Corpus Christi University Parish Homilies: Recent Episodes
Corpus Christi University Parish
Listen to homilies from Corpus Christi University Parish in Toledo, Ohio. We are a university parish, whose goal is to be a sign and instrument of the presence of Christ on the campus of the University of Toledo.
Deacon Justin Moor: “By making it through these tough times, we are growing and gaining in spiritual strength. Without desolation, we would remain spiritual children who never grow up.”
Deacon Justin Moor: “By making it through these tough times, we are growing and gaining in spiritual strength. Without desolation, we would remain spiritual children who never grow up.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Pope Francis says our job as Christians is to turn multitudes into Communities, to work to build up intimate communities in which people are known and loved.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Pope Francis says our job as Christians is to turn multitudes into Communities, to work to build up intimate communities in which people are known and loved.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “The trinity reveals who we are as human beings, that we were created in relationality. We were made to live in community, not in isolation.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “In Babel, you have the scatterings of people throughout all the world because no one can understand anybody anymore. In the Pentecost account, you have the gathering in Jerusalem of people throughout the world.”
Deacon Justin Moor: “One way we can determine the type of legacy we are building is to take a look at what we are focused on in each moment and to ask ourselves if we are being more like Jesus or more like Judas.”
Quote from Desmond Tutu: “Out of the cacophony of random suffering and chaos that can mark human life, the life artist sees or creates a symphony of meaning and order.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Let’s see ourselves in Peter’s spiritual journey today, let’s be grateful for our spiritual birth that we’re here today for some reason.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Mercy is a type of love where the giver bestows what the recipient doesn’t have or what they don’t think they’re deserving of.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “We belong here. We belong in the empty tomb. We belong at the altar of Jesus’ sacrifice, which is the continuation of his resurrected body that we receive as food.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “The cross does not say that pain and suffering go away. The cross promises to neutralize the pain, put it on God’s terms.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Let’s seek wherever we find ourselves and see ourselves in the parable, that we will run toward the embrace of our heavenly Father.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Let’s give God the oxygen and the wood that he needs in order to set the flame of our hearts on fire.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Embrace the arduous path of going up the mountain. We also do not go up that mountain alone. Jesus goes with us and gives us the necessary tools to do it.”
Deacon Justin Moor: “Is the Gospel just something that happened to someone else in a faraway place that doesn’t seem relevant to our lives here today?”
Father Jeremy Miller: “All of the major human vices: Jesus gives us the recipe that we focus on during Lent to combat.”
Father Philip Smith: “We all do that in certain moments in our life, don’t we? We’re two different people in two different situations, because we want to fit in, make certain people happy, gain a certain type of advantage. We don’t also be ourselves. Jesus was challenging his disciples today to know who they were and to be that person always, to be that person consistently.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “If you enjoy doing good, does that make you less good? No, it makes you human.”
Deacon Justin Moor: "With this being World Marriage Week, with World Marriage Day being today, and St. Valentine’s Day being just a day away, let’s try looking at these woes Jesus spoke of through the lens of love and from the perspective of the one who is love."
Father Jeremy Miller: “Once we have this awe-filled moment with God, how do we translate it into action?”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Jesus calls us to ideals and makes demands of us that we’re not always ready to do. Let’s allow ourselves to ride an emotional roller coaster.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “It’s an invitation to fill our jars, our lives, to the brim, and then turn them over to see what miracles God can do with them.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “This feast invites us a Catholic Christians to say that no matter how important all the sources of our identity are, that the primary one is that we are united with Christ as beloved sons and daughters of our heavenly father.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “The Magi today give us a great image of keeping our eyes up and our spirits up in the midst of what can be difficult circumstances surrounding us.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Family Love teaches us how to find redeeming qualities in people you would have never chosen in the first place.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “In this world we live in, there is a special baby on board, there is a special traveler with us in this life.”
Deacon Justin Moor: “We come here today to draw near to Jesus, to let our hearts and souls become a womb where Jesus can come and grow.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “No matter where we’re at, we can always have the security and trust, joy and peace, as long as we keep Jesus in the center.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Let’s take where our lives are at, with advantages, disadvantages and all, and respond to God’s promise with the same yes that Mary did.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Our call this Advent is to strive to clear the pathways of our hearts for God.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “We worship one who has told us he’s there with us past, present and future.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Let’s seek to make Jesus the king of every corner of our lives.”
Deacon Justin Moor: “Whether it’s the end of the world, the end of the world as we know it, or something else that seems like the end of the world to us, St. Francis of Assisi could teach us all a thing or two about how to move from fear to being at peace.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “We are called to love what is unlovable in our neighbor precisely because our neighbor shares in the lovableness of God.”
Deacon Justin Moor: “What this story about the blind man being healed in Jericho has taught me is that the location where Jesus does his work matters.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Let us be filled with gratitude for the gift of our faith, the gift of Jesus, and process to proclaim the uniqueness of what God has done in the pursuit of Jesus.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Let’s allow God’s grace to transform us and convert us so that we might grow in our deep relationship with the Lord.”
Father Philip Smith: “We’re all called to be fruitful vines, spreading ourselves out into the world, going out and building connections, relationships – serving, loving, helping all kinds of different people.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “God has bound himself to the Sacraments, but God is not bound by the Sacraments he has established.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Are we more concerned with being first and celebrating our victories than we are about accompanying other people to the finish line?”
Father Jeremy Miller: “It’s so tempting for all of us to see the world without the view of eternity, without God’s lens.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the mute speak. May he open our ears to receive his word and our mouths to proclaim his truth in praise and glory of God the father.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “We want those arms to signify that anyone at UToledo can find a spiritual home here.”
Father Jeremy Miller: "Without sin, we would simply see death as the next step on a journey of surrendering, the transition to giving oneself totally to something bigger."
Deacon Justin Moor: “Sometimes we need a reminder that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith as Catholics.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Are we content with God’s daily provision for us?”
How we fail the test with being content with God’s daily provision:
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Gratitude: No being thankful for what’s in front of us
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Selfishness: Taking someone else’s portion
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Biting off more than we can chew in our life, putting too much on our plate
Father Jeremy Miller: “God loves to give you more than you ask for. God loves to give you leftovers, even more than what satisfies.”
We’re all called to be disciples. Fr. Jeremy shares a blueprint for Christian Discipleship.
Father Jeremy Miller: “All of the heroes that we celebrate both in our national history, but also in the Christian tradition, experienced incredible rejection and resistance and often death for standing up for what they thought was right.”
Deacon Justin Moor: “Perhaps we’ve been slow to open the gift of humility, but quick to up the gifts of a smartphone or another smart device.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “We may never totally understand the mystery of human suffering in this life, but we know one thing for sure: God understands it as well. He is with us in the midst of our own suffering.”
- Logical Problem of Evil
How do you believe in a God who allows evil? 2. Evidential Problem of Evil
How can God not intervene with mass suffering? 3. Emotional Problem of Evil
In the midst of the mystery of human suffering, there are no words, no logic.
Father Jeremy Miller: “Things flourish more and grow better under God’s care as the master gardener rather than ours.”
Bishop Daniel E. Thomas: “All of us are here in celebrating this 50th anniversary to do what we as Catholics do best: To announce the Holy Eucharist, the mystery to be believed, to be celebrated and to be lived.”
Deacon Justin Moor: “When was the last time you noticed the Holy Spirit at work in or around you?”
Father Jeremy Miller: “If we want ascend with Jesus, then we need to descend with him. We need to be willing to descend into and plumb the depths of the human experience, in order to rise above it.”
Fr. Jeremy Miller: "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. To fear the Lord is the first step in realizing our place in the mission of what we’re called to be."
Father Jeremy Miller: "The truth is that we have to lay a really solid root system if we ever want to see the full blossoming of our efforts."
Father Jeremy Miller: “For us as Christians, part of our job is to echo the voice of the Good Shepherd with our uniqueness.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “At every Mass, God breaks open his heart for us, precisely that we will have the power and strength in the coming week to break open our hearts in love of others.”
Deacon Justin Moor: “Experience the gift of this sacrament Jesus gave to us in today’s Gospel reading. His divine mercy is truly amazing.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Jesus desires to do the heavy lifting when it comes to rolling away the stones of our hearts.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “God is an expert at converting the cause of our downfall into the means of our elevation.”
Father Jeremy Miller: "Four things Jesus teaches us at the Last Supper: Forgiveness, Empathy, avoiding Entitlement, and Teaching (F.E.E.T.)."
Father Jeremy Miller: “One of the purposes of prayer is to strengthen and fortify us for future temptations.”
Father Philip Smith: “We’re called to be ourselves as God made us and to let our light shine in the world.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “In what ways does fasting help us love God more and love neighbor more?”
Deacon Justin Moor: “This doughnut was originally created to be holey and each of us were created to be holy.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Too much of a good thing can actually be a bad thing, that’s the instinct of fasting.”
What fasting protects within us: * Fasting allows us to appreciate what we actually have. * Fasting allows us to develop a spirit of spontaneity. * Fasting protects us from heading into addiction, and the sudden lapse of judgement that comes from human judgment. * Fasting allows us to rest.
Father Jeremy Miller: “Every aspect of almsgiving, acting in mercy, has to grapple with our selfishness.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Lent every year is an opportunity to take seriously that which is meant to help us grow in faith.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Our call as Christian people is to always bring people that are on the outside into the fold. The leper was really ostracized.”
Deacon Justin Moor: “Do you know this Jesus? Do you know this unconditional friend of ours who holds us in his hands when we need him most? Is this the way you related to him?”
Father Jeremy Miller: “We can know a lot about God, but not know God. We can know a lot about Jesus, but not be in a deep, personal relationship with Jesus.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “We can’t do this alone. We cannot reach our full potential as human beings without relationships.”
Fr. Alan Zobler O.S.F.S.: “Let’s make the world know just how much we’ve been loved and how much our God loves our world.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “We have the opportunity to begin 2021 to forge a new path, to offer gifts to Jesus, the gift of our heart.”
Deacon Justin Moor: “While Joseph didn’t talk the talk from a biblical perspective, he certainly walked the walk.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “The quality of the wrapping of the gift is not always a great indicator of how great the gift is.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “We’re reminded that in the imperfect, small, less-than-ideal circumstances of that stable 2,000 years ago, God did something extraordinary.”
Father Philip Smith: “I think most of us have some kind of fear of being alone. We like keeping busy, oftentimes because we’re afraid of what will bubble up within us.”
Deacon Justin Moor: “By looking for God in different faces and places God could be hiding this Advent, we will be preparing to open the greatest Christmas gift: the gift of finding the fullness of God in our lives.”
Father Jeremy Miller: "How do we close the gap between incongruent or disconnected parts? Religion is nothing else but the attempt to find the glue to bind together heaven and earth, God and man, and by extension that which binds us together."
Father Jeremy Miller: “I think it’s a challenge for all of us to try and find what’s redeeming always in the circumstances that life throws at us.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “This feast is meant to remind us that our primary allegiance is to Jesus as Lord, as king of all creation and Lord of our hearts.”
Father Philip Smith: “Prayer can provide stability for the stressful moments, the unexpected moments where we have to make difficult decisions.”
3 lessons about making good, long-term decisions:
- Take time to pause and reflect, ask the bigger questions.
- Prayer can provide stability for the stressful moments, the unexpected moments where we have to make difficult decisions. We need to recharge our batteries spiritually.
- God wants to share wisdom with us. If we’re seeking God’s wisdom, we can have confidence we’ll have the wisdom to make the hard decisions.
Father Jeremy Miller: “The fundamental vocation of every single Christian person is to become holy like Jesus, to become a saint.”
Father Jeremy Miller: "Unless we have an authentic, healthy self-love, it hurts how we love others. We project onto our love of neighbor the ways that other people have wounded us in terms of loving us."
Fr. Alan Zobler, OSFS: “In our spiritual lives, time and again, that’s what we are asked to do as disciples.”
Deacon Justin Moor: “Instead of rejecting Jesus from our lives, we are meant to respond by making him the foundation of our lives around which everything else is built.”
Father Jeremy Miller: “Words can make us feel more virtuous than we actually are. Humility and integrity are the remedies.”
Father Jeremy Miller: "Let God decide how he bestows his blessings and his generosity and his grace. Let's live from that spiritual truth."
Father Jeremy Miller: "Forgiveness is making a choice, choosing to let go of the bitterness, resentment, hatred and anger that we feel about someone that has hurt us. Often, we have a right to have it, but it's choosing to let go of that right to transcend and overcome and rise above that for the sake of our own inner peace and ultimately to want the good for the other person."
Father Jeremy Miller: “If we have to say something hard to someone, we do it in the most loving way possible and making sure that we’re first committed to our own humility and our own integrity before doing so.”
Fr. Jeremy Miller: “Jesus says if you want to have life, give it away. If you want to gain your life, give it away freely. And if you insist on keeping your life, you’re going to lose it.”
Father Jeremy Miller: Our spiritual houses, our spiritual temples, ourselves, are the place where humanity and divinity are meant to unite.
Deacon Justin Moor: “The 5 W questions of who, what, when, where and why help us better understand the important parts of any story. During the story of Peter walking on water to Jesus through the storm, these questions had to be swirling around in Peter’s head and heart.”
Fr. Jeremy Miller: “We can get so locked in to anticipating the future that we miss what God wants to do right here.”
Fr. Jeremy Miller: “Sometimes we need guidance to keep us on the right path for the treasure.”
Fr. Jeremy Miller: “To uproot too quickly, can sometimes cause great instability than what was trying to be repaired.”
Fr. Jeremy Miller: “Let’s make the garden of our hearts, the soil of our hearts, ready and responsive and conducive to the growth of God’s grace within us.”
Fr. Jeremy Miller: “We all carry burdens, but the good news is that we never carry them alone.”
Deacon Justin Moor: “With this approach of loving, we see Jesus in each member of our families. This is the moment when we stop letting the way our family members have loved us be the limiting factor in the way we love them.”
Fr. Jeremy Miller: “Evil multiplies faster than goodness. Vice grows quicker than virtue. Selfishness develops quicker than generous love. But there is a remedy: the grace of Jesus.”
Fr. Jeremy Miller: “I wanted to reflect today on what this feast and the gift of the Eucharist teaches us about the core of God, his heart, and how his heart speaks to our heart on this feast.”
Fr. Jeremy Miller: “When we get to eternal life, we put those glasses on, but for now, we see God indirectly. We see God through shadows, indirect reflections.”
Fr. Jeremy Miller: “Pentecost is like a mirror that reflects back to us some things about ourselves and the world we live in and what we’re called to do as people of faith.”
Father Jeremy Miller: Jesus ascends to the Father, but he remains incredibly active through the sacraments, through his spirit.
Deacon Justin Moor: It may be hard for us to see it in the middle of the crisis we are in today, but it is when we look back on the crisis of another day that we can more clearly see God’s faithfulness to this promise of coming to us even in chaos of the crisis, even when it feels like our world as we knew it is falling down all around us.
Father Jeremy Miller: I feel like most of us during this quarantine, we have a love-hate relationship with our homes.