Homily For The 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time July 27, 2008 recorded at the 10AM Mass at St. Brendan, Bothell, WA

Homily For the 16th Sunday In Ordinary Time Recorded at the 5PM Vigil Mass Saturday July 20, 2008

Homily For the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time July 13, 2008 at St. Brendan Parish

The economy, rising gas prices, and personal challenges can cause us to be anxious about our future and to lose the gift of peace God wants to give us. In this message I explore ways we can keep our peace and bring that gift to others.

Introduction of the Year of St. Paul

We must strive to be more bold and ready to share our faith with others. Faith in Christ is not a private matter but a gift freely given and freely to be given away.

Homily For the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Recorded at the 8:00 AM Mass at St. Brendan Parish

1. Be honest - we're all sinners and have things we need to deal with
2. Trust in God's saving power and mercy - especially when results aren't instant and you can't see the finish line
3. Encourage others by sharing your testimony, Scripture, or praying with them

Homily for the 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time from St. Brendan parish at the 8AM Mass.

Homily for the celebration of Corpus Christi Sunday (May 25, 2008) recorded at the 10:00 AM Mass at St. Brendan Parish - Bothell ,WA

3 Necessary Things For Mission

1. Anointing (Baptism in the Holy Spirit)
2. Authority in the name of Jesus
3. Assurance of God's faithful presence (Eucharist)

No more homilies for a couple of weeks as I leave for Africa on May 5th. I'll return on the 22nd of May.

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter at St. Brendan Parish 10:00 AM Mass

The early Church was dedicated to the following:

1. Apostolic Teaching (Faith Formation)
2. Prayer & The Eucharist
3. Sharing the Grace of Pentecost (Baptism in the Holy Spirit)

Homily for Palm Sunday 2008 - 6PM Youth Mass

Reflections from this homily include:

1. The experience of death and the need to console one another.

2. The central importance of personal faith especially when celebrating the Sacraments and how we often find it difficult to "go for the jugular" and challenge people like Jesus did asking Martha point blank, "do you believe this?" We often just assume people believe so they are allowed to go through the Sacraments and through life without being challenged about the importance of faith.

3. The call to experience "little resurrections" in our lives by allowing the Holy Spirit to enlighten and enliven our daily experiences, especially our thinking which can develop into tombs where we easily lose our perspective.

Homily For The 4th Sunday of Lent 2008 (March 2, 2008)

In this homily I explore spiritual blindness and how to overcome it.

Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent 2008

The Desert is a place to:

1. Confront things that distract us from God (the world, the flesh, the devil)
2. A place of intense prayer (which prevents us from suffocating with our own problems...prayer unites us to God and helps us be united to one another)
3. A place of sacrifice (the willingness to go without so we can go with God)

Lent provides a great opportunity to further strive to reach our full "stature" in Christ by examining ourselves and the constant call to experience deeper conversion of mind and heart.

The Church invites us to look at three areas of our lives:

1. Prayer - finding more time for prayer
2. Fasting - asking ourselves if the Holy Spirit is in control of all areas of our lives. What owns me? Food, Entertainment, etc. What is interfering with my ability to love God and neighbor?
3. Almsgiving - sharing of our own resources not out of a desire to recognized but out of a desire to be generous and guided by the Holy Spirit. Christians should live simply...that others may simply live.

Homily For the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (January 27, 2008) Recorded from home because I forgot my audio recording device during the weekend Mass.

A reflection on the importance of Baptism in our lives.

Homily for the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord (January 13, 2008) 10 AM Mass St. Brendan Parish

Homily For Holy Family Mass at St. Brendan Parish 10:00 AM

Homily from the Midnight Mass at St. Brendan Parish

Do something great for God - say "yes" to God's plan for your life.

Homily For The 2nd Sunday of Advent:

Resource: Spe Salvi #3

Homily For The First Sunday of Advent

1. We will seek to share the gift of salvation with others and not be exclusive. God will that all people come to a saving knowledge of the truth (! Tim 2: 32-4) This especially means imitating the example of Jesus who when he hung on the cross offered salvation to the thief.
2. Be willing to suffer for a greater good and not gravitate to instant gratification.
3. Be reconciled with people in our lives and live at peace.
4. Celebrate The Eucharist faithfully and joyfully.

"Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power.
Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace.
In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all (the) flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and supplication, pray at every opportunity in the Spirit. To that end, be watchful with all perseverance and supplication for all the holy ones and also for me, that speech may be given me to open my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains, so that I may have the courage to speak as I must. So that you also may have news of me and of what I am doing, Tychicus, my beloved brother and trustworthy minister in the Lord, will tell you everything. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know about us and that he may encourage your hearts. Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in immortality."
Ephesians 6:10-24

Life In The Spirit At St. Brendan's
December 1-2, 2007
No Cost...Everyone Welcome! Come experience the joy of Pentecost! 425-483-9400 for more information.

Homily For The 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Homily For The 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

The Church is a reconciled and reconciling community. All believers should imitate the example of the father in the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) and be eager to help those who have fallen away from the Lord to experience the gift of His mercy and the grace of reconciliation.

Homily For The 23rd Sunday In Ordinary Time (September 9, 2007)

Characteristics of A Humble Person
1. Place God First In All Things
2. Awareness of one's own limitations and sinfulness
3. Checking one's motives to make sure we're working and living for God and not earthly recognition

"Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested. By faith we understand that the universe was ordered by the word of God, so that what is visible came into being through the invisible. "

Hebrews 11:1-3

Any "renewal" movement not based on personal conversion....is false.

God promises to lavish the Holy Spirit upon us. All we need to do is ask.

1. We must be present to God and present to people.
2. We must recognize the value and contribution of everyone who has different duties than we have. We must also be content with our work and work for God.
3. We must spend more time with the Jesus and allow Him to shepherd us.

 1. Rediscover the importance of sacrificial love - in order to gain something has to be given.
2. Simplify - prayerfully examine our lives to make sure we're doing what God wants
3. Deepen our prayer life.

1. Keep Your Hand To The Plow - Develop a personal plan of spiritual growth and always move forward.
2. Process Your Disappointments (Isaiah 61) "Beauty For Ashes"
3. Rejoicing In The Lord Must Be Our Strength (Nehemiah 8:10) Always be looking for signs of Redemption and celebrate those victories of Grace.

1. Revelation
2. Receptivity
3. Relationships

1. Follow The Magisterium and worry about your own example and vocation.
2. Find more time for prayer and contemplation.
3. Learn the value of praising God in all cirumcstances.

Homily For The 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily For the 2nd Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday)

Have a most blessed and joyful Easter! Christ is risen! Allelulia!

Homily For The 5th Sunday of Lent (3/25/07)

Steps to Being More Fruitful

1. Deal with your own issues (Jesus warns us in the Gospel not to dwell on other people's sinfulness but to be open to the grace of repentance ourselves)
2. Surrendering the desire to control and yielding to the Holy Spirit (Avoid Starbucks Catholicism)
3. Foster an attitude of gratitude and look around to see how others are living. We are so blessed as a country but often fall into grumbling.

I referenced the following articles during the homily:

http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=103757

http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=3430

We must learn to enter the desert and to confront the reality of sin so as to allow the Holy Spirit to transform us from within. Many people never grow spiritually because they're worried about cosmetic fixes (botox injections) and appearances and not open-heart surgery. A radical trust in God and the life-changing power of the Holy Spirit is needed for this transformation. As this transformation takes place we are free to serve God more effectively. We are freed from sin so we can live in freedom by the law of the Holy Spirit.

We must learn to put our trust in God and ensure that we're taking in good spiritual things so that we can learn to shoulder the disappointment of human failure and learn to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

In this message I share what a great gift the Liturgy of the Hours is and how it can help us stay focused and spiritually healthy.