Our Lady Of Lourdes Podcast

The Prodigal Son: Jn 9:1-41 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/reading... Homily 1: Basic Message of Reconciliation “The Good News that you have a place at the Father’s table. If you don’t know that, this is the good news of Christianity.” —Fr. Brian Larkin Origen’s 2nd commentary of Leviticus 2: “Even to the end of the world, the day of reconciliation is today.” https://www.google.com/books/edition/... The story of all christians is a story of slaves and sons. Today is the day of reconciliation. Today, you belong in the Father’s house.”—Fr. Brian Larkin Homily 2: “God has entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation.” —Fr. Brian Larkin 2 Corinthians 5: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2corint... Pliny the Younger: The story of the slave who has become a freed manhttps://bible.usccb.org/bible/philemon/0 Today's Sponsor: N.T. Wright: Paul (Book) https://www.audible.com/pd/Paul-Audio... Onesimus=Useful (Latin name) “I, Paul, an ambassador, and now a prisoner for Christ Jesus, I appeal to you for my child, One

3rd Sunday of Lent Deacon Tom: True North & Continual Metanoia Exodus 17 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/exodus/17?3 The Miracles of Water Exodus 7: 14–25: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/exodus/7 Moses’s Staff turns the river to blood Exodus 14: Crossing the Red Sea, dry shod https://bible.usccb.org/bible/exodus/14 Miracles of food: Manna from Heaven & quail in the evening https://bible.usccb.org/bible/exodus/16 Israelites still mistrust the Lord, and death follows in the desert. Joshua leads the Israelites to the Promise Land across the River Jordan https://bible.usccb.org/bible/joshua/0 The Woman at the Well & the Living Water: John 4: 4–42 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/4 The longer Christ talks to the woman, the more her tone and attitude change—it becomes a metanoia for her to hear that Christ is the “Living Water.” “Maybe our own personal metanoia is minimal, but important if you want to ‘get where you’re going.’” —Deacon Tom Uschold Deacon Ernie McNally, of Camden, NJ Experienced a major

Homily #1: Transfiguration is at the top of the list for the richness of text. Homework for the week: Feast of Booths—A Jewish Feast https://www.jewishvoice.org/read/blog/sukkot-feast-booths-known-some-feast-tabernacles Homily #2 Christian Hope Luke 9: Worthy of prayer https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031322.cfm “I was wrestling with loneliness and hardship, and I looked out into the ocean. I was listening to ‘Beyond the Blue,’ and he says, ‘“I'll let go of all I could not hold onto For the hope I have in you’” “…the hope beyond the blue.” “Beyond the Blue” lyrics by Josh Garrels: https://www.google.com/search?q=beyond+the+blue+josh+garrels+lyrics&sxsrf=APq-WBvslVMKwnrpzj6303rbGmOA3IAsMw%3A1647192765315&ei=vSouYv3pEuT99APisL3YAg&oq=beyond+the+blue+josh+g&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMYADIFCAAQgAQyBQguEIAEMgUIABCABDoHCAAQRxCwAzoHCAAQsAMQQzoHCC4QsAMQQzoPCC4Q1AIQyAMQsAMQQxgBOgwILhDIAxCwAxBDGAE6BAgAEEM6CAguEIAEENQCOgcILhDUAhBDOgQILhBDOgYIABAWEB5KBAhBGABKBAhGGAFQ5QVYmRVgjBxoAXABeACAAVGIAeQDkgEBN5gBAKABAcgBEsAB

Simple signs tell you what did or didn’t happen, such as when a child still has ashes on their forehead three days after Ash Wednesday. Today’s Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030622.cfm St. Luke 4:1–13 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/4?1 David and Goliath: a premonition of the Tempting in the Desert: 1 Samuel 17 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1samuel/17 Into the Desert Fasting for 40 Days: “The Devil comes to you when he knows you are weak. He knows your Achille’s heel.” —Fr. Witold “Pleasures and comfort are OK in our lives, but God is always first. Then, we know the limits in our lives.” —Fr. Witold The very first temptation is: Idol of comfort & pleasure Idol of Power: (all the kingdoms) we want control Idol of Popularity/Pride: the desire for people to worship you The moment of the Great Fall of Adam was the moment the power over the world was handed from Adam and Eve to Satan. On the War in Ukraine: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/tags/1954/ukraine-war “The president of Russia

Bearing Good Fruit Parables: “Jesus Style” “The blind man cannot lead the blind man. You cannot trust the man who removes his glasses to get you safely to your destination. He or she cannot see, so they cannot find the way.” —Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk “Each week, Jesus brings your spiritual vision to 20/20 again for the next six days. Not the priests, but Jesus Christ.” —Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk “I wouldn’t depend on your own eye. You cannot correct someone if you have problems. If you have problems, you cannot advise. Fix yourself first, so you can help others along the way.” —Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk “Fruits: if you see an apple, it means that it comes from a tree. It doesn’t just appear. If you are a Catholic, and you want to bear good fruit, you have to be connected to the tree. You cannot sufficiently fulfill your vocation, the way God wants, if you are not connected to God through his ‘tree.’” —Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk War in Ukraine is official, because of the deeds of one person. We can speak to the world t

2 Latin Words: Ressentire: To feel something over again—origin of “resentment” https://translate.google.com/?sl=la&tl=en&text=ressentire&op=translate&hl=en Respectare: “To look at something again,” or, “to look back”—origin of “respect” https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/respecto#Latin 1st Reading: 1 Sm 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1samuel/26?2 The Book of Samuel is all about the rise and fall of King Saul and King David—King Saul does not repent, but King David does. Psalm 51: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/51 “Have mercy on me, O God, in your kindness. In your compassion, blot out all my offense.” Psalm 103: 12: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/103 “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our sins from us.” How far is the east from the west? Eternal. Saul has everything going for him as king—handsome, tall, everything a king should be. And, along comes King David. David is the one who sets Israel free from Goliath, and everyone rejoices, becau

To Taste Is Wisdom Sapore—Latin for “to taste”— An axiom or phrase that existed in the early Church said, “A man is truly wise when all things taste to him as they truly are.” Jeremiah 17—https://bible.usccb.org/bible/jeremiah/17 reflects Psalm 1—https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/1 “To understand the entire book of Psalms, you have to look at it through the lens of Psalm 1.”—Fr. Brian Psalm 1 talks about a tree planted by streams of water. Only the people of the Holy Land truly understand the meaning of this. Most of this place is desert, and yearns for the rain. “All of today’s readings are about God’s blessings in your life. The tree in Psalm 1 is not just any tree—it’s about the Tree of Life, and what God wants today is to make you like the Tree of Life.” —Fr. Brian “It does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and it is not anxious in the season of doubt, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”—Psalm 1:3 “God wants to plant us by that stream of living water in the Garden of Eden

“I was in my room, on my knees, crying—to be honest, I don’t do it a lot, like Fr. Brian, but I was on my knees, and I just couldn’t resist anymore. I was on my knees, in my room, in complete darkness, and I was asking God, ‘I don’t have anymore plans for my life. What I had planned, it has been crashed. So I don’t know what to do. You have to tell me.’ He did. Ten years later, here I am in front of you, and I am so happy.” —Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk “I still love physics, but God is my wife now. I am married to the Church.” —Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk Paraphrased from a friend of Fr. Witold: “I cannot work here when the sin is supported, but I have to work to pay my tuition. I don’t know what to do." He lost his job to follow Christ. "We love to know what’s next, and when something is going to happen. Jesus doesn’t care about schedules—He has His own time. And, He knows what’s best for us."—Fr. Witold "We need to fill both boats, both parishes with Catholics. But we have to do just one thing—what St. Peter do

-Each and every one of us in this room is called to something amazing. Each and every one of us is called to something unique. Something that only you can fulfill in the Body of Christ. Each and every one of us has a mission, a specific mission that God calls us to. A specific vocation that God calls us to. —Fr. Sean -vocare (Latin): to be called -"Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) -"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you." (Jeremiah 1:5) -"God

"'The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field' (Mt. 13:44)...That field, it seems to me, is the scripture, planted with what has become clear in the words and other thoughts of the histories, law and prophets (for the planting of these words in the whole of scripture is great and varied). But the treasure hidden in the field consists of the concealed thoughts (underlying what is manifest) of wisdom hidden 'in mystery' (1 Cor. 2:7) and in Christ, 'in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge' (Col. 2:3)." -Origen Spirit and Fire, 98 -"Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12) "For I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: for Jew first, and then Greek. For in it is revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The one who is r

"Jesus told them, 'Fill the jars with water.' So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, 'Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.' So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, 'Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.'" (John 2:7-10) -The Eucharist is not possible if we don't have wine. There is always wine, because without wine, there is no Eucharist. The wine, this wine, in a few minutes will become the Blood of Christ, another miracle. The whole message in today's Gospel is not about drinking and knowing your limits, it's about inviting God into our lives. -Fr. Witold -"When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine.'" (John 2:3) -If your life doesn't taste great, invite God, and He will chan

Who you are in your life and your knowledge of who you are, touches everything you do. There's two places you can get your identity from. You can either get it from your relationships, or you can get it from what you do....Most of us draw our identity from what we do. Almost every one of us. -Fr. Brian -"Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased. Upon him I have put my spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations." (Isaiah 42:1) -"And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.'" (Luke 3:22) -What if you actually believe this about yourself? What if you actually believe that God the Father saw you, and He said, "Behold, this is my son, this is my daughter, in whom my soul delights." -Fr. Brian -When you were baptized, you came to share in the identity of Christ. His father, became your father, His mother became your mother, His siblings became yours—the saints are your brothers and sisters. Your baptism brought you into a family becaus

"When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem." (Matthew 2:1) -"Caravans of camels shall cover you, dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; All from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and heralding the praises of the LORD." (Isaiah 60:6) -"I was still praying, when the man, Gabriel, whom I had seen in vision before, came to me in flight at the time of the evening offering. He instructed me in these words: 'Daniel, I have now come to give you understanding.'" (Daniel 9:21-22) -Love will make you poor. When you truly love someone, love always leads us to poverty. Always. -Fr. Brian -I don't mean, necessarily, that you will be materially poor. You might be. There's a reason why priests and religious are supposed to be at least materially simple. What I do mean is that anyone who loves, loses their life. -Fr. Brian -"They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They pro

kerygma - the basic Gospel message The hardest to break through with the Gospel is not people who have big sins, it's people who are apathetic. They just don't need God. Everything is great. -Fr. Brian Churches are meant to say to us that we can walk into the mystery of the Christian life.... If a church is built properly, we walk into it, and the mystery of Christ surrounds us. -Fr. Brian As Christians, we don't believe Christianity starts with you. Christianity does not begin with you getting your act together. It does not start with you doing the right thing and going to serve the poor, it doesn't start there. It starts with Christ, with His love for us. Once that's happened, you and I have to respond. -Fr. Brian Faith is a surrender where you and I hand over our lives and take a step toward God. -Fr. Brian When I gave my life to Jesus, I didn't experience it as I have to give up all this stuff.... I experienced it as something I never even realized open up in front of me. Heaven is actually real. My

-kerygma - the basic Gospel message -If you don't know the heart of the Gospel and the basic story, you're always going to put the emphasis in the wrong place. -Fr. Brian -The Gospel is not good advice, it is good news. And I think part of the reason people in the culture don't want to hear from us—they are sick and tired of hearing from Christians—and I think part of the reason is because when we encounter the world, we're always kind of scolding them on how they should be living a moral life. Which we're not wrong about, they should be, but who wants to hear that all the time? -Fr. Brian -"For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, deluded, slaves to various desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful ourselves and hating one another."(Titus 3:3) -There are three things that Satan does to every one of us to keep us in slavery: (1) Accuses. (2) Discourages. (3) Lies. -Rescued: The Unexpected and Extraordinary News of the Gospel by Fr. John Riccardo -"And even when you were dead [in]

-"God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:10) -John Paul II talks about, in the Created Order, there were four good relationships: us with God; us with creation; us with other human beings; us with ourself. Before the Fall, these were perfect, and all of these led to a deeper intimacy with God. -Fr. Daniel -When they looked within, when they looked in the eyes of their beloved, and when they looked at creation around all them, all they could do was praise, glorify, and love their Creator. Now if that doesn't stir your hearts, I don't know what does.... That was how it was meant to be. That was how God created it for us. -Fr. Daniel -(Wisdom 2:23-24) -Jesus is King of the Universe, but in many ways, Satan is still king of this world. And we long for and wait for the final coming of our king. This is one of the aspects that we celebrate in Advent. -Fr. Daniel -For us to understand truly the gift that God has given us in His Son—what it means to be rescued—you can't understand our redemption and being rescued unle

​Homily #1 -Advent is a new beginning. You might not have woken up today and thought of this, but today for you as a Christian, today is New Year's Day.... Advent is a season of hope, and what Christians do during Advent is they look to the time that Christ returned to make all things as they should be, and then towards the end of Advent, we start looking back at the time that He first broke into this world. But the theme that runs throughout Advent is that God wants to make all things new. -Fr. Brian -God wants to make you new. What if you believe that? What if this Advent, over the next four weeks, you were utterly convinced that God could make you new? What would that look like? -Fr. Brian Homily #2 -kerygma (Greek) - the basic Gospel message -The good news of Christianity is not that you got your act together and so God decided to love you. That is not what Christianity is. That's not good news. -Fr. Brian -Simply Good News by N.T. Wright -John Muir (b. 1838 - d. 1914), Scottish-born American natural

-"Jesus answered, 'My kingdom does not belong to this world.'" (John 18:36) -kerygma (Greek) - the basic Gospel message -"If I had a $1,000,000" (1992 song) - Or rather $10,000,000, adjusted for inflation and the cost of living in Denver. -Money has everything to do with your relationship with God. -Fr. Brian -"For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be." (Matthew 6:21) -What we do with our money says something about where our heart is. Even small things. A lot of sins in our life, Jesus doesn't tell us to really be watchful. Money is tricky, because none of us thinks that we are a greedy person. But if I'm honest, I'm a greedy person. There's a piece of my heart, I just like nice things. -Fr. Brian -"That which someone cherishes above all else, admires and loves above all, this is that person's God." (Origen) -Our money is not about paying the bills at the church. Your money has everything to do with what you worship. -Fr. Brian -"Come, Lord Jesus, take away scandals from your kingdom,

-"Jesus said to his disciples: 'In those days after that tribulation 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.'" (Mark 13:24-25) -It's yours. This is your house. You paid to the church to help to renovate the sanctuary. But we do this to build up the Church. Money as you know is not good, it's not bad. Money is neutral. It depends how you use it. —Fr. Witold -Jesus spends 25 percent of preaching on money in the New Testament. He never said that you're supposed to give ten percent or five percent to the Church. No He has never said something like this, never ever. He said that we are supposed to support the poor, help the sick, this is needed. Money, as you know, doesn't bring happiness. But it can help someone, so we can bring happiness by using money. -Fr. Witold -The way you give money, for example to the Catholic Church, is to help you to not be attached to the money. -Fr. Witold -The Fifth P

Fr. Brian Larkin preaches about the readings for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time on November 7, 2021. -- -lepta (Greek) — coin (two lepta = 1 quadrans) -quadrans (Latin) — Roman coin (one quadrans = 1/64th of a denarius) -denarius (Latin) — one day's wage for average person in ancient world -"For, remember, you were slaves in Egypt, and the LORD, your God, redeemed you from there; that is why I command you to do this. When you reap the harvest in your field and overlook a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; let it be for the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the LORD, your God, may bless you in all your undertakings. When you knock down the fruit of your olive trees, you shall not go over the branches a second time; let what remains be for the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow. When you pick your grapes, you shall not go over the vineyard a second time; let what remains be for the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow. For remember that you were slaves in the