4th Sunday of Easter Just a few days ago, on Thursday, May 8th, something happened that I never thought I would see in my lifetime: Habemus Papam! We have a Pope! …And he’s American! Robert Francis Prevost is a native of Chicago; an Augustinian priest (a religious order priest) who spent much of his priestly life as a missionary in South America, a…

Easter Sunday "Roll away the stone. See the glory of God. Roll away the stone." What stones are still blocking the tomb of your heart? This Easter, God wants to roll those stones away. Christ doesn’t roll it away to shame us—He rolls it away so that He can enter in. Just as He stepped out of the tomb into the garden of new life, bringing into our w…

5th Sunday of Lent “Then Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.'” “Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new!” “forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead,”

2nd Sunday of Lent In our Gospel today, Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a mountain, and He is transfigured before them, they get a glimpse of the dazzling bright white glory of Jesus’ divinity, a foretaste of heaven and of who we are called to be! But our Gospel today says, “Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming ful…

1st Sunday of Lent On this Safe Haven Sunday, we are asked to to, first and foremost, make the home a safe haven for our kids by taking practical steps to help our kids engage technology in holy and virtuous ways and, inasmuch as possible, protect them from exposure to explicit content. This is also an opportunity for individuals of all ages, young…

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus calls us to be transformed, to be renewed in mind and action, to look and act differently than others normally do: this theme runs through all of our readings. Yes, we are called to be disciples of Jesus, but our mission is more than just following Jesus as a disciple. Jesus’ last words on this earth before He asce…

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time What does our world need? Whom does God seek? Not the "perfect" or the "sinless", but the willing. No matter how unworthy we are, He calls us, and when we willingly say "yes," He cleanses us, and He strengthens us to go on whatever mission He has planned for us. This week, let's be the ones whom God seeks and whom our wo…

Baptism of the Lord When we are baptized in the waters, we are adopted into God's family and actually become, in Jesus, children of the Father. Baptism happens once and is the doorway to the other sacraments. Receiving the Eucharist (which we do again and again and again) is becoming who we are: the Body of Christ. So ask yourselves a few questions…

Epiphany How do I come to Mass?

Merry Christmas! Come, they told me — pa rum pum pum pum A newborn King to see — pa rum pum pum pum Our finest gifts we bring — pa rum pum pum pum To lay before the King — pa rum pum pum pum Rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum. So to honor Him — pa rum pum pum pum When we come.

3rd Sunday of Advent We were created by God for the kingdom of eternal life with him; by our own free choices to turn away from God and ‘go at it on our own’ we’ve been captured by the kingdom of sin, death, darkness and Satan. Jesus becoming a baby at Christmas is the invasion of one kingdom (the kingdom of darkness, hell, death, sin and Satan) by…

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception 3 Levels of the Heart God wants to give us peace at the deepest level, a peace which endures all things.

1st Sunday of Advent During this Advent season we will be doing a 4-part homily series as we Journey to the Manger together to welcome the Christ-child at Christmas. Our story starts with God’s incredible creation - of the universe, and of each of us - and the hope that it promises. As Fr. Riccardo says: “God created and runs this immense universe,…

Solemnity of Christ the King Together, during this Advent season, all 5 of our parishes (along with Christians throughout the world) prepare to welcome Jesus into our hearts and homes in new and deeper ways, and as we are practicing hospitality in opening our hearts and homes to God, let us also practice hospitality by inviting others in our lives …

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time I want to talk about 2 things today: How do we as Catholics respond to an election? What will actually change our country for the better? This weekend I preached in my hometown of Hudson, Wisconsin, at the parish of St. Patrick where I grew up. It was a blessing to be home! (One disclaimer is that the answer to the homi…

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus asks Bartimaeus today, "What do you want me to do for you?" Bartimaeus's request is granted, he receives his sight, and he follows Jesus on the way. Being a disciple of Jesus is being in a relationship with Jesus, and a relationship is a two-way street. When Jesus asks us that question, we are called to respond fr…

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time Life in a fallen world brings us all plenty of suffering, and our readings today take up that theme of suffering. Our sufferings - wether mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, or some combination thereof - have varying levels, but the key to all of it is that I have a choice in the midst of my suffering, I can choose …

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time The famous architect Antoni Gaudi designed the incredible basilica of Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, which has been under construction for 128 years. A genius of architecture, he built a model of the church with strings...UPSIDE DOWN...to find and test balance and proportion, because each change in balance would i…

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time The people in our first reading today, the Israelites, are at a decision point — they need to decide whom they will follow. This ancient Biblical situation is wildly applicable for us today. November 5th is the upcoming presidential election. Everyone is getting so worked up over politics, and we are all guilty of becom…

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time This weekend is the kickoff for our annual diocesan Catholic Services Appeal (CSA). The CSA provides incredible opportunities to spread the faith of Jesus Christ in northwestern Wisconsin - for our seminarians, for our youth, for our schools, for our parishes - opportunities that I witness and see the fruits of firsthan…

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time God works so powerfully in and around us at different times in our lives...but like the Israelites in our first reading, it's so easy to forget the good things God has done in our lives. When we remember what God has done for us and consciously give Him thanks for those blessings, we begin to enter more fully into the c…

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time We mistakenly think that comfort will lead to happiness…but the human experience proves that those who do NOT regularly push themselves outside their comfort zones experience a slow but sure atrophy of their spiritual, emotional, physical, and relational health, and thus a slow but sure atrophy of happiness and fulfillm…

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time A question to ask ourselves today: "Am I living for myself, or am I living for God?" And the answer for most of us is probably, "A little bit of both...depending on when you catch me during the day." In our Bishop's Pastoral Letter on Evangelization he gives the image of three circles of what our life can look like and …

10th Sunday in Ordinary Time I head a lot of complaining and blaming in this day and age. Jesus had a lot that he could have complained about in his time...a lot...but we don't hear Him complain once in the Gospels about any of the things that we often complain about. Why? Because His mission wasn't first and foremost to fix the world. Rather, Jesu…

Holy Trinity Each time we make the sign of the cross we are proclaiming that our God is a Trinity - God IS a relationship, so united that the Three are actually One, and yet the One remains Three. And we, caught up in this relationship of God through baptism, are called by Jesus today to, “Go and make disciples.” Luckily, it’s not as complicated or…

Pentecost The Holy Spirit comes on this Pentecost day to strengthen us in 3 ways: In our relationship with Jesus Christ In defending the faith In spreading the faith Every day this week, pray, "Come, Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit." When you feel your relationship with the Lord is not what it could be, when the Church is being lo…

6th Sunday of Easter “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you.” “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he has loved us.” “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.”

4th Sunday of Easter Two thoughts for you this Sunday...

Happy Easter!

4th Sunday of Lent We were created in love by God (white), then we fell into and were captured by sin (black), but "even when we were dead in our transgressions" "God, who is rich in mercy...brought us to life with Christ...raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus" (white). And now, all throughout each day, in so…

2nd Sunday of Lent The Birkie is an incredible yearly event! So many people, come from all over the country (and the world) to make this experience possible — whether it’s the skiers, the many volunteers, the family members, the friends, the staff, all our business owners — everyone comes together, preps, and plays their part to make this week happ…

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time In our Gospel today we see Jesus healing those who are sick or possessed by demons, restoring some people physically and some people spiritually. Jesus' wholeness heals others. While His apostles aren't yet healing others at this point in their lives, we know that one day they will. While the saints aren't yet healing ot…

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time The spiritual life, I believe, is actually very simple; it’s not easy, but it’s simple. It’s following the impulses that come from deep within, the calls that arise from the depths of our soul and heart, from the place within us where God already dwells. God is so much closer to us than we realize. God molded our inmost …

Merry Christmas! Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King! Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.”

4th Sunday of Advent Mary is hailed today as full of grace, full of God's blessings. Our lives, too, are filled with God's blessings...but it's so easy to forget and miss those blessings (and our sins lead us to forget God's blessings as well). As we enter into this Christmas season, let us, like Mary, recognize our blessings and remind ourselves a…

2nd Sunday of Advent Christ comes to bring a peace that every heart and soul longs for but which nothing in the world is able to provide.What we need is more of God, more holiness, more of God's light shining in and through us. And as we experience God's light shining out through us, both we and others experience the peace that this world cannot gi…

34th Sunday in Ordinary Time At the end of this liturgical year our readings focus on the end of time, the final judgment, and the coming of God's kingdom in its fullness, the completion of God's great plan for all of creation. Jesus speaks of all people being assembled before the Son of Man, and that "he will separate them one from another, as a s…

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time No matter how many talents we believe the Master has given us, no matter if we have used them wisely up until this point or not, we all still have at least one talent (and an important one) - faith! And our Master expects us to use whatever we have right now, engage with it, "trade" with it, and intentionally multiply t…

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time This weekend I am thankful to preach back at my home parish of St. Patrick in Hudson. Thank you to all of you who inspired me in the faith and grew me into who I am today. I am a priest because of you. As Paul said in our second reading, "We were determined to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our very selv…

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time I’ve been hearing a lot of discouragement at the state of our world, our country: the divisions, the politics, the games, the manipulation from all sides. I hear people sad that many of their own kids have fallen away from the active practice of the Catholic faith, that their own grandkids or great-grandkids aren’t bapt…

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time As we realize the state of the world around us (perhaps recently we have been awakened to the ever-present realities of atrocities and evils throughout our world by the media coverage of the war in Israel), but as we realize the state of the world around us, we can respond to what's happening in three ways: by being dis…

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time Last Advent we preached about the 4 Marks of a Disciple: Quick to Pray, Joyfully Sacramental, Intentional in Relationships, and Committed to Growth. Since then, I hope that you’re finding yourself on certain weeks striving to grow in one or another of those Marks as we have continued to bring them up in preaching. This …

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” “Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven… Remember your last days, set enmity aside;” “So will my heavenly Father do yo you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”…

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Last week we heard about how the gates of the netherworld would not prevail against the Church, how Jesus actually sees His Church as being on the offensive, and how the gates of darkness will not be able to hold back His kingdom. This week's readings continue and clarify that them, showing us what it will actually cost…

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time In our Gospel today Jesus says an often misinterpreted and misunderstood line: "upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it." In the face of such seemingly steep opposition, pushback and darkness in our modern world, I believe this line of Jesus, correctly underst…

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time In our first reading, there’s a strong heavy wind crushing rocks, there’s an earthquake, there’s a raging fire. In our Gospel there’s a stormy sea. But where is God in the midst of it all? In the noise of our lives (which will always be there), I want you to look for God in the small moments, the daily moments, the unno…

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time This week, no matter where you're at, I am challenging you to take one real step in prayer. I don't care where you think you're at now - whether you only come to church when you're visiting Grandma and Grandpa, or whether you have a daily hours long prayer regimen that you have followed for years - no matter where you a…

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time "Rabbi" means "teacher". "Disciple" means "student". In Israel, 2,000 years ago, there were a couple formulaic statements that a rabbi would use to call a disciple and then invite that disciple to take on the rabbi's worldview and become like him (one statement we find in today's Gospel!). Then at the end of this period…

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity A Lazy River with a bunch of kids is never “lazy” — it’s always moving, surprising, dynamic, alive! Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. And what we profess every single time we make the sign of the Cross — “In the name of the F, and of the S, and of the HS” — is that our God isn’t a boring, …