Bishop Donald DeGrood Homilies

Have there been times in your life where you've felt abandoned by God? This past weekend in his homily, Bishop explained how suffering is an invitation to be like Jesus, and how God uses our suffering to sanctify us.

Is there something in your life that is keeping you in a spiritual slumber? In today's culture it is easy to let our faith go by the wayside or become lukewarm. This weekend in his homily, Bishop encouraged us to allow the spirit of God to come alive within us, cast out idols from our lives and become fervent in our spiritual life. If we don't feed on the life of God, we will become like dry, wear...

In today's society, it is difficult to discern what is truly going on. This weekend in his homily, Bishop encouraged us to be discerning like Samuel- to discern God's will and not the will of ourselves or others. Bishop reminds us that growing in friendship with God is key, and to stay close to God's heart so he may shine light on devious strategies striving to trick or confuse us into sin and imm...

Are you thirsting for more in this life? Are the things of this world not satisfying the longings of your heart? The Samaritan woman at the well longed for more, too. This past weekend in his homily, Bishop DeGrood reflected on Jesus' thirst and desire to save souls. Bishop also encouraged us to be intentional and take time to be in the presence of the Lord, and allow him to fill you with his love...

Is your heart restless? Are you searching for the thing that will bring you perfect and lasting happiness? This weekend in his homily, Bishop explained how we will only experience perfect happiness when we are in heaven, experiencing the beatific vision. There is hope in finding real happiness in this life, but it is only found in drawing closer to the Lord.

What is wisdom? This past weekend in his homily, Bishop DeGrood explained how the supernatural gift of wisdom enables us to know things as God does. This allows us to be wise in the ways of seeing reality. Wisdom helps us relate to others, properly order our lives, and allows us to receive the supernatural virtues. Bishop also explained how wisdom inspires us to live out the corporal and spiritual...

It is not easy to become more like Christ. This weekend in his homily, Bishop DeGrood reminded us that the goal of our lives is to let Christ become more alive in us. This requires us to die to ourselves. This weekend's Gospel, the beatitudes, teaches us how to die to ourselves. Though difficult to live by, humbling ourselves as described in the beatitudes brings about greater happiness in the end...

Do you desire to be holy? This past weekend in his homily, Bishop DeGrood explains how we are to respond to the desire to grow in holiness, and how it requires cooperation with the Lord and to seek that which is true, good and beautiful.

Does it amaze you that Jesus has a mother? Jesus, who in his divinity has always existed, has a human mother. That is something to marvel at. On this Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, Bishop DeGrood talked about why Mary is the most dignified and honored human being. He also explains what we can learn from Mary and her disposition, and why art and statues often include an apple and a snake.

Did you know the words merry and Christmas have significant meaning? This past weekend in his homily, Bishop DeGrood explained what these two words mean, and why they are significant to our lives.

Did you know knowledge is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit? Knowledge from the Holy Spirit allows us to judge correctly matters of faith and right action, so that we never wander from the straight path of justice. John the Baptist understood this. This past weekend in his homily, Bishop DeGrood explained how knowledge rightly orders our lives: our thoughts, relationships, motivations, prioritie...

Are you ready for the coming of Christ? This weekend in his homily, Bishop DeGrood encouraged us to walk in the light, awaken from our slumber and to put on the armor of light. Bishop also encouraged us to develop practices that will help us live in the light of the Lord and help us grow in the cardinal virtues.

You have a choice to make. To live your life with Jesus as the king of your life, or to serve yourself. This past weekend, Bishop DeGrood talked about what it means to live in cooperation with God's perfect plan, and what the pitfalls are of living for ourselves. Will you choose the path of Lucifer, who chose to serve himself? Or will you choose true freedom? The choice is yours.

Do you find it awkward to talk about your faith? Do you feel inadequate to talk about Christ and how you live your life for him? This past weekend in his homily, Bishop DeGrood talked about being comfortable with feelings of discomfort and inadequacy. He also offered encouragement in living as a Catholic in today's world, which can be hostile to the faith.

Have you ever wondered about life after death? Or what heaven will be like? This weekend's readings had a common thread: life after death. In the gospel Jesus tells us what it will be like in heaven. In his homily this weekend, Bishop DeGrood encourages us to stand strong in our faith, and to remember we are never alone on our journey to heaven.

Are you looking for love? Do you find yourself feeling unfulfilled with your efforts to find love? This weekend in his homily, Bishop DeGrood talks about the desire deep within us to find fulfilling love. Like Zacchaeus, we too desire to see Jesus, and to be seen by him. For it is only through the Lord that our hearts can be fulfilled. Bishop also reminds us that God sees our every effort to find...

Did you know the shepherd's staff had two purposes? It wasn't used just for walking. The end of the staff was used to keep dangers away from the herd, and the hook was used to reign in stray sheep. This weekend in his homily, Bishop DeGrood explained the correlation between Moses's staff and the bishop's crosier.

We are living in a time that is not so different from the apostles. Our society struggles to believe that there is one true God, and that there are objective truths. Ideologies such as secularism, relativism, agnosticism, witchcraft, etc. are on the rise. This weekend in his homily, Bishop DeGrood called us to be ambassadors of God's love, to discover the truth God has already revealed and to freq...

Do you hate difficult and painful things? Most of us do. This weekend in his homily, Bishop DeGrood reminded us that we are to bear our share in the hardship for the Gospel. He also reminds us to have faith and courage in the face of trial, difficulty and adversity. Tune in to his homily to find out how his father's terminal cancer diagnosis is an example of this.

What does it mean to be a good steward? This past weekend in his homily, Bishop DeGrood reflected on the virtue of prudence and the importance of giving our time, talents, treasures and the freedom that comes from giving.

Discipline and tough love can be difficult to deal with. Regardless of whether you're on the giving or receiving end of tough love, it can be hard. It's even more difficult in today's world to give discipline and tough love because of the influences of relativism. This weekend in his homily, Bishop reflected on the tough love of his mother, and how we need discipline in our lives. He also encourag...

The influences of the world are all around us, and they're powerful. This weekend in his homily, Bishop DeGrood encouraged us to not grow weary, to not lose hope, or to give in to the cultural mindset of relativism. Instead, he encourages us to keep our eyes on Jesus, the perfecter of faith.

Our world is filled with false idols. This past weekend in his homily, Bishop DeGrood encouraged us to reflect on our own lives to see if we recognize any idols we may be hanging onto: technology, self-identity, politics, work, relationships, the list goes on. Are they more dominant in our lives than God? Bishop then points us back to God and encourages us to stay grounded in God so we don't creat...

When you think about your childhood, are you like Bishop DeGrood and have your parents' voices ringing in your ears telling you to do or not do something? Do you wish you had listened to your parents? Because of sin and our human brokenness, we do this with our heavenly Father, too. Bishop encourages us to rise above our human brokenness and listen to what God has clearly revealed to us.

This weekend in his homily, Bishop talked about the power and influence of spirits. Both good spirits, with a capital S (the Holy Spirit, God's Spirit), and evil spirits, with a little s (the devil, Satan and other evil spirits). Bishop also reflects on the sanctity of life and the family in light of the Supreme Court decision which overturned Roe v Wade, and encouraged us to respond to God's call...