He was chosen by God the Father to be entrusted with the father's most precious gifts: His only begotten Son, and His Immaculate Mother. No other human being has been trusted as much.
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Father Miller‘s Sunday and Holy Day Homilies from Saint Dorothy‘s Catholic Church
Episodes
Friday Mar 19, 2021
Friday Mar 19, 2021
Imagine the type of man Joseph must have been other earth, and now in Heaven. Flawless. Perfect. Absolutely virtuous in every way. Yes, he was tainted by original sin like the rest of us, but it's very likely he had no personal sin. He was ideal to stand in the person of God the Father for His only son, Jesus Christ.
....
Notice what Joseph decides to do: to divorce Mary "quietly." Meaning no formal declaration, no public show. Now in order to divorce her privately, Joseph is de facto accepting some of the blame for the divorce, even though he's innocent. So I want you to consider what he's doing. For all he knows, Mary has sinned. But he still wants to protect Her and Her unborn Child. . ...
He's willing to take some of the blame of the divorce just to protect them. What a perfect man. Don't you see why he was chosen? Even when he had no reason to, he was still willing to defend their honor. Their lives. ...
Something that we know about Saint Joseph - once he knows the will of God he does not hesitate. He accomplishes it immediately.
2Sm7:4-5a,12-14a,16; Ps 89:2-3, 4-5, 27 & 29; Rom4:13,16-18,22;Mt16,18-21,24a
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 17:46
Sunday Mar 14, 2021
Sunday Mar 14, 2021
The Fathers tell us that when Jesus speaks of His "chalice" He's referring to an Old Testament prophecy that the Messiah will have to drink of the "chalice of suffering." And He will "drink it to the dregs", meaning He'll drain it completely.
So when Jesus says to these apostles, "Can you drink of the chalice of which I am going to drink?" He's telling them: will you endure the suffering that I am going to endure?
I think that this statement of Jesus is referring to suffering. "I thirst" He says. He thirsts for the chalice of suffering. Now why would our Lord thirst for this? Why would He hunger to suffer?
Because in the end there's only one thing that Jesus really wants: us. You.
Look how far He went to redeem you. He wants you in His life more than anything else. And the only thing that keeps us away from Him is our sin.
The only way to remove sin is by enduring the punishment for sin, the suffering that sin has merited.
Jesus, in order to remove that sin, wants to suffer for us. He craves it, longs for it. He thirsts for this chalice. Because He thirsts for you. ...
He says: I thirst for you. I thirst for you. We see the longing that Jesus has for us....
The words "I thirst", those belong to Jesus, to Him alone. And He speaks them to each one of you: I thirst for you. And I thirst for the consequences of your sin - so that I may forgive you. ...
When you go to confession, and confess your sins, Jesus is actually grateful to you for your confession. Even though your sins crucified Him. He's grateful. Because you're satisfying the deepest desire of His heart by returning to Him. By allowing Him to forgive you....
You may be grateful that He forgave you, but He's grateful that you let Him suffer for your sins and forgive you. It seems counterintuitive at first, but you have to understand the mind of the Lord. He thirsts for you in a way in which you cannot easily understand.
2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23; Eph 2:4-10; Jn 3:14-21
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 17:35
Sunday Mar 07, 2021
Sunday Mar 07, 2021
Father Miller will offer a reflection on the Seven Last Words of Christ throughout Lent.
According to Jesus, this is the most important thing He said on the cross. For our Lord, and therefore for each one of us, this statement is the most important message of all of these essential seven statements. We know this because the statement is a "chiasmus."
A chiasmus is a literary structure like an equation used in narratives to help point to important issues. Like a pyramid, everything in the narrative or in the sentence or in the story is pointing toward one single issue that the reader is supposed to focus upon.
How many last statements did our Lord make on the Cross? Seven. An odd number, which means the center, the one in the middle, is the focus. That's today.
Why would these be the most important words that the Lord speaks to each one of us from the cross? Jesus didn't actually believe the father had forsaken Him. So why say it?...
At the time of Christ, when rabbis would sit and discuss the Law and the prophets, this is how they would quote scripture: they would only quote the first verse of a passage and all the rabbis knew exactly what they were talking about.
Jesus is quoting Psalm 22 . Psalm 22 encapsulates everything our Lord wants us to learn from the Cross. ... It is the only thing that will console us, as it consoled our Lord. I encourage you, not only during Lent, but anytime that you suffer, to return to Psalm 22 and meditate on it.
Ex 20:1-17; Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 11; 1 Cor 1:22-25; Jn 2:13-25
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 17:38
Sunday Feb 28, 2021
Sunday Feb 28, 2021
Father Miller will offer a reflection on the Seven Last Words of Christ throughout Lent.
In interpreting these words correctly, we have to realize there are three types of interpretation, all of them true, but all on different levels... the most basic, historical, natural interpretation, to greater and higher truths.
The first reason our Lord took such great pains to say these words is because He loved His Mother. And He wanted to make sure that after He was gone, someone would care for Her. It's a very simple thing. Saint Joseph had already died, they had no other children.... So Jesus, out of concern for His mom, chooses one of His disciples, John, to care for her in His place. ... Even though John, the beloved disciple, was the closest one to the Lord, truly among the twelve the best one to care for our Lady; you can imagine the Blessed Mother's reaction to this - on a natural level. "I don't want another son. I want You." But she, knowing it was the will of the Father that her Son die on the cross, would have accepted as the will of Her Son, this replacement. And John really is the best. He's called the "Beloved Disciple" for a good reason, which leads us to the second level of interpretation.
... John held a special place in the heart of Jesus. So it's right that he receive this title "the Beloved." But why would John use it? What would be his motivation? John recognizes in himself and the Lord's love for him the Lord's love for each of His disciples. You see, to Jesus, all of His disciples are beloved. John, realizing this, would avoid using his own name - it's not about me, it's not about "John". It's about each and every beloved disciple. So when you read the Gospel of John and you hear "beloved" or "beloved disciple'" think of yourself.... John is telling you that that is our Lord speaking to you. That means that from the cross, Jesus wasn't just speaking to John the man to care for His Mother while on earth, He was speaking to each one of His beloved disciples throughout the rest of time. He was entrusting to each one of us His Mother.
From the cross He says these words: "Woman, behold your son." And then He says to us, "Behold your Mother." And what does John write immediately after this in the Gospel? "And from that hour, the disciple took Her into his home." From that hour. The disciple - you and me - took Her into his home. So what is our relationship with the Blessed Mother? ... For John, she was now his family. Not by blood, but by baptism. And he takes her into his home and she dwells with him. Wherever he goes, She goes. The message here for us is that this is the way Jesus expects each of His beloved disciples to treat His Mother. This is the relationship He expects them to have with Her.... One of the marks of salvation in the soul of an individual is a true devotion to the Blessed Mother. If you are truly a beloved disciple of the Lord, Mary will live in your home.
What then is the third and highest level of interpretation? We need to look for the signs and the types....
Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18; Ps 116:10, 15, 16-17, 18-19; Rom 8:31b-34; Mk 9:2-10
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 15:47
Sunday Feb 21, 2021
Sunday Feb 21, 2021
Father Miller will offer a reflection on the Seven Last Words of Christ throughout Lent.
The Fathers of the Church tell us that these two thieves represent every human being on earth. You are either one or the other, there's no third option. You fit into one of those two categories. ... It's important that we understand them, how they are similar and how they are different, and why Jesus gave such a consoling message to one, and spoke nothing to the other.
They are both public sinners and criminals. They both committed the same offense against society and against God. They are being punished in the exact same way for those offenses. They both know what they did and know they deserve what they are getting.
The only difference we know between them is what is revealed by their words.
The "bad thief" - whose name we will never know - reveals his mind and heart to us in what he says to the Lord. ... He refuses to take responsibility for what he has done. He doesn't believe in Jesus as the Messiah. ... He wants to avoid suffering by any means necessary, even when it is deserved, let alone for love's sake. That's all that he cares about, and such an individual cannot be saved for one simple reason: they deny their own sin. They refuse to repent.
Now Saint Dismas is the complete opposite. He's the same kind of sinner, no better or worse in regards to the sins that he commits. But what he says to the Lord tells us everything we need to know about him and about his faith....
What does St Dismas do that we can imitate?
Gn 9:8-15; Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9; 1 Pt 3:18-22; Mk 1:12-15
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our Youtube channel. Homily begins at 13:33.
Wednesday Feb 17, 2021
Wednesday Feb 17, 2021
Father Miller will offer a reflection on the Seven Last Words of Christ during his Sunday homilies during Lent. He begins this evening with the first "word" of our Lord during His Passion.
It's important to remind yourself that crucifixion was, and probably still is, one the greatest means of human torture. One, because you're hanging up by nails in your wrists and in your feet; and two, you don't die of blood loss. You die of suffocation. You choke on your own spittle. And it takes hours, even days. It's a slow agonizing death because it's nearly impossible to breathe. ...
Just to get a breath was an agony for the Lord. But imagine how much of a breath He had to get in order to speak from the Cross. These Seven Last sayings, these Seven Last Words of our Lord are precious statements. They cost Him more than any other statement He made during His entire life. So He didn't waste words.
"Father forgive them. They know not what they do."
Now I think we can assume that there were at least some people there who knew what they were doing. But He still pleads. And He still make excuses for us sinners. ...
Jesus pleads with His Heavenly Father, making excuses for us.
Imagine if every time someone offended you, you could think of at least one excuse why maybe it wasn't totally their fault. We'd forgive far more quickly. We probably wouldn't get as perturbed or as angry.
"Father forgive them. They know not what they do." I think it's easiest just to use the words of the Lord in our own lives in these instances of suffering when we're offended. "They must not know what they are doing. If they really knew how much they were hurting me, they would not have done it." ... So especially during this season of Lent, don't take offense so easily, don't be so sensitive. Use the words of the Lord yourself in your own little agonies. Just consider: maybe they didn't realize what they were doing when they hurt you. You'll find it is far more easy to be patient, and to forgive.
Jl 2:12-18; Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17; 2 Cor 5:20—6:2; Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 13:09
Sunday Feb 14, 2021
Sunday Feb 14, 2021
We know from revelation that love comes in three parts, and those parts have a specific order. There is "agapic" love which is the highest form, "filial" love, or brotherly love, and erotic love. And all of these loves are love. If you really want a beautiful exegesis on this, read Pope Benedict XVI's first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est. One of the things he points out, which was not always understood in the history of the church, is that God's love is not just agapic love -it's obviously that, but not just that - it's all forms of love. ... It's important to understand this, otherwise we won't understand love properly.
Erotic love is the lowest form, and it's not bad, it's good as long as it's rightly ordered. The easiest definition is: it's a desire to possess someone or something. People think it's always sexual, but that's not true. ... As long as it's ordered correctly in the hierarchy of loves, it's good. God, according to Pope Benedict actually loves us erotically, meaning He wants us. He doesn't need us, but that's the beauty of it. He wants us and He wants us to be with Him.
Above that is filial, or brotherly, love. It's basically "I'll love you if you love me." It can almost be thought of as contractual, between equals. God also wants to love us with filial love. Even though He is infinitely greater than we are, He wants to raise us up so we can have a more equal, loving relationship. Filial love has to be reciprocal. ...
Agapic love is the highest. And this is selfless love, or disinterested love. Even if I get nothing out of it, I still love you. It's the highest and most perfect form of love.
Having these loves rightly ordered in ourselves is how we conform to Love Himself. God is Love.
When you dis-order the proper ordering, then you're not loving. It's really that simple, it's not love at all. It's sin.
How do we re-order our loves? That's where Lent comes in.
Lv 13:1-2, 44-46; Ps 32:1-2, 5, 11; 1 Cor 10:31—11:1; Mk 1:40-45
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 17:49
Sunday Feb 07, 2021
Sunday Feb 07, 2021
There are two types of hope. Hope for an earthly remedy, and hope for a spiritual remedy. Now, that doesn't mean you can't have both. You can have both, but one must always be superior to the other, otherwise you will never find peace in this life of drudgery.
Listen to the example that Job gave. He says: "I'm having a restless night and I just wish the morning would come."
But what happens when your hope is in the morning? The night seems to drag on. ... Job is saying that it's your perception. Because your hope in in the dawn, the night seems to to take forever. ...
Whenever we place our hope in an earthly remedy, one: it seems to take forever to get it, and two: when it comes, it never fully satisfies. So the dawn comes but you're still exhausted because you didn't get good sleep. Then the whole rest of the day is even more difficult than the day before.
...
If your hope ends there, if you don't have a higher hope, a spiritual hope, it ultimately will never satisfy you. Why?
Everyone who was cured in the Gospel still ultimately died. Even Lazarus dies eventually after being brought back from the dead. You can only avoid pain and suffering so long. It always catches up with us. ... This desire for an earthly remedy is perfectly natural because things were not created to be this way.
...
Sin is the real enemy here. So for each one of us, if our greatest hope and desire is not the overcoming of sin and His ability to forgive it, we'll never find happiness in this world.
Jb 7:1-4, 6-7; Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6; 1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23; Mk 1:29-39
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 19:01
Saturday Feb 06, 2021
Saturday Feb 06, 2021
She loved the Lord so much that not only had she dedicated her life and virginity to Jesus; she wanted to belong to Him alone and no other man. But she was also willing to die for Him at a very young age.... She's such an example to us. And she was able to do all this because she loved God.
But how did she love God?
You're here on a Saturday morning celebrating her feast because you do love God. And you want to love Him more, but you struggle with that.
We struggle with loving anyone when there is distance between us. So how do we draw closer to the Lord when He's up in heaven. When we pray and we can't see Him, or we listen and we can't hear Him - at least not on a physical level. This is a challenge for us.
So how did Dorothy do this?
It's quite simple, it's by recognizing that Jesus is not just up in Heaven. He is with us here and now.
Our parish has just spent 40 hours adoring Him. Parishioners sitting in His presence gazing on Him. Loving Him. And receiving His love.
Love of the Eucharist is how we grow in our love for God.
You may watch the Mass in its entirety including the end of our 40 Hours Adoration on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 31:00
Sunday Jan 31, 2021
Sunday Jan 31, 2021
A prophet, according to the Scriptures, is simply someone who speaks truth. ... God's Truth. The reason we assume something is prophetic, meaning referring to the future, is because truth is truth all the time. Now and in the future.
Most of us, when we hear the Truth for the first time, it doesn't make sense or we don't accept it. Later on, when we finally learn that it was true, we're like, "Oh! It was prophetic!" No, no. It was just true.
It's like, as parents, when you try to teach children and they don't listen to you. Then they come back 10 years laters and say, "Mom, Dad, you were right all along." Well, Mom and Dad aren't prophetic. They just have more experience than you.
Anyone who has experience in life has knowledge, has a certain understanding of things in truth that they can share with others who are less experienced. Well, God is eternal, right? He doesn't need experience. He knows everything.
He is Truth.
He communicates that Truth to us through His prophets. And that Truth is True now, and in the future. It's always true.
Jesus, Who speaks the Word of Truth, is actually the Word of Truth incarnate.
"In the beginning was the Logos..."
Behind all reason, behind all Truth, is Jesus Christ.
Dt 18:15-20; Luke 1:69-70, 71-72, 73-75; 1 Cor 7:32-35; Mk 1:21-28
Our live stream was canceled this week due to technical issues. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Sunday Jan 24, 2021
Sunday Jan 24, 2021
Do you believe in the words that the Spirit has allowed to come out of the Gospel and speak to us? ....
What I do believe is that I, and you, and you, and you, must become those fishers of men. Parents trying to encourage their children. Children, being respectful of their parents. Married couples being respectful to one another. All those things we have to do!
Oh, I would love to be like the saints. I could get here without getting in the car, I'd just think it and I'd be here. I would never get a cold again, or lose my voice again. I would never lose my hair again!
But it's not that way. I believe in the tumultuous journey of my life. Because I believe that I had the responsibility, in my own very teeny small way, to help build up that Kingdom. And prepare myself and those whom I love, and those who I do not love, and those that I care for, and those that don't care for me to build that Kingdom for all of us by living the life of Christ.
Now is the time.
Come after Me - now - and I will make you fishers of men.
My brothers and sisters, once again: do you believe?
Jn 3:1-5, 10; Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9; 1 Cor 7:29-31; Mk 1:14-20
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 22:35
Sunday Jan 17, 2021
Sunday Jan 17, 2021
According to the traditions of the Church, there are three possible vocations for the Catholic: marriage, religious life, and the priesthood.... Well said by Pope Saint John Paul II, all three vocations are in essence a" vocation to marriage".
What distinguishes these three types of "marriage"?
The first vocation to the sacrament of matrimony is what we call a "natural" vocation. God doesn't have to go out of His way to call you to marriage because He made you that way. He designed your nature as a human with a body and a soul to be oriented toward natural marriage. If you choose to get married, presumably as a Catholic in the Church, then He sacramentalizes that choice and now, your natural marriage is a supernatural vocation and it'll help you get to heaven.
The second is to the religious life. This is of course religious brothers and sisters, nuns, monks,... this vocation is not so much a "calling" as it is an "invitation". Every single Catholic, according to the Bible, every disciple of Christ is invited to live a celibate life dedicated to Jesus Christ. We know this because Saint Paul directly says it: "I invite you to live as I live, consecrated to the Lord." Each Christian is invited to discern this and to say, "Am I able, am I willing to commit myself to a life of chaste celibacy in a life of service to Christ and His Church?"
The third is the most unique of the three because it is the most "unnatural" of the vocations. They are all supernatural because of God's grace and the life we share in Christ. ...(but)The ministry to which the man is called is such a unique conformity to Jesus Christ, that he can be Christ to his people.. that's the union that Christ shares with each priest in regards to the power of the sacraments. This unique and supernatural vocation is, strictly speaking, a "calling".
Where the other vocations are in service of Jesus Christ, the priestly vocation is in service of Christ's people.
Father goes on to share his own calling and the journey he took to the priesthood.
Please continue listening after the homily, Father offers words an overview of the vaccination issue and the morality of it. "Catholics make decisions not based on danger or fear, but based on truth."
1 Sm 3:3b-10, 19; Ps 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10; 1 Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20; Jn 1:35-42
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our Youtube channel. Homily begins at 19:30
Sunday Jan 10, 2021
Sunday Jan 10, 2021
In order to save us from our sins, in order to bring about a true union between God the Creator and His creatures, He became one with creation. He took on our flesh. He became a real, living human being, with a real body and a real soul, while still being God.
The Scriptures say this is the "most fitting" way He could save us. Being the best and most fitting way, the Incarnation is the example for salvation.
And when I say incarnation, I mean Jesus Christ, the true union between Good and man, between Creator and creature, between spirit and flesh. ...
If our salvation is dependent on Jesus Christ Incarnate, if that's how we are redeemed and become one with Him, then that incarnate, very earthly, very human mode of salvation will continue through the generations.
So each Sacrament on some level should "look like" the Incarnation. Should look like a union of heaven and earth. All you have to do is take each Sacrament apart in order to analyze it and find that same Incarnational image.
Is 42:1-4, 6-7; Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13; Acts 10:34-38; Mk 1:7-11
Due to technical issues, we do not have video of this Sunday's Mass. We apologize.
Sunday Jan 03, 2021
Sunday Jan 03, 2021
Many people even pray for that, they ask the Lord, "Lord, just one sign! Just show me! Then I'll believe. Then I'll do it! I promise you Lord." And sometimes our Lord consents and grants the miracle, but most of the time, God says, "No. It won't help you. In fact, it'll probably make things worse. I come to you this way, always. But you must learn to see Me." Not with the eyes of your body, but with the eyes of you mind.
That is the mystery of the Epiphany - to see the Truth as it truly is. And we don't need physical eyes to do that. We need faith.
If we can see the Truth, then everything begins to change for us. Our whole lives are transformed.
Like the Magi in the Gospel today, we're moved by the Truth aren't we? They're moved to leave their hometowns, travel across the deserts and present gifts to the Truth. To praise the Truth. And I'm sure they talked about this with everyone they met. "We're going to see the new King."
We unlike the Magi don't have to travel far to see the King do we? He's right here, in every Church. Unlike the Magi we don't have to present to the King whenever we come to visit Him, gifts of gold, and frankincense and myrrh.
But Jesus doesn't need those things from you. In fact what He wants from you is something far more precious. He wants you to make a gift of yourself.
Is 60:1-6; Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13; Eph 3:2-3a; Mt 2:1-12
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:50
Friday Jan 01, 2021
Friday Jan 01, 2021
God chose this means of coming into the world, therefore it is now essential for our salvation. Mary is the channel, the conduit through which He comes into the world, takes human flesh, and redeems mankind.
The Fathers of the Church tell us that the womb of Mary is like a mold ... in which she formed Christ in His humanity by the will of the Father, by the will of God.
If she was chosen among all women to form the body of Christ for us, for our salvation, then she continues to this day to form that same image in her womb in each one of us. We're called to be members of the Body of Christ through Baptism, formed into the image of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
The Lord isn't going to create a new way, a new channel, a new mode of creating His image in children. He's going to use the one He designed perfectly two thousand years ago. That's why ever since, the Church has always recognized her not only as the Mother of God, as the Mother of Christ, but our Mother. The Mother of the Church. The Mother of each individual disciple of Jesus Christ.
She is necessary, not because God couldn't have done it another way, but because He chose Her as His singular instrument to form Christ in the flesh.
The Church Fathers say that one of the marks of salvific grace in the soul of a Christian is true and abiding devotion to the Mother of God.
Nm 6:22-27; Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8; Gal 4:4-7; Lk 2:16-21
You may watch the mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 17:18
Sunday Dec 27, 2020
Sunday Dec 27, 2020
Saint Paul, in my opinion in our second reading today, gives us the best summary off how to follow Christ in the entire Bible. You need to know the other scriptures in order to really unpack it, but it's the best summary that exists in the entire Bible: Saint Paul's Letter to the Colossians, chapter 3, verses 12-21.
One of the important things he focuses on in the middle of this reflection, is the need for peace. We want peace in our families but we don't have it. So what does he say? He says, "Let the peace of Christ control your hearts." Control your hearts. Not abide in, but control. The "peace into which you were called in one body."
The reason we fail in love, the reason we fail in unity, is because we're not allowing this peace of Christ to control us.
The saints teach us that the peace given to us in Christ by the Holy Spirit when we're in a state of grace is meant to control, to govern all that we do. We're to be guided by that peace. In fact, it's supposed to be the main sign by which we know the will go God.
So in any moment in your married or family life in which you notice that you don't have peace, one of the basic rules is you have to stop what you're doing and go and find it....
In order to have the peace of Christ, we have to be living as Christ designed us to live, as the Holy Family themselves lived. ... If you forget your place in your home, and what Christ is asking of you, read this...
Sir 3:2-5, 12-14, 14a, 16; Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5; Col 3:12-21; Lk 2:2-40
The Mass may be seen it its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 23:50
Friday Dec 25, 2020
Friday Dec 25, 2020
Every time Jesus comes to us in the Holy Mass in the form of bread and wine, we know who He is.
He knocks on the door of our heart and says, "Is there room here for me?"
So often we Catholics haphazardly throw open the door and say, "Oh sure yeah, there's a corner here somewhere that I'm not using."
There's very little you and I can do to actually prepare ourselves for the Lord - He's too good and glorious, and we're too broken and sinful. That's where He steps in and says, "Don't worry I will prepare you to be my dwelling place. I'll do that."
So He gives us His Church and He gives us Her Sacraments.... but do we take advantage of that? Do we dare to approach the Body of our Lord without hearts and souls made pure? Not by our own efforts, but by His grace.
For those of us who do, for those of us who always try to receive the Lord with a clear conscience, it is in these moments in particular that we must rejoice. Because our Lord has come among us.
Is 9:1-6; Ps 96: 1-2, 2-3, 11-12, 13; Ti 2:11-14; Lk 2:15-20
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:13
Sunday Dec 20, 2020
Sunday Dec 20, 2020
The only thing in this world that conquers sin is the grace of Jesus Christ. Therefore nothing else can change politics but that.
How does our King rule in His earthly Kingdom? Because His Kingdom does exist, and has existed in this world for two thousand years in every nation. It's here now.
Here is the King, seated in His tabernacle throne. Unlike earthly rulers, you can come and visit Him any time you want or need. He's always close to you. Any Catholic Church in the world: there He is.
The thing is, He's not like other earthly kings, because He doesn't have the same focus. So you bring Him your concerns about politics and worries in the world, and He says, "What are you worried about? Those aren't the real issues. Sin is the problem. Not suffering. Sin." And we get those two things mixed up. We think suffering is the problem in the world. Actually, suffering is the solution.
And that's what He teaches us. Our King shows us that our real power through our union with Him in the sacraments, comes through the cross. That's how He redeems us. Not by any of His miracles, not by any of His profound preaching and teachings, but through His passion and His death. That's how He changes the world.
And don't think for a moment that it's any different for you and me. You want to change society?
Find out how.
2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Ps 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29; Rom 16:25-27; Lk 1:26-38
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. The homily begins at 16:45.
Sunday Dec 13, 2020
Sunday Dec 13, 2020
Now, perception is important. God designed us this way, that from within we would recognize the Truth outside of ourselves, and then come to know it, and love it, and follow it. But what do we do when our perception is distorted (by sin)? There's really not much we can do on our own.
But people are still obsessed with their view of things. "This is what I believe." "This is what I think is true."
As if that really matters. As if your perception, or my perception, is really an issue. Not that it's not important at all. But it's absolutely secondary to what is actually true, because what is real, is real, whether I perceive it or not. That's it. It's quite simple. Even if I had never existed, reality would still be real. The truth would still be the truth.
So how do I come to perceive reality, truth, as it is?
Truth itself, must be revealed to me....
Jesus says "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life." If He does not come into the world and reveal Himself to us, we can never know it....
This is what's most important. Perception only matters if it's God's perception, if it's how God perceives things because He's the only one who perceives things as they are, as He made them to be. My perception, your perception is irrelevant, absolutely irrelevant, if it is not in unity with His.
How will the Truth reveal itself to us?
Is 61:1-2a, 10-11; Lk 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54; 1 Thes 5:16-24; Jn 1:6-8, 19-28
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 17:30
Tuesday Dec 08, 2020
Tuesday Dec 08, 2020
It helped me understand in a more profound way the role of the Blessed Mother in the Church. In our lives. It's very easy to think, "Oh yeah, she's good, she's important, she's wonderful," but we fail to realize how essential she is because we don't know who the Holy Spirit is.
Can the Father and the Son have a relationship apart from the Holy Spirit? It's not possible. There is not Father or Son without the Love of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, by His very personhood, is their union. And therefore, my idea, my theory is that the Holy Spirit is the archetype of mediation itself. And I think that's what femininity is when it comes right down to it.
Womanhood, motherhood, femininity is pure mediation; meaning the ability to unite others in a bond.
And we see Mary does this! Just like the Holy Spirit. She is able to unite God to man in her very flesh, by just being a mother. A holy mother certainly, but by just being a mother, she unites God and man in the Incarnation. ...
Our Lady's role in salvation - in each of our salvations - is essential. Not because God needed her, but because God chose her.
Gn 3:9-15, 20; Ps 98:1, 2-3AB, 3CD-4; Eph 1:3-6, 11-12; Lk 1:26-38
You may see the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 21:35.