Father Matthew Wiering Podcast

3/25/20: The Annunciation to Mary and More Masses Suspended

Today's Feast of the Annunciation brings us back to the beginning of the New Covenant that God makes with his people: The sending of his only begotten Son, Jesus, who will give his life so that the world would live. We focus today on Mary in the Annunciation account... how it is her faith on God's message to her that brings about her yes, through which God has saved us in Jesus. Today in our many trials let us imitate the faith of Mary!

3/22/20: 4th Sunday of Lent: The Man Born Blind is Us

Today we reflect on this amazing Gospel for the 4th Sunday of Lent and the deeply symbolic healing of the man born blind. As we reflect on the symbols of clay and the pool at Siloam, we realize that Jesus recreates us at our baptism and heals the terrible defect in us that has been present since our birth: original sin. But the healed man shows us that this healing of our spiritual blindness that we received at our baptism results in the gradual unfolding of our faith, which is brought to perfection through our trials and our continual encounters with Jesus. May this Gospel help us to live with great confidence through the trials of our own day!

3/20/20: A Message for SMSU Students from your Chaplain

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and God of all encouragement, who encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God.
For as Christ’s sufferings overflow to us, so through Christ does our encouragement also overflow.
2 Corinthians 1:3-5

3/19/20: St. Joseph's Day and the Suspension of Masses

A prayer that we can pray to unite our hearts to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass:
"Heavenly Father, I unite my heart to the altar wherever Mass is being celebrated at this moment. Please make of my own heart an altar so that I can offer myself to You there, in union with Jesus's self-offering on the Cross. As Jesus offers His Body and Blood to You, let me offer myself along to You with Him. Amen."
Every day we can make a Act of Spiritual Communion so that we receive the grace that we would receive if we were able to receive Holy Communion:
My Jesus, I believe that Youare present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this momentreceive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.
Amen.

3/15/20: 3rd Sunday of Lent: What We Are Really Thirsting For

When we read from John's Gospel, it's helpful for us to know that there are layers of symbolism found in nearly every line. In today's Gospel, the story of the Samaritan Woman, the woman's going to the well in order to draw water is literally for the purpose of quenching her physical thirst. But symbolically her physical thirst represents a deeper thirst within her: Her thirst to be known and loved. It's no unnecessary detail but also deeply symbolic that, after her close encounter with Jesus at the well, she leaves her water jug there. Her deep thirst for life and meaning quenched, she no longer has need of the jug. May we all find in Jesus the living water who desires to quench that for which we ultimately thirst!

3/8/20: 2nd Sunday of Lent: The Light that Shines in the Darkness

In the account of the Transfiguration of Jesus, the Gospel writers stress a couple things: (1) That the light comes from Jesus (rather than shining on Jesus as if from the outside); and, (2) That the light comes precisely through (and not despite) his humanity. And such He wants it to be for us. Our humanity is not obstacle for God's grace but rather a conduit. He wants to so fill our hearts with the divine light that we become more and more the light of the world.

3/1/20: 1st Sunday of Lent: Adam and Eve and Right and Wrong

Today's First Reading brings us back to the beginning of creation to the story of the original blessing (God's generous creation of and providence over the man and woman) and the original sin. While it's easy to get caught up in the details of the story, the symbolism that's used makes it clear that the original sin is simply the man and woman's attempt to determine for themselves what is good and evil, right and wrong, and whenever humans do this in the Scriptures, disaster follows...

2/26/27: A Homily for the Beginning of Lent

Every year Lent gives us the chance to make a new start in our relationship with God. A "reboot." Today's Gospel for Ash Wednesday helps us to understand how -- practically -- we might do this: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving. But why these? We talk about how these three spiritual practices help us to get to the heart of what Lent is about.

2/23/20: 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time: The Standard for Christians is Love

When Jesus cites the Old Testament maxim, "An eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth," he's pointing to a standard governing relationships--that of justice. Justice, of course, is not a bad thing. On the contrary, it assures one of his rights and responsibilities relative to others. If we steal a sheep, we owe a sheep. This standard of justice is often the one that governs our relationships: If you are kind to me, I will be kind to you. If you mess with me, I will mess with you back. But for Jesus, this standard is not enough. Instead, he wants that the standard that governs the relationships of his followers be not justice but love. This is where life gets challenging... and exhilarating.

2/16/19: 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time: The Instruction Manual for Life

In today's Gospel we hear a chunk of Jesus's teaching from the Sermon on the Mount. It's tempting for us to listen to his teaching with a lack of enthusiasm when it challenges us. Yet what we often misunderstand is that Jesus does not give us the law in order to restrict our freedom or limit our happiness. On the contrary! The law that Jesus gives is the way that leads to our happiness. And the reason that we can be sure of this is that God is the one who created us, and so it is God who knows how it is that we will achieve what we are all looking for: happiness and fulfillment.