This last week I had an opportunity to go to the city of Eloy, Arizona, in the Diocese of Tucson, and give a leadership conference and retreat the people of this great parish, thanks to Fr. Juan Carlos Aguirre who extended the invitation for me to come and speak several months ago.
Some folks mentioned that the audio files are very large for download, so I will start giving you both the audio download and a youtube video, which will load a lot faster (and not cost me any bandwidth). If you want to listen to the homily, please click on the youtube video below. If you want to download the audio .mp3 please right click the file below the video.
Thanks for visiting my website!
FJW
Right click to download audio .mp3 file.
Hi everyone!
I have heard the howling and the crying for new material… wait no longer! Your hunger shall be abated!!!! ABATED I SAY!
The first of these two files is my Homily from this past weekend, the 21st Sunday in Ordinary time.
The second file is from a speech I gave August 21st, 2008 in Dublin, Ohio to a new Central Ohio Networking group called Positive Connections entitled “Networking for Introverts.”
Social Networking is the art of meeting and getting to know people for mutual benefit, be it friendship, recreation, or business. Knowing someone may mean the difference between Coach and First Class! This talk was given to the group to encourage those who are not as outgoing (introverts) that they actually have the advantage in the world of Social Networking because they tend to establish fewer, but deeper relationships.
I think the extroverts (like me) can learn something too!
Please right click and “save as” to download- or just click to listen!
Homily from August 23rd and 24th, the 21st Sunday in Ordinary time.
Thank you for visiting my website!
FJW
Losing Fr. David J Young in the Gulf of Mexico (Homily for the 19th Week in Ordinary Time)
Posted by Category: Uncategorized
A few months after our Ordination in 2004, a classmate of mine, and fellow priest of this Diocese (of Columbus) took a little vacation where we tried our hand at scuba diving. I will not tell you the name of that priest here, but I am sure that you can figure it out if you tried hard enough.
It is a story of harrowing danger and intrigue. We also learned the same lesson that Peter did in the gospel: Keep your eyes fixed firmly on your guide when you are in deep waters!
Enjoy!
Homily for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A. (Right click and “Save As” to download)
Homily for the 18th week in Ordinary time, Year A (21 Foot Banana Split!)
Posted by Category: UncategorizedHi everyone! I hope you had a great weekend! Here is the homiliy from the 18th week in Ordinary time, Year A:
Homily from 18th Week year A. (Right click and Save As)
Please forward this page to whomever you might think would be interested, and of course, you can always subscribe via email for regular updates to the page!
Also, I mentioned in the homily that there was a website that gave some fun facts about bananas, so here is some information from http://www.pjlighthouse.com/?p=1347&akst_action=share-this
Amazing Facts About Bananas
Posted in: Health
I love eating banana, these are some interesting facts about this yellow fruit. After reading this, you’ll never look at a banana in the same way again.
Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas
provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world’s leading athletes. But energy isn’t the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.
Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.
PMS: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.
Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.
Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit’s ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.
Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.
Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.
Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.
Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness
Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.
Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.
Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at wor k leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.
Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It
also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.
Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a “cooling” fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.
Smoking &Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.
Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body’s water balance When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing
our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.
Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!
Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!
So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, “A banana a day keeps the doctor away!”
Hi there folks… I “found” my voice recorder. More appropriately, I found it in the Radio Shack where I bought a new one. I am starting my own collection!
This is the homily I delivered July 26th and 27th at St. Mary’s Church in Marion, Ohio.
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To hear the homily just click here: (To save, Rick click and “Save As.”)
Immediately upon hearing that she was to bear the Messiah, the savior of the world, Mary also hears that her cousin Elizabeth, well beyond her child-bearing years, has also miraculously conceived a child. Without hesitation Mary “hastily” sets out to visit her cousin Elizabeth.
It is a great meeting of two women with great news. So often in a pregnancy there is a lot of joy mixed with a little bit of fear. The joy comes from the new life, while the fear comes from the fact that something could happen during those vital months of the pregancy. In my pastoral experience many couples wait many months to tell friends and relatives, simply out of this mixture of joy and fear.
But imagine the joy when they do being to tell! In Mary, there was no fear. In Elizabeth, a woman of faith, there was no fear. When these two women meet, babies leap in the wombs, there is singing and even, I imagine, a little dancing. (We know Mary likes to dance because she is in the image of Guadalupe!)
It must have been a little bit of a strange situation for both women really. Both having these miracle children, one who would testify and the other who would bring the universe back into perfect harmony and unity. Neither women knowing exactly how things were going to turn out- yet they were joyful!
Joy is the mark of the Christian who has turned their lives over to the will of God. It is simply a side effect of contact with God. Even Aristotle tells us in his own pagan way, that man’s final end- the reason for which he exists is happiness.
There are two kinds of happiness though- one I have heard called “active” and the other “passive.” Active happiness are those moments of intense joy and pleasure that enter into our lives for a few moments, and then end. There is nothing wrong with this kind of happiness, but if we chase it, we will be chasing our tails so-to-speak- that is we will always be chasing after the next intense moment of happiness. This happiness always dries up. Sort of like a starter in a car- it turns on and then it is done.
Passive happiness on the other hand, is a state of being. It is the capability of being happy even when a situation is tough or ambiguous. It comes from daily and constant contact with God, especially through the sacraments. In my car analogy, it would be more like the engine, always running and taking us from where we are, to were we need to go despite whatever terrain we are in. If all we do is sit on the starter, we will find that the car will be ruined- in the same way if all we pursue are the intense moments of life, I think we will find ourselves ruined.
St. Ignatius called this consolation and desolation- desolation is anything that leads us from God, and consolation is anything that leads us to God. Consolation’s greatest sign is its endurance- like passive happiness it is a state of being that exists no matter what the external circumstances might be.
For Mary and Elizabeth, we are seeing both at one. A moment of intense happiness, which flows from a constant state of joy and peace. Mary very peacefully says yes to the angel, and very peacefully goes to love her cousin who in her old age conceived. She then peacefully moves on through her son’s birth, life, death and resurrection, maintaining that peace and serenity that is the hallmark of any Christian who fully gives themselves to God’s will.
This is the final hallmark of those who are united in Christ- an almost simple ability to love without counting cost or questions. This Mary does selflessly, when in the midst of her own world stopping news, goes to aid her cousin in her time of need.
This is part II in my series of reflections flowing from my recent retreat in Morristown New Jersey, July of 2008.
Flowing from my meditation on the LOGOS, that divinely intelligence that guides and forms the universe, flowing from and in perfect unity with God, I felt that I was called to meditate a little more on the incarnation of the LOGOS into our reality through the person of Jesus Christ.
More specifically, I knew that the Blessed Mother, Mary herself was to be a guide during these days of prayer and meditation, so I decided to follow the path of meditating on the early parts of the Blessed Mother’s profound encounter with the “WORD made flesh.” It turns out that the rest of my retreat was basically a meditation on the joyful mysteries of the Rosary.
I love the stories of annunciations as found in the first chapter of Luke. I use the plural because there are two annunciations in the scriptures to be found there. The first is the annunciation of the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah, and the second is of course the annunciation of the birth of Christ to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
I always like to compare the two whenever they come up in prayer as they are parallel in many ways. Actually, it is in the comparison of the two that a great argument for the perpetual virginity of Mary emerges- but I guess I will save that for another time!
During this particular meditation, it became clear that as the WORD enters into our lives, it is active and effective. God often sends His messengers in many forms to ask us to do things, and while we might not be approached by an angel like Gabriel, he sends us other signs of what His will might be in a particular situation.
That is where the co-relative stories of annunciations come in.
The simple fruit that was borne of this meditation was that God’s will will always be done. We have a choice- question it, and work against it as Zechariah did, or conform ourselves to it as Mary did.
See Zeccharia and Mary both ask the question “how is this going to happen?” Zeccharia however asks it because he is incredulous, Mary out of faith and to further deepen her understanding of what God’s will is. In both cases, God’s will is done- in one case despite the doubt of one, and in the other in conformity of faith.
The results become clear- one is stricken mute, the other sings for joy as Mary sings her canticle to Elizabeth. At the end of the day though, even Zeccharia sings at the birth of John as his mouth is opened and his tounge loosened.
I guess God asks us to do things that seem somewhat impossible, or even difficult to do. He sends us his will through the Church, through the liturgy, through our own prayer, and through the people he puts into our lives to love. We, like Zechariah and Mary have a choice to work with that revelation in faith, or to question it, doubt it, and dig our feet in.
Either way though, God’s will is going to be done. We can do very little to thwart the love of God- but we can “go against the grain” so-to-speak and make things a lot more difficult for us.
There is no problem in questioning God in my opinion. The problem though in questioning God becomes our intention in question God and His will. We can be like Zechariah, and question God out of doubt, or we can be like Mary and question God in faith- to deepen our understanding of his will and how He intends to accomplish this or that particular thing in our lives.
We are called every day to bring our lives into conformity with God’s will, to trust in Him, and know that when we listen to the WORD of God as He manifests Himself in our lives, no matter what we are asked to do it will be done with ease and grace- and maybe we, with Zeccharia and Mary, may proclaim that God is “Blessed” and that he has done “great things for us!”
As I mentioned last week I thought I would share with you some of the reflections on scripture that Ihad during my recent retreat in Morristown New Jersey at the Loyola retreat center.
As I began to settle into prayer, I reflected a little on my previous experience at Morristown, an experience where I had an experience of the interconnectedness of the Universe through God’s love, and I decided to start where I left off. In doing so, I meditated a little on John Chapter 1.
The Greek philosophers, famous one’s included like Plato and Socrates, had this notion that underneath the visible universe, there was a guiding principle that organized everything in the universe. This guiding principle was called “LOGOS.” This LOGOS, or as it would be loosely translated, “WORD,” was a super intelligence that flowed from the ultimate GOOD of the universe- that prime being to which everything owed its being. In other words, God.
This LOGOS principle was itself intelligent, and held everything together- it gave the universe its structure and form, as well as its organization. It was also the unifying principle of reality.
So for St. John to say that the WORD was God made sense- that this WORD was with God, and flowed from God, also made a lot of sense to the people who were reading the prologue of this Gospel in the first and second centuries. What was novel about this first chapter of John though, and remains novel, is that this WORD- God- the defining and organizing principle of the universe- BECAME FLESH and “dwelt among us.”
How amazing is that? The guiding and unifying principle of the universe- that which connects every tiny part of ever tiny atom; that guiding, intelligent, and divinely creative principle which connects the planets and the galaxies, that takes care of birds, and counts the number of hairs on our heads, takes on and is focused, magnified if you will, and made present in our own human nature. He took on our nature to bring light into our darkness, to enlighten our minds, and to unify us together, in LOVE in a way that had previously become darkened by sin.
This LOGOS- the WORD- Jesus Christ becomes our unifying principle, and as we are joined to HIM, we are joined in a special way to each other, and really to all creation which relies upon him, and is organized by Him- that from which all things live and move and have their being. As all things in the created order, from atoms to angels are sustained by him, they participate in him, and the WORD became flesh to bring us to that realization.
What a fantastic gift that God has given us in making the WORD flesh and letting him dwell among us. To restore our knowledge lost by sin, and to heal the division and wounds caused by our own choice to turn our backs on God.
The real unifying principle of the universe, and especially of our own relationships with God and everyone else is this LOGOS- really it is love itself which binds everything together. It is the love of God that flows from the LOGOS into all of creation- which unites us to each other, and makes us who have been created in the image and likeness of God into his Sons and Daughters- entering into that special relationship of Father and Son in the love of the Holy Spirit. A relationship that cannot be lost or broken by anything, and a relationship that flows into our own mundane lives, the way that the light of the WORD flowed into the mundane darkness that sin itself created to bring us to new life, and make us one with the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity.
Miracle Grow! (Homily for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A)
Posted by Category: UncategorizedPardon me if this homily is a little “corny.”
Also, I am still looking for my voice recorder and lav mic since my move… I will start taping my homilies again after I find them! Until then… you get to read!
You know, I had the benefit of growing up on a farm until I was 12 years old. For the most part, we raised hogs, and rented out the field to a local farmer who planted crops for us. The best thing about being raised on a hog farm was, or course, attempting to ride the hogs like a horse. It turns out that is pretty hard to do, and it also turns out that the hogs REALLY don’t like it at all. I think they would prefer to just sit in the mud and be cool. Come to think of it, that doesn’t sound so bad…
Every year the farmer we would rent the fields to would come out, till the land, plant the crops, and we would get to watch them grow. It was really a neat thing to watch the corn sprout and grow from little plants to stalks that were well over 6 feet high! Not only that, but you could watch the corn cobs form and grow over time… the real point of planting corn in the first place.
Likewise, in elementary school, we would take a little corn seed, put it in a plastic cup with some dirt, and hope for the best. Inevitably we would wait and wait, and nothing would happen. We would go home for the weekend, and when we got back miraculously the corn would peak its head above the dirt we planted it in. I guess since we didn’t have things like Playstation and Nintendo, watching corn grow was an amazing thing!
Corn seeds are worthless- WORTHLESS- unless they are planted in the ground. We don’t keep corn seeds around for their own good- rather all corn seeds are good for is to be planted. If they are indeed planted we wait for the stalk to grow- but even the stalk is not there just because we like to see corn stalks. They themselves are directed at something else- bearing fruit- producing the corn on the cob for whatever we want to use it for. The whole process is directed at this in fact- the production of fruit.
We hear a lot of the same thing happening in the readings today. Jesus related to us in the form of parables how faith can be likened to seeds that are sown into the ground. But faith, like a seed, isn’t really there for its own end- rather it is directed at something more- it is ultimately directed at bearing fruit- that is love.
Faith then, is like the seed- hope is like the stalk- because it tells us that something is coming, and love is like the fruit, or the corn. We are designed, like the earth the corn is planted in, to bear fruit- to love- to be like Christ himself who was buried in the earth, and through his resurrection has borne much fruit.
How about the necessary conditions for growing corn? You need a couple of very important things- first you need good soil as we hear in the gospel today. It must be deep and fertile soil, clear of rocks, and free of weeds. Second, one needs fresh and clean water, so that the plant might be hydrated in order that it might grow. Finally, corn needs sunlight in order to be strengthened that it might grow large and tall and bear the fruit for which it was planted.
We need the same thing to grow- we need fertile hearts to receive the gift of faith- free from rocks and weeds- freed from the sin that prevents us from accepting God’s love, and loving like him. That is accomplished through two great sacraments- the refreshing and clean waters of Baptism, and the grace received through the sacrament of reconciliation- where the rocks are removed and the weeds are pulled out. These rocks might be unhealthy relationships, addictions, or whatever we might put in front of God. While those things are present in our lives, it will inevitably choke out the wonderful potential that faith has when it is implanted in our hearts. As for the light of the sun, we have the grace of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation- we contain that light of the SON- His Spirit dwelling within us, giving us light that we might grow large and strong.
Like a good farmer who is to plant seeds into soil, we must constantly be sure that the soil of our hearts are capable of accepting the gift of God in the grace of faith that he is willing to plant. We must constantly be sifted and tilled so that the gift of faith, planted deep within our hearts, may help us to bear the fruit of love.
That gift of love, the fruit we bear, is a choice. Love is a choice! It isn’t necessarily a feeling- in fact it often isn’t. It is a choice of willing the good of another- doing what is right for ourselves- and doing everything we can to glorify God. Only beginning with that gift of faith can we come to love as God loves- to love with his hearts instead of our limited human hearts.
There is something else we have as Christians- especially as Catholics. That is the gift of the Eucharist!
The Eucharist, the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ Himself in our midst and in our presence is something that aides us in the reception of this gift of faith, and its subsequent translation into love.
I was looking in the gardening section of one of those big stores the other day, when I came upon these miracle grow plant food sticks- literally plant food you stick into the ground! It will make the plant grow twice as fast, twice as large, and make it bear fruit that is twice as big! (I tried some myself by the way- it tasted terrible! It didn’t make me taller, or bear more fruit, but it DID make me a little greener!)
The Eucharist is our own miracle grow- as if we are nourished by it, that gift of faith leading us to love through hope, will be nourished that we might grow in God’s love faster, and to love more like Him, as we are nourished BY HIM!!
If we take advantage of these great graces that we are given, thr graces of our baptism and confirmation, if we are weeded and pruned, and our soil cleaned up through the sacrament of penance, and we are nourished by the gift of the Eucharist, we will grow big and tall in Christ, and be able to bear fruit as He did… we will be able to LOVE as God LOVES!
In a world that is so hungry for fruit- for food that satisfies, we are called to bear good fruit in love- to let that gift of faith and hope grow, that we may feed a hungry world with the fruit of the love of God!