Fr. John Ehrich Catholic Homilies

The disciples are in a state of excitement and confusion as they recover from a series of events and realizations. Jesus is crucified, His body is gone from the tomb and He appears absent, and then He reveals himself as resurrected, alive again. So He’s with them in presence and life in new form...but then again, He says, “I am leaving.” And the key note to remember is his last words, “Follow Me.”...

Jesus regularly speaks in metaphors about animals and crops, often relating to the agrarian citizens of his historical time.   Take the ‘Shepherd and His Flock’ concept. One of His ideas or depictions could portray two or three shepherds meeting, and congregating together, and therefore, so do their flocks - their individual group of sheep mingle together into a larger flock. If we regard the role...

A famous story: The Road to Emmaus   After the harsh and difficult events of the Lord’s Crucifixion and then the rumor His resurrection, you, the reader, can surmise the quality of emotion and struggle that is taking place in the hearts of these disciples.   And then a stranger appears.   Initially, the disciples don’t recognize Him as Jesus Christ, the very catalyst of all these past events. But...

The Son of God bears the wounds of the cross for all of eternity. How severe and powerful this idea of evil can be seen, in the scars of our savior for all of time.   Nevertheless, Jesus’ disposition to the disciples is not victimhood but instead revealed when He says the words “peace be with you.” In other words, “Yes, this severity truly happened, but this is mercy.”   The same mercy is availabl...

This may be one of the strangest Easter celebrations in our recent memory.   So many are unable to come to the church in person on one of the most celebrated days of the year. It’s important to remember that God did not cause this pandemic nor has he abandoned us. He may be in the midst of it and He still has as much strength and power as ever.   We can see the Resurrection event from the perspect...

Fr. John Ehrich Watch the full livestream Mass at www.stmglendale.org

Fr. John Ehrich For full video and worship service please go to www.stmglendale.org

I'm asking everyone to pray one decade of the rosary a day for each other, for our intentions and for a swift end to the Coronavirus.  Please email us and tell us you are going to commit to this: rosary@stmglendale.org

Fr. John Ehrich www.stmglendale.org

Fr. John Ehrich Stmglendale.org

How do we forge relationship, communicate and stay close to people when it can be difficult at times? Especially when we try to affect the truth of God in others who might not be receptive to the message, this can be a continual struggle and even feel like a challenge. For parents of teenagers, opposing family members, friendships, coworkers, and strangers - communication breakdowns about faith or...

There on the mountain, Moses communed with God for many years and brought back the promises to . This period of time was a well known to the followers of Jesus. So when they witness Christ being raised up, shown with Moses and Elijah, they know he is truly the Messiah. This means He is truly their deliverer and prophetic figure that the hearts of many were waiting for. What are our hearts waiting...

Sin and death came into the world, not simply because these first two human beings are the forbidden fruit. We know this Genisis story along with many others that are allegorical in nature. Without getting caught up in the historical accuracy, we can be attentive to the purposes of these stories and the wisdom they impart to us today.   We are given life by God as He breathes life into us from our...

Fr. John Ehrich St. Thomas More, Glendale, AZ.

We all know friends or people in our own lives who truly struggle. No matter their upbringing, circumstances, issues such as addiction or abuse and their repercussions can be a damaging and lifelong battle for many people we might know intimately. Seeing the humanity of a person and the desperate reality they live in can be a very humbling sight. Have you ever wondered what it’s like to hear confe...

It’s been said by many scholars of scripture that “Jesus is more about love than the law;” a statement that we can be attentive to. How easy it is for us, as members of nations, societies, religions, and clubs, to use language such this, which often can be dichotomous, dualistic or black/white thinking. While the lasting and promised mercy of Christ is certainly apart of our salvation, could it no...

Have you ever been stuck in a room of total darkness? It can be terrifying to be in that disorienting situation, trying to stumble through to find a light switch and not trip over anything. Once the lights are suddenly turned on, we are immediately comforted and can see the reality of our surroundings, feeling much better. The divine revelation of our faith says that the world was in darkness, sea...

Why, as people of authority, (parents, teachers, priests, leaders) do we try to enforce or expect others, such as our children, to learn the value of rule-following? Is it perhaps for the purpose of discipline, in hopes of the best interest of the other? Is it in hopes that children learn to take ownership of their lives as well set good boundaries for themselves? The very laws that are the hardes...

The way that scripture presents the four disciples in these readings is that, at one encounter, they drop everything in their lives and follow Jesus. At first glance, this act of leaving everything behind seems almost un-virtuous as if they abandoned their families and responsibilities. It seems like to radical of a move without further reflection. On a human level, we can probably glean what real...

“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” We can recall the history behind these scriptural words - the sacrificial lamb at Passover, the suffering servant in Isaiah, and the sacrifice that becomes the Eucharist as Christ’s body and blood. Today, we need to have a deep understanding of who Jesus is - not just academically or theologically, but personally. The modern culture ar...

We hear about another manifestation of who Jesus is in today’s readings. We see Jesus being baptized with the entire Trinity being revealed in the voice of God and the appearance of the dove as the presence of the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist explains this baptism as an act of repentance. And yet, even though Jesus does not need to repent, He still exemplifies for us the gift and sacrament of bap...

Fr. John Ehrich, STL St. Thomas More Glendale, AZ

In the readings, we hear words like ‘obedience, honor, and subordination.’ One thing we can remember when we hear these terms, especially in the context of family and relationship with God, is that the desire to be obedient comes from a place of respect and love and awe for the other person. Even in the structure of the Holy Trinity, the three persons of God are completely equal, mutually respecte...

Let’s say you were the author of a story. The characters that you created are vast and intimately known by you, their creator. You decide to give your characters free will because that way, they get to choose themselves rather than be controlled. What are you to do as the author brings their attention to you? Would you enter into their story? Maybe you could enter into that story so that you could...

God does amazing things through the people who say “yes.” Abraham is the one who makes a covenant with God initiates this pattern in scriptures. When finally the angel Gabriel asks of Mary to bear the son of God, she said yes to God's plan even without knowing the full story. Joseph also was asked to accept a difficult truth and to say yes to the idea of raising a foster child. Without knowing the...