Who are you going to Serve

This past weekend I preached at St. Stephens in Anoka. Here is my homily, sorry about the quality of it, it was recorded on my phone, and it ends around the 6:35 mark.

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Thank our Shepherd

A couple of months ago I was contacted by a reporter asking me if I would share with him some thoughts about Archbishop John Nienstedt. I responded and did not think much of it, but was grateful that this magazine, the Catholic World Report, would do an article profiling our  Archbishop, so that those who read it may see how much he actually cares about the flock that he serves. This past Tuesday I received an email from the writer of the article, stating that the profile is now available. As I read through the profile, I once again was moved to pray for Archbishop Nienstedt. He does so much for the Church, and he has given his life over to the service of us, but so many times he is not thanked for what he does. What we should do is continue to pray for him, and also make sure to thank him. I know from personal experience that he reads every card that comes to him, and he sure seems to enjoy the ones that are positive towards him, rather than the negative ones. So, if you feel moved to do so, please write him a note, thanking him for all that he does. Here is where you can write him:

Archbishop John C. Nienstedt

226 Summit Ave

St. Paul, MN 55102

Also, here is a link to the magazine article, I hope that you can take some time to read it.

To Infinity and Beyond!!!

This Sunday I started off my homily talking about watching Toy Story 3 with my niece, nephew and mother. It was a great movie and one that was enjoyable to everyone watching. However, sometimes it can be hard to find movies that are appropriate to watch. I know that there are some movies out there that seem like they should be alright to watch, but once you start watching them you realize that they are not really appropriate to watch, even if they are only rated PG-13. So, a couple of years ago I decided that I was going to take advantage of a resource that the United States Council of Catholic Bishops has for all of us. It is a website where they give a brief description of the movie, and then give it a rating, ranging from A-I which is for a general patronage to O which means that the movie is morally offensive and should not be watched. Watching movies is perfectly fine, and can be a part of leisure. However, we also need to realize that there are certain movies out there that are going to be offensive to watch, and if we know about them ahead of time, how great is that, what a great resource we have to help us live our life for Christ. Here is a link for the website to the USCCB movie page, please take a look at it, and make sure to check it out before you head out to the movie theaters, or add a DVD to your queue for Netflix.

Below is my homily from Sunday, I hope you enjoy.

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A Great Trip

Today is my first day back at the parish, and I’m glad to be back. I was on vacation for a week, and most of that time was spent ice fishing up at Lake of the Woods with Fr. Aaron Kalmon and Fr. Josh Brown, both classmates from the seminary. It was a very successful fishing trip, with a total of 109 fish for four and a half days of fishing. The biggest walleye was caught by me and it was 25.5 inches (out of the slot limit, so it had to be put back down the hole), which is the biggest walleye that I have ever caught. Both Fr. Aaron and Fr. Josh also caught some big walleyes but not quite as big as this one.

When I got back from up north I was able to concelebrate at a friend’s wedding, where there were 12 priests (he used to be in the seminary). It was also great to catch up with many classmates and friends that I have not seen for awhile. My vacation ended with me concelebrating Mass at St. Joseph’s in West St. Paul, where I am from, and also being able to hang out with my family (including watching Toy Story 3, with my niece and nephew). Overall, a great vacation, but as mentioned before, I’m glad to be back and be home. 

You Are the Light of the World!

Below is my homily for this Sunday. I will not have a homily for next week, because I will be on vacation and hopefully catching some fish.

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What is Ordinary Time?

I recently stopped by a 1^st grade faith formation class and saw that they were learning about the liturgical seasons. They had a big chart on the chalkboard (or maybe it was one of those new smart boards), with the different liturgical seasons and what color corresponded with the season.  Now I hope that you know that the next liturgical season that we celebrate is Lent, but Lent starts at a later date this year, to be exact it starts on March 9, which is not until next month. Because of this the whole month of February we will be in the liturgical season of Ordinary Time. Whenever, we think about Ordinary Time we usually think that there is nothing exciting about it, rather we are just waiting until the next season starts, which would be Lent in this case. However, if we take this perspective then we are missing out on a great opportunity to truly grow in our faith and also carry over what we have learned from the other seasons to the rest of our life.

What we need to do is take what we learn from Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter and apply it to all of our life, our ordinary life. This is what Ordinary Time is all about; a time that we always try to grow closer to Christ and serve him.  Let’s not waste this Ordinary Time in our life, rather let’s take advantage of it through prayer, service, and continued conversion, so that when it does come time to enter into Lent we are better prepared than we were in the past. Remember, we are always called to improve in our life, let’s take advantage of the time we have.