SJBExcelsior Podcast

Over and over again in scripture we hear about the theme of forgiveness. You just can’t hide from it; but what does a parking brake have to do with forgiveness? Father uses a story from a trip of his to explain what unforgiveness does to us.

St. Thomas Aquinas gives a definition of love - “Love is willing the good of the other.” Love is not loving so that I can get something from you. We all know that love can be hard. We all know, especially, that fraternal correction can be hard. Fraternal correction is fraternal love. If someone is in sin, we have to go correct (love) them.

 

Society will tell us, you do you, and that’s just fine. If this leads you away from God, though, it’s not fine. In love, we are called to go to those we are close to, and invite them to come back to the Lord.

Our faith life takes work. Jesus tells us in this past Sunday’s Gospel, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me”. We must deny ourselves when taking up our cross. To deny oneself is hard, but it helps us to rely more on God. What do we find when we deny ourselves and follow Jesus? Joy, fulfillment, everything we are searching for. September 3, 2023 - Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Excelsior, MN

The Canaanite woman in Sunday’s Gospel says to Jesus, “Lord, help me.” How often we too have done this. “Lord, I have no one else to turn to. I can’t do this by myself. Lord, I need you.”

Stepping out of the boat and walking on water towards Jesus, it's not a one time thing. Jesus is asking us each and every day to come and follow Him, to put our trust in Him. He's not saying 'go', but rather 'come'. It's an invitation to follow Him. He never leaves us to go on our own; He is always there with us.

Deacon Nevin's homily from Sunday, August 6, 2023 - The Transfiguration of the Lord.

 

Why did the Transfiguration happen? What does it mean for us? Jesus revealed His divinity to Peter, James, and John - He IS God.  He didn’t reveal his glory just to show off. He was speaking to the apostles. They had a weak faith that needed strengthening. Looking at our own selves, we need that kind of faith too.

 

Our Lord gives us times that we can look back on to help us through suffering. When we suffer, we can draw back to an experience when God revealed his glory to us. 

 

This week, take some time to consider, when has God transfigured your life? When has he entered into your life? When you suffer, draw on this experience and say, I’m not in charge here, but I can get through this with God’s grace. May I remember what you have done for me, Lord.

Father dives into the parables mentioned in Sunday’s Gospel. 

A curfew is not meant to burden or oppress a teenager, but to help them. This is the same with God. His law, his precepts, they are not meant to oppress us - they’re meant to help us enter into relationship with Him. The pearl of great price is our relationship with God.

Father tells a parable about the new parking lot and our faith life. Our faith life needs continued maintenance. It also needs a firm foundation; Christ is the firm foundation. Our foundation needs to go deeper than when we were thirteen years old, or in college, or even ten years ago. We should always, always, always be investing in our faith. 

 

We can do this by spiritual reading. If there are holes between us and God, go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation - there He forgives us and heals us, he makes us whole. We must spend time in daily prayer, especially going to adoration. 

 

Our faith life isn’t done in a snap of a finger, it takes time. If you don’t maintain your faith, it will have holes.

Every day we are called to put on the yoke of God, which does not weigh us down, but which frees us. What does the yoke of God look like? We remove our own self-interest and self-reliance. We see ourselves in the way that God sees us. Jesus is saying, “I want to be yoked with you. I want to walk with you, so you are not weighed down, so you are not heavy burdened.”

The job of a preacher is to tell you what God thinks of you. He thinks you are worth dying for. In his homily this past weekend, Fr. Andy McAlpin, O.P. spoke about God’s love for us, and our love for God, as well as our love for others.