Mon of 17th Week of OT Homily

1st Reading: Jer 13:1-11

Responsorial Psalm: Dt 32:18-21

Gospel: Mt 13:31-35

We can all benefit from learning more about the faith that we celebrate. We definitely know people who have abandoned their faith for some reason and can be invited to return to the Church. Their are people who have never heard the Gospel message and could benefit from hearing it within their lives. Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have all spoken about the importance of the new evangelization for our world. We have an important task here to integrate our faith into our lives and in return to bring it out to the world. We can only be successful in the task if we unite ourselves with Christ.

If we are to begin to unite ourselves more and more with Christ each day we must return to his infinite mercy. This mercy was known by the prophet Jeremiah and it was his desire to share it with the world. Through reconciliation we are led to better serve the Gospel and to be opened up to the graces that come to us from God. We can then learn more about our faith and spend more time desiring to draw ourselves closer to Christ in prayer. Reconciliation, knowledge, and prayer are all important elements as we allow Christ to set our faith aflame so that it can spread throughout the world.

In our Gospel passage we are told about the yeast that has wheat added to it and it is allowed to grow. Of course when this is cooked it becomes bread which is very important imagery especially when looked at in conjunction with yesterday's Gospel. Here we co,e to understand the gift of the Eucharist where Christ is present in His Body and Blood and desires to give nourishment to our lives. May we allow the Eucharist to be the strength of our faith which leads us into the new evangelization. May we hand over all of our needs to Christ and allow Him to handle them, so that through his strength we can become instruments through which the faith can grow to all corners of the world.

17th Sun of OT Year B Homily

1st Reading: 2 Kgs 4:42-44

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 145:10-11,15-18

2nd Reading: Eph 4:1-6

Gospel: Jn 6:1-15

A magician is able to make miraculous things happen before the eyes of people. They are able to take everyday objects such as coins and make them disappear and reappear in the blink of an eye. They are able to place a person in a box and cut them in half; only to put them back together in a matter of moments. We must admit that these people are able to do some extraordinary stuff from some very ordinary objects. If they were unable to do anything out of the ordinary we would be forced to admit that they would make a pretty poor magician. In our lives we are constantly being surrounded by ordinary things that have great potential that lie beyond themselves. The issue for us is how we can allow ourselves to look beyond these ordinary objects and to see the realities that lie beyond. A magician is able to do this through their act because they are able to look into the ordinary and see all the possibilities that exist and then are able to make them come into play.

Today we take a five week break from the Gospel of Saint Mark to place our focus upon chapter 6 of the Gospel of Saint John. This chapter is placing its focus upon the bread of life that has come down to us from Heaven. This chapter from John comes properly placed when we look at it in conjunction with the Gospel text that was proclaimed last week at the Mass. Last week we heard from the Gospel of Saint Mark where it was said that Christ has concern for each us in the midst of our greatest needs and wants us to place those needs in His hands. From these scripture passages we come to realize the importance of the extraordinary things that enter into our lives. Sometimes when we place our focus upon what is ordinary we lose sight of the true reality that exists behind what is taking place. In our journey of faith we are surrounded by many ordinary examples that contain a much richer reality behind them. One of these rich realities is that of the Mass where we come to be nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ.

At the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we come together as a community of faith to be nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ. If you would take a glance at the bread and the wine you would think that what is going on here is very ordinary. Bread and wine of course are very ordinary objects which we encounter often in our daily lives. In all reality what is going at the Mass is far from ordinary. We may have ordinary objects such as the bread and wine, but something far greater is going on before our eyes. Through the words of the priest these ordinary objects are becoming far from ordinary. Yes, these objects may look like bread and wine, but they have become the extraordinary because they are truly the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ who entered into the world to bring nourishment to all believers. Before our eyes dwells the presence of Christ in these ordinary elements, so that in our greatest spiritual needs we will be provided for as those in the Gospel of John were provided for during their time of need.

The gospel passage is a reminder for us of the great hope that Christ places into each of our lives. In this passage we have a multitude of people who find themselves drawn close to Christ. Christ in return gives them the spiritual assistance that they were in search of and then goes on to realize the importance of nourishment within their lives. He then took ordinary objects such as bread and fish and had the apostles take these ordinary objects to distribute to the people. These first priests of the Church did as they were instructed and thus went to the people to distribute what seemed to be much of nothing to a HUGE amount of people. From these ordinary objects something extraordinary took place because they did not run out of food and by the end of the day something was left over. This had to of been a most profound moment in the life of the apostles because of the extraordinary event that took place before their eyes. This extraordinary event continues to take place before our eyes at each Mass that takes place around the world.

At the Mass this notion that was begun with the Gospel of Saint John is continued. Christ continues to this day to have the priests of the Church take the ordinary element of bread and through the words given by Christ something extraordinary takes place. We the people of God who come to this Church to find spiritual nourishment are able to open ourselves up to the gifts that come within this Mass. Through the words of the priest, the hymns that we sing, the readings, and prayers of the Mass our hearts and souls are opened up to receive the nourishment that comes to us from God. In these ordinary gestures something extraordinary takes place because we are brought before Christ in a most profound manner. We who enter into this extraordinary realm are bringing all of our worries, struggles, and fears along and are joining them together with the cross of Christ. It is here at this place that the ordinary objects of bread and wine are brought forth and truly become the Body and Blood of Christ.

No matter where we find ourselves today we can trust with all our hearts and souls that the Body and Blood of Christ truly dwells here with us. We can trust that we can bring all of our needs and desires to this Mass and receive the nourishment that we are in search of. What takes place here with the ordinary elements of bread and wine is not a act of magic, but is truly Christ present with us at work in our lives through these ordinary elements. Through these gifts we are invited to join with Saint Paul as a people of one faith, one Lord, and one baptism who are invited to come together as one community. May we no longer allow our minds to be at ease with accepting the ordinary into our lives without allowing our hearts and souls to be taken to the extraordinary that lies beyond what we see. When we allow the extraordinary to truly work within our lives we are allowing the Lord to come and feed us in all of our needs. May our eyes look hopefully to the Lord as we receive this nourishment within our lives.

Fri of 16th Week in OT Homily

1st Reading: Jer 3:14-17

Responsorial Psalm: Jer 31:10-13

Gospel: Mt 13:18-23

Deacon Gary and all the hands that have assisted in working inside of our parish garden have brought about a lot of fresh produce. If you are to walk around the garden your eyes would quickly be drawn to the tomatoes which seem to have had no problem in growing. Through planting the seed it seems like they picked the perfect type of soil because things have really taken off. If the choice for land was any different the results may of been far different then what we have currently received. Our Gospel today gives us the much needed challenge to look inwardly and thus evaluate what we have built our faith upon.

In this Gospel we were given images of different possibilities when it comes to planting seed. In planting one has to put a lot of thought into what they are doing or their results will not go according to their original desires. For people of faith we also have many possibilities that have been given to us concerning the path that we will follow. We teach concerning virtues and vices and admit that each effects our growth of faith. When one commits a certain sin over and over they are allowing themselves to be exposed to vice. On the other hand when one does something that forms their habits to be directed towards God they are building up the strength that is found inside the virtues.

May we invest the time that is needed in our lives to allow virtue to spring up within our lives. If we find ourselves to be following the path of vice may we invest the time needed to pull ourselves away from these deadly habits. No matter where we find ourselves today may we trust as the prophet Jeremiah did by returning ourselves to God. It can only be through allowing our faith to be built upon God that we can ever hope to leave our vices behind and thus allow our hearts and souls to find the soil that is needed to spring us forth into new life. Only in doing this will we allow ourselves to be guarded by Christ our Shepherd as we draw closer to Him.

Feast of St. James Homily

1st Reading: 2 Cor 4:7-15

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 126:1-6

Gospel: Mt 20:20-28

What does it mean for us to be great? People often like to debate who the greatest sport star ever was for a certain sport. In the wake of the Olympics we have many people who are trying to prove how great they are because they plan on winning the gold medal. Surely if a person was to win a gold medal in the Olympics we would be forced to admit that they must be great. Of course in using great in this manner we are paying attention to the great talents that these people have in overcoming others in a certain event to prove that they have the best attributes to make them great.

Our Gospel gives us a different glimpse into the reality of what makes one great. This list that is given to us does not contain winning sports events and thus becoming the greatest at something. We are instead given a list of attributes which shows our need to lower ourselves to others especially to Christ. This call for humility to enter into our lives is a very different definition to great then we would give to the debate of who is the best at a certain field. This form of greatness is placing Christ at the head of our lives and thus allowing Him to work within our lives instead of trying to prove that we are great by doing it ourselves.

Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint James, who was an apostle and martyr. We can defiantly say that this man was great because he was able to live out these attributes of greatness within his life. Saint James was able to be a servant of the Gospel and to go into the world and live out this service to all people whom he encountered. His service to the Gospel eventually brought him to death from the sword of Herod making him the first martyr from among the twelve disciples of Christ. May his example encourage us to search for greatness in our lives by lowering ourselves to Christ through humility, so that we may rejoice with Him continually.

Tues of 16th Week of a OT Homily

1st Reading: Mi 7:14-15,18-20

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 85:2-8

Gospel: Mt 12:46-50

The discussion from this Gospel passage and ones which are similar to it are often brought up when discussing people's devotion to St. Mary. It has been said that by the mere fact that Jesus' brothers are referred to inside of this passage that we have proof that Mary's role in the Church should be lowered. If Christ was able to have brothers surely this means that Mary was not a virgin nor free from the stain of sin. This is the misunderstanding with this text and with the scriptural use of brother in the context of this passage. The Fathers of the Church point out that we have each been invited to enter into communion with Christ and thus become His sisters and brothers.

The reality that we have been called to enter into this community as the sisters and brothers of Christ and be invited to receive the Body and Blood of Christ should be an important reality for each of us. As we enter into the next five Sundays of Ordinary Time we will be entering into the Gospel of Saint John where we will focus upon the bread of life that comes to us from Heaven. Through these passages of scripture we will be acknowledging that Christ dwells in the Sacrament of the Altar and calls to each of us to join with Him as His sisters and brothers.

Saint Mary is the Mother of God who was free from the stain of sin. Through her intercession we are invited to enter more deeply into relationship with her son. It is her desire for us to join her as her children, so that we may be drawn closer to the Heart of her Son. May we the brothers and sisters of Christ enter into this relationship and allow ourselves to enter more fully into the community of Christ. Through this great reality we have been invited to share the mercy and love of the Lord each day of our lives.

Sat of 15th Week of OT Homily

1st Reading: Mi 2:1-5

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 10:1-4,7-8,14

Gospel: Mt 12:14-21

Jesus finds Himself surrounded by two different groups of people. On one hand we have the Pharisees who lacked faith in Christ and His acts and only wanted to point out the shortcomings of other people. On the other hand you have people who are willing to invite Jesus into their lives and allow Him to work on their behalf with great faith. We must ask ourselves which group that we want to find ourselves among. Nobody here can answer this question for us because we must give this answer ourselves. In evaluating this for ourselves we can decide if we want to be with the group who used pride against Christ or allowed humility to work in their relationship with Christ.

If we have come here today only to be seen we are doing ourselves a great injustice. Instead we should come here to open ourselves up to the will of God and to allow Him to work within our lives. Today at this Mass we will receive the great gift of Christ present in His Body and Blood who wishes to come here and dwell with us. We must receive this gift and thus allow our hearts and souls to become one with God the Father. We cannot allow ourselves to stand back like the Pharisees and criticize everything to make ourselves look good. We should instead allow ourselves to walk humbly with the Lord.

The Pharisees came at Christ with pride while this people of great faith acted through humility. Humility must be the tool that we use to allow Christ to work within our lives. May we open up our hearts and souls today to this great gift so that we may begin to counteract the pride that exists inside of our lives. Through the use of humility we will draw closer to Christ as the group did in today's Gospel instead of keeping ourselves separated from Him through our impulse of pride.

Fri of the 15th Week of OT Homily

1st Reading: Is 38:1-6,21-22,7-8

Responsorial Psalm: Is 38:10,11,12,16

Gospel: Mt 12:1-8

"I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men." I always find it to be a great comfort because I always know what the Catholic Church is going to teach because it's teachings are unchanging. We know what the Church's teachings are concerning marriage to our need to attend Mass on Sunday. There are many in this world who may not accept these teachings, but we need to react out of love instead of the haste of hate. We must stay true to what the Church teaches, but we must also act with mercy.

None of us present inside of this Church are worthy of the Sacraments that we hope to share, but out of mercy Christ is present bringing them into our lives. We will shortly receive Holy Communion, but we all have a sinful past. Despite this past Christ is present offering His mercy to each of us. We have the Sacrament of Reconciliation where we can go not to be judged, but to receive the great mercy of Christ. Anointing of the Sick is another example of the mercy of Christ being given freely to those who choose to have this mercy brought into their lives at the moment of great sickness and at the moment of death.

May each of us grow in the understanding of Christ's infinite mercy that is bestowed upon us and may we grow in allowing this mercy to enter into the way that we live our lives. If we are going to bring people into the truth of the Church we must shed mercy upon all people that we meet. We must work out of love instead of working out of hate because through love we can draw people closer to the truth that is found in Christ. May these Sacraments that we share be the foundation for us as we bring Christ's mercy into the world.

Wed of the 15th Week of OT Homily

1st Reading: Is 10:5-7,13-16

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 94:5-10,14-15

Gospel: Mt 11:25-27

There is nothing worse then the person who believes that they know everything. With this type of person there is nothing left for them to learn because they already know it. Of course in matters such as scripture and understanding the faith requires each of us to acknowledge that there is room for each of us to learn something more. This goes for each of us including priests. To think how bad a doctor would be if upon the day of leaving medical school they believed that they knew everything. If this were true they would have no reason to keep up with medical innovations and thus in time become ineffective.

In our Gospel Christ is not cutting down those who are wise and learned, but is pointing to those who are filled with pride. The prideful place themselves at the top of the world and thus they already know everything. Instead knowledge is given to the childlike because they are able to approach this knowledge through humility. Pride will never accomplish anything for us, but if we act through humility we will be opening ourselves up to Christ to acknowledge that we have more that we desire to learn about scripture and the faith that we profess. It is our life long challenge to continue to strive through humility towards Christ.

Today we celebrate the memorial of Saint Camillus de Lellis who is an example of living out a life founded upon humility. He struggled with his addiction to gambling and instead of trusting in himself alone gave himself over to Christ. He realized that he was nothing without Christ and then began to learn more about the faith daily. In time he began a religious society who was dedicated to working with those who were sick. May we take up his example and allow ourselves to open up to Christ through humility. May we allow this humility to further open up to our ongoing need to grow deeper into the reality of faith each day.

Mon of the 15th Week of OT Homily

1st Reading: Is 1:10-17

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 50:8-9,16-17,21,23

Gospel: Mt 10:34-11:1

In the busy world that we live in it is easy to place stumbling blocks in our way. If you were to get up in the middle of the night and attempt to walk about your house with the lights off you should be able to find your way around the house. Every once in awhile something pops up that you do not remember or should not be there and you trip over it. To save yourself from running into the same problem again you would probably move the object out of the way in order to save you the trouble. This is what today's readings are trying to inspire inside of the listener.

The people of Sodom and Gomorrah are being told that they are walking about blind because they place so much trust inside of sacrifices. The people of these cities are allowing themselves to stumble over their sacrifices because they fail to properly order them towards God. Jesus is warning His followers about getting caught in the dark of night and allowing things such as family to get in the way of their faith. Yes family is important, but we must place the Lord first in our lives and allow these relations to lead us towards Him instead of away from Him. It is the desire of Christ to be placed at the center of our lives.

Today we celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel where we have a woman who will not allow us to walk about stumbling over objects in the dark of night. Instead this lady will bring light into our lives as she always directs us towards her Son. May we continue to trust in the Blessed Virgin Mary and allow her to bring us to Christ. When we draw towards Christ in this manner we will do so out of humility which is far different then any stumbling block that lies in wait for us. Through devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary may we come to know the saving power of God that is constantly at work within our lives.

15th Sun of OT Year B Homily

1st Reading: Am 7:12-15

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 85:9-14

2nd Reading: Eph 1:3-14

Gospel: Mk 6:7-13

The Catholic Church has held great influence over our society and there is a need inside of this culture for us to regain our concern for the morality of society. At one point Hollywood desired to please the Catholic Church because the influence that its faithful had was so great that people would band together in solidarity to boycott any film that was found to be offensive. In 1933 the Catholic Legion of Decency was founded and would wield great power inside of the American movie industry. This organization would work hard to guard against anything that was deemed to be morally offensive concerning cinema. This organization and others who followed in their footsteps walked into a world that could be hostile to the faith that was founded upon Christ and His teachings. Instead of giving into the demands of the culture they continued to go out and endure in spreading the faith according to the teachings of Christ. Their work spent inside the harvest helped to transform the culture of the world to Christ and His Church.

Christ sent out his twelve apostles into a world that would not always be accepting of the message of the Gospel. He informed them that there would be people who would not accept them and their message into their lives. Despite this truth they were not instructed to change their message to make people happy, but were simply told to try and then move on. These twelve men were not sent out into an easy world and therefore their desire to preach the truth would bring them all to a martyr's death besides Saint John. It would of been easy for them to conform with the culture and thus forget their Christian mission in order to save their lives. Instead they moved away from Christ and brought His message into the world. No matter what demand would reach their ears they would not change their mission in order to conform to the culture, but would keep Christ before them as the mark on which they should base all that they do. We are each invited to join with them as we go out into the world and must face the culture of our current society.

It has become easy for us to get sucked into our culture and forget the religious morals that we hold dear to ourselves. We exist in a world that has allowed these contrary messages to sneak into our lives and now make excuses to why they should be held as acceptable. Our moral compass has been changed from using Christ as the center of all of our life choices to placing ourselves at the center. We must move away from this state of life and begin to reclaim our culture. We must be the people who step up inside of our world and go out as new disciples bringing with us the teachings of Christ. We are the disciples who enter into a world that will not always accept our message, but we cannot lose hope because Christ stands at the center of the ministry that we bring into the world. When our faith revolves around Christ instead of from the culture that we live within we can truly begin to be free and finally be able to inspire change within the world that we live within.

Today's first reading takes a look at the prophet Amos, who was a simple shepherd who was called away from his job to become a prophet of the Lord. We see from this reading that the priest of Bethel was so upset with Amos for his visions that he casted him off from his midst. Being casted off because of one's willingness to be countercultural happens a lot. Anytime that we join together to profess the truth we will not make our culture happy because we are going against the flow of things. Creating this tension in society is the only way that we can hope to make people evaluate their thoughts and thus live in a tension that can lead them towards the truth. Each of us has been called by the Lord to follow in the footsteps of Amos who was told to: "Go, prophesy to my people." As we go into the world to reclaim the culture from its current state we will be living out this demand. Bringing the Lord into our lives will allow us to be missionaries to our culture who is in need of all the help that it can get.

Our letter from Saint Paul to the Ephesians reminds us of the fact that we are each destined to live out the purpose of God. When we live in communion with God we are opening ourselves up to the praise and glory that comes with Jesus Christ and are being sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit. In order to live out a life that is destined to live out the purpose of God we must hold God at its center and cannot solely draw upon the culture from which we live. When we enter into this culture we must trust in the power of the Holy Trinity which comes to dwell with each of us and can give us the strength to overcome any temptation that may enter into our lives. All the wisdom that we will need to speak and live out the truth of the Gospel can be found inside of the Trinity. It can only be through allowing the Trinity to enter into our lives that we can become true representatives of the Gospel that we must bring into the world. No matter how hard or impossible this task may seem we must rely upon the Trinity as our strength.

As we go out into the world and draw upon the love of that is found inside of the Trinity we are being the disciples of Christ who can reform the culture of which we live. We can thus bring the message of Christ into the world and allow Him to begin to reform our current knowledge of the culture. We can be the voices of reason ,within this confused world, that can forever speak the truth of the Gospel. Not only will we speak this truth, but we will most importantly live it out within our lives and stop allowing our culture to be the one that controls our lives. Many examples have gone before us in this life who have accomplished this great representation of the ministry of Christ, and they fill us with much hope as we go out to accomplish the same task. Therefore my brothers and sisters in Christ I pray that each of us will encounter the truth that is found inside of the Gospel message where we are able to see the kindness of the Lord and trust inside of the salvation that He bestows to each of us.

Fri of the 14th Week of OT Homily

1st Reading: Hos 14:2-10

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 51:3-4,8-9,12-14,17

Gospel: Mt 10:16-23

In today's Gospel we are told that we will be sent out like sheep among wolves. This imagery should make us instantly think of how tough it can be to live a life which respects our faith. There are many messages out there which are constantly coming at us and want us to turn from our beliefs and thus be devoured whole. Instead of giving into these messages we must trust in the Holy Spirit and open our hearts to it, so that we may be given the strength needed to encounter all of these wolves which are trying to put end to our growth of faith. The disciples encountered these same struggles and they were able to place their trust in the Spirit who was working within their lives.

The Holy Spirit does work inside of our lives and is willing to give us the strength needed if we can only open hearts to listen to its voice. If we can open our hearts, only a little bit, we can put to rest each urge which attempts to tare us away from our faith. Giving into these unnatural urges causes us to hear this voice less and less. We should instead allow this voice to speak more and more within our lives. By giving the Holy Spirit such weight within our lives we can trust that we will be able to endure each false voice that enters into our lives.

As we make room for the Holy Spirit to come and dwell within our lives our mouths will be able to proclaim the praise of the Lord. At each moment where we feel as if we will be led astray in our journey of faith we will be given the voice to cry out faithfully. Through growing in these habits we will begin to blossom like the vine and begin to produce much fruit within our culture. Our unmoving connection to the Spirit will give us the strength needed to enter into a world filled with many wolves and not have to fear as we allow our mouths to declare the praise of the Lord.

Memorial of St. Benedict Homily

1st Reading: Hos 10:1-3,7-8,12

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 105:2-7

Gospel: Mt 10:1-7

Today we commemorate the memorial of Saint Benedict. Saint Benedict and his order of monks have been close to me for my whole time in seminary. For my first four years of seminary I attended Conception Seminary College which is located in Missouri and for my second half of life in the seminary I attended Saint Meinrad Seminary in Indiana. Both of these communities taught me the values of the Benedictine Order and helped to form me in their spirit of prayer. These monks have been removed from the bustle of the world and have been set aside so that they may come to seek the Lord through their search for holiness.

These Benedictine communities have followed in the footsteps of their founder, Saint Benedict. Saint Benedict who drew away from the busyness of the city to form a community that was removed from it. This community would join together in prayer and aid each other in their search for holiness in everyday life. From this community of followers the Rule of Saint Benedict was written in order to aspire these monks to move towards holiness in their everyday lives. Saint Benedict is an inspiration to our society who finds it so hard to get away from the busyness of life to spend anytime secluded in quiet prayer.

Each of us here today have been called to search for holiness in our everyday lives. We each exist in the busyness of the world, but we have all been called to find time to turn away from this message. Through turning away at times to spend time in prayer we will draw ourselves closer to God and His Son. These experiences of quiet prayer will lead us to seek the face of the Lord at all moments of our lives. This transformation of our lives will lead us into the world and will allow us to proclaim the message of the Kingdom of Heaven. May we be an inspiration to the world of our need to draw out from it and begin to search for a relationship with God.

14 Sun of OT Year B Homily

1st Reading: Ez 2:2-5

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 123:1-4

2nd Reading: 2 Cor 12:7-10

Gospel: Mk 6:1-6

This past Wednesday the night sky was filled with many beautiful colors as our nation celebrated it's Independence. No matter where you found yourself you could hear the never ending boom that came with each firework that was shot into the air. When you think about the noise and the blast that happens when you shoot these into the night sky it is quite remarkable. It is remarkable that from a small object, such as a firework, that all of this can come about. Of course if you take a bottle rocket and hold it inside the palm of your hand nothing will happen. In order to get any results you have to light a match and place it to the wick in order to ignite the gunpowder that is found inside. Only after following these steps can anyone expect anything to come about when using fireworks. If any of these steps were to be left out the result would be nothing because you put nothing into it and thus you can get nothing out of it. Our faith can accomplish many things if we allow ourselves to put something into it.

Today's Gospel from Saint Mark gives us a glimpse into the lives of people who do not have the time nor the energy to place any work into their faith. Each of these people who were present inside of this passage had so much room for opportunity to take place within their lives and yet they did not take advantage of it. Jesus Christ was even present before them and yet they did not allow Him to work within their lives. It was not through the fault of Christ that miracles were not able to be performed, but it was due to the lack of faith that was present inside of the people. Only if these people had a little bit of faith great miracles would of been performed within their lives. They did not realize that they needed to put work into something if they expected to get anything out of it. Jesus was amazed at their lack faith because He knew the potential that existed for each of them that was being wasted. It was His desire for these people to use their potential to its fullest in order to bring these people to unfailing trust in Him.

Each of us present here today should have the same desire to have our faith set aflame by the Heart of Christ. We should not just sit back and relax and expect great things to happen to us while we put no work into the process. Going to Mass for an hour on Sunday is a great start for us, but we must do more. Christ is present within each of our lives and He is inviting us to do more then just come to Church for an hour on Sunday. He is inviting us to enter into a relationship with Him, so that our faith can ever be multiplied. To think how much we can accomplish if we can begin to trust in the healing mercy of Christ. If we can begin to trust in this manner we will be able to set a flame to the wick of our faith and allow it to grow to new heights that the world will begin to recognize. When we get caught up in the motion of the world and realize that nothing has developed in our journey of faith we have nobody to blame, but ourselves. Instead we must fix our eyes upon the Lord and allow Him to work within our lives.

We should join with Saint Paul who allowed the Lord to work within his weaknesses, so that he could feel the power of the Lord. No matter how many times Saint Paul was tempted to turn against the power of the Lord he continued to endure and to allow it to work within his life. This power that was felt by Saint Paul can be felt within our own lives if we allow the Lord to work within our lives. The grace that is given to us by the Lord is sufficient for each of us if we allow that grace to work within our lives. We must allow the Lord to work within us through all the hardships and constraints that we might experience, so that our faith may ever be strengthened within Him. Spending time as a family in prayer, praying before the Blessed Sacrament, taking advantage of opportunities to learn more about scripture and the faith that we profess are all ways to invite Christ to enter into more and more into our lives. Through these experiences we can draw closer to Him in an authentic relationship.

Our first reading from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel tells of the world's rejection of prophets. The experience that this prophet was sharing with the world is no different then our own relationship with the Lord. There are days when we desire the Lord to enter into all that we do and then there are days when we leave Him out of the picture. Instead of casting the Lord out of our lives we should desire to grow closer to Him each day as we invite Him to truly change our lives into something greater then we currently know. We should not remain a rebellious house who casts Christ out of our midst, but we should be a house that welcomes Christ to enter in and continue to dwell with us. Each time that we authentically gather for prayer we are drawing our strength from Christ and thus are getting we what receive from an authentic source of mercy. We are drawing upon this source of grace and are placing all of our desires and needs upon Him, so that we are able to work in union with His divine will.

Therefore my brothers and sisters in Christ if we believe in the importance of a relationship built upon the Lord we will allow ourselves to draw closer to Him and allow Christ to work within our lives. We will do all in our power to draw closer to Christ by giving nourishment to our relationship with Him. In doing this we will not be standing by while nothing takes place due to our lack of faith, but will become a beacon that draws the love of Christ into our homes. Only by being this beacon can we actually state that we have done anything with the faith that we have been given. By being this beacon we will draw upon Christ as our strength instead of having Him remain on the sidelines as our lives pass Him by. Through this profound relationship we will allow ourselves to have our eyes fixed intently upon the Lord who is the source and strength of our faith.

Fri of the 13th Week of OT

1st Reading: Am 8:4-6,9-12

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 119:2,10,20,30,40,131

Gospel: Mt 9:9-13

Jesus does not discriminate against anyone. We have seen Gospel passages in the past where Jesus gave all the attention in the world to children because of their innocence. We recently heard from passages of scripture where Christ was concerned for those who were sick and in need of healing. Today we hear that Christ is even present to sinners and despite their sinful past has called them to come and follow Him. This command is so radical, that the Pharisees are scandalized by Jesus' choice of dinner mates. Despite their lack of understanding Christ reminded each of them of how He had come into the world to bring healing to the sinful.

Each of us must remember that Christ is calling each of us to follow after Him. We must realize that mercy has been extended within our lives and all that we have to do is accept it. No matter the sinful past Christ welcomes us to confess our sins and to join Him at the table. There is nobody here or in the world that has committed such serious sin that an opportunity for forgiveness does not exist. Often people can realize that mercy exists inside the lives of other people, but fear that same mercy cannot be extended to them due to sin that existed in the past. Christ's example in this passage shows His concern for each of us no matter our state in life.

May we trust in that healing today as we celebrate the first Friday of the month where we remember the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Through this devotion Jesus continues to show His love for the sinner as He calls out to each of us to come and follow Him and thus grow closer to the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. According to the writings of Saint Margaret Mary we have all been given the excessive mercy of the Heart of Jesus and through its all-powerful love will be granted the grace of final repentance at the hour of death to those who trust in the healing power of this devotion to Christ. May each of us, though sinful, trust in the healing power of Christ and thus follow after Him, so that He can begin to transform our lives.

Feast of St. Thomas Homily

1st Reading: Eph 2:19-22

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 117:1-2

Gospel: Jn 20:24-29

Today we gather to celebrate the feast of the apostle, Saint Thomas. Saint Thomas, of course, is often referred to as "Doubting Thomas" due to his lack of ability to realize that this was Christ who was standing before him. This title of course takes away from our ability to realize that Thomas was able to reach out and touch a man and realize that he was something more. Saint Thomas reached out and touched the wounds of Christ and was able to express the divinity of Christ that was found inside of this man. Through his expression of faith he was professing that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine.

He responded "My Lord and my God!" when he came to this profound realization. Today we come to this Mass to respond in the same manner as we present ourselves to receive Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. We come here to present ourselves before our Lord and to allow Him to enter into our lives in this most profound manner. Our expression is the same because we realize that Christ was both human and divine and continues to bring this reality into our lives. No matter how much doubt that may exist in our lives; the truth remains the same that Christ was fully human and divine and comes to dwell with us here in the Blessed Sacrament.

According to the now Venerable Fulton Sheen, Saint Thomas " who was the last to believe, was the first to make the full confession of the Divinity of the Savior... some gratitude must always be credited to Thomas, who touched Christ as a man, but believed in him as a God." Each of us can learn a lot from Saint Thomas because he experienced the doubt that we all experience in our lives, but he was also able to reach out in faith and express that this man whom he touched was truly God. Through his intercession may we reach out in faith and grow closer to coming to understand that this is God who we desire to grow closer to in our lives.

Mon 13th Week of OT Homily

1st Reading: Am 2:6-10,13-16

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 50:16-23

Gospel: Mt 8:18-22

"For Greater Glory" made its debut a few weeks ago and does a good job to sum up what struggles the Church in Mexico had to endure for freedom of religion. This movie picks up following the signing of the 1917 Constitution of Mexico where religious freedom came under persecution. The movie opens to depict the carnage that took place for the Catholic faithful where Churches were set on fire, priests were murdered, and the Catholic faithful had to endure much harassment and the possibility of death. Through the Catholic Church staying strong under these circumstances great changes were able to come for the people of Mexico.

Today's Gospel from Saint Matthew informs us that deciding to become a follower of Christ will not be easy. We can see from the history of the Church how hard it has been to be a follower of Christ. From the start of the Church people would be put to death because they believed in Christianity and desired to follow it fully. "For Greater Glory" shows that even less then 100 years ago being a follower of Christ came at great costs because your life was on the line. We here today live in a different world, but it is still difficult to be a follower of Christ and in some parts of the world people are still put to death due to the faith that they profess.

Today we continue Fortnight for Freedom where we pray for continued religious freedom for our country. Being a Catholic Christian in this day in age may be tough because so many people do not want to listen to the truth that is found in the Church, but we must continue to endure in expressing it to all people. Expressing this truth may be difficult at times, but we must continue to endure as the faithful who have gone before us have given us the example to do. May we continue to pray for our nation and take advantage of the power of prayer as we continue to followers of Christ.

13th Sun of OT Year B Homily

1st Reading: Wis 1:13-15,2:23-24

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 30:2,4-6,11-13

2nd Reading: 2 Cor 8:7,9,13-15

Gospel: Mk 5:21-43

Four years ago Saint Mary's in Oak Ridge became my first assignment as a seminarian, and now Saint Mary's in Oak Ridge becomes my first assignment as a priest. I look forward to serving this parish as the associate pastor and look forward to serving each of you in your needs.

I was ordained a priest on June 2nd and sense have been pulled around the diocese to celebrate Mass and speak for various meetings. One thing that I wanted to do prior to this assignment was to get away for a few days with my family. This family trip finally came about this past weekend when we got the opportunity to go to Pigeon Forge. One thing that I wanted to do was to go to Dollywood because it had been about three years since my last visit and also because I wanted to ride their newest ride, the Wild Eagle. The forecast for that Friday was rain with a chance of thunderstorms and I figured that due to this less people would be in the park and that the weather would be cooler thanks to the clouds in the sky. When it came to getting in line I was able to walk right past the sign that said "45 minutes at this point" and to walk right past the sign that said "15 minutes at this point." Finally I would get behind a few people as I waited to get on the ride. Despite so easily moving up the line I was more consumed with the desire to get on the ride and get the wait over with then to be thankful for my quick wait.

In today's Gospel everyone wants a piece of Jesus. From the moment that Jesus arrives on the land people are shouting and making requests of Him. One man who is present asks Jesus to come with Him and heal his daughter before she dies. I can only imagine that this man wanted Jesus to move quickly because there was the life of a loved one hanging in the balance. While in route to this location more people wanted Jesus to act for them including a woman who had been suffering for years. After healing her of her health problem Jesus takes time out of His journey to speak to her. I can only imagine that the man who wanted Jesus to move quickly grew impatient at the site of Jesus stopping to speak with this woman while his daughter's life was in jeopardy. Finally Jesus arrived on the scene and the news was grim because the girl he had come to save was dead. I am sure this man thought back to Jesus stopping on the streets to help other people out in their need and quickly lost His faith due to Christ's response not coming quick enough. Then he is surprised because his prayers had been answered and his daughter was not only healed, but brought back to life.

No matter how much we have before us to be thankful for we each get caught up in desiring instant gratification. Whenever we have a prayer or need; we desire God to follow our orders and to act instantly instead of working in union with His Divine Will. Sometimes what we desire is not what is actually best for us. Sometimes unknown graces can come out of being forced to wait for results. To have faith is an act of being persistent and being able to endure even when we do not understand what is going on. We cannot approach faith from the same angle that we approach our everyday life where we have been taught that getting things instantly is the only option. Faith is not turning on a computer, exchanging your credit card number, and getting an instant download that comes at the moment that we desire it. Faith is the life long process where we continue to believe and walk with Christ even when we do not get what we want at the moment that we begin to desire it. To posses faith is to allow God to be at the center of our lives and to allow God to walk with us every step of the way.

Saint Paul pointed out in his second letter to the Corinthians that it was written that: "Whoever had much did not have more, and whoever had little did not have less." This is a reality for us in all matters of faith because when we hand ourselves over in faith what we currently have will be multiplied. When we continue to endure daily in our faith we will begin to grow in many ways which will show the reality of our growth to the world. When we are forced to wait in order to receive the answer that we are in search of we will begin to grow in many areas as we continue to endure inside of our faith. In the Book of Wisdom we were told about the great love that God has for each of us. We were told that the love of God is so great that humanity was made in the image of His own nature. Through this reality God continues to look over us even when we do not feel His presence during our lives. God continues to love each of us and through this great love invites us to open up our hearts and souls to Him through faith. Faith is the key for each us of us today because through it we will be firmly rooted in relationship with the Lord.

Therefore my brothers and sisters in Christ I pray that each of us will continue to grow fervent in our faith. May each of us continue to praise the name of the Lord who has come to rescue us from the power of death. When we go into the world today and allow anxiety to raise up within ourselves when we have to wait to get a seat at a restaurant, wait in the check line at Wal-Mart or the local grocery store, or even sitting in front of a red light that seems like it will never change may we allow our hearts and souls to ponder the glorious mystery of Christ. May these moments plant a seed within us that sees our need to trust in the enduring reality of faith. If we can forever trust in this reality we can come to a true relationship with Christ where we are dependent upon Christ and His love for us alone. It is only through our ability to trust in Christ that we will ever grow free to grow in our faith. May we take it upon ourselves today to encounter all matters of faith like the girl in the Gospel who was told: "Little girl, I say arise!" and then she trusted and arose.