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Our Blog

Purgatory and Indulgences

By Fr. Jeff | 07/23/2020

Last Fall I mentioned Purgatory in Part I of my series, Our Saints and Intercessors. I again mentioned Purgatory in the introduction to my series, Sacraments: Channels of God’s Grace. In both cases, people expressed interested in hearing more about…

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Coming This Fall – “Uncovering the Treasures of the Mass”

By Fr. Jeff | 07/23/2020

In the bulletin for this weekend, July 26th, I wrote a column about my passion for faith formation beyond children. I include some of my plans for this Fall. Here is the column: The three things where I most find…

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What Should We Pray For?

By Fr. Jeff | 07/20/2020

When we celebrate Mass we are praying together. What do you pray for on your own? How often do you pray? Today, I would like to talk about two of my daily prayer intentions. If you have come to daily…

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16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily

By Fr. Jeff | 07/19/2020

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year AWisdom 12:13, 16-19Psalm 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16 (5a)Romans 8:26-27Matthew 13:24-43July 19, 2020 Jesus continues to speak in parables.  The first one we heard today is about the weed that is sown among the good seed. …

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Your Attention Please

By Fr. Jeff | 07/16/2020

A standard feature of many churches is the bell tower. One might wonder why churches have bells. Church bells can be used to signify different things. One of the oldest purposes is to signify (“Your attention Please”) that it is…

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How Do You Describe Yourself?

By Fr. Jeff | 07/14/2020

Last week I wrote a blog article called, “We Need Heroes.” In that article I wrote about our need for role models. As Christians, Jesus is the ultimate role model. We also have the saints as role models. Today I…

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15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily

By Fr. Jeff | 07/12/2020

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year AIsaiah 55:10-11Psalm 65:10, 11, 12-13, 14 (Luke 8:8)Romans 8:18-23Matthew 13:1-23July 12, 2020 Word of what Jesus is doing and saying had spread such that large crowds were coming to him.  So, He got into…

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We Need Heroes

By Fr. Jeff | 07/09/2020

We need heroes. Where we do we find them? The first question really is what is a hero? A hero as I see it is someone who does good deeds that we can look to as a role model. When…

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Seeking Success

By Fr. Jeff | 07/07/2020

We look for success but how do we know when we have succeeded? What is our measure of success? What does it even mean to succeed? Success is to achieve a goal. What is our goal? What is it that…

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14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily

By Fr. Jeff | 07/05/2020

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year AZechariah 9:9-10Psalm 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14 (1)Romans 8:9, 11-13Matthew 11:25-30July 5, 2020 Jesus gives praise to the Father.  The psalmist speaks of praising, extoling, and blessing our God and King. Jesus praises God for,…

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I am Not My Own Potter

By Fr. Jeff | 07/04/2020

Today we celebrate our United States holiday celebrating our independence on the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. As we celebrate our independence, “freedom” is very important to us. People take freedom to…

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Coronavirus Check-in

By Fr. Jeff | 07/02/2020

After the Coronavirus first became present in the United States in March and April of this year, I posted some articles here about how we were responding in terms of our stress and adjustments in our lives. (For some of…

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Being a Disciple of Christ

By Fr. Jeff | 06/30/2020

We call ourselves disciples of Christ but what does this really mean? Let’s start with asking what it means to call ourselves “Christian.” The term is generally applied to anyone who is baptized and/or says they believe in Christ. Yes,…

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13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily

By Fr. Jeff | 06/28/2020

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16aPsalm 89:2-3, 16-17, 18-19 (2a)Romans 6:3-4, 8-11Matthew 10:37-42June 28, 2020 We are Christians.  We believe in Jesus.  We need to take this seriously.  Jesus himself tells us the we must love…

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Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura

By Fr. Jeff | 06/26/2020

Sola Fide and Sola Scriptura are two Latin terms that became popular among the Protestant Reformers. “Sola Fide” means “by faith alone.” Ultimately, we cannot save ourselves. It is God who saves us through Jesus sacrificing his life for us…

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Being Civilized in the Midst of Challenges

By Fr. Jeff | 06/23/2020

We face challenges in our world today.  Of course, there has been challenges as long as there has been people making bad choices with their free will.  There has also being illnesses that challenge us but do not know why…

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St. John Fisher, an Example of Faith

By Fr. Jeff | 06/22/2020

Today, June 22nd, is the Optional Memorial of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More. St. Thomas More rose to be Chancellor of England, answering directly to King Henry VIII. St. John Fisher was the Bishop of the Diocese of…

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12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily

By Fr. Jeff | 06/21/2020

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year AJeremiah 20:10-13Psalm 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35 (14c)Romans 5:12-15Matthew 10:26-33June 21, 2020 “Jesus said to the Twelve, “Fear no one.” Fear can be a powerful thing.  Often, we might seek the approval of those who…

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Our Catholic Understanding of Mary

By Fr. Jeff | 06/20/2020

While all Christianity honors Mary as the mother of Jesus, not all denominations hold Mary in the same regard as we Catholics do. Many Protestants misunderstand what we believe about Mary. Some of them interpret our devotion to Mary as…

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The Significance of the Altar

By Fr. Jeff | 06/19/2020

One finds a lot of different items in Catholic churches. The stained windows, paintings, statues, and other artwork are there to help remind us of important things in our faith. The two most important items found in Catholic churches are…

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How Often Should I Go?

By Fr. Jeff | 06/16/2020

Prior to the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) it was common for Catholics to go to Confession at least monthly if not every other week. Some even went weekly. For some it didn’t matter if they didn’t know of any mortal…

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The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Year A – Homily

By Fr. Jeff | 06/14/2020

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Year ADeuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16aPsalm 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20 (12)1 Corinthians 10:16-17John 6:51-58June 14, 2020 It has been a while since we have been able to gather together physically to celebrate Mass.  We have…

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Techniques to Listen to God

By Fr. Jeff | 06/13/2020

I offer this article in response to a comment posted by Brennan to my article, “Is God Angry With Us?”.  I thank Brennan for his comment, which follows: “Well said! Like you have said in previous posts, you would think…

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Is God Angry With Us?

By Fr. Jeff | 06/13/2020

“Is God Angry With Us?” This is the question that began a comment posted on my blog. It is an important question. It is a question a lot of people may be asking. I think the best way to begin…

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Got Questions?

By Fr. Jeff | 06/12/2020

Those of you who are longtime readers of my blog know that sometimes I can go months without writing here on my blog except for posting my Sunday homily. Those long gaps are never my goal. I very much enjoy…

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