The Father's Joy: Recent Episodes
The Father's Joy
Jesus came to reveal the Father, so that His joy may be in us. My mission is to help you experience greater joy and freedom in the Holy Spirit. There is always more!
There is a crisis in masculinity and fatherhood, and our marriages, spouses, and children are suffering for it. Becoming men of prayer ensures we lay deep roots to become sturdy, life-giving "trees" to those entrusted to our care.
Homily for Father's Day, the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Satan seeks to divide and isolate us from relationship. Jesus invites us to courageous vulnerability and trust in others and His mercy that breaks satan's power.
Homily for the 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jesus gives us Himself in the Eucharist to heal us, strengthen us, and abide with us.
Homily for Corpus Christi Year B
The biggest reason we might be burning out is because we aren't living in active relationship with Jesus
Harrison Butker called out priests and bishops for their lack of courage. Christian boldness is the fruit of the love of the Holy Spirit that casts out all fear!
Homily for Pentecost
This the opposite message of most graduation speeches, but it's the message that graduates need to hear and that I wish I had heard!
We honor all of the blessings we have received from our earthly mothers, and we ask Mary to be our Mother in the many ways that we still need more mothering!
Homily for the Feast of the Ascension
We don't love because we aren't receiving His love first! Jesus, save me from the lie that I am not loved or loveable!
Homily for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
We say we believe and trust in God. Do we live that way or do we keep Him in our "God box" in the corner of our daily life?
Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter
Jesus wants to be the shepherd of the one flock united in His Name!
Homily for Good Shepherd Sunday
Jesus wants to bring revival to our hearts and to the Church, and that always entails repentance!
Homily for the 3rd Sunday in Easter, Year B
Fear holds us back from living into the high calling that Jesus has placed on our life.
Imagine what God could do through us if we were bold in the power of Holy Spirit that He breathes upon us!
Divine Mercy homily
Watered down Christianity doesn't transform or attract anyone. It's time to allow the Holy Spirit to be stirred up in our souls!
Easter homily 2024
Jesus, the Truth, destroys the enemy's lies on the Cross. Jesus, heal my mind and soul with Your Love!
Good Friday Homily 2024
We may know with our head that Jesus loves us, but Jesus wants to touch our hearts with His love in the Eucharist
Holy Thursday Homily 2024
Jesus has loved us to the point of the cross, and we find it hard to give back to Him a fraction of our time and attention
We often have areas of our life that feel stagnant, like a dead end. Holy Spirit revives and renews these areas infinitely beyond our human capacity!
It's easy to live with self-centered tunnel vision. Jesus wants to heal our blindness to behold the Father's love coming to encounter us all the time!
Homily for Laetare Sunday, Year A (RCIA)
Without the "lows," we start to trust too much in ourselves. Jesus meets us in our dark moments to offer us the "living water" of the Holy Spirit!
3rd Sunday of Lent, Year A readings for RCIA
Are sacrifices being taken from us or are we freely offering them?
Experiencing Jesus' sacrificial love, propels us into self-offering!
Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent, Year B
Being tempted is part of our wounded human nature. Jesus conquers satan so we too can conquer in Him!
Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent, Year B
Lent is all about restoring our relationships, not just making it "hurt"
Homily for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Sometimes we feel like we are in raw pain with Job. Jesus comes to break through the darkness and respond with His Presence.
Homily for the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B
We are in a battle not just against ourselves, others, and our circumstances but also against the real powers of darkness. We have nothing to fear if we stay close to Him...the victory is assured!
Homily for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Same readings, different homily. God is always speaking, and His unexpected invitations bear great fruit when we have the courage to say to them!
Homily for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
We often don't know the impact our life is having on others...may we not miss the opportunity to draw others closer to Jesus just by the way we live!
Homily for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Though we have made many commitments in our life, often we become half-hearted in fulfilling them. We are invited to renew our "yes" to these calls with every new day!
Homily for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Growing in any area of our life requires sacrificing some comfort. Jesus, help us to pay attention and say "yes" to your invitation to leave our comfort and go deeper with You!
Homily for Epiphany 2024
Our virtue is tested and grown especially around our families. Three phrases unlock deeper humility and relationship with God and others...
Jesus is born to restore the relationship we lost through the enemy's deception and our lack of trust!
Christmas Mass
Joy is always available to us because joy is the presence of Jesus. What stands in the way of us being with Him right now?
Gaudete Sunday, Year B
Many Catholics have a hard time explaining why we go to a priest for confession. Often, we also haven't be taught as adults on some of the finer points of making a fruitful confession. Here are some tips!
2nd Sunday of Advent, Year B
When we give Mary all that is ours, She gives us all that is Hers, including the fire of Her Spouse, the Holy Spirit!
Immaculate Conception Homily
We often make decisions out of fear of losing respect or not having enough for ourselves. Jesus moves us to get outside of ourselves and to trust He will provide what we most need!
1st Sunday of Advent, Year B
Yes, we are called to serve others, but always in the context of a relationship of love with Jesus. We are the hungry, thirsty, naked, imprisoned ones He cares for first!
Gratitude is the secret to abiding in the awareness of God's love for us.
33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A
The oil that the wise virgins carry is their love for God shown through their time and attention given to Him!
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
What's the purpose of liturgy?
Training for liturgical ministers and parishioners to enter into the sacraments more whole-heartedly
A deeper dive into that prayer that Jesus Himself taught us and that we so easily take for granted!
It's hard, if not impossible, to love God, others, and ourselves as we are called to if we don't first believe we are already loved...
St. John Paul II's story shows us that we can either passively or actively participate in God's will being done on earth!
We are anxious and worried about many things, but still we don't engage with God's invitation to receive His love in prayer and the sacraments that brings us peace.
Jesus came to heal our wounds, and He says it is often those we least expect that are ready to be healed by Him first!
Homily for the 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A
God isn't fair...He's superabundantly generous, especially because we don't deserve it!
Sometimes extending forgiveness feels impossible.
With grace and clarifying what it means to forgive, we can be set free from bitterness, anger, and resentment that poisons our hearts.
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
We don't like to give correction, and we definitely don't like receiving it. Jesus, help us to not be afraid of living in the truth!
God became man to enter and take upon Himself all of human suffering so that we never have to suffer alone again.
Though we don't like being under others' authority, we can only have true freedom and peace if we remain under God's
Our prayers always have power, but sometimes it feels like we are wasting our times. We are invited increase our faith and persevere anyway!
Mary, especially through the rosary, brings peace to our hearts, even in the middle of the storm.
Experiencing desolation in the spiritual life is normal. Sometimes we cause it, and other times the Lord allows it for whatever reason. We are called to faithfulness to our relationship with Him, especially when it feels like we are "failing"
The Father asks us to listen to the Son, but often out of fear we distract ourselves away from hearing His voice and our own hearts.
Feast of the Transfiguration
Jesus guarantees that we will confront evil for our whole earthly life. How can we be patient until that time when He sorts out all the good from the messes?
The truth that Jesus is always laboring to love me is life changing, especially when the obstacles to receiving that love are removed.
We are anxious and burdened because we carry burdens that Jesus hasn't asked us to carry. Realizing we can't achieve what is being asked of us becomes a grace when we surrender everything back to Jesus.
Homily for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
It's easy to complain and take blessings for granted. What are we grateful for in this imperfect, but very blessed country?
It's easy to reduce our faith to a checklist. What if we lived with the conviction Jesus can and wants to provide for us in every area of our life?
What we believe affects our behavior, and how we pray with our body affects our soul. How we comport ourselves around the Eucharist both indicates and forms our faith.
It's easy to drift into apathy and dryness in our faith and relationship with Jesus. On this feast of Pentecost, He wants to fill us with new life and fire!
In times of darkness, Jesus says to us, "I will not leave you orphan. I will come to you!"
Within the non-Christian culture we find ourselves in, the church should look increasingly like the Acts of the Apostles. We will do signs and wonders in Jesus' name and bear much fruit only if we are rooted in Him through prolonged daily prayer
On the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, it's important to remember what it means to enter into authentic rest
Unless we notice and receive how Jesus is loving us every day, we are what's wrong with Christianity...
It is precisely in our suffering that we can experience our deepest communion with Jesus, especially when we bring it before His Eucharistic Presence.
3rd Sunday of Easter, Year A
Jesus' greatest hurt is our lack of trust. Experiencing Jesus' love and mercy in our lowest moments drives out the fear that holds us captive in our "locked rooms." It is far easier to trust His love when I have received it!
What difference does it make that Jesus rose from the dead? For starters, it means He is still alive and with us today, and He has broken the power of our enemy.
Suffer, the cross doesn't make sense to the world; it is always to be avoided and rejected. With the cross, we encounter Jesus and participate in interceding for others in their sufferings.
Jesus is pouring out His love for us all the time, and Holy Week is a prime opportunity to receive a greater outpouring of His mercy. We have to slow down in order to receive love and to give love.
Jesus wants to breath resurrection into areas of darkness and death in our life.
Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent
Jesus is still healing people today, and He wants us to be vessels of His healing. It takes faith to step out and pray out loud with someone for their healing, but if we don't ask, we won't receive! It's worth the disappointments to see healing break through in people's lives.
The Holy Spirit came down powerfully in Topeka, KS on January 1st, 1901 after Pope Leo XIII invoked the "Veni Creator Spiritus," and we have the promise of another outpouring if we ask with expectation and perseverance!
Revival begins when we have stepped out of our comfort zone and into an environment of faith that leads to an encounter with Jesus' personal love for us.
Jesus goes into the desert to enter into the battle that we all face with satan. If we choose Jesus in our temptations, our victory is assured!
We often ask each other, "What are you giving up for Lent?", but sometimes we forget that sacrifice is meant to prepare more space for Jesus in our life.
Jesus' teaching to love our enemies is very difficult. We can't begin to love one another as He loves us until we have received His mercy and extended it to ourselves and others.
Sports have the power to bring us together, and they also have the potential to become an idol that is an obstacle to our relationship with God. With this game, let's rejoice and come together for the good and avoid the pitfalls in our culture's idolization of sports.
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Christianity is more about letting God love us than it is about following rules. We do have rules, but we naturally want to follow them when we have experienced the love and light of Jesus casting out the darkness from our lives!
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time
All of us will fail at times, but the enemy wants to make us believe we are failures, not good enough because we aren't perfect. Jesus wants His strength and mercy to shine in and through our weakness and poverty.
4th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A
Only those who know themselves to be loved are able to look upon another with love. Jesus gazes with love upon us, and we become Him who behold us!
We desire to God's will only when we trust Him. We only really trust Him when we know He loves us. We only know His love when we slow down to pay attention to it being lavished upon us. This year is an opportunity to intentionally behold God's love through the ordinary daily circumstances of our lives.
The faith of the magi to drop everything and follow the King's star inspires us to look up and follow Him too!
Not by accident does the Church begin every new year with the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. The closer we are to Her, the closer we are to Him. The closer we are to Him, the more we experience love, joy, and peace.
God stoops so low to meet us wherever we find ourselves. Our "lows" are a special opportunity to encounter Jesus who humbled Himself by becoming a baby and who continues to humble Himself by being present in the Eucharist.
The Gospel Story is more than just a good idea; it has and is life-changing power. Do we allow Jesus to love and transform us, or is it just back to business as usual?
Jesus became a man to reclaim fallen creation for Himself. His healings, exorcisms, and ultimately His death and resurrection break the powers of Satan, sin, and evil. The healings He pours out today are a sign of the power of this good news and His desire to reclaim our captive hearts.
In reclaiming creation, God's secret weapon was Mary. Her trust and obedience undoes the knot tied by Adam and Eve's distrust and disobedience. Because Jesus is everything in Her, she has power to crush satan's head!
God created all things good, but through the rebellion of Satan and his apostate angels, man was deceived and evil was introduced into the world. He is the real enemy, and we are the prey. With Jesus, however, our victory is assured. How He reclaims us from the enemy is the next part of THE Story...
Part 1 of the 4 part series on the "Kerygma" or the basic message of the Gospel. We are not here by accident: we were created with a purpose for this moment in time! We were created out of love, for love.
When Jesus is truly King of our lives and hearts, there is no room for forces of darkness!
We might not be as close to Jesus as we think. If we have truly encountered His love, we will want to more deeply commit to our friendship with Him.
When we feel insecure about ourselves, we tend to compensate in other areas to show to others and ourselves that we are "good enough." When we bring our insecurities and weaknesses to Jesus in vulnerability, our hearts are filled with love and the truth that we are known and loved by Him.
My life is radically transformed when I live in the awareness of Jesus actively loving me right now...
One of the main reasons we don't persevere in prayer is that it doesn't feel like anything is happening. Fortunately, our feelings aren't an accurate measure of the quality of prayer. Prayer is primarily God loving us and our becoming more aware of that love!
As our culture drifts further from Jesus, the urgency for discovering and cultivating the gifts of the Holy Spirit we received through baptism and confirmation is all the more pressing. We have been given divine power for mission!
If we lean into St. Thérèse's "Little Way," we are freed from harshness with ourselves and in our relationship with God. Jesus, I trust in You; take care of everything!
Suffering draws us out of complacency and is an invitation to recommit to our relationship with Jesus.
On the feast day of the Holy Cross, it's helpful to understand how it fits into the greatest story ever told. This is THE Story, and we're sticking to it!
Work was always a part of God's plan. Too easily we fall into one of two camps: avoiding work or putting too much of our identity into it. Entering into authentic rest helps put us back in right relationship with work.
Only One can fulfill all of our expectations. Bringing our expectations to anyone else will only lead to sadness, disappointment, and resentment.
Jesus only asks of us only what He has first done for us. The unmistakable sign of humility of heart is obedience to rightful authority and God's revealed will.
We do have varying degrees of responsibility for others' faith journey, but we are not ultimately their savior. The best thing we can do for other's relationship with God is to become saints ourselves and surrender them to our God who loves them even more than we do...
Jesus is knocking on our door, especially in the hard times. If we don't open the door to Him now, He may not open the door to us when we knock...
Jesus wants to draw us out of the mud of apathy and into the fire of His love...we have only to keep our eyes fixed on Him!
We easily fall into the evil one's trap of doubt, discouragement, depression, and despair when experience suffering. It is normal to feel sad when bad things happen, but Jesus never desires us to lose hope in the midst of darkness!
In this time of societal trauma, we have been deceived into believing other people are our enemy and the cause of our suffering. Jesus invites us to fix our eyes on Him, to praise Him so we stand in right relationship with Him and fortified against the deceptions of the evil one.
When we don't trust God, we can easily grasp at money and material possessions for a false sense of security and control. Jesus, I surrender control to You!
For the sake of a tiny percentage of faithful intercessors, God desires to have mercy on the whole world. Come, Holy Spirit!
Jesus is always loving us and always speaking to us. Are we disposing ourselves to hear His voice?
We are called to be the "Good Samaritan," but we have to recognize that Jesus wants to heal us so we can be vessels of His mercy to others. 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
A talk for the "Men of St. Joseph" in Shawnee. As men we are called to be spiritual leaders for those entrusted to our care. Regular repentance and daily committed prayer are non-negotiable pillars to becoming who we were meant to be!
This year, Father's Day falls on the the feast of Corpus Christi. Jesus wants to fill in the deficits of our earthly fathers with the Father's loving, healing Presence.
Have we had an overwhelming experience of God's love? If we have, we never forget, and our lives are never the same!
Intimacy is to be at home in the heart of another. When we find our "home" in the hearts of Mary and Jesus, we find peace!
In order to receive God's love, we have to be attentive to Him. Our attentiveness to God and others is one of the most important powers we can cultivate, especially in our age of distraction.
Confronted with many societal crises and tragedies, it is easy to lose hope. Jesus invites us to fix our eyes on His real Presence in the Eucharist and in our souls, the source of our hope.
It is never God's will that we lose our peace. Peace is always available to us because He is always giving it!
As persecution mounts against the original disciples, they pray not for safety but greater boldness in proclaiming the power and truth of the Gospel. We are called to the same boldness, having been transformed in Jesus' love!
God as a community of love between three Persons reveals who we are and what we are made for.
We are either under Jesus' victory or Satan's power; there is no middle ground. The main reason many aren't united to Jesus and His Church is because neither they nor the people in the pews have experienced the power of Jesus' resurrection and personal love and healing for them.
Unless we allow Jesus to wash our ugly parts, we reject a real encounter with His love for us.
God's finger brings life, healing, and freedom. He wants to touch our misery and transform it with his mercy.
A talk given at St. Ann's Lenten parish mission. After our own sin, refusing forgiveness to others is the primary block to receiving deeper intimacy with Jesus.
The Church has many teachings that are hard to accept. Unless we have first experienced Jesus' love and mercy personally, it will be difficult to accept and live by the "rules."
The Church is unattractive to the young because so few of its members inspire and are on fire. Repenting and asking for more fire is a good place to start!
None of us have perfect natural fathers. Jesus wants to fill the void left by our fathers, especially through his foster father St. Joseph.
Most of us feel like we are in one of two modes in any given moment: giving or receiving. What if there is a third way of being in both so we aren't drained by people and circumstances?
In times of darkness, we have the choice to isolate or relate to God and others. Pain either separates us or propels us into deeper communion.
Part 2 of Jesus: Healer of Mind, Body, and Soul. Inner healing can culminate in outward manifestations of healing in our body. Here are some additional principles on healing and how to pray with others with boldness and confidence.
Part 1 of Jesus: Healer of Mind, Body, and Soul, a retreat for teachers of the faith. How much easier it is to transmit the Good News and its power to others when we have experienced it first!
Satan tempts Jesus with our idols of pleasure, power, and praise, and Jesus crushes His lies and temptations to bring healing to us.
As we make resolutions for Lent, let's consider what we are feeding our minds and thoughts through our eyes.
Staying on the winning side of spiritual warfare isn't complicated, but it does require commitment and intentionality on our part. Here are some principles that will keep the enemy at bay...
Jesus' unconditional love and mercy for us empowers us to do the same for our "enemies."
The Holy Spirit is the "new wine" of God...how little of this wine Catholics seem to have!
Our families are messy because we are messy. Having first received His love for us, here are a few practical ways to bring that love into our families.
In the midst of life's darkness, Jesus is inviting us back home with Him to see and receive His blessings with new eyes.
Hurry hurts relationships and hides our deeper hurts. Jesus is inviting us to slow down to receive His peace!
In Advent, Jesus invites us to greater vigilance and awareness of His coming. Putting down our phone for prayer will help us to receive Him better in the sacraments.
How we receive Jesus' coming in the present moment indicates how ready we will be to receive Him at the end.
Due to traffic issues, the bride was very late coming down the aisle. Are we, likewise, leaving Jesus standing at the altar?
We gravitate toward our own comfort. It is good to say "no" to little comforts for a greater "yes" to relationship with Jesus.
Fathers are called to reveal the Father's face and love to their children. This can only happen fully if we are transformed by and into Jesus.
We serve, love, and show mercy because we have first been shown mercy. We love because He loved us first.
Many of us have a vague intellectual notion that we are loved by God, but have we experienced in our hearts the reality of that love?
Many sins in marriage and sexuality are rooted in putting ourself before the other. The primary victims of this selfishness are our children.
We are too quick to draw lines between us brothers and sisters in Christ. Our real common enemy is the devil, and our weapon is the Spirit.
We're probably more prideful than we think we are. The key to humility is being like the child in Jesus' arms.
There are two primary stages in the spiritual life: 1. obedience in a life of reason and virtue and 2. obedience in a life of faith. In the life of faith, we are called to obey and embrace suffering even when we don't understand why.
We all experience traumatic events. In response, we can choose either a path leads to a dead end or to our healing.
Fear is a primary obstacle to living in authentic freedom; Jesus comes to break that bondage!
We are immersed in times of accentuated division, but only we can forfeit our peace and ultimate happiness.
To bring conversion to wayward hearts, we are called first to be converted in those areas of lingering attachment.
We are losing many of the people we are catechizing: something needs to change. If we lean into the power of the Holy Spirit, we will bear fruit that will last!
We are in the midst of the greatest war between good and evil. With Mary presence in the home of our hearts as the Ark of the New Covenant, we are assured of victory!
Everyone's prayer journey looks different. Here a little bit of mine and how I approach prayer now.
The temptation to discouragement leading to depression and despair is great. Without the Bread from heaven, we won't have strength to persevere in this valley of tears.
What we complain about reveals a lot about what we are attached to. Unless we find fulfillment in Jesus who is the Bread of Life, we will always be complaining about our hunger!
We are often confronted with situations that seem well beyond our capacity to cope. Realizing we don't have enough is a gift because Jesus wants to make up the difference, and then some!
By our baptism, we are all appointed prophets, but we can't communicate truth well until we are living in the truth ourselves.
Our country has problems, but there is still more to be grateful for. Now is the opportunity to declare our own independence from sin and evil.
Fathers bring and speak with authority into the storms of our lives and bring us peace. In order to be fathers, we need to be fathered.
The spirit of death is alive and well in our times. The temptation to succumb to isolation and despair is great. The key is to open ourselves to relationship with God and others.
The Trinity reminds us we were made from and for relationship. Our "new normal" should have relationship with God and others at the center.
What would our life look like if we believed in the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus is offering us?
God has a plan for our life and so does the darkness around us. Discouragement begins the path to despair. Surrender leads to peace and joy.
What do we do when realize our best friend has given their life for us? How do we treat their mother?
If the Holy Spirit is within us, we will bear much fruit. A primary obstacle to the fruits of the Holy Spirit is unforgiveness.
Which is easier to believe: that God gives the power to raise the dead or the Eucharist is actually Jesus?!
We all suffer from varying levels of blindness. Being aware is the first step to healing!
If there is one thing Jesus wants us to know right now, it is that He is alive and active in our lives. All we have to do is show up and give Him permission.
We are intense with ourselves and others when we think we have to take care of everything ourselves. Jesus invites us to surrender control along with our intensity.
To spit on someone is to give them our worst. We spit upon Jesus with our sins, and replies with the love of His cross.
Mary is on fire with the Holy Spirit. She knows that she is beloved in God's eyes, and she does His will in every moment.
St. Joseph is a terror to demons because of his intimacy with Mary and Jesus. We can't be touched by evil if we welcome Mary into our home.
Fr. Joel's homily for Holy Family Sunday. There's no safer place than in the love between mom and dad.
Fr. Joel's homily on Jesus' desire to heal us from our wounds of fear. Enough of the enemy's lies!
Fr. Joel's homily on the healing that comes from exposing those areas wrapped in shame and darkness to Jesus' light.
Fr. Joel's homily on Jesus' temptation in the desert. We reveal our beasts so Jesus can crush them!
Fr. Joel's homily on the prodigal son. Unless we see ourself first as a prodigal, we can't be the merciful father.
Fr. Joel's homily for healing. Jesus is a jealous lover: He wants to eliminate anything in our heart that hinders relationship with Him.