Fr. Jerry Byrd on "The Journey Home"

St. Terese 2024 "Let nothing disturb you"

The Franciscan Friars from Bloomington put out a great video about my healing

The Importance of allowing your heart to be ripped open

Homily for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary time, 2024

Ideas for godparents

The Most Important Chapter in the Bible

Eucharistic Processions HEAL people

Jonathan Roumie reading John 6

Appearance on the Son Rise Morning Show

 

Sane people ARE the Majority - Homily for the 18th Sunday of ordinary time, 2024

Timelapse of the Indianapolis Eucharistic Procession

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The Indianapolis Eucharistic Procession vs. the Olympics, homily for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2024

Chris Stefanick's AMAZING talk from the National Eucharistic Congress

"No Catholic is a Lone Ranger" a homily for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2024

A Country Boy Can Survive...a homily for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

National Eucharistic Procession Elizabeth Ann Seton Route Enters into Indiana

 The National Eucharistic Procession that started on Pentecost Sunday at the Atlantic Ocean in Connecticut entered the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in mine and Fr. Meyer's parish boundaries.  Here is a beautiful 2 minute video that captured one leg of our 6 miles today

Are we saved by Faith Alone?

 

Saved by Faith Alone?

 

Most of the 30,000 different sects of protestantism in the US teach "Salvation comes to each person by Faith alone", which is just flat wrong.

 

 

Saint Paul says in Romans 3:28 "For we consider that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law" so Martin Luther took that, and then in his own translation added "ALONE" so that it reads "For we consider that a person is justified by faith ALONE apart from works of the law" in Martin Luther's "Bible"

 

And St. Paul also writes to the Galatians in Galatians 2:16 "a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified."

 

So Martin Luther took these two lines from St. Paul, and accuse Catholics of believing that we believe that we are justified by our works.

 

 

But St. Paul is not saying that our works do not matter, St. Paul is saying "works OF THE LAW" as in, "The Jewish Law" 

 

When St. Paul talks about "works of the law" there are 3 different types of laws in the Old Testament:

 

1) Laws that established cultural customs for the Jewish people (circumcision, what foods to eat and not eat, etc.)

 

2) Laws governing Jewish Temple worship

 

3) and there are lots of Moral Laws in the Old Testament, which do not change over time.

 

St. Paul, in Romans and Galatians is referring to the Jewish cultural laws, which no longer apply to Christians when he says "apart from works of the law"

 

 

Anyone who doubts the importance of our works can look to several places:

 

1) James 2: 15-17 "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?  If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?  So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead"

 

2) And, as Catholics, we could also point to Matthew 25 where the things Jesus requires for entrance into Heaven are all WORKS: "I was naked and you clothed me, in prison and you visited me, hunger and you gave me food…"

 

3) There also at least 7 other places in the same Letter to the Romans where St. Paul says our salvation IS based on works that we perform:

 

2:6  “God will repay everyone according to his works"

2:7 “eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality through perseverance in good works” 

2:10 “There will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good”

2:13 “For it is not those who hear the law who are just in the sight of God; rather, those who observe the law will be justified”

2:16 “God will judge people’s hidden works through Christ Jesus.” 

10:9 “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

10:10 “one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.”

 

These are all "works".  

A Brief Reflection on the first ending to the Gospel of John

 "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples that are not written in this book.  But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name." John 20:30-31

This is the first ending of John's Gospel.  Chapter 21 goes on to recount the conversation between Jesus and Peter "do you love Me more than these..."

But I just want to reflect briefly on the end of chapter 20.

John implies that his Gospel is all that is needed to establish the Divinity of Jesus Christ, and that through belief in Jesus, we have life in Jesus' name...and recently that just struck me for the first time.

15 Years a Priest

Today, June 6th, is my 15th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.  Thank you for all of the prayers!

A Pentecost Examination of Conscience

 

A Pentecost Examination of Conscience 2024

Today, we celebrate one of the great Solemnities in our Catholic Church.  It is the Solemnity of Pentecost.  Pentecost was originally a harvest feast for the Jewish People, but of course it became the day where the Holy Spirit was first poured out on humanity.  And what happens??? The Holy Spirit immediately turns cowards into men and women of great courage who run out of their locked room and immediately start preaching the Good News of Jesus without any fear whatsoever.

 

I have said many times that on the day of my Confirmation, I had absolutely no idea what I was getting even though my catechists and parents likely told me 1,000 times.  It was not until I was teaching a Confirmation class in a local parish while still a seminarian that I learned what I had received at my Confirmation.  And learning the gifts that I had received through my Confirmation, it instantly changed me into a rather cowardly seminarian into a bold seminarian.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit, though, need to be opened, and if we don’t know that we have received gifts, then we can’t open them.

Confirmation is Latin for “to strengthen” and the Holy Spirit, on all of us who have been confirmed, bestows lots of gifts, and St. Paul says that the Holy Spirit a unique set of gifts and amounts of those gifts to each person.  So first of all, do you know that you have received the Holy Spirit at your confirmation, and that the Holy Spirit has given you the strength to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ without fear?  Do you also understand that the Holy Spirit has given you a unique proportion of all these gifts that the Holy Spirit has not given to any other person besides you? 

 

And finally, regardless of the unique way that the gifts of the Holy Spirit have been poured out upon you, Saint Paul says there are 12 fruits of the Holy Spirit.  You can find them in the Catechism and I like to use these 12 fruits as a regular examination of conscience.

Charity – do you seek to lay down YOUR life for other’s holy needs and holy desires?

Joy – do you radiate Joy to other people?

Peace – we live in a world that is always trying to upset our peace, but when you meet a peaceful person you know it.  When people meet you, do they recognize that you are at peace?

Patience – are you a person of patience?

Goodness – when you meet a person who is full of goodness, you know it instantly as well.  Do people who meet you say that they have just met a good person?

Generosity – are we generous with our time?  Are we generous with our talent and treasure?

Gentleness – Jesus promised adversity to anyone who would follow him in the world.  Do we let adversity destroy our Gentleness?

Faithfulness – are we faithful to God no matter what happens to us?

Modesty – do we dress properly?

Self-control – do we submit our various passions to our reasoning and logic or are we ruled by our passions and desires?

And the twelfth is chastity -  do we seek to live out our human sexuality according to our state in life?