Mercy Triumphs: Weekly Homilies of a Catholic Priest

When I was in high school, my older brother started going to daily Mass with my grandfather. At the time, it confused me, because I didn’t know why anybody would want to go to Mass every day. Mass already seemed pretty boring, so why would someone want to be more bored? As I grew older and realized how much I needed my faith and a relationship with Jesus, I ended up having several spiritual awakenings that made me realize how powerful Mass is. For example, I myself started going to daily Mass when I was desperate for God’s guidance, and, at one Mass, when I was standing during the intercessions, I felt as if God said to me, “If you become a priest, I will take care of you forever.” It felt like the most loving Father had offered me the most comforting words; words that gave me such a deep sense of security. And it all happened while I was standing there during Mass. Mass is a prayer, right? But where does it come from? Why are we doing this? Well, it’s because of Jesus. The Mass litera...

The first time I seriously thought about priesthood as an adult was when I was a freshman in college. I had just experienced a tremendous spiritual consolation from prayer in my dorm room and I received a sense that I was supposed to be a priest.   At the time, I didn’t know what a priest did. I just felt like I was called to it. I didn’t even think I was capable. I didn’t know what I was capable of. I just felt this desire. I felt so strongly about it that I decided to call the priest who handled seminary applications. I remember I was so scared that my hand was shaking. …To my relief, the priest was out of the office, so I hung up and didn’t call back for three years. So, about three years later, when I was a senior in college, I remember praying in front of Jesus in the Eucharist. I bowed my head and prayed in desperation for guidance saying, “Jesus, I will do whatever you want me to do, just let me know what it is and I’ll do it.” And, in that moment, I felt this tremend...

In the first reading the Lord says, “Return to me with your whole heart.”   I was thinking about what I was going to say about that. I was going to say something like, “This is very difficult—to give God our whole heart.” But, I realize, it's not difficult. It's actually impossible. We can't give God our whole heart. It's impossible…without God's help. We absolutely need God's help to do this. We're fooling ourselves if we think otherwise.  And, so, we have to get in the habit of asking God for help. “God, help me through this.” “God, help me overcome this.” “God, take away my anxiety; give me strength.” Those should be prayers we should pray every single day. It is so pleasing to God for him to hear you pray that way and it opens us to his help. …In the second reading, Saint Paul says, ‘Be reconciled to God.’ That means repentance has to be real, and, for many of us, it means a good confession this Lent.  If your’e putting confession off, stop. The...

In 1975, Pope Paul VI observed that people today listen more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and that when people do listen to teachers, it is because those teachers are also witnesses. This means we can talk all we want about Jesus, the truth of our faith, and how to live a good life, but if we don’t live what we believe, our words will have little effect. And that is exactly what Jesus is getting at in the Gospel. He calls every disciple to be salt and light. That is what a witness is: someone whose faith people can actually see. Salt changes what it touches. Light does not hide; it shines. And Jesus says very plainly that people should see our good deeds and glorify our heavenly Father. So what is an example of what Pope Paul VI is talking about, and what Jesus teaches in the Gospel? In my own ministry, I have the privilege of meeting with couples who are preparing to enter the Sacrament of Matrimony. One couple I met with has been civilly married for a few years, and th...

I  was at a wake for a priest whose mother had passed away. She was over 100. As I was standing and praying in front of her casket, there was an older gentleman beside me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him make the sign of the cross over her body, and I suspected he was a priest. When he turned, I recognized him. He was a priest; recently back in ministry after some time away. I said hello and told him I was glad he was back and that I was sorry to hear what he went through, and added, “Suffering is transformative, isn’t it.” He nodded. To be sure, suffering does not automatically make us better. Depending on how we respond to it, it can harden us or humble us. It can deepen faith, or it can reveal what our faith was really resting on. That is exactly what today’s readings are about. In the Gospel, Jesus speaks of people who suffer in different ways: those who mourn, those who are poor, those who are persecuted. And He calls them blessed. Not because suffering is good,...

Was it a catch or not? Should the Bills’ coach have been fired? NFL fans, and especially us Bills fans, are deeply divided on those questions. They have been widely debated, and commentators and well known personalities have offered strong opinions on both sides. Yet when all is said and done, those disagreements don’t affect our souls; they don’t affect our relationship with God or our hope of Heaven. That’s why this division is not something Saint Paul would ever write a letter to us about. But Saint Paul did write letters to Christian communities that were deeply divided, not over sports, but over matters that had eternal consequences. The divisions he addressed were about whether people were following God or slowly drifting away from Him. The divisions we heard about in the second reading in the church at Corinth were so deep that Paul writes, “Each of you is saying, ‘I belong to Paul,’ or ‘I belong to Apollos,’ or ‘I belong to Cephas,’ or ‘I belong to Christ.’ Is Christ divide...