Our Lady Of Lourdes Podcast

Striving to Enter through the Narrow Way https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082122.cfm “If we preach a gospel that is cheap and easy, it is not The Gospel.”—Fr. Brian Larkin “The Gospel is a state of pure joy that will cost you your entire life. It will cost you everything.”—Fr. Brian Larkin Psalm 16:11: “Lord, you show me the path of life. In your presence, there is fullness of joy. In your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” “Following God leads to eternal joy, but it starts, Brothers & Sisters, on a hard path.”—Fr. Brian Larkin Luke 13 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/13?22 Matthew 7: “Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow, and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” The Holy Land is an incredible place. St. Jerome called it “The Fifth Gospel.”—Fr. Brian Larkin The Church of the Nativity’s main door is tiny—4 feet tall. To enter the church, you ha

Christ Comes for Division, Not Peace? | 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time | 08.14.2022 | Fr. Sean Conroy Today’s readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080722.cfm Polish man named Raymond: had a vision of Mary holding a red crown (martyrdom) and a white crown (purity/celibacy) Years later, he became a Franciscan. Started a radio station, and talked about Mary and the saints to bring people hope. This all arose at the same time of the world wars. September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland from the west, and a few weeks later, Russia invaded Poland from the East, which made Poland the center of the war in many ways. During the invasions, many priests were arrested, including Raymond—twice. The second time, one man was arrested for escaping, and they lined up the male prisoners for execution. The escapee begged for his life, because he had a wife and children. Raymond immediately stepped forward and offered his life in his place. The SS soldier was so touched by Ramond’s compassion, he spared him at the beg

The Obedience of Faith | 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time | 08.07.2022 | Fr. Brian Larkin Fr. Brian Larkin Today’s readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080722.cfm Heb 11:1-2, 8-19: Fr. Brian’s Bible verse that inspired him to live a life dedicated to God Hebrews 11: All about the faith of the men and women of the New Testament What does Faith even mean? C.S. Lewis & Tolkien (who was a big influence on Lewis at Oxford)—“How can you grow in faith? Faith means you think this is true. Either you do or you don’t.” C.S. Lewis didn’t understand that word. “Tonight’s story about Abraham in Hebrews 11 is a challenge from God to you in your life. What way will you live?”—Fr. Brian Larkin “Abraham here in Hebrews 11 illustrates how to be a person of great faith. If you are going to be a man or a woman of great faith, you must leave your life behind.”—Fr. Brian Larkin “Come follow me to a place that I will show you.”—God to Abraham in Hebrews 11 “We always want a destination. Alright, God, if I’m going t

Readings for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time Steadfast & Immovable | 18th Sunday of OT Fr. Brian Larkin Today’s readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/073122.cfm Almsgiving—Store up grain, which is wealth in the ancient world Charity—Book about almsgiving (can be found in the church library) Ecc 1:2; 2:21-23 “I want the house to be clean when they tear it down.”—Goonies “Why clean your house if it’s just going to get torn down?”—Fr. Brian Larkin “Why have I labored so hard? I’m just going to die. Jesus, thank you, that you have answered that riddle, and you brought it to fulfillment.”—Fr. Brian Larkin “Today’s readings can give the impression that as Christians, we are men and women who abandon this world. This is a mischaracterization of Christianity, but some of us as Christians do this.” “Throughout Christianity, one of the main accusations of us is that we abandon this world for the next.”—Fr. Brian Larkin Year 248 Origen argues with Celsus: Book: Contra Celsus 1.24 https://www.goodre

17th Sunday of OT Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk—July 24, 2022 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072422.cfm “Teach us how to pray.”——Disciple 
“Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test." “We think, ‘If you ask for this, you will get that,’ but it doesn’t work this way.”—Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk “With prayer, it usually doesn’t work that way to ask for a specific thing and receive it.”—Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk “The young one usually asks for something, and the parent knows whether or not it’s good for them. The kids usually want to eat cookies before dinner, but the parents always say no, because they know what is best for them.”—Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk “No matter if you

Readings for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071722.cfm Lk 10:38-42 "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her." “Anxiety is a poison for your soul.”—Fr. Brian Larkin “You and I live in a world that is anxious, and it speaks to us all the time."—Fr. Brian Larkin Greek Word: merimnaō = anxiety Luke 10: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/10 Luke 12: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/12 Greek Word for “Troubled”: therompátsoma “Martha has allowed her soul to be in a state of uproar.”—Fr. Brian Larkin “Do not be anxious about your life.”—Fr. Brian Larkin “Jesus, I’m scared about the future. I’m scared about the state of the Church. Jesus, there is a storm of anxiety in my soul. But, brothers and sisters, do you know what Jesus does with a storm? He silences the storm.”—Fr. Brian Larkin Psalm 65: 7 “God you still the roaring of the seas, the roari

Deuteronomy 30: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/deuteronomy/30 The Gospel says: “You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, your mind, your soul, and your strength…You will love your neighbor as yourself.” How do you get people to love you? Luke 10: The Parable of the Good Samaritan is actually a parable about Christ: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/10 “Who is my neighbor?” Revelation 11: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/revelation/11 “Jericho is a city that represents humanity—it’s low, it’s earthly.”—Fr. Brian Larkin “In the story of Joshua in Jericho, when the city falls, they march around it for seven days, and they blow a trumpet seven times on the seventh day, and the walls of the city fall. In Revelation chapter 11, we’re told the City of Man (the earthly city) at the end of time, there will be seven trumpet blasts, and the city of man falls, and the city of God triumphs. Jericho in Scripture is an image of humanity that needs God.”—Fr. Brian Larkin “A man was on his way from Jerusalem to Jer

“Why does this [relics] matter? Why is it important? How does God want to speak to us through one of his saints?” St. Ignatius of Antioch—one of the first martyrs, eaten by lions in the Colosseum in Rome. https://catholicexchange.com/st-ignatius-of-antioch/ “We having taken up his bones, which were more costly than precious stones, and refined more than gold deposited them where it was fitting. And in that place when we meet together as we can, the Lord will grant us to celebrate with joy and gladness the birthday of his martyrdom.”—St. John Henry Cardinal Newmanhttps://www.newmanreader.org/works/development/chapter10.html A.D. 155, St. Polycarp was burned at the stake: https://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=107 A 4th Century Writer wrote: “Corpses were an abomination in Judaism. But when death is for Christ, the relics of saints are precious. It was anciently said to the priests and Nazarites, if anyone shall touch a corpse, he shall be unclean until evening, and he shall wash his garments. Now, o

Readings for Corpus Christi Sunday https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061922.cfm Dads: What Is Your Word? | Fr. Brian's Homily | Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ | 06.19.2022 "Today, the Eucharist calls us as men to something incredibly profound."—Fr. Brian Larkin "In the history of religions and philosophy, the general movement of religious people and deep thinkers is to move away from the flesh."—Fr. Brian Larkin "According to Plato, the body was a prison for the soul, so death was never a sad thing."—Fr. Brian Larkin "Either death is a state of nothingness and utter consciousness, or, as men say, there is a change and migration of the soul from this world to another. Now if death be of such a nature, I say that to die is to gain; for eternity is then only a single night."—Plato https://www.azquotes.com/quote/671403 "For spiritual people, death is also freedom, because it allows us to ascend to the heavenly realms."—Fr. Brian Larkin "Today’s culture is hedonistic. Our culture re

Readings for Trinity Sunday https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061222.cfm Idols & Immorality | Fr. Brian's Homily | Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity | 06.12.2022 The Reason You Were Created Balthasar: Trinity Image https://zoboko.com/text/lmm3j22r/the-holy-trinity-hans-urs-von-balthasar-and-his-sources/5 A Ray of Light/Prism=all the feasts of the year The Ray of Light equates to every mystery of our faith. Romans 1: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/romans/1 Idolatry: The greatest sin of humanity Paul’s Critique of the world is this: The central problem with the world is idols. “Immoral behavior is the twin sister of idolatry. The one that is always born first is idolatry. The ray of God’s trinity heals us of that sin.” Your central problem with God is not a sin of weakness. It’s not a sin where you’re prideful or love money too much. The root of our sin is that we worship false gods. Matthew 22: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/22 “To be a Christian means to love God with all your heart, soul,

Fr. Sean’s Pentecost Homily Peace from 2 aspects: 1. With Jesus in the readings, today 2. Pentecost & the coming of the Holy Spirit “The Lord desires to give us peace, today.” Peace: The absence of division “I think we all know when we have that peace within us.” —Fr. Sean Conroy “We all desire peace in our lives.”—Fr. Sean Conroy Peace at The Last Supper: Matthew 26:17–29 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/26 Mark 14:12–25 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/14Luke 22:7–38 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/22I Corinthians 11:23–25 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/11 “Jesus knows his men will betray him, yet what does he tell his apostles at the Last Supper? ‘Peace I leave you, my peace I give to you.’ Despite knowing the betrayal and the fractures that would happen in the Church. Then, the Apostles go and abandon him when He needs them the most.” —Fr. Sean Conroy “The first words Jesus speaks after the Resurrection were, ‘Shalom’—‘Peace be with you.’ In the city of peace, Jesus speaks p

You Cannot Serve Two Masters | Fr. Sean's Homily | 6th Sunday of Easter | May 22, 2022 by Lourdes Denver

Today’s Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051522.cfm “Heaven is real; it’s my inheritance, and because it’s real, I can walk through this world in a different way than I would have otherwise.” —Fr. Brian Larkin “Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.”—Old Axiom “The greatest desires of you heart are far more than you could ever hope for. God has something like that for you.”—Fr. Brian Larkin “Satan cannot offer you anything real. The only thing Satan can do is to take something God gives us, and make a parody of it.”—Fr. Brian Larkin “It’s tempting to settle for the parody—to settle for something much less in this world.”—Fr. Brian Larkin Acts 14: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/14?21 St. Paul is on his first missionary journey with Barnabus “If you’re gonna be Christian, you’ve got to be strong. And part of my job and our job for each other is to strengthen each other to renew our hope in heaven.”—Fr. Brian Larkin Acts 14: 22 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/14 “Through many

Interpreting the Cross | Fr. Brian’s Homily for Mother’s Day | 5.8.2022 5/8/2022 Mothers “Good Shepherd: Are you calling me to give my life for you?”
 John 10: Good Shepherd Sunday usually dedicated to vocations “I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.” Romans 8: “I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.” Fr. Gawronski: Mandarin: The word for “goodness” is based off an image of a woman holding a child “What’s better in society than a woman holding her son or daughter? That’s what goodness is.” “Thank God today for mothers and for the feminine heart, which brings receptivity into this world. Mothers, you have a heart that we men don’t have. It’s different. You bring something to all of us that we so desperately need. And our society today doesn’t like

The Discomfort of Failure | Fr. Sean's Homily | 3rd Sunday of Easter | 05.1.2022 Today’s Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/050122.cfm “Failure is Not Final.”—Fr. Sean Conroy “Jesus, I go to confession over and over again for the same sins. I’m still struggling with gossip. Or Internet use. Or pride and vanity. And I come to confess them, but I feel like a failure. I hope this doesn’t cripple you to the point that you no longer pursue the Lord. Because, your failure is not final.”—Fr. Sean Conroy “How could it be that He [the Messiah] falls? How could it be that he seems like a total failure, and then he dies?” “The good news is that that failure was not final.” —Fr. Sean Conroy “Through Jesus’s resurrection, he shows us that death—failure—is not final.” —Fr. Sean Conroy John 21: Epilogue to the Gospel of John https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/21 Meant to be seen as parallel to Luke 5: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/5 6 When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish an

Today’s Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/reading... “Mercy creates a community.” Fr. Brian Larkin Blaise Pascal: “There are only two kinds of men: the righteous who think they are sinners and the sinners who think they are righteous.” https://kidadl.com/quotes/blaise-pasc... “I want to invite you into being that saint. I want to invite you into that freedom of knowing that you are a sinner who is loved.” —Fr. Brian Larkin John 20: 19: “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/20 2 reasons you lock the door on your life: 1. "Because you have a sin in your life that you have to hide from everybody. Maybe you feel you even need to hide it from God. It isolates us, and keeps us from actually loving each other."—Fr. Brian Larkin 2. "Maybe some of you don’t know that you’re sinners."—Fr. Brian Larkin “But Jesus bre

Readings from Holy Thursday, the Mass of the Lord's Supper: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041422-supper.cfm

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041722.cfm Washing of Feet: John 13: 1–17 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/13 Origen says Christ washes his disciples’ feet to make them beautiful. He also says the Apostles are going to be the first witnesses of the Gospel. So, in accordance with the prophecy (below), Jesus washes the feet at the Last Supper. Isaiah 52:7: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!” https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/52 “Beauty evokes desire.”—Fr. Brian Balthazar (paraphrased): “If we don’t have beauty in our faith, we might know it’s true, but it doesn’t move our hearts, it doesn’t transform us.”
http://ccalouisville.org/blog/seeing-the-form-of-glory-von-balthasars-theology-of-beauty Luke 24:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/24 
Greek word: Léros = nonsense https://biblehub.com/greek/3026.htm The Easter Vigil: https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year-and-calendar/triduum/roman-missal-and-the-easter-vigil The Easter Candle

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion: Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done April 10, 2022 Fr. Brian Larkin 
This week’s Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041022.cfm 
The Lord’s Prayer: https://www.usccb.org/prayers/our-father “You and I are not like other people; we are bought by the blood of Christ.” —Fr. Brian Larkin Holy Land: Topography & landscape St. Jerome calls the Holy Land the “5th Gospel.” “I thought that going to the Holy Land would limit my imagination… but was wrong. When you go to the Holy Land, it’s as if your faith is brand new.” —Fr. Brian Larkin House of Caiaphas: https://www.holylandsite.com/house-of-caiaphas Mount Calvary: https://holy-land-tours.com/gordons-calvary-the-garden-tomb/ Steps of Jesus https://abcnews.go.com/International/holy-stairs-believed-climbed-jesus-prior-crucifixion-unveiled/story?id=62331625 Jesus spends most of his life up in Galilee, then moves to the Jordan River, then moves to the Dead Sea, which is the lowest place that’s above water, on ea

5th Sunday of Lent | Identity, Shame, & The Healing Power of Confession | Fr. Sean Conroy by Lourdes Denver