Discipleship

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Homily

By Fr. Jeff | 07/17/2022

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year CGenesis 18:1-10aPsalm 15:2-3, 3-4, 5 (1a)Colossians 1:24-28Luke 10:38-42July 17, 2022 Abraham loved the Lord.  Today we hear of a time when “the LORD appeared to Abraham” but Abraham did not know it was the…

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14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Homily

By Fr. Jeff | 07/03/2022

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year CIsaiah 66:10-14cPsalm 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20 (1)Galatians 6:14-18Luke 10:1-12, 17-20July 3, 2022 We are called to be a missionary church. This means we are to share the gospel and God’s mercy with others.…

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13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Homily

By Fr. Jeff | 06/26/2022

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C1 Kings 19:16b, 19-21Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11 (see 5a)Galatians 5:1, 13-18Luke 9:51-62June 26, 2022 Today’s gospel passage begins a new section in Luke’s gospel that will continue until the time for Jesus’…

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Leadership in the Rule of St. Benedict

By Fr. Jeff | 06/21/2022

This is my sixth and final article offering reflections based on my reading of Judith Valente’s book, How to Live: What the Rule of St. Benedict Teaches Us About Happiness, Meaning, and Community (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing. 2018). You can see…

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Community and Balance of Work in the Rule of St. Benedict

By Fr. Jeff | 06/07/2022

This is my fourth article offering some reflections based on my reading of Judith Valente’s book, How to Live: What the Rule of St. Benedict Teaches Us About Happiness, Meaning, and Community (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing. 2018). You can see the…

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Overcoming Anger with Prayer

By Fr. Jeff | 05/31/2022

As I continue my series of articles offering some reflections based on my reading of Judith Valente’s book, How to Live: What the Rule of St. Benedict Teaches Us About Happiness, Meaning, and Community (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing. 2018) (See my…

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7th Sunday of Easter, Year C – Homily

By Fr. Jeff | 05/29/2022

7th Sunday of Easter, Year CActs 7:55-60 Psalm 97:1-2, 6-7, 9 (1a, 9a)Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20John 17:20-26 May 29, 2022 Jesus knew He was about to be arrested, tried, and crucified.  The Gospel of John presents in chapters 14-17 Jesus’…

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Striving to be Disciples of Christ

By Fr. Jeff | 05/24/2022

Last week I started a new series of articles reflecting on Judith Valente’s book How to Live: What the Rule of St. Benedict Teaches Us About Happiness, Meaning, and Community (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing. 2018) with my article, “Being Spiritual in…

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Being Spiritual in the World Today

By Fr. Jeff | 05/16/2022

“This is a book about living. Not about surviving, but living a balanced, meaningful, and attentive life” (1). These are Judith Valente’s opening words in her book How to Live: What the Rule of St. Benedict Teaches Us About Happiness,…

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A Time of Distress

By Fr. Jeff | 05/08/2022

As we celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Easter in Year C, our first reading continues to come from the Acts of the Apostles. The Acts of the Apostles tells the story of the early church. In chapter 2 the disciples…

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Invitation to a Deeper and/or more Frequent Practice of Faith

By Fr. Jeff | 05/04/2022

Today a letter I wrote, with comments and suggestions from staff, will be going out to all our parishioners in the two parishes I serve. While it is with St. Mary’s of the Lake and St. Benedict’s in mind, I…

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3rd Sunday of Easter, Year C – Homily

By Fr. Jeff | 05/01/2022

3rd Sunday of Easter, Year CActs 5:27-32; 40b-41 Psalm 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-12, 13 (2a) Revelation 5:11-14John 21:1-19 May 1, 2022 Last week we heard how the disciples gathered in the locked room for fear of the Jews.  This happened…

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What Mercy Offers

By Fr. Jeff | 04/12/2022

We need God’s mercy. Our world is in need of God’s mercy and we need it as individuals. We are human beings who are not perfect. At times we fall short of doing good and we need forgiveness. As look…

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What Do You Want from Jesus?

By Fr. Jeff | 03/22/2022

What do you want from Jesus? Do you come to Mass on Sunday looking for an hour of peace? Mass should bring us “peace” but not simply as an escape from everything else going on in our lives. In faith,…

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2nd Sunday of Lent, Year C – Homily

By Fr. Jeff | 03/13/2022

2nd Sunday of Lent, Year CGenesis 15:5-12, 17-18Psalm 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14 (1a)Philippians 3:17-4:1Luke 9:28b-36March 13, 2022 Peter, James, and John “saw his glory.”  Imagine getting to see Jesus transfigured into glory as we will see him in Heaven.  It…

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Forward or Backward?

By Fr. Jeff | 03/08/2022

We are a full two years into the Coronavirus pandemic. Many of us have been worn out by the pandemic. We are tired of shutdowns, social distancing, and facemasks as well as the polarization over these. Presently, there is good…

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Living Our Faith in a Secular World

By Fr. Jeff | 03/06/2022

Our first reading today is taken from the Book of Deuteronomy. The Israelites were preparing to cross into the promised land. It has been a long time since Jacob brought his family to Egypt in a time of drought. They…

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Are We Really Supposed to Love our Enemies?

By Fr. Jeff | 02/20/2022

As Jesus continues his Sermon on the Plain, today’s gospel begins, “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.“ Are we really supposed to love our enemies?…

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Final Reflections on “The Catholic Gentleman”

By Fr. Jeff | 02/15/2022

Three weeks ago I began a series of articles reflecting on my reading of Sam Guzman’s book, The Catholic Gentleman: Living Authentic Manhood Today (San Francisco: Ignatius Press. 2019). Today, I would like to offer my sixth and final article on The…

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6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Homily

By Fr. Jeff | 02/13/2022

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year CJeremiah 17:5-8Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6, (40:5a)1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20Luke 6:17, 20-26February 13, 2022 In this gospel passage Jesus begins his Sermon on the Plain.  The passage is explicit in saying He “stood on…

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Work, Sainthood, and Holiness

By Fr. Jeff | 02/08/2022

This is the fifth of sixth articles I offer here inspired by my reading of Sam Guzman’s book, The Catholic Gentleman: Living Authentic Manhood Today (San Francisco: Ignatius Press. 2019). (For the previous articles see “Are You for Real?”, “More from “The Catholic Gentleman”,…

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God’s Calling

By Fr. Jeff | 02/06/2022

We are all called to be disciples of Jesus. We are all called to serve God in some way. In today’s readings we hear three call narratives. It begins with the call of Isaiah in our first reading. Isaiah is…

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How Do You Look at Things?

By Fr. Jeff | 02/03/2022

This will be my fourth article inspired by Sam Guzman’s book, The Catholic Gentleman: Living Authentic Manhood Today (San Francisco: Ignatius Press. 2019). (For the previous articles see “Are You for Real?”, “More from “The Catholic Gentleman”, and “We Need to Stand for…

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We Need to Stand for Something

By Fr. Jeff | 02/01/2022

Today I continue my series inspired by Sam Guzman’s book, The Catholic Gentleman: Living Authentic Manhood Today (San Francisco: Ignatius Press. 2019). (For the two previous articles see “Are You for Real?” and “More from “The Catholic Gentleman”) Today I would like…

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More from “The Catholic Gentleman”

By Fr. Jeff | 01/28/2022

A few days ago I began a new series of articles based on Sam Guzman’s book, The Catholic Gentleman: Living Authentic Manhood Today (San Francisco: Ignatius Press. 2019) with an article titled “Are You for Real?” Today I offer my second article…

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