Father Matthew Wiering Podcast

Baptism of the Lord: Christ's Radical Solidarity with Sinners

It's very strange to imagine this strange event that inaugurates the public ministry of Christ: The holy and sinless Lord standing in line with sinners to be baptized. It makes sense that sinners like you and me would present themselves to John to confess their sins and be baptized, drowning the sins of their old life in the waters and emerging, resolved to live a new life. Why does Christ present himself to be baptized? Not to receive forgiveness for his own sins but for ours. Not so that he can live a new life but so that we can. Christ takes our own sins to the waters baptism, on our behalf, as if they were his own sins. Now that is radical solidarity!

Epiphany: Those Who Seek the Lord Find Joy

St. Matthew includes an interesting detail in the account of the visit of the Magi: When the wise men announce the star signaling the birth of the King of the Jews, King Herod was troubled and "all Jerusalem with him." What is clear is that those who are closed to the coming of the Christ have troubled hearts. And those, who, like the Magi, seek and find the Christ, have joy. Let's be like the Magi!

Marveling at Motherhood

Today we celebrate the Motherhood of Mary and reflect on the great gift that it is for us to ourselves be children of Mary and also to bear Christ into the world. Happy New Year!

A Jubilee Year: A New Start with God

This week Pope Francis opened the Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica, and today our own bishop inaugurates the Jubilee Year in our own diocese. God offers us extraordinary graces during this holy year -- make we welcome this invitation to make a new start with God and others, especially our family.

Christmas 2024: For Us Poor People God Makes Himself Poor

Every year I am struck by the poverty of the Nativity Scene: The Almighty God taking on the frailty of our human condition, being born in poverty to poor, insignificant parents. How can we not take this lesson from the manger scene: That God sees as the most important the ones who are least important to the world ... that he loves his poor little ones like you and me ... may we welcome him anew in our hearts this Christmastime!

Filled with God, Emptied of Self, Wide Open to Others

In today's Gospel we see Mary going immediately from the astonishing message of the angel announcing her virginal motherhood to her traveling to care for her elderly & pregnant cousin Elizabeth. How was it possible for her to be so unselfish at such a dramatic time for her personally? It's because she was filled with God and thus emptied of self. As a result, her heart was wide open to receive others. 

Joy is not a Feeling

On this "Gaudete Sunday" -- named for the first word of the Entrance Antiphon, which is "Gaudete", "Rejoice!" and symbolized by its rose liturgical color -- our second reading today echoes this them of joy. Paul says, "Rejoice in the Lord always!" This is a command for the Christian, and because we cannot "command" the way that we feel, he is communicating to us that joy is not a feeling but an act of the will, a result of our trust and confidence that God is good and that we are loved -- in good times and in bad!

There Must Be Reconciliation Before Communion

Today we are introduced to the great Advent figure, St. John the Baptist, whose vocation was to prepare the way of the Lord as Isaiah had prophesied: "Every valley shall be filled and hill made low." To prepare the people to receive Jesus into their hearts, what did he do? He had the people come to confess their sins and receive a baptism of repentance. If we want Jesus to find our home in our hearts, we too have to acknowledge, repent, and be forgiven for our sins -- this reconciliation always proceeds communion. Like in human relationships, t is impossible to have communion with God without there first being reconciliation.

We Will Live Long Enough to Die

The readings on the 1st Sunday of Advent are always taken from the apocalyptic sections of the Scriptures, having to do with the Second Coming of Christ and the Final Judgment. Maybe we will live long enough to see these fearsome events that Jesus describes, which will precede his second coming in glory: the sun, moon, and stars failing and nations in great turmoil. But, in any case, we will live long enough to die, and the Lord, in his merciful love, will be trying to shake us out of our neglectfulness and complacence. He desires that all souls be prepared to meet him when he comes. May we attend to this Advent responsibility of watchfulness and vigilance so we are ready when he comes for us!

The King Comes to Restore What was Lost

Today the Church celebrates the feast of the King who comes as the New Adam, to restore what was lost in the garden. He will not be like the first Adam, who allowed evil in the garden and allowed his bride to dialog with that malicious presence. Instead, he will be true steward and protector of the garden, as God intended the first Adam to be, and he will restore in us through grace what has been lost to us through sin.