Pilgrim Priest

Lent, 3rd Sunday (C) Moses is rescued from death by a mini-ark and is adopted by Pharaoh's daughter. When he witnesses injustice, he first tries to dominate and control, then he runs and hides. God meets him in the desert in the burning bush. He is terrified by the power of the Egyptian government, but he lets God lead him. His impossible mission is wildly successful. We feel inadequate because we...

Lent, 2nd Sunday (C) You shouldn't start a journey if you don't know what the destination is. Lent is a journey and today we are shown the destination. Where are we going? First, we are headed to Easter! We fast now because we plan to feast later. It's a little easier to be disciplined about our sacrifices if we remember that Easter is not so far away. Easter is a celebration of new life. As the w...

Lent, 1st Sunday (C) On May 10, 1940, the Nazi German Army invaded Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. By May 21, German forces had trapped the British, Belgian, and French field armies along the northern coast of France. The British withdrew to Dunkirk, the closest good port, in a desperate attempt to evacuate the army across the English Channel. German tanks and dive bombers were closing in. W...

Ordinary Time, 8th Sunday (C) Imagine looking back on your Lent from the perspective of Easter. Is it easier to give up candy now if you remember that Easter candy is coming? In a similar way, how will your life look different from the perspective of eternity? The trials of this life expose what is in our heart. They also give us opportunities to trust God and to love and give and sacrifice. Witho...

Ordinary Time, 6th Sunday (C) Today we hear an excerpt from the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:17-49). Jesus admonishes us to "love your enemies" and "do good to those who hate you." At first glance, these words look like admonishments that any teacher or guru might give to his disciples. He wants us to be kind to others, right? Look again... these words seem like a terrible idea. Why would I turn my...

Ordinary Time, 5th Sunday (C) Peter looks good on the surface; he has a good life and a successful career and he's not interested in what Jesus is offering. But underneath, Peter is not so good. He feels like he is failing at fishing and failing at life. Even deeper down, though, Peter is Very Good. He is loved by God and he hasn't ruined God's plans for his life. Jesus invites Peter to "put out i...

Candlemas (Feast of the Presentation of the Lord) • Today we celebrate Candlemas, the final feast day of the Christmas season. Mary received God's gift, helped to grow this gift, and now gives him back to God. This is what parents do when they have a child Baptized. They give their child back to God. The parents are given a lit candle and told: "Receive the light of Christ. Parents and godparents,...

Ordinary Time, 3rd Sunday (C) In addition to a sabbath day, Jewish law also prescribed a Sabbatical Year . Every seventh year, the land was to be left fallow and debts would be forgiven. After seven such sabbatical years, or 50 years, the Bible calls for a Jubilee. This was like a super sabbatical year. Slaves were freed and land that had been sold returned to its hereditary owners. The land is a...

Ordinary Time, 2nd Sunday (C) The Holy Spirit gives us many gifts: wisdom, knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, mighty deeds, prophecy, discernment of spirits, varieties of tongues, interpretation of tongues. The Spirit gave Donal Walsh a deep sense of faith. His life was a gift, but he realized it was a gift that was meant to be given away. He died of cancer at the age of 16, but he used his short...

Feast of Epiphany • The Feast of Epiphany is older than Christmas. Early Christians celebrated January 6th as three feasts in one: the visit of the magi, the Baptism of the Lord, and the miracle of water into wine at Cana. In the East, the Baptism of the Lord emerged as the most important of the three feasts. In the West, the Baptism migrated to next Sunday and Epiphany became "Three Kings Day." W...

Christmas, Holy Family (C) The Feast of the Holy Family reminds us that Jesus comes not only to restore us as as individuals, but also to heal our family. The four fundamental identities help to reveal God's original plan for the family. These identities have three characteristics: Relational. Each identity requires another; none are just my sense of me in isolation. Foundational. They build on ea...

Christmas Eve • There was a time when your ancestors did not celebrate Christmas. Then one day, missionaries came to bring the good news of Jesus Christ. This was their message, "Your Father loves you and he wants you to come home." Remember how God made our first parents and put them in a beautiful garden? There were two trees in the middle of the garden, a good tree and a bad tree. They ate from...

Advent, 4th Sunday (C) Imagine for a moment that you attended a school Christmas program but no one was listening to the director. Everyone was singing their own songs and trying to do their own thing. There would be chaos, frustration, hurt feelings, and a lot of giving up. Bishop Barron calls this the "Ego-drama." Each of us is trying to be a star in our own show that is written, produced, and d...

Advent, 3rd Sunday (C) The monastery cloister teaches us to keep part of our hearts closed to the world and open to heaven. The ancient and medieval world was familiar with the example of the wheel of fortune: One minute you're on top of the world, the next minute you are on the bottom. We need to move from the chaos of the outside to the peace at the center. Peace comes from being with Christ in...

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception • St. Augustine first taught about original sin. He said that our first parents passed the infection of sin on to all their children. Humans have been all been born with this original sin. Except Mary, whom the Archangel Gabriel calls, "kekaritomene", or "the one who is fully blessed or gracious". She is completely free from the infection of sin even from the...

Advent, 1st Sunday (C) A felt sense of safety and security is necessary for us to find peace. When peace is missing, there are many ways we might try to manufacture it. Perhaps you surround yourself only with like-minded people. Try to control everything, get angry, or run and hide. Maybe you numb yourself or pretend that it doesn't matter. God desires to make his people safe and secure. We receiv...

Solemnity of Christ the King (B) There are three key figures in Old Testament society. The priest heals and sacrifices. The prophet teaches and preaches repentance. The king protects society from invasion and rightly orders life within the city. We often think of Jesus as priest or as prophet. Today we focus on Jesus as King. Jesus tells Pontius Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world." How is Je...

Ordinary Time, 33rd Sunday (B) Ancient people couldn't depend on much. Plagues, wars, earthquakes, death, and decay all dogged their lives. The heavens above appeared incredibly stable and predictable.  When Jesus says, "The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken," what he means is that th...

Ordinary Time, 32nd Sunday (B ) Jesus is impressed not with the size of the donation; he is impressed with a generous heart. A poor widow holds nothing back; she gives God her whole livelihood. God has blessed me with gifts, perhaps less than I had hoped. The temptation is to hoard the little I have and use it for myself. God's invitation is to be generous with what we have and trust that he will...

Ordinary Time, 31st Sunday (B) The first level of vocation is the Universal Call to Holiness. This means that we were made in the image and likeness of God, and God is love. We are called to allow the love of God to transform every aspect of our lives. Holiness is nothing other than living love in every aspect of our lives. The second level is the call to love in a specific and permanent state of...

All Saints Day • Why have so many people left the Catholic Church? I think they have left because being Catholic made them less happy. It gets in the way of getting their way and having all the things and pleasures they want.  Getting what we want only makes us happy when we have learned to want that which is actually good for us. The happiness based on having things or fun experiences is the most...

Ordinary Time, 30th Sunday (B) Jericho often symbolizes the kingdom of this world. Bartimaeus can see with the eyes of faith that Jesus is the one he has been waiting for. He keeps calling Jesus until Jesus calls him, then he leaves everything to follow Jesus. Jesus is leading home to the heavenly kingdom all who have heard his call and followed him. We gather at Sunday Mass to experience ongoing...

Ordinary Time, 29th Sunday (B) Stewardship is a great way of understanding the Gospel in our practical, everyday life. Christians are called to be like God. We can't possibly succeed, so the Holy Spirit gives us the power to love as God has loved us. Consumers we are rarely grateful, because we have been trained to see the lack in our lives and to think that one more product will fix our problem....

Ordinary Time, 27th Sunday (B) This weekend we kickoff our annual parish Stewardship Renewal. We ask every parishioner of the Antigo Area Catholic Churches to make at least one commitment each in the areas of Time, Talent, and Treasure. It's always good to re-evaluate our commitments.  What can our scripture readings teach us about stewardship? Adam names the animals. He is practicing on creation...

Ordinary Time, 26th Sunday (B) Many Catholics have no sense of the incredible gift they have received, nor the responsibilities that come with that gift. How would your life be different if you were able to live from your true identity as a child of God, temple of the Holy Spirit, and a part of the Body of Christ? Traffickers deceive their victims into thinking they are loved. Then they manipulate...