- Being - "the better part"
- Labor and Prayer
Conclusion: How can I be with the Lord and my family the rest of this summer?
From the 10am Mass on Sunday, July 6, 2025 at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Mount Clemens, the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.
My three points:
- A bit about myself
- My "Dream"
- St. Peter
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, June 22, 2025, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, Year C, at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.
For my last Mass at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, I preached from the upper pulpit (the one Fr. Coughlin always used to use).
My three points:
- What does it cost me?
- God doesn't ask for much, He only asks for everything
- The Order of the Mass
- If we live Mass well, God consumes us
- Tithing
Resource:
- Here is Archbishop Fulton Sheen explaining the Mass: The Meaning of the Mass - Venerable Fulton Sheen - YouTube
From the 6pm Mass on Sunday, June 15, 2025, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Year C at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.
My three points:
- Mystery vs. Mystery
- The common understanding of "mystery"
- The religious understandin of "mystery"
- The Holy Trinity (explanations)
- The Trinity in Marriage
Resource:
-
I quote today's Preface extensively. Here is the entire Preface:
- The Lord be with you.
- And with your spirit.
- Lift up your hearts.
- We lift them up to the Lord.
- Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
- It is right and just.
-
- It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
- always and everywhere to give you thanks,
- Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.
-
- For with your Only Begotten Son and the Holy Spirit
- you are one God, one Lord:
- not in the unity of a single person,
- but in a Trinity of one substance.
-
- For what you have revealed to us of your glory
- we believe equally of your Son
- and of the Holy Spirit,
- so that, in the confessing of the true and eternal Godhead,
- you might be adored in what is proper to each Person,
- their unity in substance,
- and their equality in majesty.
-
- For this is praised by Angels and Archangels,
- Cherubim, too, and Seraphim,
- who never cease to cry out each day,
- as with one voice they acclaim: Holy...
From the 7:30am Mass on Pentecost Sunday, June 8, 2025 at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, Royal Oak.
Only two points this week:
- A few explanations of the Holy Spirit
- Some pratical applications
From the 6pm Mass on Sunday, June 1, 2025, The Ascension of the Lord, Year C at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, Royal Oak.
My three points:
- Hope
- The Ascension
- The Body
From the 11:30am Mass on Sunday, May 25, 2025, the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year C at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak. (We used the first reading from the Sixth Sunday of Easter, and the second reading and Gospel from the Seventh Sunday of Easter.)
My three points:
- Bureaucracy Needed
- "That they may all be one"
- Let's get Concrete
From the 6:00pm Mass on Sunday, May 18, 2025, the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica.
I kind of winged it this Sunday, I preached without notes. Here are the three points I was trying to make:
- The Problem
- "Leisure"
- How to "Be"
Resources:
- Leisure: The Basis of Culture, by Josef Pieper
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, May 11, 2025, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year C.
My Three Points:
- Pope Leo XIV and Peace
- Right Order
- Does Jesus Know Me?
Sunday of Divine Mercy, Year C
Sunday, April 27, 2025, 9:30am
A Tribute to Pope Francis
Intro:
• Good morning!
◦ Great to be with you!
• As you all know, Pope Francis passed away this past Monday
‣ (All us priests look forward to catching our breath on Easter Monday… and then the Pope passed away)
• It’s fitting that Pope Francis passed away right before Divine Mercy Sunday
◦ I think the strongest theme throughout his papacy—and his episcopacy—was mercy
• His episcopal motto was: miserando atque eligendo, “having mercy, he called him”
• He called mercy “Jesus’ most important message” (The Name of God is Mercy, 5)
‣ Every 25 years, the Church has a Jubilee Year (right now, we are in the middle of the Jubliee of Hope)
• But sometimes, the Holy Father thinks there is a theme that is so important, that it can’t wait until the next quarter of a century
◦ So, back in 2016, we had an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy
‣ The Holy Father just couldn’t wait to ask the faithful to encounter the Lord’s mercy
• I was in Rome when Pope Francis became Pope
‣ I was actually in the square
• (That story???)
‣ For the first few years, I actually read everything he said (eventually, I couldn’t keep up anymore)
‣ I met Pope Francis a couple of times
‣ And I was ordained a priest during the Extraordinary Jubliee of Mercy
◦ So, today I would like to tell you about Pope Francis—do a “tribute” to him—and in doing so, we will work our way to the theme of Mercy:
Body:
- Pope Francis:
• Again, I read everything he said, for two and a half years
◦ Literally thousands of pages
‣ Printed it all out, killed lots of trees
‣ …and then the Pope came out with his encyclical on the environment, so I had to stop printing them all out
◦ I know his thought very well
‣ …and I also know that he drove a lot of people nuts… especially Americans!
• So, let me try to explain Pope Francis to you, and maybe it will help us to understand what he was up to for the last dozen years:
• First and foremost, Pope Francis was not American
◦ America is a powerhouse in the economy
‣ But money is the currency of the world, not the currency of God
◦ America only has about 4-4.5% of the world’s souls
‣ (And most of those souls are not even Catholic)
◦ So, we alway have to be very careful not to twist the Holy Father and his thoughts into an American way of thinking, and place American labels on him
• So, first and foremost, Pope Francis is not an American, and therefore he doesn’t think like an American
• **Secondly, Pope Francis is a Jesuit… and therefore he doesn’t think like anyone!
◦ When I was in seminary here at Sacred Heart, I had a Jesuit for a couple of classes
‣ The first week of the first class, he just asked questions all day:
• “What about this, what about that?”
‣ The next week, he would ask questions all day
‣ A couple months into the class, someone raised his hand and asked: “Father, you keep throwing all these questions at us, are we ever going to get to the answer?”
• “Yes, of course we will!”
‣ Next two months, nothing but questions
• Asked again: “Are we going to get to any answers.”
◦ “Yes, last class.”
‣ Show up for the last week of class, question, question, question!
• At the very end of class, Father said: “And the answer is Jesus Christ on the Cross!”
‣ We all said, “That’s it?!!! 16 weeks of questions, and then we spend at most 5 minutes on an answer?!”
◦ So, I told that story to a group of priests, and one said: “That’s a Jesuit for you. He’s more interested in the question than he is in the answer.”
‣ ***Honestly, that is Pope Francis, a Jesuit
• He is more interested in the question than he is in the answer
- Culture of Encounter:
• And there was a point to this
◦ Pope Francis was trying to get us to encounter
◦ He was trying to create a “Culture of Encounter”
• I’ll explain this in Fulton Sheen terms:
◦ Archbishop Fulton Sheen would talk about outer truths and inner truths
‣ An outer truth, is something outside yourself, something you set out to master
• 2+2=4
◦ I can get that
◦ I can “master” that
• You can count up the pews in this church
◦ You can master that, but it’s probably not going to change your life
‣ **An inner truth, on the other hand, is that which comes inside, and masters you
• That should be God… but we have to encounter Him
◦ Often, when we get the answer, when we figure something out, when we “master” something, we go: “Okay! Got it!” And we move on
‣ But questions are funny things
• You have to wrestle with them
• They kind of force you into an encounter
◦ Pope Benedict wrote how in our technological world, we are so used to mastering everything, that we just cannot stand being mastered any more
‣ Back in the day, people had to be more humble
• A couple hundred years ago:
◦ You wouldn’t know if a hurricane was coming
◦ Even if you did know, you wouldn’t be able to escape it
◦ And there wasn’t much you could do to defend yourself from hurricanes (you lost your house and all your possessions)
‣ That hurricane had it’s way with you, “mastered” you!
• Today, to a large extent—not completely, but to a large extent—we have mastered even hurricanes
‣ (We know when they’re coming, we can run from them, and we can build buildings that can withstand them)
‣ We are so used to mastering everything, and then we encounter God—Who cannot be mastered… He is the Master—that we don’t even know how to encounter Him any more
◦ Pope Benedict saw all this as detrimental to the faith, our ability to have faith, our ability to know the loving God
◦ Pope Francis saw this too
‣ And that’s why he wasn’t afraid of a little confusion
‣ He wasn’t afraid to throw out a question, to get people wrestling, get people encountering
• Pope Francis was trying to encourage a “Culture of Encounter”
‣ ***A culture of encountering real things: Mainly God, and each other
◦ Pope Francis became Pope on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
◦ On Thursday, March 14, we had our weekly formation meeting at the seminary
‣ The priest who ran that meeting has since gone home to God
• He was old, in poor health, and he may have been wider than he was tall
‣ And he told us all how he had sat in his room and watched it all on TV
• He told us that he could see it better, but we had a more real experience
◦ We were there in person
• Pope Francis, many times, critiqued how we are always on our phones
‣ He’d talk about how sad it was to see a family at a restaurant, but they’re not really together, each one is on his or her phone
• That destroys a culture of encounter
◦ He critiqued how crazy people were about their pets
‣ He named himself after St. Francis of Assisi
• The Franciscans are known for their love of animals
• Pope Francis loved animals too, but he pushed back many times on how people treat their animals like human beings
‣ One time, as the Holy Father was greeting people, a woman asked: “Will you bless my baby?!”
• Pope Francis lit up: “Oh yes, of course!”
‣ She grabbed the “baby,” turned back around, and it was a little dog!
• Pope Francis chewed her out: ‘That’s not a baby, that’s dog! There’s starving kids all over the world, and you’re treating that dog like a baby. There’s naked children all over India, and that dog is wearing clothes!’
‣ **It’s a grave poverty how our culture is moving away from having children, and replacing them with pets
• You can “master” a dog
◦ You can’t “master” another human being
◦ You have to encounter him
◦ Pope Francis was very critical of this gender ideology stuff going around:
‣ For a number of reasons
• One, because it starts getting away from nature, and denying reality
• And, once our reality has been denied, we start loosing the culture of encounter (once there is no reality, there is nothing to encounter)
‣ Last year, on March 1, Pope Francis said:
• “I would like to highlight something: it is very important for there to be this encounter, this encounter between men and women, because today the worst danger is gender ideology, which cancels out differences. I asked for studies to be made on this ugly ideology of our time, which erases differences and makes everything the same; to erase difference is to erase humanity. Man and woman, on the other hand, stand in fruitful ‘tension.’”
‣ So, Pope Francis pushed back on all this gender ideology stuff, but from the angle of encounter
• Men and women are different
◦ Those differences are good, and lead to a “fruitful tension”
◦ When men start fleeing their masculinity, and women start fleeing their femininity, it’s going to “erase humanity”
‣ The self will be destroyed, and there will be nothing left to encounter
- Encountering God / Mercy:
• So Pope Francis was all about encountering, that “Culture of Encounter”
◦ Encountering real things
‣ Each other
‣ And particularly encountering God, and most especially, encountering God in His mercy
◦ Again, his episcopal motto was: miserando atque eligendo, “having mercy, he called him”
◦ During the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis came out with a book: The Name of God is Mercy
‣ And I really like the title
• It’s not just that God is merciful
• God is Mercy
◦ Mercy is God’s identity
◦ When you encounter His Mercy, you encounter God
◦ And when you encounter God, you encounter His Mercy
• Pope Francis says: “The message of Jesus is mercy. For me … it is the Lord’s strongest message” (ix).
‣ Which only makes sense
• Jesus didn’t come to condemn us
‣ We were already condemned
◦ If Jesus wanted to condemn us, He just wouldn’t have come at all
• The whole reason Jesus came was to save us… to save us from our sins
◦ Jesus came out of mercy and for mercy
◦ One of Pope Francis’ most common lines—which I find very helpful myself—is: “The Lord never tires of forgiving: never! It is we who tire of asking him for forgiveness” (xi).
‣ That bears repeating! “The Lord never tires of forgiving: never! It is we who tire of asking him for forgiveness.”
• Most of us bring the same sins to confession month after month after month!
◦ Don’t stop!
◦ Don’t give up
◦ The Lord never tires of forgiving!
◦ Another great line: “God forgives not with a decree but with a caress” (xii).
• God’s a hugger!
‣ My Grandpa Tomaszycki was a good hugger
◦ He just gave the best hugs!
• What do you think God’s hugs are like? …
◦ When we come to Confession, God forgives us with a hug
◦ Pope Francis gives a definition of mercy—which I find surprising, even a little bit strange:
‣ Mercy means: “opening one’s heart to wretchedness” (8)
• We don’t deny our sins
• God doesn’t deny our sins
◦ But He opens His heart, and we can hand over our wretchedness, and He takes us in and heals us
◦ Pope Francis was asked why humanity is in such need of mercy, and he answered:
‣ “Because humanity is wounded, deeply wounded. Either it does not know how to cure its wounds or it believes that it’s not possible to cure them” (15).
• I think we all fall into these doubts: ‘Will I ever really be healed? I mean really?’
‣ Martin Luther actually thought that humanity was irredeemably broken
• He said that mankind was like a pile of dung
• Jesus sprinkles grace—like snow—on top of you, and He accepts you into heaven, kind of begrudgingly, like snow covered dung
‣ As Catholics, this is not what we believe
• We believe in Redemption
◦ We believe that Jesus is not only our Savior, but also our Redeemer
‣ And He redeems us through mercy
‣ **Have you ever noticed, that throughout the Gospels, no one ever stays dead in the presence of Jesus?
• Every time a dead person is presented to Jesus, life enters into him …
◦ Our sins, our wretchedness, they kill us, they bring death
• That’s what sins does!
• (Don’t ever belittle the seriousness of sin!)
◦ That’s why we need to go to Confession, and go to Confession often
‣ That’s where we encounter God’s mercy
• He brings us back to life, with a big hug!
Conclusion:
• Okay, that’s enough
◦ I’d like us to walk away with three things:
‣ 1. Culture of Encounter
• Keep working on the culture of encounter
◦ Put down the phones
‣ Encounter your loved ones
‣ Encountner the people right in front of you
◦ And we need some silence in our lives so that we can hear and encounter God
‣ 2. Encounter God’s Mercy
◦ If we’re not encountering God’s mercy, I don’t know if we are really encountering God
• Make an examination of conscience every night, and ask for God’s forgiveness
• And come to Confession at least once a month
◦ Get that big “hug” from God!
‣ 3. Pray for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis
• We are being asked particularly to pray the Rosary for him
• And pray for the next Pope, whomever that may be
“God Love You!”
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, April 13, 2025, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord.
My one point:
- "And to strengthen him and angel from heaven appeared to him." Just what did the angel say / do to strengthen Jesus?
From the 7:30am Mass at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, on Sunday, April 6, 2025, the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year C.
My three points:
- Boring, Old Sin
- "Something New"
- A New Creation
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, March 30, 2025 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year C.
My dozen points:
- "Sinners"
- "He Welcomes Sinners"
- 'You are Dead to Me!'
- The Father Let Him Go
- Time to Think
- "Black Grace"
- "Coming to his Senses"
- Conversion
- The "Father Caught Sight of Him"
- "He Ran"
- Apology Cut Short
- The Older / Righteous Son
References:
- The reference from Peter Kreef comes from his book Jesus Shock! (my favorite book!).
- The reference from Pope Francis comes from his book that came out for the Year of Mercy: The Name of God is Mercy.
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, March 23, 2025 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, the Third Sunday of Lent, Year C.
My three points:
- Fire & Brimstone
- Jesus is in fire & brimstone mode today!
- 51%
- Where does Jesus say we just have to be better than average?
- Repent!
- "I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish" -Jesus
I'm a little late in posting, but here she be:
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, March 16, 2025, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, in Royal Oak, the Second Sunday of Lent, Year C.
My three points:
- Temptations = Worldly Things
- Transfiguration
- For God
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, March 9, 2025, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, the First Sunday of Lent, Year C.
My three points:
- Retreat / Retire
- Lent
- Going out into the Desert
From the 11:30am Mass on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.
My three points:
- The Kerygma:
- Created
- Captured
- Rescued
- Response
- "Fruits"
- Fraternal Correction
From the 6pm Mass on Sunday, February 23, 2024, the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, in Royal Oak.
My three points:
- Spritual Eyes
- David vs. Abishai
- The "Measure"
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, February 16, 2025, the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.
My three points:
- Eyes on Jesus
- Is Jesus Merely an "Add On"?
- Hope
From the 7:30 am Mass on Sunday, February 9, 2025, the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, Royal Oak.
My three points:
- Feeling Inadequate
- Encounter
- Go!
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, February 2, 2025, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.
My three points:
- Fear
- Jesus' Rescue
- He defeats the devil on the devil's own turf
- "Let your servant go in peace" -Simeon
Resources:
- Fulton J. Sheen, On The Demonic, pp. 123-124.
From the 11:30am Mass on Sunday, January 26, 2025 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.
The overall theme is the last line of the first reading: "rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!" I break it down into three points:
- Hope
- Parts of a Body
- Jesus takes it on
Resources:
- C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, chapter "Membership"
- University of Mary, The Religion of the Day, Chapter IV "Catching All the Diseases of the World"
- Fulton J. Sheen, On the Demonic, p. 37: "The Church is not a continuing thing. It dies and lives again. It proceeds on the principal of Christ Himself, both priest and victim. We go along for a while, and we die. Like the serpent, we shed our skin. Like nature itself, we shed our leaves. Eventually there comes defeat, seeming decay, we are put in the grave, and then we rise again. The Church is always coming out of a tomb."
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, January 19, 2025 the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, Royal Oak.
Jesus' Line to Mary:
- The New American Bible (the translation used at Mass): "Woman, how does your concern affect me?"
- The Revised Standard Version (generally a more literal translation): "O woman, what have you to do with me?"
- The New English Bible (Sheen's favorite translation): "Your concern, mother, is not mine."
- William Barclay's translation (famous Biblical scholar of the 1950's): "Lady, let me handle this in my own way."
- Arthur Pink's translation (wrote one of the best commentaries on the Gospel of John): "What to Me and thee."
- Fulton Sheen's translation: "What is to Me is to Thee."
- The actual Greek: "Τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί, γύναι." Literally: "What to Me and to thee, woman."
Three concrete ways to invoke Our Lady:
- Pray the Rosary
- Have a good statue of Our Lady
- Devotion to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception
Resource: Archbishop Fulton Sheen's On The Demonic, Chapter 12: "Third Weapon against the Demonic: Mary, the Mother of Jesus"
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, January 12, 2025, the Baptism of the Lord, at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.
My three pionts:
- Baptism
- How do God's Children Act?
- Fire & Comfort
Conclusion: "You are my beloved son (you are my beloved daughter); with you I am well pleased."
From 6pm Mass on Sunday, January 5, 2025, the Feast of the Epiphany, Year C, at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.
This homily ended up being kind of a continuation, Part II, of my homily from two weeks earlier (December 22, 2024). December 22 focused on the darkness, this homily focuses on the Light.
My Three Points:
- Historical Context
- The Rescue
- Created
- Captured
- Rescued
- The Light
Conclusion: Response:
- What is the correct response to a God Who loved us into being, fought for us, died for us?
From the 6pm Mass on Sunday, December 29, 2024, the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Year C, at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.
My three points:
- Order
- Obedience
- Hope
References:
- The definition of "hope" from the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "The theological virtue by which we desire and expect from God both eternal life and the gace we need to attain it."
- Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen's On The Demonic.
- I make a little reference to Chapter 1, that the devil and his minions may have fallen between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2.
- I make a reference to Chapter 3, regarding the eras of the Church, and what is under attack in each era.
From the 6pm Mass on Sunday, December 22, 2024, the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year C, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.
Just how well can we understand the "Good News," the Gospel, if we don't understand the "bad news," the darkness?
How dark was it, before the coming of Christ? How dark is it, when we have not given our lives over to Christ?
In this homily, I explore the darkness, and ask the congregation to pray about and sit in the darkness for these couple of days before Christmas, before the coming of Jesus Christ, our Life and Light.
From the 11:30 am Mass on Sunday, December 15, 2024, the Third Sunday of Advent, "Gaudete Sunday," Year C, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.
My three points:
- Like Children on Christmas Morning
- Hope
- Let's Open Our Gifts a Little Early!
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, December 8, 2024, the Second Sunday of Advent, Year C, at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica.
Only two points this week:
- Minor Point: The Flesh
- Major Point: Fill in a Pothole
From the 6pm Mass on Sunday, December 1, 2024, the First Sunday of Advent, Year C, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.
My three points:
- How we Observe the Birth of Christ
- Living as Christians
- (One mistake I made: I called Keeping the Lord's Day Holy the Second Commandment, it is in fact the Third.)
- "New Year's" Resolutions?
- Ideas:
- Read
- The Magnificat
- Pope Benedict's Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives
- Archbishop Sheen's Life of Christ, particularly through page 63
- More suggestions from Unleash the Gospel
- Pray
- Kiss the floor when you wake up and dedicate the day to God
- Marian devotion:
- Daily Rosary, particularly focus on the Joyful Mysteries
- At least pray a decade a day
- Mass on Christmas Day: Spend Jesus' birth with Jesus
- Read
- Ideas:
Homework: Make a New Year's Resolution: What can I do daily to prepare for the Lord's coming on Christmas Day?
From the 7:30am Mass at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica on Sunday, November 17, 2024 the Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B.
My three points:
- The End Times
- Shining Stars or Everlasting Horrors?
- Living Mass Well:
-
- Baptized
- In the state of grace (Confession)
- The Mass:
- Offertory
- Consecration
- Communion
-
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, November 10, 2024 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, the Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B.
- The First Commandment
- Tithing
- Faith
Resource:
Washington, Booker T. Up From Slavery, 1901.
From the 11:30am Mass on Sunday, November 3, 2024, the Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.
This homily was preached with the intention of forming the faithful in matters of responsible citizenship, in preparation for the upcoming election.
The main points:
- What is the Place of Politics?
- Navigating the Gray Areas
- Abortion
- The Nature of the Devil
Resources:
- First Homily of Pope John Paul II, October 22, 1978.
- Sheen, Fulton J. On The Demonic. Pp. 4 & 41.
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, October 27, 2024, the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.
My four points:
- 'I Want to Follow You, Jesus'
- Grasping at What We Already Have
- Division vs. Diversity
- Grasping at Uniqueness
Resources:
- Ritter, Lawrence S. The Glory of Their Times.
- Sheen, Fulton J. On The Demonic.
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, October 20, 2024 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B.
My three points:
- "For Many"
- "A Ransom for Many"
- Worldliness
Resources:
Fulton J. Sheen, On The Demonic.
From the 6pm Mass on Sunday, October 13, 2024, the Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica.
I tell a bit of my vocation story.
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, October 6, 2024 the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica.
My three points:
- Jesus at Work
- Jesus softens hearts, therefore divorce is no longer acceptable
- Children
- Jesus "bringing many children to glory"
- The Anti-Creativity of Satan
- Jesus says: "Let the children come to me"
- The devil is against children being brought into God's glory. One of his tactics, is just to contracept children away.
From the 6:00pm Mass on Sunday, September 29, 2024, the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.
My three points:
- The Cost
- Giving it All to the Lord
- Mercy
- God's almighty power and love is shown "above all by pardoning and showing mercy." (Collect for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Conclusion: Letting the Lord be the Lord:
- Am I striving to bring every aspect of my life under the lordship of Christ? If it's not under His Lordship, it under someone else's (the devil's).
Resources:
- The reflection on the dominion of Sin and Death comes from Fr. John Riccardo's awesome book: Rescued
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, September 22, 2024, the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.
Resource:
- The Fulton Sheen quote originally comes from the 1941 book Declaration of Dependence, quoted the new book On The Demonic, p. 80.
From the 11:30am Mass on Sunday, September 15, 2024, the Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica.
My three points:
- Why Does Jesus call Peter, "Satan"?
- (I draw heavily from Archbishop Fulton Sheen here, particularly his Life of Christ, and On The Demonic. And Sheen's reflections on this come from the chapter "The Grand Inquisitor" in Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov.)
- Jesus = Priest and Victim
- We Need the Cross
Conclusion / Homework:
- Let's pray for the grace to pick up the right crosses (not all crosses lead us to Jesus), and then the stregnth to pick them up and follow Jesus
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, September 8, 2024 the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.
My three points:
- Jesus as Father
- What does Jesus do?
- The Kerygma
- Focused on the Poor
- The necessity of realizing our poverty before God
Conclusion: A few reflections on Fatherhood
From the 11:30am Mass on Sunday, September 1, 2024, the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.
Layout of the Homily:
- Introduction: How God works. How the devil works.
- Body:
- Justice
- The "Cancel Culture"
- Jesus Saves, the world does not
- Conclusion: "I do believe, help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24)
Resources:
- The Catechism of the Catholic Church, glossary definition of "justice"
- Lewis, C.S., That Hideous Strength, pp. 66-70, particularly p. 68
- Sheen, Fulton J., On The Demonic, a quote from p. 75, and another from p. 41
From the 8am Mass on Monday, August 26, 2024, Monday of the 21st week in Ordinary Time, Year II, at St. Paul Catholic Church in Tell City, Indiana.
From the baptisms at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica at 1:00pm on August 18, 2024.
I normally turn the recorder off right after Mass, and I normally don't use a microphone for baptisms, but on Sunday I forgot to turn the recorder off, and I just happened to use a microphone. So, I unintentionally caught my little baptism "homilette."
From the 11:30am Mass on Sunday, August 18, 2024, the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.
My three points:
- Sin is Serious, Hell is Real
- The Eucharist / Heaven is Real
- Fight the Good Fight!
From the 6pm Mass on Sunday, August 11, 2024, the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, in Royal Oak.
My Three Points:
- The Devil Attacks Identity
- The Devil Attacks the Eucharist
- What to do? Love and Worship the Eucharist
- Receive the Eucharist often and well
- Come to daily Mass
- Go to Confession often, monthly
- Come to Mass early, give time to prepare our hearts to receive the Lord
- Adoration, Worship the Eucharist, the Flesh of Christ
- Continuity and Identity
- Intercession
- To Fight the Demonic
- Receive the Eucharist often and well
Resources:
- Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen's On The Demonic. I draw particularly from the final chapter, "Fighting the Demonic with the Holy Hour," and a little bit from chapter 11, "Second Weapon against the Demonic: The Blood of Jesus."
Hi All,
Due to travels and a missionary priest preaching all the Mass one weekend, I am going to be out of the pulpit until the 6pm Mass on Sunday, August 11.
Please know of my prayers.
God Bless,
Fr. Dave
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, July 15, 2024 the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B at the National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak.
My three points:
- Jesus is not "safe"
- Checking God at the Door
- The Active Father
References:
- I quote C.S. Lewis's book Miracles, but I take the quote from Peter Kreeft's book Jesus Shock, pp. 25-26.
- I give a couple of Fulton Sheen quotes from his new book On The Demonic, p. 79.
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, June 23, 2024 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B.
My Three Points:
- Job
- Aversion to the Cross
- Al Kresta
Homework:
- Something ot pray with: "Where have I not gotten behind You, Lord? What part of my life is not under Your Lordship?"
Please take look: On The Demonic. Available for pre-order, the official release date is July 8, 2024.
From the 11:30am Mass on Sunday, June 16, 2024 the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica.
My three points:
- Divinity Embraces Humanity
- Keeping it Together
- God unites, but the devil divides, he's always trying to break us apart from God
- Run to the Good Lord
- Let God hug you
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, June 9, 2024, the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower.
My three points:
- Fear
- Woke Culture
- God the Father
Conclusion:
- Pray for the grace to be able to say with confidence: "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; whom should I dread?" (from Psalm 27)
Resources:
- I mention C.S. Lewis' space trilogly:
- Out of The Silent Planet
- Perelandra (this is the book I specifically reference)
- That Hideous Strength
From the 6pm Mass on Sunday, May 26, 2024 the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica.
My three points:
- Loneliness
- The Trinity
- The Cure for Loneliness = the Most Holy Trinity
I'm a little late in getting this posted, but here is the homily from Pentecost Sunday, May 19, 2024 from the 7:30am Mass at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica.
My three points:
- Multiculturalism, is really hard to do well
- Real Diversity, only comes from the Holy Spirit
- Called to be Great Saints
- This comes from the real diversity of the Holy Spirit. Only God loves you the way God loves you. And only you can love God the way you can love God.
From the 7:30am Mass on the Feast of the Ascension, Year B, May 12, 2024, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica.
This week there were a number of "minor" things that caught my attention:
- Looking Up
- Do the political?
- No! Keep your eyes up
- Wait
- God's time? Or, the world's time?
Dear All,
I will be out of the country for some much needed vacation for almost three weeks! I'll be back in the pulpit for the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, May 12.
In the meantime, please pray for me and know of my prayers for you.
God Bless,
Fr. Dave
From the 11:30am Mass on Sunday, April 21, 2024, at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year B.
I preached about the amazing Sacrament of Baptism, and highlighted three points:
- Salvation is Only through Jesus
- Directly salvific vs. indirectly "salvific"
- Children of God
- Children become like their parents
- Parents, Good Shepherds to their children
- How are we in the areas of:
- The Faith
- Marriage
- Work
- Sports
- How are we in the areas of:
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, April 14, 2024 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, the Third Sunday of Easter, Year B.
My Three Points:
- "Know"
- To know Jesus
- Who's Job?
- Active, we must work at knowing Jesus
- Passive, we must also let Jesus work on us
- Exult For Ever!
- The closer we are to Jesus, the more we know Him, the more we want to be with Him, and exult in His presence. That is, the more we want to be in heaven with Jesus.
From the 6pm Mass on the Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday), Year B at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, Sunday, April 7, 2024.
Intro:
- An explanation of Divine Mercy Sunday
Body: I relate the book I am working on (On the Demonic, by Fulton Sheen) to the readings today:
- Three Signs of the Demonic:
- Love of Nudity
- Violence
- Schizophrenic Mentality / Loss of Identity
- Three Weapons against the Demonic:
- The Name of Jesus
- The Blood of Jesus
- Mary, the Mother of Jesus
Conclusion:
- Jesus, Jesus, Jesus... the answer is Jesus!
Dear All,
Christ is Risen!
Due to my responsibilities with the Archbishop, I was not in the pulpit on Easter Sunday. But I will be back for the 6pm Mass on Sunday, April 7.
Happy Easter!
God Bless,
Fr. Dave
From the 7:30am Mass on Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Year B, Sunday, March 24, 3024 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, Royal Oak.
My three points:
- Who Killed Jesus?
- Not Open to God
- Giving All
- Break that alabaster jar! Give it all to Jesus!
The priests at the National Shrine of the Little Flower gave a five week series of talks on the Mass. I had the final talk: "What does God want from me? Reflect on how we are part of God's Divine Plan for salvation--and how He is counting on you to carry out this mission just as the Apostles, Disciples and Saints have done for over two thousand years." Given at 7pm on Wednesday, March 20, 2024 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, Royal Oak. This was about a 45 minute talk, followed by Q&A.
Layout of the talk:
Intro:
- Mass is ended, go...
- I borrow material from the sixth chapter of Sheen's Calvary and the Mass.
Body:
- Part 1:
- Foundations:
- I borrow material from Sheen's talk explaining the Mass.
- A Sacramental View of Reality
- Foundations:
- Part 2: Pratical:
- A. "Come," how do we step closer to Christ?
- Boundaries
- Prayer
- B. "Go!" Witnessing to others
- Live the Life
- Engage people
- A. "Come," how do we step closer to Christ?
Conclusion
This talk was live streamed, and can be found here.
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, March 17, 2024 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year B (but using the Year A readings).
My three points:
- Incredulity
- Our Artificial Lives
- Although I don't name him or directly quote him, the basis of these thoughts come largely from the book John Senior and the Restoration of Realism.
- Reality, Life!
Other Resources Quoted:
- Scott Hahn's Hope to Die: The Christian Meaning of Death and the Resurrection of the Body, particularly pp. 1-2.
- Pete Townshend's The Age of Anxiety, particularly pp. 113 & 129.
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, March 10, 2024 at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year B (but using the Year A readings).
(The recorder is finally hooked up!)
My three points:
- "Not as Man Sees Does God See"
- Who is Blind?
- Humlity
(Our new recorder is still not set up, so I'm recording things on my phone. Thank you for your patience!)
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, March 3, 2024, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, Royal Oak, the Third Sunday of Lent, Year B (but using the Year A readings).
My three points:
- Bunch of Whimps!
- Like the Israelites, how quickly we turn back when the going gets tough, running from the cross.
- Hope
- "The theological virtue by which we desire and expect from God both eternal life and the grace we need to attain it" (Catechism of the Catholic Church).
- The Samaritan Woman
- Loses everything, and is left with Jesus
Conclusion:
- Fix your eyes on Jesus and His love, and pray for the grace to embrace your cross.
From the 9:30am Mass at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, Royal Oak, on Sunday, February 25, 2024, the Second Sunday of Lent, Year B.
(FYI: Our new sound system at the Shrine is sounding amazing! ...but we still don't have the recording system set up (waiting for a part). So, I put my phone by a speaker in the rectory and recorded it that way. The quality of the recording is better than I expected, but still not as good as a proper recorder.)
Main point of the homily: Is God really our number 1? Do we even place Him above our children?
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – February 11, 2024
7:30am Mass, The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica
Intro:
• Good morning!
◦ Great to be with you!
Body:
- “Be Imitators of Me”:
• Mark Twain once said: ‘People worry about the parts of the Bible they don’t understand. It’s the parts I do understand that worry me.’
◦ Today we have one of those “parts”
▪ We have a very scary and dangerous line
◦ The Second Reading ends with St. Paul telling the Corinthians: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”
▪ ‘Oh, you want to be like God? Just do as I do, I got it all figured out.’
• Normally, when I hear people talk like this, I run the other way
◦ There are plenty of people in psychiatric wards who have the ‘god complex;’ who think they are God, or think they’re so close to God
◦ Typically when people tell you how close they are to God, that is a surefire sign that they are miles away from Him
◦ But, this is coming from Saint Paul, and is the inspired Word of God
▪ So, there’s got to be something to it
• St. Paul is speaking from his role as spiritual father to the flock:
• “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”
▪ This is really a line that any father or mother ought to be able to say to his or her children
◦ A priest ought to be so dedicated to following the Lord, that he can say to his congregation, in all humility: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”
◦ In marriage, the Church teaches that there are two “goods” of marriage
• The first good, is the good of the spouses:
◦ The spouses are supposed to get each other to heaven
• The second good, is the good of the children:
◦ The parents are supposed to get their children to heaven
▪ So, husband and wife ought to be able to say to each other: “Imitate me, as I imitate Christ.”
▪ And parents ought to be able to say to their children: “Imitate us, as we imitate Christ.”
◦ I know a couple—they have gone to the Lord now—at the husbands funeral, the wife was at the casket, and pointed and said: “Because of him, I know who God is.”
▪ If spouses can show each other who God is, that’s a good, “successful” marriage
▪ If parents can show their children who God is, those are good parents
- “Do Everything for the Glory of God”:
• But, obviously, none of us are perfect
▪ How can we say—“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ”—with any kind of integrity?
◦ I think the key comes earlier in the Second Reading:
▪ St. Paul tells us: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.”
• This is a challenging line
◦ Am I doing everything for the glory of God?
◦ When I eat or drink, is it done for the glory of God?
• Personally, one of the things I have been consciously attempting for the last few years, is to live life as a Christian …
◦ A few years ago, I went to the store on a Sunday
▪ The store was absolutely packed!
◦ About this time the Archbishop put out a pastoral note on why the Catholic sports leagues have quick playing sports on Sundays
▪ It got me reflecting on the Ten Commandments
• The Third Commandment is to Keep Holy the Sabbath Day:
◦ “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates” (Exodus 20:8-10)
◦ The Lord doesn’t even want our cattle to work on the Sabbath, but we go to stores, and we go to restaurants, and Amazon delivers late into the evening on Sundays
▪ Do we live like Christians? Are we doing everything for the glory of God? …
• Or do we just live like, everyone else?
◦ Going into that packed store on Sunday, a few years ago, scandalized me
▪ I was living like everyone else
◦ Since then—even though I am far from perfect—I have really been making a conscious effort to do “everything for the glory of God”
• I still go to the movies—not on Sundays—but I want it to be formative in some way, shape, or form
▪ St. Thomas Aquinas writes about how artists have a way of reading the signs of the times, and conveying a philosophy before even the philosophers have picked it up
• I go to movies, but on the lookout for truths that are being expressed, where the people are, and how it effects their relationship with God
◦ I still listen to comedians—I love comedians (that’s what I want to be when I grow up)
▪ Comedians have a way of seeing a truth from a different angle
• When half of the people see it this way, and half of the people see it that way, a good comedian will see it a third way, which sheds light on a truth
▪ You know Who else is a pro at the “Third Way?”
• Jesus!
◦ ‘Do you pay taxes or don’t you?”
▪ “Render unto Ceasar”
◦ ‘Moses said divorce is all right. Are you with him or against him?’
▪ “I am here to fulfill the law”
▪ I don’t think Jesus would be a conservative or a liberal
• He would find a “third way”
◦ Books
▪ I still read lots of books, but I try to read books that really capture the truths of humanity
• Autobiographies, classic novels
◦ I still love music
▪ But it has been cleaned up over the years
▪ And I’m looking for those great truths that only artists can capture
◦ I still play sports
▪ It’s good for the body, which is a temple of the Holy Spirit
▪ And it’s good for comradery
• There’s something about being in a foxhole together, where people “get” each other at a very deep and profound level
• So, when we really, consciously work at putting everything we say and do in the service of the Lord—that is, doing everything for the glory of God—there are going to be some consequences:
◦ A. Some things are going to have to change
▪ I have cleaned up my music
▪ There are some comedians I don’t listen to
▪ There are some friends that are better not to hang out with too much
▪ I don’t go out on Sundays
◦ B. Other things have a new focus
▪ Movies, music, comedians, sports, books
• On the outside, those things haven’t changed that much
◦ But on the inside, now they are all clearly directed to the Lord
Conclusion: Lent:
• So, Lent starts in three days
▪ It tends to catch many of us by surprise
• It may be good to pray about these questions:
◦ “Lord, how can I do everything for Your glory?”
◦ “Lord, what do I have to do, so that I can say with integrity: ‘Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ’?”
▪ “What has to go? What should I stop? What should I get rid of?”
▪ “What needs a new focus? How do I get that focus?”
• Take this to prayer, this really wouldn’t be a bad thing to work on throughout Lent:
◦ “Lord, how can I do everything for Your glory?”
◦ And “How can we—me and You, Lord—use Lent to achieve this?”
• God will answer
◦ He is always thrilled to bring His children closer to Him
“God Love You!”
From the 6pm Mass on Sunday, February 4, 2024 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B.
This homily by no means exhausts the topic of pain and suffering. I was simply moved to give a few reflections about the subject.
My three points:
- Brokeness
- It is okay to not be okay, because none of us is okay
- The Denial
- The lie of social media
- What to do about it
- We turn to Our Lord
From the 6pm Mass on Sunday, Jaunary 28, 2024, at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B.
I had a longer homily prepared, but I ended up giving a short reflection on the Gospel. Basically, the answer = Jesus. But, it's easy to get distracted, it's easy to desire all the good things that Jesus can give us, instead of Jesus Himself. Let's pray to desire Jesus.
From the 11:30am Mass On Sunday, January 21, 2024 at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B.
This homily is a little different than most. I don't have my usual, clear three points. Instead, I talk about some people who have passed from my life recently, and then make some ties to the readings.
Here are those people:
- One of the first priests to encouarge me toward the priesthood: Fr. Janusz Iwan
- My buddy's father: Bob Silver
- The couple from Our Lady of Sorrows: Ryan & Jen Ambrosio
- Here is the GoFundMe page that has been set up for the six Ambrosio children
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, January 14, 2024 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B.
- Baptized Members
- Ordinary Time
- Hanging out with Jesus
A few practical ideas:
- Sunday:
- Do something in addition to Mass
- Mass:
- Come early
- Pray after Mass
- Come to a daily Mass
- Adoration:
- Sit in front of the Blessed Sacrament
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, January 7, 2024 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord.
Part 1: Explanation of the Epiphany:
- Jesus: God for All
- Jesus: God for all
- Worship
Part 2: Pratical Applications
- Jesus is God for All
- Do we really believe that?
- Do we pray like He is?
- Do we look like He is?
- Jesus is God
- What other gods do we have?
- Jesus deserves to be worshipped
- How do we attend Mass?
- How is our tithing?
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, December 31, 2023 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, Royal Oak, The Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Year B.
Today, I preach about faith, and make six applications:
- Abraham, our father in faith
- Mary, the Holy Mother of God
- St. Joseph
- Priestly Ordination
- Marriage
- Family
Resources:
Catechism of the Catholic Church, glossary. Definition of Faith: Both a gift of God and a human act by which the believer gives personal adherence to God who invites his response, and freely assents to the whole truth that God has revealed.
From the 11:30am Mass on Sunday, December 24 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year B.
Three points:
- A Kerygmatic Advent
- Created
- Captured
- Rescued
- Response
- Today we see the perfect response: Mary's "Yes"
- The Devil: Non Serviam!
- "I will not serve!"
- Mary: Fiat!
- "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."
Take away point to pray with: What can I do to give a resounding, "Yes," a fuller "Yes," to the Lord?
Resources:
Anima Christi: Soul of Christ, by Mother Francis Mary, P.C.C., particularly p. 102.
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, December 17, 2023 at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, the Third Sunday of Advent, Year B.
Today I walk through the Kerygma, with special attention on part 3: Rescued.
The Kerygma:
- Created
- Captured
- Rescued
- On the Cross, Jesus is:
- Showing the Love of the Father
- Jesus, born to die
- God goes to the Cross, doesn't delegate this
- God freely goes to the Cross for us
- Making atonement for us, for our sins
- Sin is an offense against God
- Sin is in the blood
- Going to war to rescue us
- Showing the Love of the Father
- On the Cross, Jesus is:
- Response
- How do we respond to a God Who loves us so?
Resources:
- I draw heavily from Fr. John Riccardo's book: Rescued
- I also barrow a few lines from this awesome little St. John Vianney quote book: Thoughts of the Cure D'Ars
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, December 10, 2023 at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, on the Second Sunday of Advent, Year B.
Main Point: Preparation for the Lord's Coming
- We Participate in Our Own Salvation
- Both ... and: God saves, and we are called to participate in our salvation
- Example: Confession
- Three Offenses:
- God
- Man
- Nature
- Three Offenses:
- Fix a Pothole
- Homework: Pray, "Lord, I have lots of potholes in my life. Which one would You like me to work on this Advent?"
Conclusion: Preparing a welcoming place for the Lord
- "Prepare the way for the Lord!"
- Prepare a "highway for the Lord!
- May the Christ child have a warm, inviting home in our hearts to lay His head on Christmas Day
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, December 3, 2023, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, the First Sunday of Advent, Year B.
Intro:
- Happy New Year!
- It is Advent
Body:
- Why do we need Jesus?
- The Infinite Offense
- Captured
- (this point is taken from Fr. John Riccardo's excellent book, Rescued)
- Do we still need Jesus?
- If we don't think we do, we are "suffering from delusions of adequacy"
Conclusion: Hope
- Isaiah tells us: "Yet, O Lord, you are our father; we are the clay and you the potter: we are all the work of your hands."
- Throughout Advent, we will work on letting the Father--the potter--work on us, and make us into the beautiful persons He has created us to be
From the 7:30am Mass at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica on Sunday, November 26, 2023, on the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, Year A.
My three points:
- Working with Others
- Working with Ourselves
- Christ, King of the Universe
- Jesus is the King of the Universe... but He is not yet fully reigning. We participate with the Lord and His mission when we bring everything under His Lordship.
Homework:
- Pray about making a New Year's resolution: What can I do to bring something / someone under the Lordship of Jesus?
- Two Focuses:
- Others
- The Corporal Works of Mercy
- Ourselves
- Inviting Jesus into a specific area, a particular "mess," in our lives
- Others
- Two Focuses:
From the 6:00pm Mass on Sunday, November 19, 2023 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A.
Introduction:
- Where are your fruits? Show me your children!
Body:
- The Nature of God:
- God gives Life, the devil gives death and sterility
- Figruative Birth-Control:
- Contracepting the Holy Spirit
- Literal Birth-Control:
- Contracepting life
Conclusion:
- To those who bury the Master's talents: "Throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grindind of teeth" (Matthew 25:30).
- To those who fully place the Master's talents in the Lord's service: "Well done, my good and faithful servant.... Come, share your master's joy" (Matthew 25:21).
Resources:
- The Roger Daltrey quote is taken from his autobiography Thanks A Lot Mr Kibblewhite, p. 110.
- The Kimberly Hahn quote is taken from the book Rome Sweet Home: Our Journey to Catholicism, by Scott & Kimberly Hahn, pp. 35-36.
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, November 12, 2023 at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica on the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A.
Introduction:
- Our Sunday readings become more and more apocalyptic as we approach the end of the liturgical year.
Body:
- To be Known:
- Our Lord tells the foolish virgins: "Amen, I say to you, I do not know you."
- Being known
- Presence
- Our Lord tells the foolish virgins: "Amen, I say to you, I do not know you."
- Encounter:
- Confession
- Mass
- Prayer
- The End Times?
Conclusion:
- Jesus would love to get to know you. Put yourself in that position: Confession, Mass, Prayer
From the 11:30am "High Mass" at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak on Sunday, November 5, 2023, the Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A.
Breakdown of the homily:
Introduction:
- Re-introduce self, talk about being the Archbishop's priest-secretary
Body:
- Baptized as Priest, Prophet, and King
- The Priesthood
- Stories from my Priesthood
Conclusion:
- Recruitment Call
From the 7:30am Mass at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, on Sunday, October 29, 2023, the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A.
- The Danger of Self-Assurance/Self-Reliance
- St. Paul and the Thessalonians
- Homework: How has Jesus made a difference in my life? Where are my sins, my pitfalls, and what has Jesus done?
Dear All,
I am out of town this week, and thus will have no homily to post. I'll be back in the pulpit on Sunday, October 29.
God Bless,
Fr. Dave
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, October 15, 2023 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A.
The three parts of the homily:
- The Encounter
- The Genius of Pope Francis: Creating a Culture of Encounter
- Encountering / Engaging God
Conclusion: The Secret / Hope = Jesus!
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, October 8, 2023, the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica.
My three points:
- Can we take Correction?
- Love = Unconditional
- God is Love
Conclusion: "...given to a people that will produce its fruit"
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, October 1, 2023, the Feast Day of the Little Flower (St. Therese of the Child Jesus), at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica.
My three points:
- St. Therese of the Child Jesus
- Power, the Currency of the Devil
- Mystery
Conclusion: Some practical ideas to becoming more childlike
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, September 24, 2023 at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A.
My two points:
- Is the Gospel a Burden?
- Why do we do it? (Why do we practice the faith?)
- For what we get out of it... worshipping ourselves?
- Or, for God, worshipping Him?
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, September 17, 2023, at the Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A.
My three focuses:
- St. Peter
- Forgiving vs. Excusing
- I Deserve Hell
My C.S. Lewis quotes are taken from The Weight of Glory, pp. 178 & 179. The poem about the Cross is by Elizabeth Cheney, and is often quoted by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. Among other places, it can be found in Sheen's little book The Seven Last Words on page 53.
This Mass was livestreamed, the homily starts at 18:38, and can be found here.
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, September 10, 2023 at The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Tim, Year A.
Fraternal correction is one of the highest forms of charity. So, why is it so difficult? We explore three reasons:
- A Lack of Love
- Not Aware of the Deadly Nature of Sin
- Afraid to "Lose" Someone
Dear All,
We had a missionary priest preach for us this weekend (Sept. 3), so I have no homily to post. I'll be back in the pulpit for the 7:30am Mass this Sunday (Sept. 10).
God Bless,
Fr. Dave
From the 11:30am Mass on Sunday, August 27, 2023, the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak.
My three points:
- Divinity embraces Humanity
- God reaches down, and lifts man up
- The Devil Rebels
- To check the devil's rebellion, we must be obedient to God... but being obedient to rightful authority
- Concrete Obedience
- Obedience to the government (insofar as it shares in God's authority)
- Obedience to Holy Mother Church
It all gets down to Jesus' question to the Apostles: "But who do you say that I am?" How do we answer Jesus? How do we answer Him with our lives?
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, August 20, 2023 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower, the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A.
The structure of the homily:
- Our Scripture Readings
- Today
- The Person of Christ
Prayer: Lord Jesus, mighty God, I believe, help my unbelief. As a son cherishes the praise of his father, may my heart be open and accepting of the faith You offer me, that one day, my Father in heaven may be amazed at the great faith He finds in me. And so, Lord, I humbly ask You for the gift of faith, the gift of knowing You. Amen.
From the 6:00pm Mass on Sunday, August 13, 2023 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower, the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A.
My three points:
- Silence
- Prayer
- Adoption as God's sons and daughters
Books referenced:
- The Boy Crisis: Why Our Boys are Struggling and What We Can Do About It, by Dr. Warren Farrell and Dr. John Gray
- Guide to Contentment, by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (I don't think this is in print anymore)
From the 9:30am Mass on The Feast of the Transfiguration, on Sunday, August 6, 2023 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower, Royal Oak.
My three points:
- Smarts are not Enough, We Need Witnesses
- We Need Some Imagination
- The Transfiguration
This Mass was livestreamed (the link can be found here). The homily begins at 16:25.
From the 6pm Mass at the National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, on Sunday, July 30, 2023, the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A.
My three points/reflections:
- The Pearl of Great Price: The Church
- Solomon's Request: To Judge
- Psalm 119: To love what is right, and hate what is wrong
Action Item: Pray
- Pray to know right from wrong
- Pray to love what is right, and hate what is wrong
From the 7:30am Mass on the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, July 23, 2023 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak.
Dear All,
Just FYI, I will be on vacation and out of town the weekend of July 16, and thus will have no homily to post. I will be back in the pulpit on Sunday, July 23 with the 7:30am Mass at the Shrine.
God Love You!
Fr. Dave
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, July 9, 2023 the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A at the National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak.
From the 9:30am Mass on the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A on Sunday, July 2, 2023 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak.
"Whoever finds his life will lose it, whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
We need to know how to lose... how to lose things to God.
This Mass was livestreamed (found here). The homily begins at 20:40.
This is a brief Post Communion Reflection / Farewell to Our Lady of Sorrows that I gave at the end of the 5pm Mass on Sunday, June 25, 2023.
Thank you Our Lady of Sorrows for letting me be a part of the community for three lovely years. Keep the faith!
God Love You!
Fr. Dave
From the 5pm Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington on Sunday, June 25, 2023, the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A. This concludes the four-part homily series: Loved by God: A Catholic Response to "Pride Month."
Topic: "Transgenderism"
This is a two-part homily:
Part I: "Transgenderism"
- Loved by God
- Reformers Reform the Wrong Thing
- Can a Person Change Genders?
Part II: Practical
- Integrity
- Tell the Truth... or at least, Don't Lie
- Actions Speak Louder than Words
Conclusion: Identity
Resources:
As promised, below is a list of resources that I hope you find helpful. I think it is Aristotle who talks about the uncanny ability of us human beings to lull our intellects to sleep. As Sheen says: No one is as blind and someone who refuses to see. C.S. Lewis says that the devil doesn't want you to think... because when you think, you pursue the truth, and the Truth is Jesus Christ. I have been studying this subject for years, and will continue to study it. I invite you to make use of these recourses, to engage your minds in pursuit of the Truth.
Support Groups:
- Courage. This is a great support group for those who experience same-sex attraction. It is endorsed by the Catholic Church and founded by a Catholic priest, and describes itself as: "A Roman Catholic apostolate for men and women who experience same-sex attractions and those who love them."
- Encourage. Related to Courage, Encourage is a support group for families and families of those who experience same-sex attraction.
Catholic Literature:
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 2357-2359.
- Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination: Guidelines for Pastoral Care, USCCB, 2006.
- Doctrinal Note on the Moral Limits to Technological Manipulation of the Human Body, USCCB, 2023. This is only 14 pages, is excellent, and official (right from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops [USCCB]).
- Imitating Christ's Charity and Chastity, Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, 2019.
- A Catechesis on the Human Person and Gender Ideology, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge.
Recommended Books:
On Homosexuality:
- Why I Don't Call Myself Gay: How I Reclaimed My Sexual Reality and Found Peace, Daniel C. Mattson, 2017. Of all that I have read, this is my personal favorite. It's in five parts. Part III should be read by every man, whether or not they experience same-sex attraction. Part IV is the best explanation of the Catechism's three paragraphs on homosexuality that I have found.
- Made for Love: Same-Sex Attractions and the Catholic Church, Fr. Michael Schmitz, 2017. This is a very good book, is philosophically tight, and is especially helpful for friends and family of adults who experience same-sex attractions. People find his Questions and Answers section at the end of the book to be very helpful.
- The Truth About Homosexuality: The Cry of the Faithful, Fr. John F. Harvey, O.S.F.S., 1996. Fr. John Harvey is the founder of Courage. Coming in at 365 pages, this is a dense book, but is the most complete treatment of homosexuality that I have found.
- Disordered: A Critical Examination of Gay Life and Culture From One Who Survived, Joseph Sciambra, 2019. This is a very raw book, and can be quite dark, but it gives some very good insights from someone who lived the life. (On Amazon, only the Kindle edition is available.)
- Over The Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love, Jonathan Van Ness, 2019. Please note, this is not a Catholic book, and very much promotes the other side. So, why on earth would I recommend it? Reading only Catholic books, I found a few of their claims to be a little tough to believe, Van Ness's book helped to confirm those tough claims. For example, in The Truth About Homosexuality, it is claimed that sexually active gay men average about 60 partners a year. After reading that stat, I was afraid to share it because I wasn't sure whether or not to believe it myself. After reading Van Ness's book, I do indeed believe that stat. Catholic books talk about many in the LGBTQIA+ community being sexually abused as minors. Van Ness tells the story of his abuse. Psychologists talk about control issues and manipulation in the LGBTQIA+ community. Van Ness tells of how when he started acting out sexually, he would reenact his abuse... but this time he was in control. Catholic books talk about the "double-life" that is so often led. Van Ness tells of learning to live a "double-life" when he was only 4 or 5 years old. Again, although this book promotes the other side, I think it very much confirms the Catholic literature.
On Transgenderism:
- The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory, Abigail Favale, 2022. This is by far the best book I have read on the subject. It is absolutely excellent! Abigail Favale was a self proclaimed feminist who had completely embraced the LGBTQIA+ ideology--and taught it at the college level--before her conversion to Catholicism.
- When Harry Became Sally, Ryan T. Anderson, 2019. This is perhaps the most complete book on transgenderism. (This was taken off of Amazon.)
- Anything by Walt Heyer. Walt Heyer was born a man, transitioned, and then detransitioned back. At times he lacks in eloquence, and can be a little emotional, but he has been there and done that, and makes some great points. Of what I have read from him, I think his best is:
- Gender, Lies and Suicide: A Whistleblower Speaks Out, Walt Heyer, 2013.
For Parents:
- Made This Way: How to Prepare Kids to Face Today's Tough Moral Issues, Leila Miller with Trent Horn, 2018. This is an excellent book that every Catholic parent needs to read. It is geared more for parents whose children are still minors, and helps to form parents that they may form their children regarding ten of today's tough moral issues, including transgenderism and homosexuality.
Misc:
- What is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense, Sherif Girgis, Ryan T. Anderson, and Robert P. George, 2012. This is not specifically about anything in the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, but in defending and defining marriage, it is very helpful in preparing one to defend marriage against all the other pseudo-marriages that are being pushed today.
From the 5pm Mass on Sunday, June 18, 2023, the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Topic: Homosexuality
Three preliminary points:
- Please Listen
- "God is love"
- Accepting of ... what?
Three main points:
- Called to Greatness
- Identity
- The Sin / Downfalls
- Attraction = not a sin
- Action = sin
Conclusion: Chastity
"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest." We need to labor for chastity. Chastity / purity gives us sight, opens our spiritual eyes, and frees us that we may enjoy the freedom of God's children.
Up next:
- June 25: Transgenderism
Resources that I referenced:
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 2357-2359.
- Why I Don't Call Myself Gay: How I Reclaimed My Sexual Reality and Found Peace, by Daniel C. Mattson.
- The Four Loves, by C.S. Lewis
- The Problem of Pain, by C.S. Lewis
From the 5pm Mass on Sunday, June 11, 2023, The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Year A, at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
My three points:
- Divinity embraces Humanity
- Yes, God loves us, loves you that much
- Beware of anything that creates a dualism between God and humanity, and between body and soul
- Male and Female He Created Them
- God made male, and God made female, and saw that it was very good!
- Our society supposedly celebrates "diversity"
- We ought to celebrate the differences, the "diversity" between men and women
- It's a diversity that makes possible a very holy communion
- Communion
- You were made for love, you were made for communion
- Our bodies are that important!
- That's why Jesus took one on
- He redeems us in our bodies
- He redeems us through our bodies
- Holy Communion received worthily, and the martial embrace when fully given to God, give us greater communion with God and with each other
Up next:
- June 18: Homosexuality
- June 25: Transgenderism
From the 5pm Mass on Sunday, June 4, 2023, The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
My three points:
- Introduction to the homily series:
- Loved by God: A Catholic Response to "Pride Month"
- Made in the Image and Likeness of the Trinity
- "Then God said: 'Let us [plural] make human beings in our [plural] image, after our [plural] likeness.'" (Genesis 1:26)
- The Lord's Peace = Right Order
- We are most like Christ when we accept what the Father has given us: "My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!" (Matthew 26:42)
Layout of the preaching series:
- Week 1, June 4: Introduction / some theology of the body
- Week 2, June 11: Theology of the Body
- Week 3, June 18: Homosexuality
- Week 4, June 25: Transgenderism
From the 7:30am Mass on May 28, 2023, Pentecost Sunday, Year A at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
My three points:
- "Members"
- False Unity
- Real Unity
From the 11:30am Mass on The Ascension of the Lord on Sunday, May 21, 2023 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
My three points:
- The Ascension:
- Jesus ascending to heaven, and being seated at the right hand of the Father. "The irreversible entry of [Jesus'] humanity into divine glory, symbolized by the cloud and by heaven, where he is seated from that time forward at God's right hand" (CCC, 659).
- Disciples
- Witnesses (in Greek, literally "martyrs")
The overarching theme: Already... but not yet (in Italian: gia... ma non ancora)
This Mass was livestreamed. Here is the link, the homily starts at 25:03.
From the 9:30am Mass on the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year A, on May 14, 2023 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
My three points:
- Apologetics (the Head)
- "Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope" (1 Peter 3:15).
- (the apologetics books that assisted me in my own conversion can be found here)
- (the apologetics book I taught from can be found here)
- "Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope" (1 Peter 3:15).
- The Heart
- "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15)
- Present Jesus
- People are brought to Jesus through one of two doors:
- The door of Truth (the Head)
- The door of Beauty (the Heart)
- People are brought to Jesus through one of two doors:
Dear All,
Just FYI, I was out on vacation last weekend (May 6-7), and thus have no homily to post. I'll be back in the pulpit this coming weekend with the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, May 14 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
God Bless,
Fr. Dave
From the 7:30am Mass on Sunday, April 30, 2023, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year A, at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
My three points:
- Solution: Join the Family!
- A Scandalizing Love
- No, really, you are welcome
From the 7:30am Mass on the Third Sunday of Easter, Year A, on April 23, 2023 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
My three points:
- The Resurrection
- Death Defeated
- Eyes of Faith
From the 11:30am Mass on the Second Sunday of Easter, Year A (also known as Divine Mercy Sunday), April 16, 2023 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
We are great at living Lent. What about living Easter? Here are some ideas, patterned after the very first Christians who (Acts 2:42): devoted themselves to
- The Teaching of the Apostles
- Read:
- The Bible
- Jesus Shock! by Peter Kreeft
- Life of Christ by Fulton Sheen
- Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
- Watch:
- The Chosen
- The Shack (2017)
- Listen:
- Bible in a Year
- Catechism in a Year
- Read:
- The Communal Life
- Family Dinners
- "Date nights"
- Dating in person instead of online
- Men's groups
- Women's Bible studies
- Fish Fries (equivalent)
- The Breaking of the Bread
- Daily Mass
-
The Prayers
- Rosary
- Grace before all meals
- Silent prayer, 15-30 minutes daily
- Morning offering, night prayers
-
Confession
- frequently (monthly)
To live as an Easter people, we need to continually feed on Christ.
This Mass was livestreamed. The link can be found here, homily starts at 29.21.
Dear All,
Just FYI, due to my duties with the Archbishop, I did neither presided nor preached at an Easter Mass. I will be back in the pulpit this coming Sunday, and will be very much giving an "Easter" homily. I'll be preaching about living the Easter season well.
God Love You!
Fr. Dave
From the 7:30am Mass on Palm Sunday, April 2, 2023 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
The saints called Jesus "Lord." Judas didn't.
Dear All,
I didn't preach this weekend, and I was out sick with the COVID. I'm feeling much better, and will be back to it next weekend. Thanks for the prayers!
God Bless,
Fr. Dave
From the 5pm Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington on Sunday, March 19, 2023, Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year A.
In this homily, I juxtapose the parents in the today's Gospel, who live in fear, with Samuel in the first reading, who lives in trust with God.
My three points:
- Fear: The Parents of the Blind Man
- Amen!
- Trust: Samuel trusts God
Come to Confession! A great way to build up trust with the Father, is to come to Him in Confession.
Day 2 of the parish mission at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Cary, NC.
Yesterday was the theological/philosophical underpinnings of division and unity. This is more the practical applications of yesterday's talk.
- Membership: Be as liberal as the Church liberal, and as conservative as the Church is conservative.
- This allows for the real diversity and true unity that images God.
- Oh, the Humanity!
- We need to learn how to be human again. Eyes on Jesus, especially His humanity.
- The Cancel-Culture: We are all part of it.
- The trick to caring, is knowing what not to care about
- The News
- Turn off the news/media, and turn to prayer.
- We need our "prayer minutes" to outnumber our "media minutes."
- Bonus: How to Understand Pope Francis
- More interested in the question than in the answer.
The livestream can be found here.
(For some reason, we missed the first few minutes of audio. Didn't miss any substance, just the first half of my opening joke.)
St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Cary, NC. This is the first of two talks for their parish mission. The theme is: "That there be no division among you: United in Christ."
This first night, I focused more on the philosophical/theological underpinnings of unity and division. Night two will be about the practical applications.
Main action item: Eyes on Jesus, turning our eyes back to Him
Main philosophical/theological point: Identity, made in the image and likeness of God
Points:
- Eyes on Jesus
- Identity
- Unity, a By-Product
- Unity is Out of Our Power
- "Membership"
The livestream can be found here.
From the 10:30am Mass on Sunday, March 12, 2023 at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Cary, NC on the Third Sunday of Lent, Year A.
We see in the Samaritan woman the two-step process of conversion:
- We confess our lowliness, we humble ourselves
- God changes us, transfigures us
This was preached as kind of a promo/setup for the parish mission. We need to come into the parish mission humbly... and then just watch God work!
This Mass was livestreamed, and can be found here (homily starting at 24:18).
On Sunday, March 5, 2023, Second Sunday of Lent, Year A, I had the 9:30am and 11:30am Masses at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington. This is the audio from the 9:30am Mass. The 11:30am Mass was livestreamed (the homily starts at 14:38).
The one point: Let Go, and Let God. Don't try to earn your way to heaven... let God save you.
From the 8am Mass on the First Sunday of Lent, Year A, February 26, 2023 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
My three points:
- Identity
Archbishop Fulton Sheen says that if God identifies Himself as "I AM WHO AM," the devil identifies himself as "I am who am not." The devil drives us away from God, away from being, he drives us toward nothingness.
- "We Have Sinned"
It's not that we are sinners. We are not. We are God's children... who have sinned.
- The Father
You love something according to what you are willing to give for it, and God gave His Only Begotten Son for you! The Father chose you!
I didn't preach at Our Lady of Sorrows this weekend, but I did preach at the 4:30pm Vigil Mass at St. Lawrence in Utica, on Saturday, February 18, 2023. This homily was not recorded, but below are my notes:
7th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – February 18, 2023
4:30pm – St. Lawrence, Utica
Intro:
• Good afternoon
▪ Great to be with you!
◦ Fr. Dave Tomaszycki
▪ Classmates with Fr. Paul Graney (don’t hold that against me)
• Work downtown
◦ Not in a parish a whole lot
◦ Today I had a baptism, confessions, now Mass
▪ Feeling like a parish priest
◦ A good feeling
▪ Good to be with you
• Theme: Be holy
◦ “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy”
Body:
- Love Your Enemies:
• Start with Jesus’ demand: “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father”
◦ Pagans love their neighbors and hate their enemies, but it shall not be so among you
◦ Jesus is saying: Hey, let’s be better than the pagans
▪ “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”
• Are we doing this?
▪ Do we love our enemies?
▪ Do we pray for those who persecute us?
◦ Or, are we like the pagans?
▪ Has Jesus made no difference in our lives?
• One of the most scandalous things is to meet a Christian and think: Wow! Jesus has made no difference in his life. He is just like everyone else. I never would have guessed he was a Christian.
• So, I’m going to go right for the jugular here:
◦ The world loves to hate on politicians
▪ Turned politician bashing into an Olympic Sport
◦ Jesus: “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”
• If we are following Jesus, we don’t fall into this
◦ We “love” our enemies
• What does it mean to “love” our enemies?
▪ What does it mean to “love” anyone?
◦ It means to want the best for them
• Do we pray for our politicians?
◦ If we are Christian, the answer is “yes”
• How do we pray for them?
◦ Begrudgingly?
◦ With an air of: Why can’t they just be like me?
▪ After all I am the gold standard… for everything
◦ Or, do we pray like we really love them?
▪ Like we really want the best for them?
▪ And, the “best” for anyone is heaven
◦ Do we pray for our politicians like: “I want to see this person in heaven”
▪ “When I get to heaven, I am going to be looking for this person”
▪ “I hope he is there”
▪ “I hope he has a room right next to mine”
• You and I both know that by and large, we are failing miserably with this commandment
▪ “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father”
◦ When I hate and badmouth politicians—the bishops, anyone—it’s a sign that, I don’t really belong to the heavenly Father
▪ I think like the world
▪ I talk like the world
▪ I belong to the world
• *And the Prince of this world is the devil
• Are we following Christ?
◦ Or are we following the devil?
• We’ve got to do better with this commandment
• In the words of C.S. Lewis: “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilisations—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendours…. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner—no mere tolerance, or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses.” (Weight of Glory, 46).
- Be Holy:
• And now we get to the main point: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.’”
◦ Gospel, Jesus tells us: “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
▪ Just, be perfect, like God is perfect. How hard can it be?!
• It’s not easy, not easy at all!
▪ I am quite bad at it
◦ But I know how it’s done:
• First: Baptism
◦ The Eucharist is the greatest Sacrament, but Baptism is the most necessary Sacrament
• We can’t get to heaven without it
▪ I celebrated the baptism of one of your parishioners this afternoon
• When you were baptized, you were not baptized by the priest, deacon, pastor, whomever
▪ You were baptized by Jesus
◦ Jesus touched your soul
▪ Changed your soul
▪ Claimed you for His own
▪ You now belong to Jesus
◦ No matter what happens in life, you are a beloved son or daughter of God
• Baptism is the greatest day of your life
◦ When we walk into heaven, it merely completes what happened on the day of Baptism
◦ But Baptism is where it happened
▪ Where your soul was changed and given to God
• Once you have been baptized, the most important Sacraments become the Eucharist and Confession
◦ They are the hammer and anvil that shape us into the perfection that Jesus demands us to be
• It is amazing how many people come up for Holy Communion, but how few come to Confession
◦ I go to Confession often, I went this morning
▪ I need to
▪ I’m a sinner
▪ I desperately need Jesus Christ
• His mercy, His love, His forgiveness
• Being “perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” is actually a requirement to get into heaven
◦ That’s why most of us will probably need to go through Purgatory before heaven
▪ We will need to be purged of any imperfections
▪ No sin is allowed in heaven
◦ This is also why we begin Mass with the Penitential Rite
▪ When we come to Mass, we actually step into heaven
▪ But, no sin is allowed in heaven
• We have to do away with our sins
▪ The Penitential Rite forgives venial sins, but it does not forgive mortal sins
• If we are conscious of any mortal sins—like missing Mass—we cannot receive Holy Communion, until we go to confession and come back into “communion” with the Lord
• So, after baptism, we come to Confessions often—at least every month
▪ Trying to root out anything ungodly
◦ We receive Communion as often as we can
▪ The Church says we need to be receiving Communion at least once a year, weekly is better, and daily is still better
• Let Christ work!
- Purgatory:
• But, there is a good chance that when we die, we still won’t be “perfect,” as God is perfect
◦ So we have Purgatory
• Look at it this way:
◦ If we were to die today, are we carrying anything with us that we know we can’t take to heaven?
▪ Not just sins, but hurts, heartaches, regrets
• That baggage that builds up over a lifetime
◦ We know we can’t take these things to heaven
▪ **It wouldn’t be heaven!
▪ God loves us too much to leave us half broken, to remain half broken for eternity
• It is He who makes us perfect as He Himself is perfect
• At the funeral Mass, there is an insert in the Eucharistic prayer that reads:
◦ God will “transform our lowly body after the pattern of his own glorious body.”
▪ We are going to get an awesome body, patterned after God Himself!
◦ “There we hope to enjoy for ever the fullness of your glory, when you will wipe away every tear from our eyes.”
▪ That’s Purgatory
▪ God, making us perfect
◦ “For seeing you, our God, as you are,”
▪ We will behold God, we will see Him!
◦ “we shall be like you for all the ages and praise you without end”
▪ We are going to be like God!
• Who is this God Who loves us so much!!!
Conclusion:
• St. Catherine of Siena was once visited by an angel
◦ “If I showed you a human soul that has been glorified by God, you would bow down and worship that soul, thinking it’s God”
• That’s what God wants to do to your soul in Purgatory
◦ But, believe you me, He doesn’t want to wait until Purgatory
◦ He wants to get going right now
• And this brings us back to the Sacraments, especially Confession and Mass
• Never, ever, ever miss Mass (unless you are ill)
▪ Come to Confession at least once a month (more if you need it)
◦ And you will be on the right road
• And then death is generally an echo of life
◦ If every day you’re taking a step toward God
▪ When you die, it will be second nature to step right into Purgatory
▪ And then, God Himself will “purge” you
▪ And, next thing you know, you’ll be stepping right into heaven, because you will “be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
“God Love You!”
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, February 12, 2023 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington on the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A.
We hear from St. Paul: "We speak a wisdom to those who are mature, not a wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away. Rather, we speak God's wisdom, mysterious, hidden"
As an example of the Wisdom of God, I tell the story of Fr. John Hollowell, who asked to take suffering upon himself in reparation for clergy abuse.
Fr. John tells part of his story here: I was healed at Lourdes - YouTube
From the 8am Mass on Sunday, February 5, 2023 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington, the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A.
Theme: "For I resolved to know nothing... except Jesus Christ, and him crucified."
My points:
- Don't Lose Your Salt
- Prayer
- Knowing Only Christ
- And Him Crucified
- What/Who are we taking vacation from?
- A Cross for the Lord
From the 9:30am Mass on the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, January 29, 2023, at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
"Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God."
My three points:
- Fruitful Virginity
- Celibacy Needed!
- Light / Vision
Conclusion:
- We need chaste laity
- Chastity is a fight worth fighting!
- We need chaste, celibate priests
- Priests who are completely handed over to the Lord
From the 8am Mass on the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A, on Sunday, January 22, 2023 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
My three points:
- Division
- Worldliness
- Wait for the Lord
Conclusion: Stick with Peter
From the Responsorial Psalm: "I believe that I shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord."
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, January 15, 2023 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington, the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year A.
My three points:
- "Ordinary" Time
- The Monotony
- Be careful chasing Experience!
- Bringing Everything under the Lordship of Christ
- Called to Holiness
Ordinary Homework: Find some ordinary part of your life, that you have not invited God into, and invite Him in.
*For some reason, the recording cut off before the homily was done and missed the last few lines, which were:
"A few ideas of where to invite God into:
- Invite Jesus to work with you
- Invite Jesus to sit in the passenger seat of your car while you drive (there may, perhaps, be some sanctification that is needed in our driving)
- Maybe just pick up that Rosary, and make it an "ordinary" part of your day
"One way or another, invite God into some "ordinary," "monotonous" part of your life, and let Him work, let Him sanctify. If you let God sanctify the small things in your life, He will make you a great saint!"
The Solemnity of the Epiphany, Sunday, January 8, 2023 from the 11:30am Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
My three points:
- King Herod
- The People of Jerusalem
- Christ the Light
- God is God, He can work in any way He wants... but He chooses to work through you.
Homework: Invite Jesus into the darkest places of your heart (Seriously! Trust Jesus. He will win.)
This Mass was livestreamed, the homily starts at 28:46.
From the 8am Mass on Sunday, January 1, 2023, Mary, Mother of God at Our Lady of Sorrows.
I wasn't quite sure what to do, so I offered the congregation a choice between the homily I had prepared on Priestly Celibacy / "Fruitful Virginity" (this would have been very similar to the homily I gave last year on this feast day, the audio of which can be found here), or reading the bulk of Pope Benedict's last public address as Pope from February 27, 2013 (this address is very beautiful, the full text of which can be found here). The congregation chose Pope Benedicts last address.
It took me a hot minute to obtain this audio, but this is the homily I gave for my little sister's wedding on Saturday, December 10, 2022 at the Church of the Resurrection in Lansing.
The livestream of the Mass can be found here.
From the 1:30pm Mass on Christmas Day, Sunday, December 25, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Readings:
- First Reading: Isaiah 9:1-6
- Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 96:1-2, 2-3, 11-12, 13
- Second Reading: Titus 2:11-14
- Gospel: John 1:1-18
My three points:
- Jesus, the Only Person Who came to Die
- Light or Darkness
- Life or Death
From the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year A, on Sunday, December 18, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
My two points:
- Understandably Closed to God
- Radically Open to God ...Like St. Joseph
Three theories concerning Joseph's attempt to divorce Mary:
- Suspicion Theory
- This is the easiest theory to accept. Assume the worst!
- Perplexity Theory
- Reverence Theory
- This theory is very commonly held by the saints
Homework:
- Pray for the grace, through the intercession of St. Joseph, to be radically open to God this coming Christmas
I will be out of town for the weekend of Dec. 10-11 for my sister's wedding. I'll be back in the pulpit at the 8am Mass on Sunday, Dec. 18.
God Love You!
Fr. Dave
From the 5pm Mass on Sunday, December 4, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington on the Second Sunday of Advent.
My three points:
- Hope
- Humility
- Outreach
Homework: Please spend at least five minutes surfing the Walking with Moms in Need website. You can access the national website here, and the Detroit website here (the Detroit website may be more practical for our purposes).
From the 11:30am Mass on Sunday, November 27, 2022, the First Sunday of Advent, Year A, at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Archbishop Vigneron has asked the Archdiocese of Detroit to join him in prayer and fasting from November 27 - December 9 to "make reparations for the great sin of abortion in our midst."
My Three Points:
- The Middle Coming
- Climb the Lord's Mountain
- Prayer & Penance
- Some ideas:
- Give up: pop, sweets, desserts, coffee
- Miss a meal, don't eat between meals
- Donate
- Cold Showers
- Fast from social media, YouTube, TV, screens
- Cover all the mirrors in your house
- Some ideas:
On the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington on Sunday, November 20, 2022.
Preaching about bringing everything under the lordship/kingship of Christ, my three points are:
- Our Hearts are Nasty... without Jesus
- Jesus Christ, King of Everything
- Made Fit, by the Father
Dear All,
I am out of town this weekend (taking actual vacation... not working on my book). I'll be back in the pulpit at the 8am Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows on Sunday, November 20.
Thanks for your prayers, and please know of my prayers for you.
God Love You!
Fr. Dave
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, November 6, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
This is the fourth and final installment of my homily series for life (and against Proposal 3). This week, I cover weeks 6 and 7 of the 7-week homily series that the Michigan bishops have asked us to preach.
- Week 6 Goal: "That each person would leave with a profound awareness of the gift and task of their baptism in general and their role in the world as priest, prophet and king."
- Week 7 Goal: "To rouse the faithful to play their part in this day and age in which God has chosen for us to live."
My three points are:
- Faith / The Faith
- Priest, Prophet, King
- The Love of Christ
Our God is the God of Life!
The live-stream of this homily can be found here, starting at 23:43.
From the 8am Mass on Sunday, October 30, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows, the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.
This is my third of four homilies promoting life and fighting Proposal 3. Of the seven-week series that the Michigan bishops are encouraging us to preach, this homily covers weeks 4 & 5:
- Week 4: Goal: That people walk away with clarity that Proposal 3, the Reproductive Freedom for All amendment, isn't only about abortion but is a direct attack on parental rights too.
- Week 5: Goal: To speak to those present who have had, or been involved in, an abortion and to let them know God's forgiveness is real and His mercy is abundant and to invite those who have not yet experienced His mercy in the sacrament of reconciliation to come in the days ahead.
The theme of this homily comes from the Second Reading: That "God may make you worthy of His calling."
My three points:
- The Devil Mimics God
- Parental Rights, Etc...
- Proposal 3 is not just about abortion. It threatens parental rights around all "reproductive" areas (e.g. abortion, transgenderism, etc.)
- Jesus Wants to Love On You
- If you have had an abortion, or participated in an abortion, God is good! (Don't let the devil tell you otherwise.) Run to God. He wants to draw you close to Himself and love on you.
Full text of Proposal 3.
Dear All,
I will be out of town, on vacation, working on my book (please pray for me!) for a couple weeks. I'll be back in the pulpit, continuing the preaching series on life on October 30.
God Love You!
Fr. Dave
Please donate to Citizens to Support MI Women and Children. They are a recently formed group, teamed with Right to Life of Michigan and endorsed by the Catholic Bishops, to defeat Proposal 3.
This homily comes from the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, October 9, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
This is the second of four homilies I am preaching to promote life and defeat Proposal 3. (The Bishops of Michigan have encouraged us priests to "fight like heaven" and preach a seven-week homily series, but I am gone three of the seven weeks.) This homily covers "Week 3" of the suggested talking points the Bishops have given us, and has the goal: "To leave with a sobered understanding of what actually happens in an abortion."
My three points:
- Reality
- What Actually Happens in an Abortion
- I explain various types of abortions and their procedures (this is not for all ears!)
- Thinking Pursues the Truth (aka Jesus!)
Helpful links:
- Live-stream of the Mass (homily starts at 21:05).
- Explanations of abortion procedures from Dr. Anthony Levatino, a former abortion doctor, turned pro-life.
- Abortion procedures from another pro-life site.
- Perhaps the best pro-life/anti-abortion video I have ever seen, this is Dr. Anthony Levatino himself testifying at a House Judiciary Committee hearing in 2015.
- The Hand of God: A Journey from Death to Life by The Abortion Doctor Who Changed His Mind. This is the autobiography of Dr. Bernard Nathanson. Bernard Nathanson was one of the biggest pushers of abortion in the 1960's and 1970's (he claims to be responsible for about 75,000 abortions), before a radical conversion led him to become pro-life and a Catholic. Part of that conversion was due to seeing the film of an abortion.
P.S. I am going to be gone for two weeks on vacation, working on my book (please pray for me). I will continue this homily series at the 8am Mass on Sunday, October 30.
From the 8am Mass on Sunday, October 2, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
The Bishops of Michigan have invited us priests to give a seven-week homily series (homily "retreat") to promote life and fight Proposal 3. Because I will be gone three of the seven weeks, I am condensing the seven-week series into a four-week series.
This week, I cover weeks 1 and 2 of the suggested talking points the Bishops gave us.
My three points:
- Yes, we can and should preach on this
- Philosophy
- Philosophically, there are four possibilities:
- The fetus is a human person, and we know that
- If this is the case, abortion is murder
- The fetus is a human person, and we do not know that
- If this is the case, abortion is manslaughter
- The fetus is not a human person, and we do not know that
- If this is the case, abortion is extremely irresponsible, to the point of criminal negligence
- The fetus is not a human person, and we do know that
- Only in this case would abortion be reasonable, responsible, and permissible
- The burden lies on the pro-abortion side to prove that the fetus is not a human person (which is impossible to prove... because the fetus is indeed a human person)
- The fetus is a human person, and we know that
- Philosophically, there are four possibilities:
- Jesus
- We are dealing with principalities and powers. We need to turn to Jesus.
Homework:
- Read
- The proposal
- Recommended books:
-
Three Approaches to Abortion: A Thoughtful and Compassionate Guide to Today's Most Controversial Issue, 2002, Peter Kreeft
- This is my personal favorite (and it is the shortest of the books on this list)
- It is very tight philosophically
- Details, laws, and statistics change, but the philosophy doesn't
- One downside, it may not be as compassionate as the title leads one to believe 2. Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice, 2007, Francis J. Beckwith
- Beckwith is a very good philosopher
- This is a very detailed book, probably the most complete treatment of the subject
- One downside, written in 2007, a few of the stats are a little dated
- (However, this book is also prophetic. Some of the things Beckwith predicts have now happened)
- Tearing Us Apart: How Abortion Harms Everything and Solves Nothing, 2022, Ryan T. Anderson and Alexandra DeSanctis
- (However, this book is also prophetic. Some of the things Beckwith predicts have now happened)
- This came out barely three months ago, so it is the most up to date book on the subject
- The one downside is that, while the philosophy is quite good, I didn't find it quite as good as the other two books on this list
- Prayer and Penance
- Some demons can only be cast out by prayer and penance (Matthew 17:21). We need to get back to doing penances.
-
I shall continue this homily series next weekend (Oct. 9) at the 9:30am, live-streamed Mass. Please pray for me, and pray for life!
Dear All,
I am currently out of town, traveling with the Archbishop. I'll be back at the pulpit this coming Sunday (October 2).
God Bless,
Fr. Dave
From the 5pm Mass on Sunday, September 18, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows, celebrating our parish feast day--Our Lady of Sorrows (transferred from September 15).
Archbishop Fulton Sheen gives three weapons against the demonic. One is Our Lady, the Mother of God. I think Our Lady of Sorrows is becoming particularly relevant in our day.
Three points of today's homily:
- Womanhood
- Motherhood
- Sorrows / Labor / Toil
It takes greater labor today to bring children to the Lord. Mothers labor for their children. Our Lady of Sorrows labors for you and your children.
From the 11:15am Mass on Sunday, September 11, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington. The Twentyfourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.
Borrowing heavily from Scott Hahn's book Hope to Die: The Christian Meaning of Death and the Resurrection of the Body, Fr. Dave preaches on life and Life!
- "life" is living, breathing, plant and animal life (bios in Greek)
- "Life!" is divine life, the life-breath that God gives Adam (zoe in Greek)
Two action items to help strengthen and restore the divine life:
- Adoration
- We are doing "40 Hours" of adoration (49 to be exact). The Lord will be exposed from 6pm on Sunday, to 7pm on Tuesday
- Come and sit in the presence of the Bread of Life (zoe)
- Confession
- This week confessions will be offered:
- Monday at 7:30pm
- *Tuesday, 6:00-9:00pm
- Saturday, 3:00-4:00pm
- I myself will be in the confessional on Tuesday, and I am especially calling those who haven't been to confession in a while. Let's get God's life-breath back!
- This week confessions will be offered:
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, September 4, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington, the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.
My three points:
- God's Law:
- God's law is good. God loves us, His laws guide us to Him.
- Hard or Harsh?
- God's laws are very hard: "If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." But they are not harsh, they are loving.
- God Works:
- We set thing in God's hands. God works.
It's integrity, it's holiness that inspires. Count the cost. It costs everything to follow Jesus. Are you all in?
The live-stream of this homily can be found here at the 20:24 mark.
From the 5pm Mass on Sunday, August 28, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows, the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary, Year C.
My three points:
- Narcissism
- First picture of Narcissus
- Second picture of Narcissus (Gif, Disney depiction)
- Humility: Being in the Truth
- Magnanimity
- Sharing God's gifts, not keeping them to ourselves
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, August 21, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington, 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.
Fr. Dave preaches how the narrow gate is narrowing. The three points are:
- The Narrow Gate
- The Narrowing Gate
- Will you Pay the Price?
But this could really all be wrapped up in one point:
- Be in reality
- The reality of the craziness of our times
- The reality that Jesus wins!
This Mass was livestreamed, the homily starts at 21:41.
From the 8am Mass on Sunday, August 14, 2022, the 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Year C (also, the feast day of St. Maximilian Kolbe).
Jesus talks about families being divided. We are certainly seeing that in our culture, amongst our families, friends, loved ones. When we get divided, it gets lonely. We need to turn to the "cloud of witnesses": God, the angels, and the saints.
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, August 7, 2022 the 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C, at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
When we step away from God, everything gets out of order. I have been encountering more and more times when people assume that I am pro-abortion (which I am not!!!), because I am a priest. Behind this is a philosophy/theology of "love thy neighbor," but disconnected from God. Without God the giver of life, this pseudo-"love" starts to dish out death.
We must stay connected to God. Our second reading, from the Letter to the Hebrews, highlights what a great example Father Abraham is. I make three points:
- Trusting in God
- Talking to God
- God as a Proud Father
This Mass was livestreamed, the homily starts at 22:51.
From the 8am Mass on Sunday, July 24, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows on the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.
We need to fix our eyes on Jesus. It is very tempting to use worldly/political means to try to save the world. Jesus is the one and only Savior, we turn to Him. We bring His fire into the world.
Three Points:
- Humility: Begging God for our daily bread
- Forgive Us: Our utter dependence on God for our salvation
- Forgiving Others: Forgiving our brother, with the love of Jesus
From the 11:15am Mass on Sunday, July 17, 2022, the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
"Martha, Martha, You are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing" (Luke 10:41-42).
In our crazy busy world, we are defining ourselves and others more and more by what we do (our jobs, our activities) instead of by what we are (God's beloved children). We need to step back and ask God to grant us a sense of proportion, to realize that souls are important, most of what we do is very unimportant.
From the 11:15am Mass on Sunday, July 10, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington, Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year C.
Preaching on the line: "Making peace by the blood of his cross" (Colossians 1:20), Fr. Dave preaches on:
- Peace
- Blood
- Cross
And gives a sneak peek at the book he is working on.
P.S. Toward the end of his life, Fulton Sheen was speaking a lot about the demonic, and even promised to write a book on it (see Those Mysterious Priests, 1974, p. 136). But he died in 1979, never writing such a book. For the past two and a half years, Fr. Dave has been going through all of Sheen's talks, books, and articles and compiling into book form what Sheen had said about the demonic.
Sheen gives three (really, four) weapons against the demonic:
- The Name of Jesus
- The Blood of Jesus
- Mary, the Mother of Jesus
- The Cross
In his homily, Fr. Dave touches upon two of these four weapons (Blood and Cross).
From the 9:30am Mass on the Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C, on Sunday, July 3, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
- We "boast in the cross." With the overturning of Roe, and the targeting of Catholics, the cross is surely coming.
- The Lord sends out as "lambs among wolves." Just look at the rhetoric out there in the culture. The wolves are getting angry. But the Lord's strength manifests itself through our weakness.
- We need laborers who:
- Know the Lord
- Appeal to Freedom
- Know when to stop talking... and take the beating.
This homily (and the whole Mass) can be watched here.
From the 11:15am Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington on Sunday, June 26, 2022, the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C. Fr. Dave addresses the topic of LGBTTQQIA+.
Looking at my bookshelf, I have read more on this topic than I have on any other topic. That being said, aside from posting the homily, perhaps the best thing I can do for you is to give you some good, solid resources:
Resources:
Support Groups:
- Courage. This is a great support group for those who experience same-sex attraction. It is endorsed by the Catholic Church and founded by a Catholic priest, and describes itself as: "A Roman Catholic apostolate for men and women who experience same-sex attractions and those who love them."
- Encourage. This is group is related to Courage and is for families and families of those who experience same-sex attraction.
Catholic Literature:
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 2357-2359.
- Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination: Guidelines for Pastoral Care, USCCB, 2006.
- Imitating Christ's Charity and Chastity, Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, 2019.
Recommended Books:
On Homosexuality:
- Why I Don't Call Myself Gay: How I Reclaimed My Sexual Reality and Found Peace, Daniel C. Mattson, 2017. Of all that I read, this is my personal favorite. It's in five parts. Part III should be read by every man, whether or not they experience same-sex attraction. Part IV is the best explanation of the Catechism's three paragraphs on homosexuality that I have found.
- Made for Love: Same-Sex Attractions and the Catholic Church, Fr. Michael Schmitz, 2017. This is a very good book, is philosophically tight, and is especially helpful for friends and family of those who experience same-sex attractions.
- The Truth About Homosexuality: The Cry of the Faithful, Fr. John F. Harvey, O.S.F.S., 1996. Fr. John Harvey is the founder of Courage. Coming in at 365 pages, this is a dense book, but is the most complete treatment of homosexuality that I have found.
- Disordered, Joseph Sciambra, 2019. This is a very raw book, and a dark read, but it gives some very good insights.
- Over The Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love, Jonathan Van Ness, 2019. Please note, this is not a Catholic book, and very much promotes the other side. So, why on earth would I "recommend" it? Reading only Catholic books, I found a few of their claims to be a little tough to believe, Van Ness's book helped to confirm those tough claims. For example, in The Truth About Homosexuality, it is claimed that sexually active gay men average about 60 partners a year. After reading that stat, I was afraid to share it because I wasn't sure whether or not to believe it myself. After reading Van Ness's book, I do indeed believe that stat. Catholic books talk about many in the LGBTQIA+ community being sexually abused as minors. Van Ness tells the story of his abuse. Catholic psychologists talk about control issues and manipulation in the LGBTQIA+ community. Van Ness tells of how when he started acting out sexually, he would reenact his abuse... but his time he was in control. Catholic books talk about the "double-life" that is so often led. Van Ness tells of learning to live a "double-life" when he was only 4 or 5 years old. Again, although this book promotes the other side, I think it very much confirms the Catholic literature.
On Transgenderism:
- When Harry Became Sally, Ryan T. Anderson, 2019. This is perhaps the most complete book on transgenderism. (This was taken off of Amazon... so you know it's good!)
- Anything by Walt Heyer. Walt Heyer was born a man, transitioned, and then detransitioned back. At times he lacks in eloquence, and can be a little emotional, but he has been there and done that, and makes some great points. Of what I have read from him, I think his best is:
- Gender, Lies and Suicide: A Whistleblower Speaks Out, Walt Heyer, 2013.
For Parents:
- Made This Way: How to Prepare Kids to Face Today's Tough Moral Issues, Leila Miller with Trent Horn, 2018. This is an excellent book that every Catholic parent needs to read. It helps to form parents that they may form their children regarding ten of today's tough moral issues including transgenderism and homosexuality.
Misc:
- What is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense, Sherif Girgis, Ryan T. Anderson, and Robert P. George, 2012. This is not specifically about anything in the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, but in defending and defining marriage, it is very helpful in preparing one to defend marriage against all the other pseudo-marriages that are being pushed today.
From the 9:30am Mass on the Feast of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), on Sunday, June 19, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington, Michigan.
Love gives. Love makes an offering of itself. Jesus Christ offers Himself to us in the Eucharist. As we receive our Lord, do we make an offering of ourselves?
Being Father's Day (on the secular calendar), Fr. Dave ends with an appeal to young men: All men are called to be fathers, to offer themselves. Are any young men here being called to offer themselves as priests?
Dear All,
I was out of town this past weekend, and will be out of town this coming weekend. But I will be back in the saddle and preaching on Corpus Christi weekend (June 19).
God Bless,
Fr. Dave
From the 9:30am live-streamed Mass on Sunday, May 29, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows, celebrating the Ascension of the Lord.
Jesus is constantly trying to lift our eyes up to heaven. On the Ascension, Jesus ascends into heaven, and promises to send us the Holy Spirit. What are we doing this week to prepare for the coming of the Holy Spirit?
From the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year C, on Sunday, May 22, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
We are all "Cafeteria Catholics" at times. If we love Jesus, we will keep His word. If we don't, we won't.
Deep down, it's all about loving Jesus. Following Him as if He is God (because He is!), as opposed to putting ourselves in God's place and picking and choosing what to follow.
From the 5pm Mass on the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington on May 15, 2022.
Fr. Dave addresses the threats to protest for abortion on Mother's Day.
It's not about destroying the Culture of Death. It's about converting the Culture of Death into a Culture of Life. And this is done with the love of Christ.
Just FYI, I am on vacation, and will therefore have nothing to post from this weekend. I will be back in the saddle on Sunday, May 15. Please pray for me, and know of my prayers for you, and especially all mothers this Mother's Day.
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, May 1, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington. The Third Sunday of Easter, Year C.
When we have a choice between an error and the truth, we will pick... whichever one we love.
Today's world is extremely truth-challenged. We need to develop a love for the truth, a love for Jesus, who is "the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6).
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, April 24, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington, on Divine Mercy Sunday (the Second Sunday of Easter).
With an overarching theme of the Identity of the Father, Fr. Dave preaches on Divine Mercy in three points:
- Who's Image and Likeness?
- God's "Forgetfulness"
- Sharing in Divine Mercy
Nothing brings us closer to the Father than feasting on the Body and Blood of His Son, which we do at Mass.
From the 8am Mass on Easter Sunday, April 17, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Happy Easter!
Going back to the basics, Fr. Dave preaches about:
- The Kerygma
- Created
- Captured
- Rescued
- Response
- The Sacred Paschal Triduum (the Life of Christ)
- Holy Thursday - Offering
- Good Friday - Death
- Easter - Resurrection / Life
- The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (Our Life)
- Offertory - Offering
- Consecration - Death
- Holy Communion - Resurrection / Life
Palm Sunday, April 10, 2022.
(The rubrics on Palm Sunday call for a "brief" homily. Coming in at 2:11, I believe I achieved that.)
St. John Vianney says: "There are no prideful people in heaven, and no humble people in hell." We live in a very prideful time, a new Tower of Babel. We need to refocus our eyes on Jesus, the humble one.
Celebrating the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year C, from the 11:15am Mass on Sunday, April 3, 2022, at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
These two quotes are very much the basis of the homily:
- "It used to be that only Catholics believed in the Immaculate Conception, now everyone believes he was immaculately conceived." -Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
- "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone." -Jesus
My three points:
- Who is Throwing Stones?
- A Sign of the Demonic: Violence
- Confession
- Penance Service: This Tuesday, April 5, 6:30pm
- Extended Confessions: Saturday, April 9, 2-4pm
The Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year C. From the 5pm Mass on Sunday, March 27, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
We are beloved sons and daughters of the Father. Though a life of sin will distort our likeness to the Father, we never lose our identity. We are made in the image of God, that cannot change.
Dear All,
I had COVID this past week--fun, fun! I am doing fine and am currently on the mend, but I will have no public Masses this weekend (March 19-20), and therefore will not have a homily to post. I am looking forward to being back at it next weekend (March 26-27). Thank you for your prayers.
God Bless,
Fr. Dave
The Second Sunday in Lent, Year C, from the 11:15am Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington on Sunday, March 13, 2022.
Fr. Dave preaches on keeping/making boundaries so that we have the silence of heart to hear God.
Jesus was transfigured in prayer. The Father's voice will transfigure us too.
From the Frist Sunday of Lent, Year C, at the 8am Mass on Sunday, March 6, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
My three points:
- Penances
- Anti-Christ / Crossless Christ
- Get ready for the Cross
Dear All,
Just FYI, the pastor preached at all the Mass this weekend. I'll be preaching again next weekend.
God Love You!
Fr. Dave
From the 11:15am Sunday Mass on February 20, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, February 6, 2022, at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
(This is last weeks' homily, I just came off of retreat and did not preach this week.)
I discuss:
- Heaven and Hell. "Depart from me, Lord." God sends no one to hell, but we can send ourselves.
- Conversion. Conversion is hard work, it is the Cross. As the first reading suggests, it is like a burning ember in the mouth.
- Evangelization. This is the main point of today's readings. The Lord calls us and equips us (despite our sins, and often through our sins) to go into the deep and assist Him in His work.
Throughout history, crazy times bring about saints. We are entering very crazy times, it is time for saints.
I am just about to head out on my yearly silent retreat, and therefore will not be able to properly post my Feb. 6 homily until I get back. My apologies for the delay. In the meantime, the homily can be found here on video at the 24:10 mark. I will post the audio upon my return (probably Feb. 14).
Please pray for me while I am on retreat, and know of my prayers for you.
God Bless,
Fr. Dave
From the 6pm Mass on Sunday, January 30, 2022 at St. Ignatius Parish in George Town, Cayman Islands (it's a long story, but over 20 years ago, the Cayman Islands came under the care of the Archbishop of Detroit. So the Archbishop and I are making a pastoral visit [because of COVID, this is the first pastoral visit in three years]). There should be no place more native to Jesus than our hearts. Is Jesus welcome in our hearts?
From the 8am Sunday Mass on January 23, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Today we celebrate the Sunday of the Word of God. To read the Word of God well, we must be humble. The question is, what does God say? Not, what do I want to hear God say?
God is the God of life, and His Word is the Word of Life. Saturday marked the 49th anniversary of the passing of Roe v. Wade, which legalized the killing of the unborn throughout America. We desperately need to humble ourselves and turn to the Word of Life.
From the 11:15am Mass of the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, on January 16, 2022, at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
What is "ordinary" for a Christian?
- We "ordinarily" belong to God. Every single day, we are His children.
- We give our hearts and minds over to the Lord
- The Word of God, the Sacred Scriptures, are constantly piercing through our very being.
- We fight to put everything under Jesus' lordship
- We come to Mass. That is, we step into heaven, and commune with God.
- We come to Confession. Having the Blood of Christ wash our souls clean is an "ordinary" happening.
To sum it all up:
- Becoming saints, and making saints is what we are about every single day. That's what we do. That is the "ordinary" life of a Christian, of a child of God.
From the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, on Sunday, January 9, 2022 from the 9:30am Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
"You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." We were baptized by Jesus; we were baptized into Jesus. This makes us God's children, and the Heavenly Father is pleased with us.
As our society becomes more and more godless and anti-Christian, we need to be secure in our identity as God's children. The Heavenly Father is our only audience. We belong to Him, let's please Him.
From the 11:15am Mass on the Feast of the Epiphany on Sunday, January 2, 2022 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
On the Feast of the Epiphany, we celebrate Jesus being manifested to the world. Vatican II encouraged people to get "more involved." People got more involved in the liturgy, but just kind of stopped there. A Catholics, we really need to work on getting more "involved," bringing Christ with us out into the world (into our schools, our jobs, our politics, our social circles... our public lives). We have an awesome responsibility, that Jesus would like to be made manifest, out in the world, through you!
From the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, on Saturday, January 1, 2022 at the 9am Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Fr. Dave preaches on the two words in the Collect: "Fruitful virginity." Our Lady's virginity was very fruitful, she became the Mother of God. So too, priests and nuns are celibates/virgins because it attaches them to God is a special way. And it is this attachment that really allows them to be spiritually fruitful.
As our world becomes less chaste, we need to hold up celibacy/virginity. It is the light we need to shine through today's darkness of unchastity.
From the 1pm Mass on Sunday, December 26, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
After giving some thoughts on being a taker (like the devil), vs. being a giver (like God), I ask the question: What can we do to help families? (By "we," I mean the Church, Our Lady of Sorrows, the school, grandparents, single people, mothers, fathers... everybody.) If you have thoughts on this matter--how to assist families in these crazy times--I would love to hear them. Feel free to send me an email: tomaszycki.dave@aod.org
From the 1pm Mass on Christmas Day, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
So... I worked my tail off preparing for Christmas Mass. I spent over an hour just practicing proclaiming the Gospel (the first chapter in the Gospel of John is seriously one of the best written parts in the whole Bible, and I wanted to read it well). I worked really hard at the homily. When it was came time for Mass, I was just "in the zone," and I thought I offered the holy sacrifice of the Mass as well as I ever did. But, after Mass, I realized... I had forgotten to hit the record button!!! Hence, there is no recording of this homily.
I went back and forth on this decision. The spoken word is not the same as the written word. With the spoken word, the delivery accounts for so much, and we lose most of that when the message appears in writing. But, ultimately, as you see, I have decided to post my notes for the homily. I have gone through and touched them up a little bit so that they are as close to what I said as I can remember.
Sorry about forgetting to hit the record button (actually, the recorder is set to record automatically for all the Sunday Masses, so I normally never have to hit the record button. But Christmas was on a Saturday...).
Anyways, below is the text of the homily. Have a Merry Christmas!
The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ – 2021
1pm – Our Lady of Sorrows, Farmington
Intro:
- Merry Christmas!
- Today is the day of our freedom, our release from slavery
- Today, a Savior has been born
Body:
-
The Bad News:
-
In the Gospel that was read at Midnight Mass, the angel tells the shepherds: “Behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy!”
- “Good news of great joy!”
-
We will get to this
- But honestly, it’s tough to understand just how good this news is, if we don’t first understand the bad news
-
A few years back, I was preaching about families, and the parents’ role to protect their children
- I explained that the priest does an exorcism on the baby at baptism
- The next day, in school, a child said how it was funny how I said that the priest does an exorcism on a little baby
- “Funny,” what do you mean?
- “My parents told me you were joking”…
- The next day, in school, a child said how it was funny how I said that the priest does an exorcism on a little baby
- I explained that the priest does an exorcism on the baby at baptism
-
I was not joking!!!
- Exorcism prayer from baptism: “Almighty and ever-living God, who sent your Son into the world, to drive out from us the power of Satan, the spirit of evil, and bring the human race, rescued from darkness, into the marvelous Kingdom of your light: we humbly beseech you to free this child from Original Sin, to make him the temple of your glory, and to grant that your Holy Spirit may dwell in him. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
- I was explaining this to a woman one time
- The woman rolled her eyes at me and said: “Come on! A baby… this big?”
-
Put yourself in the shoes of the devil
- Do you think the devil is saying: ‘Awe! He’s so cute! I’ll wait.’?
- If so, you believe in a really nice devil!
- We exorcise the baby because the devil is real and he is not kind, he is not gentle!
- Do you think the devil is saying: ‘Awe! He’s so cute! I’ll wait.’?
-
At a Baptism, the priest prays to God: “We humbly beseech you to free this child…”
- This really captures what’s going on
- The devil is the ultimate human trafficker
-
He is the ultimate enslaver
- With him, we are not free, we are slaves
-
When we sin, we often think: ‘I’m doing it my way’
- ‘I know the Church says this, but I’m going to do it my way’
- But if we go back to the Book of Genesis
- Who tempted Adam and Eve to do it “their” way?
- Whose idea was it in the first place?
-
The devil’s
-
In life, I do things two ways
- Either I do it God’s way
- Or I do it the devil’s way
-
If I do something the devil’s way, guess what? I am following the devil
- Stepping into his hands
- Stepping into prison/slavery
-
What chance does a baby have against the devil?
- By himself, nothing! No chance!
-
And the same goes for you and me
- By ourselves, we have absolutely no chance
- The devil has us, and there is nothing we can do about it
- We are not stronger than the devil
- That’s why you never fool around with the demonic
- By ourselves, we have absolutely no chance
-
This is the Bad News
- God created us out of love
- But the devil was envious of us
- Wanted to get back at God
- The devil is too smart to attack God directly
- So he attacks God indirectly, by attacking God’s favorite creature—you and me
- When Adam and Eve sinned, they sold the human race into slavery to the devil
- All of the devil's wrath was directed against them, against us
- They had absolutely no hope of overcoming the devil and setting themselves free
- God created us out of love
-
Only a few years ago, another priest pointed out to me how much we sing about this in Christmas carols
- (I’m talking about real Christmas carols—not Grandma Got Runover by A Reindeer. I like that song, but it's not exactly a theological powerhouse…)
- God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
- “God rest ye merry, gentlemen, let nothing you dismay,
- “Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day;
- “To save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray…”
- The First Noel
- Jesus “with his blood mankind hath bought.
- “If we in our time shall do well,
- “We shall be free from death and hell”
- O Come, All Ye Faithful
- “O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant.”
- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
- “Join the triumph of the skies”
-
What is there to “triumph” over?
-
Of the Father’s Love Begotten
- “That the race of Adam’s children, doomed by law to endless woe”
-
If we really understood the bad news, we would have a much greater hatred toward sin
-
- Sin kills, enslaves, destroys, and ultimately brings about death
- And we would have a much greater love, compassion, and understanding toward the sinner
-
- The kid who shot up Oxford High School, he is not the enemy
- He was merely duped by the enemy, gave into the enemy's lies, just like each and everyone of us, whenever we sin
-
The devil is strong
- Without help from above, we would be “doomed by law to endless woe”
-
The Good News:
-
But that’s not the end
- Collect: “O God, who wonderfully created the dignity of human nature and still more wonderfully restored it…”
-
God loved us when He created us, and then loved us even more when He saved us
- And this is the “Good News”
-
- Collect: “O God, who wonderfully created the dignity of human nature and still more wonderfully restored it…”
-
Someone who gets beat and abused as a child
- Do they normally have high self-esteem, or low self-esteem?...
- Low
- Each and every one of us has been beaten and abused by the devil
- Our self-worth is probably a lot lower in our eyes, than it is in God’s eyes
- Look at it this way:
- Ave Maria University
- Tom Monaghan sold Domino’s Pizza in the 1990's for a little over $1 Billion, and used the money to start Ave Maria University
- Between Tom Monaghan, Pulte Homes, Collier County… Ave Maria is about a $1 Billion project
- I attended Ave Maria
- Had a conversion
- Met Jesus
- Discovered my vocation
- Some years after graduating, I ran into Tom Monaghan, thanked him
- He responded: “You know, if it saves one soul, it was worth every penny.”
- I thought to myself: ‘Wow! My soul is worth $1 Billion!!!’
- Ave Maria University
- Actually, my soul is worth far more than a measly $1 Billion
- My soul is worth the Blood of God!
- Do they normally have high self-esteem, or low self-esteem?...
-
Many of the Church Fathers, on Christmas Day, would preach about the Crucifixion and death of the Lord
- Why?
- Because that’s why Jesus came into the world
- We all came into the world to live, Jesus is the only one Who came into the world to die
- And He came to die for you!
- Because that’s why Jesus came into the world
- Why?
-
You ever think about that?
- Have you ever had anyone go out on a limb for you?
- Take a risk for you?
- Stand up for you?
- Suffer for you?
- It will make you feel that you are worth something
- Our God died for us
- You love something according to what you are willing to give for it
- God gave His only Begotten Son for you!
- Have you ever had anyone go out on a limb for you?
-
With this next statement, I do not mean anything* political by it
- (So please, do not twist it into something political):
- Kyle Rittenhouse
- Many of you have seen the video of Kyle Rittenhouse when the judge was reading off the charges of not guilty
- He was in tears
- He was just about knocked off his feet
- He was looking at years in prison, instead, he went free
- Many of you have seen the video of Kyle Rittenhouse when the judge was reading off the charges of not guilty
-
Us
- Under the devil’s thumb, we were looking at eternity in hell, eternity in bondage, eternity in slavery
- Instead, we were set free… our is eternity with God!!!
-
This is what we celebrate on Christmas Day
- We were doomed to “endless woe,” eternity in hell
- But a Savior has been born
-
That’s why we call the Gospel the “Good News”
- It is the best news that humanity has ever received!!!
-
“Christmas Humility”:
-
Today’s Gospel: “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.”
- On Christmas Day, Jesus comes into the world to save us
-
But our ability to reject Him is astounding!
-
Throughout the Old Testament, the Israelites reject God
- In the Book of Exodus, God rescues the Israelites from slavery to the Egyptians
- Moses takes them out into the desert… and they want to go back!
- They want to go back into slavery!!!
- As a priest, I have been called to do anointings (a nurse or a more distant relative invites the priest)
- I get there, and the family asks me to leave
- ‘Nope! We left the Church years ago. We are not coming back now!’
- Our ability to reject Jesus is astounding
- I get there, and the family asks me to leave
-
Over the last couple of weeks, this term keeps coming to me in prayer: “Christmas Humility”
- I have never heard this term before, but I know what it means:
-
*Only the humble find Jesus
-
When Jesus was born
- The Wise Men sought Jesus, and they found Him
- Wise men know they do not know everything, they are humble
- The Shepherds sought Jesus, and they found Him
- Shepherds know they do not know anything, they are humble
- Herod sought Jesus, never found Him
- The others sought Jesus to worship Him
- Herod sought Jesus to kill Him
- He was not humble
- Only the humble find Jesus
- The Wise Men sought Jesus, and they found Him
-
John Vianney says: There are no prideful people in heaven, and there are no humble people in hell.
-
It’s been put on my heart this Christmas, to pray for myself and to pray for everyone I minister to, for some “Christmas humility”
- That humility to really accept Jesus into the depths of our hearts
- “But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God”
- That humility to really accept Jesus into the depths of our hearts
Conclusion:
- To summarize and conclude my homily, I would like to quote a few lines from what might be the best written Christmas carol ever: O Holy Night
-
- As I go through these lyrics, remember the structure of my homily: 1. The Bad News; 2. The Good News; 3. Christmas Humility (or, how do we respond to Jesus?)
- "O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;"
- "It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!"
-
-
Now the bad news:
- "Long lay the world in sin and error pining,"
- "Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth."
- We're getting into the good news:
- "A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,"
- "For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn."
-
And how are we to respond:
- "Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!"
- "O night divine, O night when Christ was born!"
“God Love You!” and have a Merry Christmas!
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, December 19, 2021, the Fourth Sunday in Advent, from Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
(Note: Because I show a video and talk to a really cool little kid, you may be interested in watching the video of this homily [click here]. They homily is at 16:36-29:38.)
In today's Gospel, Our Lady brings Jesus to Elizabeth and John the Baptist. When we bring Jesus, things happen.
This Christmas, Jesus is coming. How are we going to bring Jesus? How are we going to bring Jesus to every person, to every situation, to every discussion? How are we bringing Jesus this Christmas?
From the 11:15am Mass on Sunday, December 12, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
The Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Detroit was supposed to preach all the Masses this weekend, but he came down with COVID (and he'd doing fine), so Fr. Dave chose to preach about vocations.
First and foremost, we need silence and prayer to hear God's call (vocation, comes from vocare - to call). To attain this silence and to really pray, we need an atmosphere that is conducive to this.
From the 5pm Mass on the Second Sunday of Advent, December 5, 2021, at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Fr. Dave comments on the Oxford High School shooting, and he comments on the general state of the Culture of Death in America.
We need to go deeper, we need to let Jesus go deeper into our hearts.
From the 8am Mass on Sunday, November 21, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Celebrating the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, Fr. Dave encourages the congregation to keep their eyes on Jesus (it's so easy to turn our gaze to the world and worldly things).
In the end, we are either sabotaging the devil, as he tries to make his kingdom, or we are sabotaging the Lord as He makes His. When we keep our eyes on Jesus, we become "agents of sabotage"--as C.S. Lewis puts it--destroying the kingdom of Darkness, and ushering in the Lordship of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.
From the 11:15am Mass on Sunday, November 14, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
As we come to a close of the liturgical year, our readings are more and more apocalyptic. Today, the Lord tells the Prophet Daniel that in the end some "shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace," others shall "shine brightly" and "be like the stars forever" (Daniel 12:2-3).
Each and everyone of us will either wind up an "everlasting horror," patterned after the devil himself. Or we shall "shine brightly...like the stars forever," beautified by God Himself. What do we choose? Are we with Christ, or are we keeping our distance from Him?
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Friday, November 12, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Fr. Dave speaks a little bit about Families of Parishes, and states that we have to go in with the mentality that we are playing to win. After all, Jesus wins!
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, November 7, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
For the sake of our society, and for the sakes of our souls, we need to work on trust.
From the 8am Mass on Sunday, October 31, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Jesus "is always able to save those who approach God through him, since he lives forever to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25).
Through our Baptism, we all share in the "Common" Priesthood of Jesus Christ. As fellow priests we are called to sanctify the world. Therefore we must intercede for our neighbor. What a joy it is to participate in the Lord's work!
From the 8am Mass on Sunday, October 24, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Jesus' gifts are actually "gifts," they are given freely, and they give freedom. The devil's gifts are enslaving. They come with the mentality: "Now, you owe me."
Do we give freeing gifts, like Jesus does? Or, do we give enslaving gifts, like the devil does?
Aired on Sunday, October 17, 2021 on Ave Maria Radio.
Fr. Dave talks about St. Ignatius of Antioch, and gives an update on the book he is compiling (Fulton Sheen on the Demonic). Fr. Dave is the show's third guest, his portion starts at the 56 minute mark.
From the 8am Mass on Sunday, October 17, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Fr. Dave encourages the congregation to pray for the grace to worship God, and God alone.
From the 11:15am Mass on Sunday, October 10, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
In the first part of the homily, Fr. Dave sets the stage by talking about the simplicity of children.
In the second part of the homily, Fr. Dave tells his own testimony of being the Rich Young Man when in college, discerning the priesthood.
The Rich Young Man was offered the chance to become a Jack-O-Lantern, but he went away sad, he went away a boring old pumpkin.
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, October 3, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
One of the clearest teachings we have, is Jesus' teaching on marriage. Fr. Dave preaches on the theology of marriage, and explains what is a Declaration of Nullity (commonly--though mistakenly--called an "annulment").
From the 11:15am Sunday Mass on September 26, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Jesus is going to heaven. If we are all in, completely handed over to the Lord, then we go to heaven with Him. If we are not all in, we don't go to heaven.
Are we all in? Even with our wallets? Is everything we have, everything we make geared toward God?
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, September 19, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Celebrating the parish Feast Day, Our Lady of Sorrows (transferred from September 15).
The devil tempts us to grasp at control. Our Lady of Sorrows teaches us to let go and let God.
From the 1pm Mass on Sunday, September 12, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Jesus suffers for our salvation. He then offers us a share in His victory. But this comes only after we share in His Cross. Would you suffer to save a soul?
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, September 5, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
This is basically a two part homily:
-
"Be strong, fear not!" From the first reading, the Lord is shouting to us: "Be strong, fear not!" COVID isn't "deadly." That is, yes, it can kill the body, but it can't kill the soul. We shouldn't live in fear, we should live with the confidence and freedom of being God's adopted children.
-
Jesus heals our deafness. Since the Fall, we are all spiritually deaf to a great extent. Jesus heals our spiritual senses, when we spend time with Him in Adoration. When our spiritual senses are healed, we will, like Mother Teresa, see Jesus in every person, and in every situation.
From the 1pm Mass on Sunday, August 29, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Pushing against all the polarization in our society, Fr. Dave encourages the congregation to think with the Church, to think with Christ. Be careful of going down rabbit holes and thinking this is the one and only way.
From the 11:15am Mass on Sunday, August 22, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Fr. Dave finishes up his five week series on the Eucharist. Who/What do we worship? "As for me and my household, we will serve [worship] the Lord."
From the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the 11:15am Mass on Sunday, August 15, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
As Fr. Dave continues his five week preaching series on the Eucharist, he shows the links between the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption, and the Eucharist.
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, August 8, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington. This is the third of five weeks where we will hear from the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John (aside from the Assumption, August 15).
Fr. Dave reflects on the difference between to believe that, and to believe in. We seek union with what we believe in, we are willing to change our lives when we believe in the Eucharist.
Believing in the Eucharist, we are continuously changing/purifying our lives that we may receive Jesus worthily and well, and thus achieve the union with God which is heaven, eternal bliss.
From the 8am Mass on Sunday, August 1, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
God became man so that man might become God. Jesus rescues/restores us, but not just to our pre-fallen state. God raises us up higher than our pre-fallen state, He divinizes us. We are divinized when we receive the Eucharist worthily and well.
From the 11am Mass on Sunday, July 25, 2021 at St. Thecla in Clinton Township.
As we begin John 6, Fr. Dave prepares the congregation for the upcoming homilies on the Eucharist by preaching about a divine "sense of humor," or a "Sacramental view of reality." That is, seeing through the surface to what is really real... to God.
From the 5pm Mass on Sunday, July 18, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
This homily is given in two points:
-
Real unity is only found in Jesus.
-
We need to inspire our shepherds, not with complaints, but with our own sanctity.
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, July 11, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington, Michigan.
If there is only one thing I could convey through my priesthood, it would be the love of God. That is it... because that is everything!
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, July 4, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Fr. Dave preaches about using our freedom as God intended, that we may be free from sin, and free for God.
From the 8am daily Mass on Saturday, June 26, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Jesus never does enter under the centurion's roof, but He does enter under ours.
From the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist at the 7:30 daily Mass on Thursday, June 24, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Saint John the Baptist settles for nothing less than Jesus. We should too.
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Tuesday, June 22, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
On the feast day of Ss. John Fisher and Thomas More--two saints who were martyred for standing up for marriage--Fr. Dave continues his thought on wedding attendance. He reads from, and gives a few thoughts on pp. 165-166 of Made for Love: Same-Sex Attractions and The Catholic Church by Fr. Michael Schmitz.
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Monday, June 21, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
If we are picking at the splinters in others' eyes, but not working at the beams in our own, we will not see clearly. When we humbly see and work at the beams in our own eyes, we will be able to address our brothers' splinters with love.
From the 4:30pm Mass on Saturday, June 19, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
We are Christians, we really do "know" Jesus. Yet, we also really don't "know" Jesus (God is infinite, and my mind is finite, my knowledge of God is always going to be lacking). We must sit with God in prayer and continue asking the question: "Who is this?"
This is an interview that aired on Sunday, June 6 at 3pm ET on Ave Maria Radio.
Toward the end of his life (d. December 9, 1979) Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was speaking a lot about the demonic, and in 1974 even promised to write a book on it (see p. 136 in Those Mysterious Priests). But he passed away, and a book never came out. For a little over a year now, I've been in the process of digging up everything I can find where Fulton Sheen mentions the demonic, and assembling it into book form, hence, trying to complete Sheen's desire of publishing a book on the subject.
This interview is all about that project.
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Thursday, June 3, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Every person, every group, every occupation has certain tendencies toward specific failings. Just acknowledging where my temptations lie is arming and freeing. As we work toward sanctity, we must acknowledge our temptations/failings, and hand them over to God. He can make any of us saints.
From the 7:30am Mass of the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Monday, May 31, 2021.
The Church (I'm using "The Church" in very broad terms here) is not as healthy as She appears to be... and She doesn't even appear to be very healthy. How do we become healthy, happy, and holy? How do we get to the point where our souls truly proclaim and magnify the greatness of the Lord? I think we as a Church could learn a ton about walking this path to healthiness from Al-Anon and AA.
From the 1pm Mass on The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Sunday, May 20, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Ever since the Fall, we have great difficulty rising up to God, or to anything above. There is a certain spiritual gravity that tends to pull us down into the things below. We must watch out for the many traps the devil lays, and stick with God.
From the 6:30am daily Mass on Thursday, May 27, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
In this very brief homily, Fr. Dave reminds us to not forget Jesus... it's so easy to do!
From the 8am Mass on Sunday, May 23, 2021 from Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Society preaches certain goods, but only offers the devil's version of those goods. Real peace, love, diversity, unity is only found through the Holy Spirit.
From the daily Mass on Thursday, May 20, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Fr. Dave preaches on how the issue of masks relates to obedience.
The new guidelines concerning masks in the Archdiocese of Detroit can be found here.
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Wednesday, May 19, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
St. Paul warns us about "savage wolves" who will "come among you, and they will not spare the flock. And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them." Be careful of splitting up and following the zillion factions that are out there. Stick with Christ!
I refer to The Social Dilemma. It is well worth a watch!
From the 4:30pm Mass on Saturday, May 15, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington, MI.
In this short homily, Fr. Dave talks about humanity being taken into divine glory.
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Thursday, May 13, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Our Lady of Fatima calls us to penance, and penance leads to Redemption.
From the 6:30am daily Mass on Wednesday, May 12, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Monday, May 10, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Fr. Dave tells the story of a black man hanging out with KKK members and slowing converting them through simple, human encounter.
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, May 9, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Love is a risk. God takes that risk for us, do we take that risk for Him? "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete."
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Thursday, May 6, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Unity is only in Jesus. The devil pretends that he offers unity, but it is merely his perverted version of unity.
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Tuesday, May 4, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
We tend to focus on the First Coming (Jesus' time on earth 2,000 years ago), and the Second Coming. In his Jesus of Nazareth series, Pope Benedict XVI points out that there is a "Middle Coming." Jesus comes to us through the Sacraments. He is present with us right now.
From the Sunday 8am Mass on May 2, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Stay on the vine, completely on the vine. The devil always tempts us to step off the vine, to take things into our own hands: we can be "like gods," I will be my own "pope." But Jesus tells us: "Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me" (John 15:4).
From the 6:30am daily Mass on Thursday, April 29, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Reflecting on the life of St. Catherine of Siena, it's time for more prayer and fasting.
From the 10am school Mass on Tuesday, April 27, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Like the early Christians, we must always do what's right, even when it's going to cost--even if it's going to cost us our lives.
This was a school Mass where I was preaching without notes and interacting with the children, so I fumbled a few words. My apologies!
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Monday, April 26, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
We follow what we recognize. Therefore, we must work on recognizing the Lord.
From the 11:15am Sunday Mass on April 25, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Each and every one of us are capable of the worst sins imaginable. We cannot save ourselves. We need Jesus to liberate us.
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Thursday, April 15, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Language develops around our interests. Where is my language, my thought developed?
From the daily Mass on Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
God offers us things that are so beyond us. We ask God for the grace to be lifted up to Him.
From the Monday morning daily Mass on April 12, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Fr. Dave preaches about how what seems, at first glance, to be a testimony against God, can actually be a testimony to God; as the beating the guards gave Jesus before the Crucifixion was a testimony that He was indeed the Suffering Servant sent by the Father.
Like the Apostles, as we take more and more of a beating for preaching the Gospel, we need to be positively inspired by that negativity to be even bolder for Christ.
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, April 11, 2021, the Second Sunday of Easter, or Divine Mercy Sunday, at Our Lady of Sorrows.
This is basically two homilies I tied into one:
Part 1: Divine Mercy vs. Human Mercy.
Part 2: How ought we, as Christians, live out Easter?
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Easter Wednesday on April 7, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Continuing on the theme of how to live out the Easter season, Fr. Dave proposes that one way is to "waste time" for the Lord.
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Tuesday, April 6, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Let's live the Easter Season (50 days, as opposed to only 40 days of Lent) with the same vigor we live Lent.
From the Easter Sunday 9:30am Mass on April 4, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Jesus is Risen! Now we have work to do. Go and tell someone about Jesus.
Homily from the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord, on Good Friday, April 2, 2021 at 1pm at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Fr. Dave highlights three keys in the Passion narrative: 1) Worldliness. 2) Vanity. 3) Stepping Backwards. All three keys are combatted with the Cross. We join Jesus in embracing the Cross today.
Sorry, the audio is a little bit quieter than normal.
From the Palm Sunday Mass at 11:15am on Sunday, March 28, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
As we enter into Holy Week, stay close to the Lord--don't follow Him from a "distance" as Peter did before denying Him.
From the 7:30am Mass on Thursday, March 25, 2021, The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, at Our Lady of Sorrows.
It's not our job to know, it's our job to trust in the Lord.
From the 4:30pm Mass on Saturday, March 20, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows. The Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year B.
With love comes the Cross.
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Tuesday, March 16, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Jesus asks us: "Do you want to be well?" Take that to prayer.
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Monday, March 15, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Despite all the craziness in our society, the Lord is currently raising up saints.
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, March 14, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows. The Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year B (but using the Year A readings).
Fr. Dave preaches on the Second Scrutiny, where the faithful pray for the elect (and themselves), that they may be given: 1) A sense of sin; 2. A spirit of repentance; and 3. The true freedom of the children of God.
(My apologies that this audio is not quite as crisp as usual. The time change confused our technology.)
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Wednesday, March 10, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
The Lord told the Israelites not to forget, Jesus stated that He did not come to abolish. We know our past, and we set a good Christian example for the future.
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Monday, March 8, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows. Monday of the Third Week in Lent.
Preaching off of the Collect, Fr. Dave encourages the congregation to always follow the Pope, who is specifically prayed for by Jesus Christ Himself (Luke 22:32). When we step away from the Pope, we "cannot stand secure."
From the 5pm Mass on Sunday, March 7, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows. Third Sunday of Lent, Year B.
Fr. Dave preaches on how the Ten Commandments free us to worship God.
From the 8am daily Mass on Saturday, March 6, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Fr. Dave offers a reflection on the older brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son.
When we are close to God, filled with His love, we rejoice when someone steps away from sin and comes back to life.
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Thursday, March 4, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Fr. Dave preaches on the first reading. Although we are in tough times, if our eyes are on the Lord, our leaves will stay green, we will bear fruit. We need saints, keep your eyes on the Lord.
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Wednesday, March 3, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Our fallen humanity is strong, stubborn, and dark but Jesus shines, and the darkness does not overcome Him (John 1:5).
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Monday, March 1, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
We tend to imitate what we see. Let's pray for the grace to really experience/see God's forgiveness in our own lives, and then we will be able to forgive others.
From the 11:15am Mass on Sunday, February 28, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows. Second Sunday of Lent, Year B.
At the Transfiguration, St. Peter was clearly "shocked." Jesus is the only person in the world Who never bored anyone. If we haven't been shocked by Jesus, we haven't met Him. Spend time with the Lord and let Him shock you.
(In this homily, Fr. Dave borrowed heavily from Peter Kreeft's book Jesus Shock.)
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Thursday, February 25, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
"Do to others whatever you would have them do to you" (Matthew 7:12). Deep down, people want to be loved. Real love comes from Jesus.
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Tuesday, February 23, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Fr. Dave preaches on St. Polycarp, martyrdom, and letting God form us through prayer.
From the 4:30pm Mass on Saturday, February 20, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows. The First Sunday in Lent, Year B.
This first Sunday of Lent, our theme is "Reform Your Lives." Fr. Dave preaches about recalibrating the heart throughout Lent, and our need to repent.
From the 5:30pm Scripture Service on Ash Wednesday, February 17, 2021.
On Ash Wednesday, we are reminded that we are going to die, and we don't get to say when. So we start preparing for it now.
Correction: In the homily I put a lot of emphasis on the order in which Jesus says: "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" (Mark 1:15), as if we have to repent first, and then believe in the Gospel. I'm not so sure my emphasis is correct. Jesus is clearly preaching the Gospel before He delivers this line. It is through hearing the Gospel that we are driven/inspired to repent.
From the 9:30am Mass on Sunday, February 14, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Inviting the faithful back to Mass, Fr. Dave goes over the upcoming changes in the dispensations from the obligation to attend Masses (resources can be found here). And then he preaches on the trade Jesus makes with the leper in today's Gospel. Finally, Fr. Dave ties it all together in the Eucharist.
From the 8am daily Mass on Saturday, February 13, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington. Fr. Dave gives two homilies for the price of one.
Homily #1: What not to do in Confession.
Homily #2: Because sin is in the blood, blood must be shed.
From the 7:30am daily Mass on February 9, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
"Then God said: 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.'.... God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:26-27).
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Monday, February 8, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
"God saw how good it was." We need to work at seeing the good in ourselves and others, and then work at bringing that good--bringing Christ--out.
From the 11:15am Mass on Sunday, February 7, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
The wounded wound, but the rescued rescue. Once we receive God's healing, He sends us out to be His instrument of healing for others.
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Thursday, February 4, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Preaching on both the Gospel of the day and Archbishop Vigneron's recent (Feb. 3) letter to priests, Fr. Dave asks for prayers for priests, that priests may have the courage and pastoral charity to be bold in their preaching.
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Tuesday, February 2, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
On this Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord at the Temple, Fr. Dave offers a reflection on the trust that Simeon the Prophet has in God. God's got it. We don't know how He's got it, but He's got it. So we trust in Him.
From the 7:30am daily Mass on Monday, February 1, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
When we compromise in one place, we force ourselves into a position to compromise in another place. Thus, we need to work toward consistency. That is, giving our lives, our whole lives, every single area of our lives over to the Lord, that our lives may be consistent and coherent in Him.
In the end, we are all offered the choice--many times, in fact--between Jesus, or the unclean spirit. May we always choose Jesus. With Jesus, we win. Without Jesus, we lose.
From the 1pm Mass on Sunday, January 31, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
"Grant us, Lord our God, that we may honor you with all our mind" (from the Collect from the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time). Fr. Dave encourages the congregation to invite God to come in and form our minds, that we may honor Him will all our mind. This will involve the Good Lord casting out and crowding out our unclean spirits.
Two long quotes are pulled from The Day Is Now Far Spent by Robert Cardinal Sarah. The first quote is from pp. 104-105. The second quote is from pp. 134-135.
From the 5pm Mass on Sunday, January 24, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
On this Sunday of the Word of God (Third Sunday in Ordinary Time), Fr. Dave encourages the congregation not to cling to the world "For the world in its present form is passing away" (1 Corinthians 7:31), but to cling to God.
So many people are clinging to the world. That's why we are seeing so much despair. Many of us have put our hope in the world, in America, in the things of the world... in things other than God. We need to turn our eyes back to the Lord and cling to Him.
From the 5pm Mass on January 17, 2021 at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Commenting on the current state of the country, Fr. Dave offers a solution.