Shawn The Baptist - Sunday Scriptures

Go After observing Jesus and learning from him, today it's time for the apostles to "go." The word "apostle" literally means, "one who is sent" so it makes sense. However, Jesus also asks them to take nothing with them so as to build their trust in God. They are supposed to take a walking stick and sandals. This is a good image for the Church. We are a people on the go; we have a mission and we're...

The Problem with Prophets Most people tend to think of prophets as people who foretell the future. The biblical notion of a prophet is much different. A prophet is someone who speaks on behalf of God. Sometimes their messages are about the future, but most of the time they are concerned with talking to people about the present moment. The Old Testament is filled with stories of prophets. One thing...

St. John the Baptist did a lot of strange things. We Boy Scouts are not so different. We do strange things similar to St. John.

Our God Is a Family God is love. We hear that a lot, but somehow it seems like we need more than just that line. Augustine famously described the love of God as a communion of love that necessarily had to involve more than one person. Lover, beloved, and love are the titles he used. This can help us understand a bit more about the Trinity. Blessed Pope John Paul II took the understanding of August...

What Drives You? In today's first reading, the Holy Spirit is described as a "strong driving wind." We're all familiar here in Kansas with just how powerful the wind can be. It can literally push you...or your house...over. On Pentecost, the Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit was a force like this. If we look at our lives, what drives us? Is it the Holy Spirit? Perhaps we're driven by a lot o...

Heavenly Help for a Universal Mission When Jesus ascended to heaven, he did not abandon his apostles. Rather he becomes present in a new and even more powerful way. The divine assistance he gives from heaven will be all the more necessary considering the mission he has given them. He tells them to go to the ends of the earth preaching the Gospel. Their mission is the make the Church "universal" or...

All You Need Is Love In 1967, the theologians Lennon and McCartney pronounced their famous dogma, "All you need is love." It sounds so simple and peaceful. Yet, as another later theologian (and Eurodance phenom) Haddaway asked in 1993, "What is love?" We use the word love to refer to a lot of different things. I "love" everything from my dog, to pizza, to my spouse, to God. Using the same word to...

What You Need To Know To the Bishop Miege High School class of 2012. Congratulations on your achievements. Having finished your finals and passed all your classes, it is clear that you know a lot about a lot of things. However, as you leave Bishop Miege, here are just three more things that I hope you will know.

Staying Connected Jesus tells us today that our mission is to go and bear fruit, much fruit. Yet, in order to achieve this mission he reminds us that we have got to stay connected to him, as branches on a vine. Notice that remaining connected to Jesus, the vine, also means that we must stay connected to all the other branches. We need all those branches. To be united in Jesus is to become a family...

We normally picture sheep as being cute and fuzzy, like Binkles my little stuffed sheep. Today's homily reveals the true story...the dark side if you will...of sheep.

Called to Witness The following homily was given at the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas What a contrast we see between Peter and the apostles before Pentecost and then the radical change afterward. They get such courage from the Holy Spirit. They are a great example for how each of us is called to give our testimony about Jesus. Peter boldly proclaims, "We are witne...

What did John see that caused him to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead? What evidence is there for the resurrection?

This day marks the most tragic event in the history of the world. But if we ask for forgiveness, then we can even dare to call this day good.

This evening we sing an ancient chant Pange Lingua composed by St. Thomas Aquinas for the Mass of Corpus Christi in the 13th century.

All seems well in a moment of triumph, but then a moment of weakness finds us abandoning God. We need to strengthen our faith.

Ultimately God wants everything from us, our entire life. Yet, he does not ask for it all at once. He gives us little opportunities everyday.

Jesus wants to stretch his disciples and show them that he is victorious not just over sickness and suffering, but over death itself.

On the cross Jesus looks like he's been through war and looks defeated. Yet we know this is not the end of the story.

The gift given us in baptism is even more radical than if we were blind from birth and all the sudden could see like the man in the Gospel.

Jesus uses the ordinary thirst of a Samaritan woman to lead her to life-giving water in the spiritual life. Where are our desires leading us?

Have you taken time lately to look at the owner's manual for your car? God has also given us a spiritual owner's manual for our lives.

Join us as we discuss the mountains and valleys of life. Discover how to navigate through challenging times with faith.

If someone asked you, "Are you saved?" would you be able to answer? Get answers to important questions for the test coming at Easter.

Rise and Walk If we saw a man like in today's Gospel who couldn't walk or even move we would probably recognize that this person was in a very serious and sad condition. When Jesus encounters this man in the Gospel, he too recognizes a serious illness that needs healing, but not the one that we would automatically think of. Jesus looks right past the fact that the man is physically paralyzed, and...

This weekend and last weekend, bishops throughout the country have written letters to the faithful that were read at Mass in response the recent attack on religious liberty by our government, aimed particularly at the Catholic Church. My homily this weekend begins with Archbishop Naumann's letter and continues with my own reflections. Archbishop's letter can be found at the website of the Archdioc...