Father Matthew Wiering Podcast

In today's challenging Gospel Jesus tells us that we have to love Him about our parents, children, and anybody and anything else in our life. Do we? On it's face this might seem like an unjust demand, but if we consider who God is -- a Communion of Love -- then we understand that by loving God first all of our other loves will fall into their proper place.

In today's second reading from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans, the Apostle reminds us that death was not a part of God's plan for the human person from the beginning. Rather, it was a consequence of sin. Thus as original sin is passed down to each human being, so is the necessity of bodily death. But Paul reminds us that there is no tragedy here, since in Jesus, God has sent a New Adam to undo what was done in the Garden. And one day, in the bodily resurrection, we will experience the amazing gift that God's mercy gives us: A new and indestructible life completely free from death ... and the possibility of ever sinning again.

The Gospels make it clear that as soon as Jesus's miraculous powers became known he was constantly surrounded by people. Some of these people were opportunists who were simply hoping to witness a miracle themselves. But many of the people following Jesus were aware of a deep need they or a loved one had for healing. They were needy people! Today's Gospel shows us what was Jesus's response to those needy people -- not frustration or irritation but rather compassionate love. May we always approach Jesus confidently whenever we experience any need!

On this Trinity Sunday we marvel at the totally gratuitous self-revelation of God. In Jesus He reveals the secret of His inmost being: That in the One Godhead there are three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To put this in other way, we could quote the First Letter of John and St. Augustine: "God is Love" (1 Jn 4:8) -- the Father who loves, the Son who is beloved, and the Holy Spirit, who is the love that binds together the Father and the Son. Since God is the very foundation and source of the universe and all created things, we can say Love is the origin of all creation, and Love -- Communion with God -- is our destiny!

Today is the feast of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity whom St. Augustine described as the Love that binds together the Father and the Son. Since the Holy Spirit is given to us in an objective way through the Sacraments, are we attentive to the Holy Spirit's guidance in our lives? When He is speaking to us, do we respond?

On this Ascension Sunday, we hear two Scripture readings that seem to be contradictory. In our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, the Apostles witness Jesus's leaving earth to dwell in the heavenly realms. And in our Gospel from Matthew, Jesus says, "Behold I am with you always until the end of the age." So, presuming both realities are true at the same time, how can Jesus be with the Father in heaven AND be with us always?

In today's first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we learn that Peter and John go down to Samaria because of Philip's evangelical success. But when they arrive, they learn that, even though the new Christians there have been baptized, they have not received the Holy Spirit. So what do they do? They pray and lay hands on the new Christians, and the Holy Spirit falls upon them. Here we see the Scriptural foundation of the Sacrament of Confirmation by which we receive the fulness of the gift of the Holy Spirit!

Today's Gospel passage from the 14th chapter of John's Gospel is one of the most popular funeral readings. From one perspective, it seems that he is talking about heaven. Yet upon closer examination, Jesus is using images having to do with the Temple and with Jewish marriage traditions. He is speaking of bringing his disciples into union with him not just at some point in the future after we die but today, at every Mass, as his Bride the Church receives Jesus the Divine Bridegroom in the Eucharist.

On this "Good Shepherd Sunday" we hear Jesus explain to us the difference between good shepherds and bad shepherds, which Jesus calls "thieves and robbers". We have this difference too in the priesthood! The good shepherd/priest goes through the gate, which is Christ, and is completely oriented towards him. His priesthood is based on Christ. But the bad shepherd is in it for himself, not for Christ, and his ministry is not for the sake of service but for his own self-aggrandizement. Let us pray for an increase in vocations to the priesthood, and may our present and future priests be oriented towards Christ so that through their ministry we can hear the voice of Christ, our Good Shepherd.

In this amazingly rich passage, Jesus walks with two disciples from Jerusalem to Emmaus. The disciples are discouraged and forlorn about what has happened to Jesus, and the accounts that he has been raised have only further confused them. Jesus (whom they do not at first recognize) engages them in dialogue, and then he interprets the Old Testament Scriptures to them in such a way that their hearts are burning within them. But even after this dialogue (prayer) and meditation upon the Scriptures with Jesus, they still do not recognize him. It is only when Jesus takes, blesses, breaks, and gives them bread (exactly the same thing he did at the Last Supper) that He is revealed to the disciples, and this encounter with the Risen Lord immediately changes them. Prayer and Scriptures are essential in leading us to the fullness of the encounter with Jesus, which culminates in the Eucharist, the Mass -- where He reveals Himself to us truly and transforms us interiorly.