Ascension is our Glory and our Hope

I hope that you all had a great Sunday, and were able to enjoy the weather. I was able to celebrate the Ascension of the Lord and it just seemed like it was a perfect day. Below is my homily, it starts around the 20 second mark.

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The Time is Now

As many of you know, one of my hobbies is running. I started to do this about two and half years ago, as a way to exercise and lose some weight for the most part. However, running has not always agreed with me, I remember even as a second grader running the mile, and having an extremely bad coughing attack after I was done running, which kept on happening all the way through college. But, over the last two and a half years these attacks have gone away (for the most part), and running has become a staple in my life.

My father, Bernie, also got interested in running as a way to lose weight, and really enjoyed running. It was amazing to see my dad (who was not a small guy) go out for runs, and even run half marathons. As a matter of fact, before he was diagnosed once again with cancer (which eventually took his life), he had registered to run the Twin Cities Marathon, but never was able to complete it. Two of my sisters have ran the Twin Cities Marathon in honor of my dad, and once again it has been amazing to see their dedication to the training program, and seeing them run through many injuries and tears. So, with all of this I would like to announce that I am registered to run in the Twin Cities Marathon this year on October 2, 2011. I have been thinking about this for many years now, and I believe that this is the time to do it. The training has already begun, and I do have a target time that I want to achieve, and let’s just say Oprah’s marathon time better watch out, but the Boston Marathon qualifying time has nothing to worry about. 

One of the things that my dad was always proud of was our Catholic education, and if you take a look at the Twin Cities Marathon, you will also probably realize that it is around the same time as Epiphany’s school marathon which is on October 1, 2011. So, just like when I was in grade school, this year I too will be taking pledges for our school, with the goal of providing tuition for one student and also some other expenses that the child may have (like athletic fees, uniform, etc.). So, the total that I am hoping for is $4,000. I know that this is a lot of money, but it is for a great cause, and something that my father would be proud to be associated with. If you would like to donate what you can do is write out a check to Epiphany School and send it to me. Also, you can send cash, just make sure to include your name in the note and specify that it is for the school marathon. Every little bit will help out.

Also, I have received many comments from people letting me know that they have seen me running around Coon Rapids. If you do see me running don’t be afraid to honk your horn, wave, or even hand me some water (that would be great).  I know that the next 18 weeks are going to be physically challenging, but I think that they will go by a lot easier if I am able to receive some encouragement along the way, so please do not be afraid to honk your horn, I guarantee that it will bring a smile to my face.

Oh yeah, don’t forget to include me in your prayers as well, I know that I’ll need them.

St. Sebastian Patron Saint of Athletes, St. John Bosco Patron of School Children, St. Jude Patron of Lost Causes, pray for me.

Stay Tuned for Some Big News

The big news will either be posted tomorrow or Friday, so let the guessing begin (post a comment with your guess if you want). I'll give you a couple of clues, I am not moving anywhere (at least that I know of), and a picture is worth a thousand words.

Update: The guy running is the main clue. Also, the post was published on National Running Day. Good guesses though, and I would not be opposed to either of them. However, I think the Catholic Spirit may happen before the Twins make the playoffs this year.

1 Year Later

 It was great to have most of my classmates from the Archdiocese join me last night for Mass. Fr. Erik Lundgren was not able to join us for Mass, but was able to join us afterwards for dinner. Once again thank you for all of your prayers, but more importantly thank you for your witness.

Below is my homily from Sunday.

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New Priests

When I checked my mail today a huge smile came to my face. Inside my mail box was the Catholic Spirit, and on the front cover was a picture of the five men who will be ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on Saturday. The “new priest” issue of the Catholic Spirit is by far my favorite of the year, and I enjoy reading about the new priests. I remember doing this even when I was in high school and thinking wouldn’t it be cool to be in that issue some day. I encourage all of you to take a look at the Catholic Spirit and read about the newly ordained priests, and here is a link to their website.

Today is also the one year anniversary of me learning that I was coming to Epiphany. I remember sitting with the Archbishop at lunch and hoping that he was going to send me to Epiphany, and sure enough here I am! It has been a great year, with many firsts. It also has been a year that has flown by; I can’t believe that this Sunday will be my one year anniversary of being ordained a priest. As a way to celebrate our anniversary, all of my classmates will be coming to Epiphany on Sunday night for Mass at 5:30 and a little get together afterwards, which will be a great time. A special thanks to all of you for all of the prayers, I know that they are working, so please keep praying. Also, continue to pray for all priests, especially the ones who will be ordained this year, so that they too can have a great first year as a priest.

Build it Up

Thank you to everyone who came out to Springfest, it was a great time.
Here is my homily from Sunday:

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What are we going to do?

This past Sunday I used my mother as an example in my homily. Once again I just want to let my mom know that if you ever listen to this homily, I do love you, and this was only an example.
Update: Thank you John for calling my sister and letting her know that I uploaded the wrong homily. Below is the homily from this past weekend.

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Share in the Divinity of Christ

On Sunday we had First Communion for some of our students. It was an honor to be able to be the celebrant for these Masses and it made me think back to my own First Communion(yes these are actually pictures of me, and as you can tell my hair is the same now as it was back then). Please make sure to keep these children and all children in your prayers.

Here is my homily which ends at the 8:30 mark:

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Second Friday Young Adults

    For the past four months or so I have been brainstorming with another individual on how to get young adults involved more in their faith. Although we do not have all the answers, we know that young adults are just not engaged in their faith like they should be, and so one of the solutions that we have came up with is a series of talks that are focused on young adult issues. This is not for Epiphany parishioners only, this is for any young adult (21-39, single or married) who wants to get more engaged in their faith and we hope that people outside of Epiphany will attend.Here is a link to the website for this series, and their is also a link to it in the upper right hand corner. As you can tell from the name we will be having a talk every second Friday of the month. Please join us if you can, and if you do not fit in the age range, make sure to spread it to other people who can and also pray for us young adults, we need it!!!

Open Wide the Doors to Christ!

Here is a link to Pope Benedict's homily from yesterday. It is a beautiful homily, and it truly shows how Blessed Pope John Paul II was a man full of faith.

Definitely below the quality of our Holy Fathers homily, here is mine from yesterday.

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