Fernando Mendoza brought the Heisman to my spiritual director Fr. Patrick Hyde!

POWERFUL: Indiana star quarterback Fernando Mendoza on Christmas Eve brought the Heisman Trophy to the local priests at the church in an Amazon box.

“We walked out and there, in an Amazon box, there was the Heisman Trophy”

This kid is truly special 👏🙏pic.twitter.com/2LqF5Thv9n

— MLFootball (@MLFootball) December 31, 2025

Active Catholic Fernando Mendoza on Going to Mass and Confession

 

POWERFUL: Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza on why he took the trophy to the priests & celebrated his accomplishment with them.

“I'm a Catholic, I'm a Catholic man”

“I really give a lot that I have accomplished this season in my life to the Lord”

🙏pic.twitter.com/HNk2q0ie2O https://t.co/byIUZbdpY4

— MLFootball (@MLFootball) January 19, 2026

Our Lady of Guadalupe 2025

 

On April 24, 2007 Mexico City legalized abortion for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.  That same day, as Catholics Gathered in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, the Tilma of Juan Diego, started to glow with an image of a fetus in Mary’s womb.

 

Our Lady of Guadalupe is the Patroness of the Pro-Life movement because in 1531, it was the first Church-approved Marian Apparition where our Blessed Mother appeared pregnant (the black band around her waist signified pregnancy in the culture at the time.

 

Approximately 70 MILLION children have been aborted in the United States.  And relatedly, it is estimated that 100 MILLION more children have died through the use of the contraceptive pill, which has as one of its mechanisms reducing a child’s chance of implanting on the mother’s uteran lining.

Even the United States Supreme Court has recognized the link between abortion and contraception when, in 1992 in “Planned Parenthood v. Casey”: "in some critical respects abortion is of the same character as the decision to use contraception . . . .  for two decades of economic and social developments, people have organized intimate relationships and made choices that define their views of themselves and their places in society, in reliance on the availability of abortion in the event that contraception should fail."

 

So as Catholics we are leading the charge in a lot of ways against abortion and helping women choose life, but we are not doing nearly as well supporting families who are not using contraception, as no Catholic marriage should be.  I was talking to one of my sisters at Thanksgiving and she said an elderly lady sat down next to her in her pew right before Mass started, and began grilling my sister about how her and her husband could possibly their 4^th child, my sister was grilled on their grocery bills, electricity bills, and lots of other total boundary violations, but the main point is that we, as Catholics, need to be SUPPORTING families who are having children, not doing the horribly sinful things of DISCOURAGING families from having more children.

 

So what are we doing, as a parish, to support families who are having children?  Let’s build and even better and more flourishing culture of life at this parish, helping support families with children, and never discourage a family.  I will end with this: St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said this: “Saying there are too many children is like saying there are too many flowers”.  Amen!

The Funeral Homily for Maia Amador

On November 2^nd this past Sunday, at my Masses I preached about this list of names right here on this worn piece of loose-leaf paper.  This past Sunday, there were 146 names on this piece of paper, and I preached about how, every night, I pray for all of these 146 people who are deceased, but then I also ask all of them to pray for me.  Now there are 147 people on this list as I have added Maia Amador to this list.

 

And that is a very beautiful teaching of our Catholic Faith…we can pray for those who have died, but we believe that they can also pray for us.  In fact, on my drive up here this morning, I was praying and asking Maia to give me the words this morning to bring all who were going to be at this funeral a deep sense of peace and comfort.

 

Our first reading this morning was from the 2^nd Chapter of the Book of Wisdom.  In the first chapter of Wisdom, it says “God did not make death, nor does He rejoice in the destruction of the living”.  One of the reasons that God allows anything bad to happen is that He has plans to bring something even better out of that tragedy.  I can only speak for myself, but I know that I have become a better Catholic in watching the Amador family, and all who are here this morning helping each other and Maia carry her cross.  I know that I have grown even closer to Jesus in just watching this all play out from a distance.

 

In our 2^nd reading today from St. Paul’s 2^nd letter to Timothy we heard Saint Paul say “the time of my departure is at hand.  I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.  From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day.”  This was written right before Paul’s death, early in on Paul’s career though, he wrote in his First Letter to the Corinthians, and I am paraphrasing here, “I am not aware of anything that would keep me out of Heaven, but I don’t presume to say that I am going to Heaven”.  (1 Cor. 4:3-4)

 

So what changed?  It is clear that as St. Paul approached his death, he was given a clear message from Jesus that he would in fact be entering Heaven.  And to hear the stories of a lot of you all who are here this morning, it is pretty clear that Maia had some sort of similar message from Jesus near the end of her life.

 

So where does that leave all of us?  In our Gospel this morning, Jesus says to each of us “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”  (Matthew 11:28) At a previous assignment, I have the standard 3 foot tall sidewalk signs that you see out in front of most coffee shops with this quote from Jesus “come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” and then the sign invited everyone to come in.  And over the years, I heard from a lot of non-Catholics that they appreciated the invitation because they didn’t think they were allowed in.  They all also reported experiencing a great peace in our Church; we who are here this morning know why that is; we know that Jesus dwells in every Tabernacle in every Catholic Church in the world.  So anytime we are particularly struck with sadness or grief at Maia’s death, let us come to the Catholic Church or an adoration Chapel and give our burdens over to the Lord, and we will experience a great sense of peace and rest because Christ is always faithful and keeps every one of His promises!

 

May Maia’s soul, and the souls of the faithful departed, through the Mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

December 23rd - O Emmanuel

About 20 years ago, I did a blog post for each of the “O Antiphons”.  In going back through them, I realized I never did the last one, “O Emmanuel” so I decided to do it today.

First, here are all of the other “O Antiphon” posts from around 20 years ago:

December 17th: https://on-this-rock.blogspot.com/2013/12/december-17th-o-sapientia.html

December 18th: https://on-this-rock.blogspot.com/2013/12/december-18th-o-adonai.html

December 19th: https://on-this-rock.blogspot.com/2013/12/december-19th-o-radix-jesse.html

December 20th: https://on-this-rock.blogspot.com/2013/12/december-20th-o-clavis-david.html

December 21st: https://on-this-rock.blogspot.com/2013/12/december-21st-o-oriens.html

December 22nd: https://on-this-rock.blogspot.com/2013/12/december-22nd-o-rex-gentium.html

These "O Antiphons" are ancient pieces of chant sung on the days from December 17th through December 23rd.  Each day a different Old Testament title for the messiah is beseeched to come.  As the world cried out in longing for the Messiah before Christ, so we still cry out for his return.

Today's O Antiphon is sung to "Emmanuel"

The Latin is "O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, exspectatio gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos Domine Deus noster."

The English "O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the Expected of the Nations and their Saviour, come to save us, O Lord our God."

"Emmanuel" is Hebrew for "God is with us"

The word shows up in Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; the young woman, pregnant and about to bear a son, shall name him Emmanuel."

In Isaiah, the larger context is that prophet Isaiah is commanded by God, "Go out to meet Ahaz...and say to him: "Take care you remain calm and do not fear"  Ahaz is in fear because what appears to be 2 mighty nations are preparing to conquer Ahaz's kingdom.

The story then continues: "Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God...But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!”  Then he said: "Listen, house of David! Is it not enough that you weary human beings? Must you also weary my God?  

And then Isaiah says the part that makes up our O Antiphon for today: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; the young woman, pregnant and about to bear a son, shall name him Emmanuel."

Ahaz, unfortunately, does not take Isaiah's counsel and is defeated.

But Isaiah's words also find its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.  

This "O Antiphon" is the most famous of all of them, as it has been turned into an english hymn "O Come O Come Emmanuel" sung in a lot of Catholic Churches throughout the entire season of Advent.

How St. John of the Cross Saved My Life

All Souls Day Homily

Chris Stefanick from our Rectory Basement!!!

A Great All Saints Family on opposite sides of the field!

 

The Catholic Church on Politics and Synodality

Episode 35 of "My Lourdes Faith Journey" - Part 2 ministering to victims

Max Klare, an All Saints Parishioner, catches his first touchdown of many for Ohio State!

My Lourdes Faith Journey on EWTN

"Triumph of the Heart" is one of the best films I have ever seen

Here is the link to the movie page where you can find a local showing https://www.triumphoftheheart.com/ 

Charlie Kirk: A Catholic Response

Mary Caltrider's Podcast of my Lourdes Story

Homily Text - Assumption 2025

 

The Assumption of Mary

Many non-Catholic Christian ask where the Assumption of Mary into Heaven is in the Bible?  It is not

First of all, it doesn’t say in the Bible that everything is in the "Bible Alone" (sola Scriptura).

For example, it doesn’t say in the Bible how the 3 Persons of the Trinity work together.

The early Church spent the first 300 years figuring out how the Trinity worked.  Mqny non-Catholic "diagrams" (see an example below) say that around the year 300, when Constantine had his conversion to the Catholic Faith, that is when the "Catholic Church went off the rails".

 – so precisely when non-Catholic diagrams say the Catholic Church was lost when Constantine made Catholicism the official religion of Rome, that was actually the precise time where the Church was being the Catholic Church; there was a MAJOR break in the Church, and newly converted Constantine basically convoked the Council of Nicaea to settle the dispute - and it was at that Council where the priest Arius was given the label of a heretic in order to help him understand how serious was his theological error.

Also, with regards to those who say "By the Bible Alone", Saint Paul says in his second letter to the Thessalonians “brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours”  The "letters of ours" are Paul's letters in the Sacred Scriptures, and the oral statements are what the Catholic Church has always referred to as "Sacred Tradition".

 

But what does "Sacred Tradition" say about Mary being assumed body and soul into Heaven?

 

In the 600’s Saint John Damascene: “It was fitting that Mary, the spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions.”

 

also in the 600’s, St. Modestus of Jerusalem said: “Mary has received an eternal incorruptibility of the body together with Him who has raised Her up from the tomb and has taken Her up to Himself in a way known only to Him."

 

In the 700’s Saint Germanus said “Your virginal body is all holy and entirely the dwelling place of God, so that it is henceforth completely exempt from dissolution into dust. Though still human, it is changed into the heavenly life of incorruptibility”

 

In the 1200’s Saint Anthony of Padua, when,  while explaining the prophet Isaiah’s words: "I will glorify the place of my feet," said "you have here a clear statement that the Blessed Virgin has been assumed in her body, where was the place of the Lord's feet.”

 

Also in the 1200’s Saint Albert the Great said: “"From these proofs and authorities and from many others, it is manifest that the most blessed Mother of God has been assumed above the choirs of angels.”

 

Also in the 1200’s Saint Bonaventure said: “Mary’s blessedness would not have been complete unless she were there [in Heaven] as a person. The soul is not a person, but the soul, joined to the body, is a person. It is manifest that she is there in soul and in body. Otherwise she would not possess her complete beatitude.”

 

In the 1400’s Saint Bernadine of Siena said “Mary should be only where Christ is."

In the 1500’s Saint Peter Canitius said “"The teaching of Mary’s Assumption into Heaven has already been accepted for some centuries, it has been held as certain in the minds of the pious people, and it has been taught to the entire Church in such a way that those who deny that Mary's body has been assumed into heaven are not to be listened to patiently but are everywhere to be denounced as over-contentious or rash men, and as imbued with a spirit that is heretical rather than Catholic."

 

In the 1600’s Saint Robert Bellarmine said “Who, I ask, could believe that the ark of holiness, the dwelling place of the Word of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit, could be reduced to ruin? My soul is filled with horror at the thought that this virginal flesh which had begotten God, could have been turned into ashes or given over to be food for worms."

 

Also in the 1600’s Saint Francis de Sales said “"What son would not bring his mother back to life and would not bring her into paradise after her death if he could?"

 

In the 1700’s Saint Alphonsus Liguori said “Jesus did not wish to have the body of Mary corrupted after death, since it would have redounded to his own dishonor to have her virginal flesh, from which he himself had assumed flesh, reduced to dust."

 

Mary being assumed into Heaven isn’t in the Bible.  But it has been consistently taught in the “Sacred Tradition” of the Catholic Church.

 

As Catholics, we work together on a lot of really good projects together helping the poor and so forth, but it is important to know that Jesus says in John 17 when He prays “That they may be one, even as we are one” that means that Christ’s followers should reflect the same unity as the Trinity, and to the extent that all of us who profess to be followers of Christ are not united, it will signal to non-Christians that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are not one either.  

 

Putting myself in the position of a non-Christian for a moment, it would seem ludicrous to me to become a Christian seeing different denominations believing directly contradictory things.  

 

Finally, Marian devotion is not an optional thing a Christian can choose to do or not do.  The Bible DOES say, over and over and over again in the New Testament that Baptism makes us an adopted son or daughter of God the Father, and an adopted Brother or Sister of Jesus.  Mary is the Mother of Jesus and thus our adoptive Mother, and one of the commandments is to honor your Mother.  Mary is our adopted Mother, so to fail to honor her is to break one of the 10 Commandments!

 

We pray for all those who do not yet honor Mary our Mother, that they will soon realize the error, and begin honoring Mary moving forward.

 

Movie Trailer for Saint Maximilian Kolbe Film

This looks really good!

Giving More and Needing Less - Homily for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Homily on NFP and World Day for Grandparents