Thursday, May 25, 2017

Ask your parents to go to Church!: Thursday, May 25th, 2017 (School Mass)

Listen to the homily here.

Alleluia: Tuesday, May 23rd, 2017

Listen to the homily here.

How do we delight others? How does God?: Monday, May 22nd, 2017

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

“The Lord takes delight in his people…For the LORD loves his people, and he adorns the lowly with victory.”

How do we delight people? 
·      Your child, grandchildren, friends, brothers and sisters
·      And let’s also remind ourselves…do we really delight all people?
o   The ones that annoy you, challenge you, don’t like you
o   Even loved ones!
God delights us no matter what…He loves us no matter what…
·      While we grow with love
·      God is love


Big day!: 6th Sunday of Easter (St. Thomas Aquinas Mass for first communion)

Listen to the homily here.

Always be ready: 6th Sunday of Easter

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

St. John Chrysostom quote
·      For the good deeds which tax-collectors and fishermen were able to accomplish by Gods grace, the philosophers, the rulers, the countless multitudes cannot even imagine.”
o   Our Catholic Church began, not with perfect individuals, not with philosophers, not with rulers, not with media, not with social media
o   Their good deeds were accomplished by God’s grace
·      Each of you can accomplish essential gifts to our Church
·      And we might not even imagine what you can do
Two instructions from St. Peter
·      If you can take some time to read Peter’s letters, you can listen to what he taught two thousand years ago
·      1st Peter 3
First: “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence…”
·      Most of the disciples were not brilliant
·      Please share your experience with God…please read and study
·      Open your door to explain our Church
·      Give them a reason…and if you cannot, say that you do not know it, but you can find it
·      Be gentleness and reverence to who we can talk and converse
·      Most people in our culture will listen!
Second: “For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God, than for doing evil.”
·      Do we suffer for our Church?
o   Movies, television, media, social media
·      We believe in Jesus Christ…in life…in chastity
·      How have you been led through peer pressure?
o   Seeing to bad music, bad movies, bad decisions?
·      It is better to suffer for doing good than for doing evil
Listen to our first Pope: St. Peter

·      And hear once more: For the good deeds which tax-collectors and fishermen were able to accomplish by Gods grace, the philosophers, the rulers, the countless multitudes cannot even imagine

Who should we love?: Thursday, May 18th, 2017 (School Mass)

Listen to the homily here.


God prunes: Wednesday, May 17th, 2017

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

Spring to Summer
·      Nature
·      Buds, leaves, grass, green
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.
He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,
and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.”
·      “he prunes”
o   Gardener for fruit
God prunes us for fruit!



The Gospels during Mass: Tuesday, May 16th, 2017

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”




Holy Spirit: Monday, May 15th, 2017

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

"I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit 
whom the Father will send in my name— 
he will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you."
·      Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Trinity

Here is a good question: where is your relationship with Father…Son…Holy Spirit?
·      Yes, God is one nature with three persons
·      Holy Spirit: baptism, confirmation, anointing of the sick


Here is a quick prayer: “Come Holy Spirit”

Sunday, May 14, 2017

We need more Deacons!: 5th Sunday of Easter

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

Last weekend we were blessed with the sacrament of confirmation for our brothers and sisters (or your children or grandchildren!)
·      I cherish this gift from God
·      First, I don’t have to do much of anything!
·      Seriously, we were the body of our Church
o   Bishop, priest, deacon, laity, servers, musicians, sacristans, ushers
o   We all gathered together for the feast of listening to God’s Word and receive Jesus’ Body and Blood
Our family continues to grow
Our first words in the first reading: “the number of disciples continued to grow…"
·      I mentioned this before, but we are now up to 11-12 children to be baptized!
·      Our relationships with Christ and ourselves continue to grow
·      I also hope that we continue to discern the mission—or vocation—how God has called us
Remember that at each Mass, we pray for vocations
·      Priesthood, diaconate, religious life and holy marriages
·      Each of these are essential
·      Each of these hone us into our part of our family
Diaconate
·      The first reading continues: “the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.  So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said, "It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table.  Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word."
·      I mention this, because each of us have the mission that has God has told us to do
I believe that we need some deacons!
·      In Duluth, Brainerd and Ely have several deacons which asserts their parishes for Eucharistic Ministry, baptisms, funerals (without Mass) and proclamation to the Gospel
·      If you are an adult man, please discern the diaconate. 
·      If you are at Mass during the opening for fishing and/or deer hunting, you may be called to be a deacon

·      We need more deacons at it take our family to another gear to Christ

Parish Bulletin Article: "Mother's and Mother Mary's Day": 5-14-17

            This is a treasured weekend. 
Number one: happy Mother’s day! 
I believe that life itself is a miracle.  Through moms and dads and God, we were each brought to earth.  What I think is amazing is that every person on earth was born through a woman—a mother.  Thank you mothers for your gifts to life!
This weekend also reminds us for Mother Mary, through the whole month of May.  Praise God for the best Mother of all time and without sin.
And here are some other cool events in our Church through our Mother.  Saturday, May 13th, 2017 is the 100th anniversary of the miracle from our Lady of Fatima (who is another title for Mother Mary).  We will be offering different ways to learn, pray and grow in faith through our Mother.  The first event will be right after Mass this evening with Eucharistic adoration.
On the same day (Saturday), Pope Francis will be canonizing two individuals of three of the Portuguese shepherd who saw Our Lady of Fatima—Jacinta Marto and her brother Francisco.  They will be the youngest saints in history.
Finally, did you know what happened on May 13th, 1981?  St. John Paul II was shot as someone was trying to assassinate him.  And who did he ask for prayers?  Our Lady of Fatima.  Later, JPII placed a bullet in which he was shot in the crown of Our Lady of Fatima in Rome!
Let us take this weekend for time for all of our mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers and the Mother for all!
God Bless!



"The word of God continued to spread and grow...": Wednesday, May 10th, 2017

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

“The word of God continued to spread and grow…they proclaimed the word of God.”



Three important verses: Acts 11:26, John 10:28-29, John 30: Tuesday, May 9th, 2017

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

Three verses this morning:
Acts 11:26
·      “Christians” two times used in the Bible
·      Following Jesus Christ
·      Disciples as students, apostles as sent
John 10:28-29
·      “No one can take them out of my hand. 
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can take them out of the Father's hand.
John 10:30
·      “The Father and I are one.”



Check out three readings about Our Shepherd: John 10, Psalm 23, Ezekiel 34: Monday, May 8th, 2017

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

The Good Shepherd
·      Psalm 23
·      Ezekiel 34
·      John 10:1-18
·      “I am the good shepherd”
·      “I am the gate.”
·      A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”


Important spiritual events in May: 4th Sunday of Easter

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

Since Easter, we have had several young families asking for their child to be baptized
·      Also, in two weeks we will have 7 juniors confirmed and 16 2nd graders receiving their first communion
·      This is Good News!
Listen to what Peter was speaking about those who heard the Good News of Jesus Christ
·      "Let the whole house of Israel know for certain
that God has made both Lord and Christ,
this Jesus whom you crucified." 
·      Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart,
and they asked Peter and the other apostles,
"What are we to do, my brothers?" 
·      "Repent and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins;
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
·      And 3,000 persons were added to our family!
These are some basic beliefs in our faith
·      Sins—which each of us, even today, caused Jesus to be crucified
·      Repentance—to return back to Christ
·      Be baptized—we do need more than 8 children in our community
o   Go fishing for people
·      The gift of the Holy Spirit
o   Both baptism and confirmation
o   And we do need more to come back for confirmation!
This is your job…your mission
·      As a priest, my service is in our parishes—and I do what I can in our community
·      But it is you, brothers and sisters, our laity
o   “What are we to do?”
·      You are called to repent and be baptized (or confirmed)
·      You are called from God to share the Good News
·      You are called to invite your coworkers, family members, friends
·      You are called to be a priest (service through faith), prophet (to proclaim God’s love) and king (to follow Jesus Christ’s type of king)
Sheep follows their shepherd

·      We must follow our shepherd

Tea and Crumpets with the Kindergartens: Thursday, May 4th, 2017 (School Mass)

Listen to the homily here.

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

"A"postles and "a"postles: Wednesday, May 3rd, 2017

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

Sts. Philip and James: apostles
Their message goes out through all the earth.
·      Proclaiming, preaching, healing, sharing the Good News
·      1 Corinthians 15:1-8 (St. Paul)
o   “to the word I preached to you”
o   Nugget of our belief
o   Christ died for our sins, he was buried, that he was raised
Each disciples are called to be an “apostle”
·      “sent”

·      Where are you sent from Jesus Christ?

How to preach for a homily?: Tuesday, May 2nd, 2017

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

John 6: next step
"What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?
What can you do?
·      Careful!

"Amen, amen, I say to you,
it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven;
my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 
·      From God, not Moses
·      From heaven, not earth

"Sir, give us this bread always." 
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst."
·      Yes, hungry and thirsty for our bodies and physical world
·      But here is an essential step from Jesus: what about our soul?  Our salvation?  Our dimension that is above our earth?


Natural vs. supernatural: Monday, May 1st, 2017

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

Jesus teaching through natural to supernatural
·      “The wind blows where it wills,
and you can hear the sound it makes,
but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes;
so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
o   Wind: calm, windy, gusts, dangerous (tornado, hurricane, blizzard)
o   If the physical world can do this, how about the spiritual world?
The Acts of the Apostles—the Gospel of the Holy Spirit
·      The Spirit: “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.  And God said, “Let there be light”
·      “As they prayed, the place where they were gathered shook,
and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”