Pilgrim Priest

God sees us and he rewards hospitality. God welcomes us so that we will welcome him so that he can prepare our hearts so welcome others. God sees, God knows, and God understands. And he will give you what you most deeply desire.

God sees everything. We always have his attention, because he never stops loving us. Even if mom didn't see, even if dad wasn't there for us, God sees everything and he is there for us. The Lord sees you and he understands.

Christians believe that we, like the Israelites, are the chosen people. But we also believe that we have been given authority and a responsibility to bring the love and truth of Jesus Christ to all peoples.

The Church believes that every human child is a gift from God. We start with receiving the gift and then we grow into the role of the Giver. When we find our Home in the Trinity, then we are able to make an ever more perfect gift of ourselves.

The Holy Spirit wants to set us on fire so that each of us can burn with the love of God. God's one desire is to bring us into communion with him. So why do we keep standing outside the fire?

One day at Faith Formation we played a game, "Pin the flame on the Apostle." The Spirit comes to teach us that we are not orphans. We don't need to protect ourselves, provide for ourselves, or guide ourselves because we have the Holy Spirit.

Each rock that makes up St. Hyacinth Church is a unique shape, size, and color. Every stone is special! In a similar way, each and every person has a special vocation. To live it well, you have to avoid one dangerous trap.

Love is a choice to engage the world with a particular stance or attitude. Through Baptism, I learn to lay down my life for others. All the secondary vocations are calls to particular ways of self-giving love after the model of the Good Shepherd.

Do you want to see the risen Jesus? Then follow these three steps from today's Gospel: 1) Be really honest with Jesus. 2) Receive what Jesus wants to say to you. 3) Invite Jesus deeper into your life.

Trials expose our weaknesses and they prove and purify us. The Risen Jesus brought great peace, strength, and unity to the early Christian community. The same Risen Jesus stands in our midst and offers us peace when we are ready to receive it.

I think most of us want to get to the end of our life and look back and say, "That was worth it!" Easter reveals Jesus's secret for success: We are God's children, and doing our Father's will will lead to the most successful life possible.

Each one of us is a gift, hand-made by God and given to the world. But the world often does not receive us as a gift. Even though the world rejects Jesus, he knows that his gift is safe in the Father's hands.

The Paschal Lamb was a sacrifice and a sacred meal. It's blood saved the Israelites from the Angel of Death. It died for them, so that they could live. Before you consume this meal, ask yourself: "Am I willing to give in the same measure?"

Donkeys are marked with a cross. If we follow Jesus and accept his kingship, then our lives will also be marked with the cross. Jesus believes God will be with him, he will have the strength to accomplish God's will, and it will be worth it.

"Lord, if you had been here my brother, sister, parent, child... would not have died!" Jesus cries with them. Then he brings his friend back to life. Are you prepared for your funeral? Are you prepared for your Friend to raise you from the dead?

Evangelization is not about convincing people that we are right. It's about helping people we love discover how thirsty they are, and then showing them where to find the spring of life-giving water.

On the way into the desert, the nation of Israel stops for a mountain-top experience. Jesus gives his three closest disciples a mountain-top experience. When did Jesus become real for you? Save your mountain-top moments and keep going back to them.

We do not conquer sin and death by figuring out the techniques that Jesus used. Instead, we conquer sin and death by joining Jesus in HIS victory over sin and death. Guard your mind, words, and actions this Lent, because your identity is at stake.

Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta were half-hearted Catholics. Then an angel appeared to them to prepare them for Mary's visit. She told them they needed to pray and do penance for the conversion of sinners. They began to pray, and give alms.

The rules are good, but following them is not enough. Our hearts must be transformed. Let us say YES to the Holy Spirit and his truth and goodness. Let us say NO to the little lies we believe and even the small ways we don't fully love.

In the beginning, Adam and Eve were able to receive one another as a gift. But sin traps us all in patterns of using and being used. This leads to rivalries, jealousies, and divisions. How can we learn to give ourselves completely to one another?

Confirmation: anointing with gladness, clothing with light, a cloak of salvation, a spiritual gift, the sanctification of souls and bodies, the indelible seal, a buckler of faith, and a fearsome helmet against all the works of the adversary.

The Devil attacks your value because love of God and love of neighbor flow from the same unlikely source: loving yourself! Repeat after me: "It is good that I exist." Now turn to your neighbor and tell them, "It is good that you exist."

Herod needs to be the star, and he will eliminate any competition. The Wise Men have wound the true Star. They also teach us that we have a gift to give. Every Sunday at Mass, we present our gifts to our King, our God, the healer of our ills.

God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons. (Sirach 3:2) As our new year begins, let us learn to exercise the authority we have in Christ, while we also live within the protection of Mary's authority.

Herod has all the king's horses and all the king's men. Joseph has a donkey. Yet Joseph manages to beat Herod the Great. He does not rely on his own strength, wisdom, or abilities, but on God. Joseph is a great father because he is a great son!

Many of us will leave Jesus at church and not take him home with us because he doesn't fit our expectations or our lifestyle choices. But only this gift can save you. Jimmy finds out the hard way what a good gift really looks like.

King Ahaz faces a complicated and difficult political situation. He doesn't need a plan, strategy, or powerful allies because God is with him. The answer to your prayers is not a gift tucked under a Christmas tree; it is Jesus himself, God-with-us.

We can get discouraged when God doesn't act promptly. We might think that God isn't listening or doesn't care. We need to wait in joyful hope for God to act. Our Lady of Guadalupe reminds us that when God acts, it will be worth the wait.

Thanks to original sin, every child is perfect and precious and also rather annoying. And we make things worse with our sinful choices. So when God wanted to send the most perfect gift, he made Mary precious and beautiful and without original sin.

Winter was coming, but were you prepared? Advent was coming, were you ready? Jesus is coming; are you prepared to meet him? Before bedtime, take three simple steps: Gratitude, Contrition, and Resolution.

Jesus is king now, despite the fact that earthly kings, presidents, and CEOs currently appear to have much more power than Jesus. God has picked the eternal king. Decide now to live in his kingdom.

These beautiful buildings dedicated to the worship of God speak to us of our true dignity and vocation. Every Christian is consecrated to the Lord. The church is holy so we can be holy. We should be no less holy than our local Catholic Church!

Baptism starts our journey to God's kingdom. We then spend the rest of our life preparing for our funeral. On the last day, at his Second Coming, Jesus will raise the dead and put Heaven and Earth together again. It's coming quicker than you think.

Holiness is not fundamentally the fruit of hard work. It is a gift from God. In the Beatitudes, Jesus gives us a description of his own face. This is what we look like when we become holy. Let us hasten towards our heavenly Jerusalem!

When you change your own life, you have changed the world! Persistent prayer helps us to grow closer to God in any circumstance. "Lord, show me how you are inviting me to grow closer to you through my Time, Talent and Treasure commitments in 2026."

Naaman encounters love and truth through his obedience to God's will, and experiences wholeness and communion. Being obedient to God leads to healing. Even the sufferings, burdens, and challenges that we face are really gifts from God.

Maybe this title is a little bit of click-bait. But if I told you I was talking about Stewardship and serving God in little ways, you wouldn't have clicked on it. You decide if it was worth listening.

Do we see the world through a lens of competition or cooperation? Jesus has a message for us and our leaders: The winners of today will be the losers of tomorrow, and the losers of today will be the winners of tomorrow.

Anti-venom comes from animals who were poisoned intentionally and survived. Jesus suffers with you and for you. He is the anti-venom. When you suffer, look at the cross!

Marriage only works when both spouses are willing to go "all-in". In a similar way, many of us are trying to follow Jesus as if discipleship were a side-job. When we are willing to go "all-in" as disciples then everything else falls into place.

St. Francis chose poverty because it made him like Jesus. Jesus chose poverty because it made him like us. Deep down we are really poor. And we can respond to our poverty one of two ways.

Discipline is about teaching ourselves, and others, to put first things first. We first discern what is important. Then we train ourselves to say "Yes" to the good and important things and "No" to the bad and less-important things.

Thank you, men, for coming to Mass today. The world tells you that you should be anywhere else but here: fishing, working, having fun, or sleeping off a hangover. But you know that you can only be a good leader for others if you let Jesus lead you.

God is producing a great play, the "Theo-drama", starring Jesus with Mary as Best Supporting Actress. We each have a special and unique roll, which we discover and live when we let the Holy Spirit direct us.

Listen as Logan Shallow shares his testimony. Jesus is real. We can trust him. "Walk with me," Jesus says. You won't regret it!

The only thing in God's wallet is photos of his kids. Lots and lots of photos, because God has lots and lots of kids. The Catholic Church believes that every person has a dignity and value that comes from God himself, and no one can take away.

I had the privilege of listening to Bishop Barron preach on how Jesus is like the Good Samaritan. My favorite part of the homily is that the Catholic Church is kind of like the inn. We are helping those wounded by sin recover from their injuries.

Like the Jews in Babylon or the Christians in Galatia, we live in a secular pagan culture soaked in sex, violence, gluttony, and material excess. Many are tempted to adopt the lifestyle of our neighbors. But God is calling couples to be missionaries.

Three thoughts on my ordination. 1) I am Blessed to be a Blessing to Others. 2) I didn’t turn out to be the Perfect Catholic Priest, but God only needs my daily "yes". 3) Our individual “yeses” are part of a community, a family of faith.