Fr. John Rutten & Friends: Recent Episodes
Fr. John Rutten
Fr. John Rutten shares his homilies, speaks of the things that provoke him, and encourages us to grow in our belief that Christ dwells among us.
Elijah already heard Hod or he wouldn’t have went outside. What is he wanting?
he had been on a long journey and while He knew God, he wanted something deeper.
So do we! It isn’t that God isn’t present or we don’t hear Him, but that life can be hard and challenges and storms arrive and we need a little something to reach our heart!
St John Vianney’s capacity to convert his entire town is miraculous. It is also the desire of so many priests and seminarians. As the patron Saint of parish priests, it’s important to understand how the conversion of his flock came about.
Many people are aware that he fasted greatly and ate potatoes for meals. But we can forget that he was in the same place for 41 years. The gift of times also the means with which conversion comes about.
Children are taught to have careers as Community Helpers. We are back at a time when we need to encourage people to give their lives as servants.
The Church asks the same. And Christ is the power that makes us capable of giving our lives away in such a selfless act.
This is what it means to follow Him.
We all want to belong.
None of us want to have needs – Reel needs that open up sadness or loneliness or pain.
But needs, and the deeper they are, open us up to a greater belonging.
The Three Amigos looked up, and Clarice looked down. We like the Apostles must look too.
Where are we to look?
Scriptural Proof of Sacred Tradition helps us see in the Apostle’s gesture of going to Samaria to bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit that we call now Confirmation.
Today the bishops are the successors with this power and each person who receives the Holy Spirit is sent to give the world reasons for hope!
Philip after being with Jesus still has to ask to see the Father and doesn’t recognize Jesus is the presence of the Father.
We too must ask for Him and discover the Father is here and often deeply working in our lives!
As graduation day approaches and this group continues the journey, might they ask and recognize Him through the Church!
The sheep know the shepherd through his voice. Christians know Jesus through His voice. However, His voice comes through friends and family and priests and Saints and Apostles and Peter and Popes.
We must grow in our capacity to hear Him.
The source and summit of Christian life is the Eucharistic: Jesus is present. When one recognizes this, it should also help reveal His presence in Scripture, the stranger who arrives, the companionship of two, and our hearts that burn.
The early church did these four things and saw growth. We too need to pay attention to these four things.
Each person is different but we belong to Christ. The Scriptures remind us we do not belong to Paul or Apollos or Cephas but to Christ. This however doesn’t discount that we meet Christ and belong to the Church through the Bishop.
How? …
We get surprised when we discover someone we have known has something inside themself we didn’t see.
Peter, James, and John were surprised Jesus had something inside himself they hadn’t seen.
Today, the Christian has Christ inside and we often don’t see.
the Eucharist, is the Glory of God in our midst but we don’t see. However, His Flesh and Blood us really In there!
Someone told me this was “fire”. I have no memory of it, but here it is for everyone to be “sparked”!
The first reading speaks of the breath of life in Genesis and this is also revealed after the Resurrection when Jesus gives the Apostles the power to forgive sins.
The power then continues through apostolic lineage and in the sacramental life of the Church.
The Demon Arc is a sign we are made in a way to want to change our lives for the better.
Ash Wednesday is Gods way to help us do this together and while I am glad young people today want God to be a part of their change, we know God must come first, middle and last!
Light has been a part of God’s revelation from creation to the Temple in Jerusalem. The worship of Israel points to Jesus Christ who is the “Light of the World.”
His Body continues to bring Light to the world. We might miss the little ways our light is His Body!
What is the desire for someone to know people? Why should people in the Church care to know who each other are?
it’s a spiritual reality but a human family. St Angela writes about the desire to know, spiritual children.
We often know our belonging by those who are blood related. We add those who are married into our blood families. And over time we add even more people. Through the power of God we add people in differing ways, ultimately everyone belongs to God. But Jesus invites us to belong to the Church.
How do we know we are one with the Church?
The lamb - think of a little baby lamb - was offered in sacrifice to God. The lamb was offered because it represented innocence and purity. This prefigured Jesus, the innocent and pure victim.
Jesus is the Way. Through the Church we are instruments who tell others, “this way.”
The way is through baptism but also the important aspect of discovering we are children of God! In this way, we even see Jesus being baptized and hearing “this is my beloved son!”
while baptism is essential, it is also necessary to discover our identity as sons and daughters. This is “the way”!
It’s important to understand how God works in our lives. How events play into our growth.
and to recognize that the Apostles didn’t always understand but with time, He showed them.
Is He showing you?
Great readings today remind us we are not the first to live in troubled times. We need to look for the people of light who help us look to the Light and not our troubles and darkness!
Isaiah speaks of the expectations for healing and miracles that are witnessed by the disciples in the Gospel. They are told to go back and speaking of what they have seen.
We too have desires and expectations! Many people are looking for signs of “life”. If we have seen them, we too must be willing to “go back” and share what we have witnessed!
Today’s Confirmation is a good moment to reflect upon the May dynamics of Christian life where we have “already” received something we have “not yet” received. List and see if you too live the already but not yet!
God orders us by bestows desires for prayer and healing and longing for Him. He also answers those desires with formulaic prayers like the Our Father. It doesn’t end there, but as we become part of the Body, this Mass is the place we are ordered and reordered.
Do you believe your “yes”, even if a little “yes”, impacts people. Both people who are living and people who are deceased?
Answers are most received when they are responding to a real, spoken or unspoken, question. How we carry the Gospel to others should respond to what a person is looking for. We too, as missionaries will have questions and in looking for the answers, God can send someone else!
Just as Moses though string and gifted, needed help standing strong in battle. He was aided by Aaron and Hur.
Who aids you? Are you prepared to hold others up in their battles of life?
Pay attention to your gifts.
Pay attention to others.
Pay attention to your circumstances.
pay attention to Jesus who stands to hold all of us up to the Father.
We are given a gift… GOD! St Paul reminds us to guard this gift and be reminder we have a guide in the Holy Spirit.
What is the Holy Spirit stirring in your desire? What are your gifts? How about the circumstances you live in? St Therese shows us m how each of us can prepare for the Kingdom of God and have Hope!
Do you know it is a Jubilee year? Do you know what a Jubilee year is? I promise listening to this will help you!
I didn’t say it in the homily, but the thing that helped me most understand the jubilee year is that indulgences are not the primary point. And secondly, that a main point is that you have a Jubilee year once in your lifetime. Because of how long we live most people experience two or three, lessening the experience of it being a unique lifetime moment to offer mercy and forgiveness and reconciliation.
The fruit of this is to discover God’s possession of all things and people! He wants you to know if you belong to him through Jesus Christ the only mediator.
People ask me what the students are responding to with the death of Charlie Kirk. I’m trying to listen to them and understand. I have much yet to learn but I do know the Cross is connected and the Christian needs to widen our awareness to include both Jesus’ saving Mercy and our own person sin.
What ways are we being asked to be his disciples? To follow him requires to give things up, to give up peoples thoughts and opinions.
However, how this happens is through a group of people and individually. Consider how this happens.
Dawson Lee as a disciple followed Christ into the Catholic Church. Today he received the sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist!
when someone gives you a gift and it is apparent they know you, it is such a blessing. But humidity is even great! Jesus is the perfect gift.
Start to the new year and we liked the people in Scripture are gathered from many places. We are called by God to belong to his family. We recognize Jesus today by the signs of Him Presence.
our initial understanding may not be correct. It is helpful to pause and consider if things are meant differently than we first think they are.
With 9 in 10 cradle Catholics leaving the Church, it’s worth asking ourselves why we go to Mass?
An interesting insight is offered in the first reading (Joshua 3:7). What helps us understand both why we go to Mass and what we should be doing through our participation?
Our lives have moments that Jesus calls us to be attentive to. Listen to your heart and circumstances in order to know what He is calling you to. Then when your “short” life is at the end, you will be eager for your “forever” to to begin!
We are all rich in various things: amenities of life, intellect, beauty, personality, and of course wealth.
what are we to do with these if Jesus says we aren’t to store up treasure?
When death gets close, at times it pierces deeply. It can be hard to believe that God is near. At such times there are two options.
Gardens are beautiful: God places the pinnacle of creation, man and woman, in a garden. However he also suffered in a garden and so did the First Roman Martyrs. They were tortured in Nero’s garden.
we too are given beautiful places but to follow Jesus will also lead to places of suffering and pain. Maybe not like actual death but how heard it is to die to our own wills!
It’s more work to understand the fruitfulness of God than just a quick observation. It’s a work of the Holy Spirit and requires time and patience and new possibilities. Even the wolf can get caught in brambles and have the coat torn off and exposed. And exposure can bring newness to even the wolf!
People desire to belong to various things. Many people want to belong to Pope Leo XIV or the experience of these last few days.
Everyone does belong but like the Ethiopian Eunuch, they need someone to come alongside and get their path and help them understand Christ and how we belong to God the Father!
The disciples were freed from jail and told to go into the court and share about this new life!
As students depart for the summer, this too is what all are called to do. How does that happen? Listen in…
Welcoming 14 students and a baby deeper into the sacramental life with Christ and the Church!
The apostles are identified as companions of Jesus by both the Jewish leaders, elders, and scribes as well as Mark when he writes of Mary Magdalene telling them of his Resurrection!
they are known to have shared bread with Jesus. We know today that the greatest companionship is to share together the Eucharist, but it should also be seen in our sharing of “bread” in life as well.
Listen and consider how you are called to invite others to your table? Or to accept the invite to eat with someone who makes the invitation to you.
Some words are fads, but they are trying to articulate something that is not passing. The darkness people experience and the darkness of the world, are real. However, the Christian experiences and expects a surprise! That from darkness in what ever version one identifies it as, comes Light! What a surprise!
Jesus knew he was going to the cross, yet he still went into Jerusalem with praise. He could do so because he also knew the Resurrection was on the other side of death.
We too must see the Life which comes from dying to ourselves and in so doing we can take our Journey on a path that isn’t always easy.
We are ambassadors of Christ, but think of it like a sign language interpreter. What is communicated to the world of Christ happens through people.
St Patrick lived a life of mission and reminds us that some people make significant moves of mission that impact us. However, many small acts of mission also happen and are essential to the whole body! Each person is called in Christ to live life as a present - a gift!
Other people’s problems should reveal our own problems. Our own problems should reveal our need for God! We know He answers when the fruits of the Holy Spirit are present.
The Beatitudes here are directed to the disciples. They may not believe they are poor but Jesus is leading them to the cross. They too will see their poverty.
All of us will experience of “death” after having encountered Christ. But if we stay present, the Resurrection will be revealed in our lives too.
Today we celebrate the Holy Family presenting Jesus at the Temple with a sacrifice. All ancient civilizations offered animal (and some human) sacrifice. Only Jesus Christ can offer the true sacrifice. We are called to open our hearts to receive what He has done for us!
Ezra shared the story of the Israelites to those who had been in exile. Today many you people are interested again in faith but they must be told the Story!
Do you know your gifts? When we discover the charism God gives, we can give it to the service of others and discover how we fit!
People have long been counted by governments. What’s the purpose? Do you know you are counted? It makes all the difference to know you are beheld!
Is it possible we have an answer to anxiety and place for peace? If so, we is it difficult to find?
So much good in life. Go deeper to recognize God is the giver and will continue to provide!
Jack Hagy was provided the sacraments of Confession, Confirmation, and Eucharist! He hat good and how miraculous to receive the Good and the One who gives: Jesus!
When you hear “obey”, what is your first response? If understood better, we will see the blessing it is to be attentive and listen! How good God is to us, and how desirous He is to speak to us!
We are in the end times! We will stand before God and be judged. However, we need to learn to be looked upon with Mercy! What does this look like? Listen in and look in your own life.
We are called to give our whole lives to God. To do so we also give our lives to love His people. Some are called to do so as religious and priests. How do we know if this is us?
We want a full house. With faith, we recognize a fuller house at Mass and in life because the Saints are rooting for us.
People are blind and we are called to have patience with the ignorant. How do we help? Add more points of awareness in order to see the truth more clearly.
DDays is homecoming week. We consider this University a home because of the relationships we built. Ultimately our Home is Heaven and that too is a result of a relationship with Jesus. What gets in our way from saying Yes to Him!
When your lost, it’s sometimes easy to keep going forward. However, at a certain point one has to stop and turn around.
The St Thomas More Newman Center celebrates the 60th anniversary of the first Mass offered! Friendship, marriage, games, study, difficulties, retreats, and sacraments. All the ways God has blessed his people!
We need to create cultures that cause the best for people to happen and make it difficulty for bad things to happen. This is the case in our state.
How do miracles play a role in the life of Jesus and the Church? What is the reason for them and why are there not more? Have you experience one?
The 12 Tribes were dispersed and further from the Lord. Joshua gathered them together again. The Disciples were given a great gift to feed the family (Eucharist) many left but the 12 Apostles stayed. We all are now tempted to move out but God gathers us. To stay is possible when we look at our history and the miracles we’ve seen.
Life hacks, Rules for Life, or hearts of life…man is always attempting to attain qualities it does not possess. Jesus desires to give them to us in His very self! Do you receive, aware of this? What do you say to His words?
Why is it? The Eucharist isn’t more central to peoples lives?
- No one has told them!
- They don’t see it effect in their life.
- They don’t have a great enough need or an awareness of their spiritual hunger.
Wealth isn’t the problem. Losing the relationship with God is, and this can happen no matter how much one possesses. What is your relationship with things?
How do you respond when corrected? Our initial response is important to pay attention to. Why does it matter? Listen in…
How often we want to run from the storms, but Jobe and the apostles and our own experience revealed to us that God addresses us in the midst of the storms. Neil, stay still, and ask for him.
People have an intuition that blood connection is a means of something mysterious yet human. The source of connecting to a “life source.” All of this is pointing toward what God will do by offering the Body and Blood of his son Jesus.
The wedding homily for James and Kenna Kleinschmit. Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Bow Valley, NE on May 18, 2024
Ever been on a spiritual high point, only to end up feeling like you’re starting over again?
The Apostles have been on a rollercoaster of Grace! After the most I credible fact: He Rose from the Dead…they don’t get their question answered and He leaves. Now they start again and need to await His Power.
Love is connected to “law” in today’s readings: to be upright and to follow the commandments is the request of God. But he wants us to do so by receiving His love and remaining in His goodness. Do you know His goodness as the means of being able to live the law?
Jesus tells us to abide in him. To abide is not a passive reality but to stick with, hold on to, obey.
He is saying this in the midst of the Last Supper, where he institutes the Eucharist and tells the apostles to do the same.
For us to abide in Jesus is to hold on to the celebration of the Eucharist. And to do so is to hold on to the whole of the Mass.
A world that can’t look up, and Peter and John walk in and the lame man is healed. When others start looking to them, they say “it’s in the name of Jesus! Look to Him!
Today we welcomed 11 people into the sacraments! A people who together witness to looking at Him.
From Abraham until today, God gathers people together. He does so to reveal Himself and in doing so we become more together. More together within ourselves and more fully together in friendship with each other!
before divine Mercy, we see a possibility of a human mercy on behalf of the church. More importantly than providing houses, is to provide the “house“ of friendship. and when we do so, and find ourselves moved with sympathy, we become instruments of divine mercy.
Palm Sunday begins Holy Week. It’s a full week and all the liturgies together help us understand the life Christ has given for us!
Water is the connection of hydrogen and oxygen- a connection that makes life possible for humanity. So necessary is it that we all must connect ourselves with water.
god though desires to use our endless needs to help us connect with something needed: our heart which needs to connect with God.
There are dramatic moments in this weekends Readings. However they can’t be understood without seeing all the little moments in the past that are connected. The Father holds us in his hands and is always connecting more!
Today’s Gospel says the Spirit drove Jesus to the desert where he was tempted. Is this how God works? Driving us to evil? Listen and recognize the importance of knowing where you are at spiritually, in order to know how the Holy Spirit will work with you.
We Encounter the Risen Lord and life becomes beautiful and purposeful. However, have you considered the importance of dying to things of life, even as a follower of Christ? We must die to our will or our way, then we begin to see Resurrection! Things happening that are clearly of Him!
Haven’t many institutions lost authority? Work places can no longer dictate rules and sports can be ruled by the best players. When authority breaks down, we begin to recognize what it means that Christ and the Church have authority. This kind of authority speaks to the heart and the needs of humanity. Then we discover that the other authority is proposed because it is good for us and restrictions help us live!
Do you think of the priesthood as men who have sacrificed a wife and family? Is there a hint that somehow a priest gave something up that was really good? It’s actually true! But it’s also true that the vocation of marriage is sacrificial love. Marriage requires giving up— to love, to sacrifice for the good of others.
What makes it possible for Samuel and the Apostles to encounter God? What makes it possible for us to hear His voice, too? Is it possible to follow Jesus today? Listen to a necessary complement for your growth.
2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time
The Magi teach us to
Let our desires and search keep us looking up. But the search must have us looking down at where we are placed. Then when we see God, to bow in adoration.
A few words of reflection on reading Thomas Kempis this morning from – the Imitation of Christ – some powerful words really struck me.
We have blown the Roof of this place and there is a list of people to thank! Also the weekend homily shows us the dignity of work and how Hod wants us to work and allow Him to make it abundant.
Raise the Roof, an effort to eliminate the debt caused by a roof replacement, is detailed. For all who appreciate these homilies and the social media presence, it is possible because of my ministry! Please prayerfully consider a donation!
Whats with the lamps that are ready and what about those that are not?
A little discussion about last weeks events and the students who participated. The body is the means of God bringing peace into this world. First into ourselves and then to the relationships closest to us. Then that can impact the world.
The wedding banquet. Sent to invite others. Who remains and who is kicked out? Where will you be? Where are you now?
We worship God … or
we worship Power (control), Pleasure, wealth, and Honor.
he came that we might worship Him. We are called to give our lives away. To give our lives to Him to do his will!
Unpacking St Paul’s second letter gives us a powerful path for the Lais with less anxiety! How do we take that path, listen in.
A few interesting points that feel a bit like class was being held!
Deacons and Bishops being married.
Miraculous and strange things happening.
God is among us!
Jesus calls us to correct our brothers and sisters. We are called to be corrected by others as well. But how do we go about doing so? Listen in!
It’s a sacrifice when we offer difficulties to God. Web. We are patient with someone or when we accept a child into this world. But sacrifice brings about New Life
We are each asked “Who do you say that I am!” As Peter was. However we don’t just say it about a historical Jesus. We are asked about His Dwelling Among Us! Do we recognize Him in our lives and do we say “You, Lord are with me!”?
There is a piece missing often from how we view our University days. A piece that Christ’s Peace provides.
We see a strange dynamic in the first reading where Elijah here’s the Lord’s voice, but then goes in search of the Lord. Peter knew the Lord and had him near and yet had to search for him. Are you searching?
Are you desirous to Glimpse more of God?
In human movement, a person shows up and causes us to move forward.
In the life of holiness, Christ shows up and causes us to move forward.
Ask Him to show up! Then be attentive so you can follow.
Summer has been great time to catch up on lots of things! Looking forward to returning to homily posting more often when school begins again!
When others are against us or we seem to be against ourselves, what steps do we take in response? Are they steps that God lays out for us in todays readings?
Evangelization is simply moving in response to God having done something to a person. Jesus isn’t seen like he isn’t seen in Mary and John isn’t seen in Elizabeth, but Christ dwells among us. So we go out!
Jesus promised the disciplines would see greater things than what they did through Him. And so they did. Do you see greater things?
A history is recounted that includes David. David, a man of the heart of God but also a sinner! This path includes each of us also and we, being united to Christ and instruments of the Father’s love are even greater than David! David wasn’t united to the Body of Christ…but in baptism, every Christian is!
The Chosen has been a great means of sharing the Gospel to our culture. However, a few pointers can help us consider from a Catholic discernment.
We can deepen our understanding of how faith comes to be and how it grows and passes from one person to another! Listen…todays readings give us the shortcut!
The decline of the Church is a call back to Jesus! After all Easter is about Him - and we are called to be Witnesses!
We all did. Moments when we are stripped of solitons and answers to other peoples needs…to our own needs. It makes us cry out…
The Lord supper, and the institution of the priesthood is understood through the priesthood of Aaron.
Looks who is in the room: yes, Mary pouring perfumed oil on Jesus, but what about a dead man, who is alive? What about Martha who has a new life of service… how about you?
Understanding what made the life we want happen, makes it possible for us to go out and see God do it again! And we are the ones who do it with God’s help.
Palms were raised because the people were saying “Jesus is the Victor.” Today our phones can be raised as a sign that “Jesus is Victor” today for us!
Pastoral planning will not bring utopia. There will always be the temptation to dig in the garbage and forget the song bird. Keep your life in search of Jesus!
After meeting Jesus, through His friends, we experience “Mountain Top Moments” like the Transfiguration. Like Peter it’s tempting to revert to our plans and set up tents but the Lord has a plan to lead us by the hand and Going Down the mountain often isn’t as exciting but it is necessary to grow into the child who becomes capable to changing others and being an instrument to others.
The abundance, Adam, and eve possess, makes it difficult to discern when the evil one is whispering. But Jesus shows us that in our desert, we actually may discern more easily. Don’t leave your desert, but trust and ask for God to be there.
Ash Wednesday and the practices that expand our persons. Like the expansion of what we see in the Universe but for us, the salvation of Jesus goes beyond even creation!
The Church provides communal acts of worship like the Mass and helps us pray together by offering us the forms.
and Jesus helps us live, by grace, the deepest ways He asks of His children.
We all have a choice to begin by looking at was is evil or what is missing Or to start from what is good, to begin with the one loaf that has been provided. What is your loaf? God can multiply from that one!
St Scholastic has her prayers answered in a very clear way and St Monica does not. Benedict must stay but Augustine can flee! None of us can flee the providence of God!
Her longing for the stars leads to longing for Christ and a vocation as a Religious who preaches love.
Do You know how salt works? I didn’t but now I do and it helped me understand how Jesus works through us when we are the “salt of the earth.” Not stuff we do but through us Jesus breaks down in others the obstacles to seeing the world and what He is doing.
Jesus is presented in the Temple 40 days after birth. The Holy Spirit was already working through Simeon and Anna. Do you have confidence image is working to bring those whom you love into the House of the Lord?
God reveals Himself over time and prepares for a Pinnacle moment. What is the Pinnacle point of Christianity? What is the top of the Mountain for you? What does God want it to be?
We all need people in the Church whom we are confident Christ is calling us through, but we all must grow more deeply and recognize Christ is also calling us through people in positions that call us and grow.
How do we grow in our awareness that the same proclamation made to the apostles by John the Baptist being made to us at Mass?
When a moment strikes you, and you know it was Christ who makes all things happen…epiphany! Have you had one?
The Shepherds are given a privileged place in the people surrounding Jesus’ nativity. What can we learn from them. What do we learn from Mary?
How important to know we have a place in the heart of Our Lord: each of us are preferred. It is also good to have a person given to us such as Peter, who shows us the road.
Merry Christmas to you all from elk point, South Dakota! A joy to share this beautiful night with the people of God.
Having a desire to commit totally to Christ, her mother has other plans. However hemorrhaging happens to her mother and a request at the relics of St Agnes bring about healing of body and then of faith. Starting to give everything away, mom’s plans are not desired by the very man she desired for her daughter.
If John the Baptist is the Greatest but the least in. The Kingdom are greater, do we believe that may be us? Two simple faithful families prepared the way for significant figures in the Church to Encounter Christ. This is a method all of us can be instruments of!
Mary in uniting with God was without blemish and so for our coming union, we too must be without blemish. She helps us come out of hiding and bring ourselves to God.
The tail of two men who produced earthly fruit but only one prepare the fruitfulness of his soul. Are you ready?
as friends get closer, it can cause struggles as we learn more about the other. It will require us to recognize the foundation of Christ that we are standing on! We also then discover deeper aspects of people when we see them more in the eyes of God. Even the Saints we can learn more about. Learn this surprise Fr John learns about his friend Charles!
Advent is the season of human desire. To awaken human desire as a spur to our holiness. Remember Jesus wants to speak words to you “in private.” Do you follow Him into such a place of prayer?
We are not alone in our work of holiness but other people’s faith is helping us, even if we don’t know who they are…we will discover in Heaven!
aware of the Final Coming, we are encouraged to Stay Awake or be attentive. Being attentive is understanding the heart and what is happening and why we do what we do. Then we grow in recognizing He is doing something now! (This “now” is the second coming I forgot to explain in the homily!)
When you are new at the University and you can't find friends, it can be a great challenge to understanding God's will. Veronica shares her struggle with finding her place and the Signs God sent to help her stay and grow! Now she generates a great deal of life and helps many students find a home at USD and the Newman.
Veronica Knippling from the USD Newman Center in Vermillion, SD speaks about looking for signs that she is in the right place. Her search for friends, leads her on a journey of discovery and friendship with many women who help her grow in friendship with Jesus Christ.
Fr John Rutten discusses the way Christ was King and the mountain He climbed. He also then went back down to the bottom to bring others up. We too know of the power we have when being at the top, sends us to the bottom to help others get there!
Jesus wept realizing those who lived in the city of peace, didn’t not know Peace. Today we united ourselves to Jesus when we recognize others who do joy have Peace and long for this gift to be given!
Fr. John Rutten speaks with Steve Meyer about his Encounter at Mass and the healing of God, which was verified by the priest. What flows is an awareness of the Holy Spirit at work in Steve's life.
Fr. John Rutten speaks with John Abdallah about his unexpected Encounter watching the sunset and a a journey brought him into the practice of faith.
We cry and discover the answer to a deeper need we were even crying about. Resulting from the encounter with God’s Love. When we leave this first love, we must cry again!
What “nice” things do you invest your time, energy, and money on. Where is it you hope someone notices something really nice about you or what you have? All this will pass…but not your heart. Your heart will last forever and Jesus wants us to invest in Him! He reminds us that the Father sees each of us as beautiful and wants us to shine brightly in this world and for everyone!
Knowing the End is Eternal Life (with God or Eternal Absence of God), helps us simplify our decisions in life. When we see the end we are able to pray more and then move more quickly regarding what is important!
St Paul prays for his people and us to allow Gods plan to be brought to fulfillment. It can discouraging though if we do t understand how that happens. At least I’d we standing the stages, helps us know what to pray for next. Zaccheaus shows us the path.
The homily prior to the presentation of relics. Scriptural signs of why Catholics believe in the power of Jesus Christ through relics.
St Paul knew his culture and knew the analogy of athletics would resonate. He calls upon Timothy and also us today, to stay in the game of faith, through the ups and downs, until the end of life!
The division Jesus brings among us is not a bad dividing but is taking us away from that which is less than His Love and into more of His love. He calls us home and that requires leaving (being divided from) others. Our witness then makes it possible the others will be called to…back into full unity!
yes We are to let go of things of the flesh and live without all the things St Paul says but how that happens and what are the signs of Christ at work are visible in the fruits as well!
Are you stirred up by the great lives other people have? Are you stirred up by people who make you upset or angry? How about praying to be stirred up by God and all those other stirrings will have their fulfillment! “If today you hear His voice…”
Who are the angels and why did Lucifer fall from God’s grace? What does this have to do with you?
What aspects of life make you complacent? Coffee, Friends, school, family…what prevents you from staying with the struggle or tension? The struggle makes you go deeper and eventually need Jesus.
A human consideration of Matthew’s invitation. A Divine Influx that produces the desire to respond.
Do you know how to pray? We are in need of praying, and there are numerous ways. Supplication is prayer that asks or begs for something earnestly or humbly. How important begging and humility are in prayer!
We all experience being gifted but also have areas of inadequacy. If we accept our limitations and be patient with ourselves, others and God our weaknesses will give way to other people who have gifts that add to the whole body!
So many people are proud of young college students, who have left for University with certainty and confidence. Students who are engaging their freedom. It’s incredible and makes us ask in light of the Prodigal Son, what is the essential thing needed? Why is it that we are here in this Newman Center?
How often we do t let go of what Hod is asking from us and we let go of, or avoid and run from, the suffering that is a part of our journey with Him.
are you the instrument of God or is it Christ whom does the work? Sometimes Jesus says things for a specific reason. On its face it might mean one thing but in context it may not exclude other things we believe.
One authority holds a position and is called to help order us and others and things. Another authority holds our attention and is calling us to follow. When we see the fruit of this second kid of authority (in a person) is of God, the second authority helps us discern the first authority and recognize the need for legitimate obedience to that first authority. We see it is for our good!
Folks I couldn’t decide which homily to post. 11am and 8:15pm is a spread I can’t quite work through so you get both for now. They are in general the same but the experience of preaching is connected to who is in front of me and the crowds are different because the time is different.
This is my second homily of the day 9 hours after the first. It’s 8:15pm. I couldn’t decide which homily to post. 11am and 8:15pm is a spread I can’t quite work through so you get both for now. They are in general the same but the experience of preaching is connected to who is in front of me and the crowds are different because the time is different. We will see what the future brings! Peace be with you!
The Shepherd has a plan for every person. We are instruments of how people come to know the Shepherd is caring for their lives. Some times we see what happens and sometimes we do not. We can always keep the memory of every person before the Good Shepherd and pray that they say "yes" to his abundant when the Father offers it.