Father Matthew Wiering Podcast

02/09/20: 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time: To Be Salt and Light -- The Story of the Japanese Martyrs

Today Jesus tells his disciples that they must be "salt" and "light". Last week as I was reading about the story of St. Paul Miki and companions and the history of the Catholic Church in Japan, I was convicted I had to share their stories as examples of the impact of being salt and light. How is God calling you, in the concrete circumstances of your life, to be salt and light?

2/2/20: The Presentation of the Lord: Mary, Mother of Sorrows

Today we focus on those mysterious words that Simeon prophesies to Mary, when she and Joseph present Jesus in the Temple: "And you yourself a sword shall pierce." Why would Simeon focus on Mary in this way? It seems that an answer can be found at the end of John's Gospel, where we see Mary standing at the foot of the Cross. Mary suffers along with Jesus. She doesn't try to run away, she doesn't close herself off in self-pity or lash out in blame for others. She is "Our Lady of Sorrow", the one to whom we should go to in order to learn how to accept and live the cross in our lives.

1/26/20: 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Show Us, Lord, Your Face!

Today's Gospel gives us the beginning of Jesus's ministry in Galilee, including the call of the first disciples: Peter, Andrew, James, and John. The Lord called each one. Each one answered. And no one's life was the same after that. In our own life, have we felt Jesus speaking to us, reaching out to us? Have we experienced him turn his face towards us, as the disciples experienced in the Gospel? We can all make our prayer that of the Psalmist: "Show us your face, O Lord! Hide not your face from us!"

1/19/20: 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Why Was Jesus Baptized?

Today we continue with the surprising event of the baptism of Jesus, this time hearing from the perspective of John's Gospel. Surprising, because everybody else was going to John the Baptist to be baptized as a sign of their repentance from sin and their desire to live a new life. Obviously this wasn't why Jesus sought baptism. In today's Gospel, we talk about why WAS Jesus baptized...

St. Joseph Reflection #1: True Spouse

A change of pace this week with a reflection on St. Joseph from our Christmas seminarian retreat. We reflect on the Matthew Chapter 1, which focuses on the perspective of St. Joseph, and show how the chaste marriage between Mary and Joseph is nonetheless a true marriage. Therefore Joseph is patron of husbands and and those who are called to be spouse of the Church: bishops and the priests united to them.

1/5/19: Solemnity of the Epiphany: The Wise Give Gifts

The Gospel account of the visit of the Magi to Bethlehem tells us that these wise men from the East brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In addition to being symbolic of Jesus's identity, these gifts also help us to understand--if we wish to be wise--what gifts we ourselves should make to God.

1/1/20: Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God: How We Too Can Bear Jesus

Today the Church celebrates Mary under the title, "Mother of God." There are so many things we could say about this important theological title, but let's ask today how Mary got it. How did Mary become the Mother of Jesus, the Eternal Son of God? It was by her "yes" to God's invitation. God invites her into a love relationship with Him. She says 'Yes', and by the power of the Holy Spirit, comes to bear Jesus inside of her, and then she bears Him to the world. Isn't this exactly what God wants of each of us too?! That we would become a tabernacle and thus bear and share God to the world. But it starts with our "yes" to his loving invitation!

Christmas 2019: How does God Respond to Us?

In the genealogy of Matthew's Gospel, we hear the names of the heroes of the faith who are among Jesus's "spiritual family". Yet Jesus doesn't just come out of a history of saints but also great sinners. We, of course, when we are honest with ourselves, must acknowledge the presence within us not only a desire for God but also a sinfulness that makes it very difficult to become the person we desire to be. What is God's response to so much ambiguity and infidelity on our part? We learn it on Christmas Day. His response to our sinfulness is not anger, or condemnation, or disappointment, or giving up on us. Rather, His response to us is giving us his Son Jesus, the little babe in Bethlehem. If God responds to us with merciful love in Jesus, how will we respond back to Him?

12/22/19: 4th Sunday of Advent: What We Can Learn from St. Joseph

Today's Gospel is the story of the Nativity from St. Matthew, told in the perspective of St. Joseph. If we are tempted to believe that the life of a saint is tidy and drama-free, we can go no further than here. Can we imagine the pain and confusion Joseph felt regarding Mary's pregnancy? Yet he proves himself to be a faithful husband in the midst of suffering. Can we appreciate the magnitude of the task of being father to the Son of God? Yet he trusts God and walks with him, receiving grace even though the task to us seems crushing. What an intercessor he can be for us who are sinners too, we who struggle to be faithful spouses and loving parents.

12/15/19: 3rd Sunday of Advent: Miracles Then and Now

To the question of John the Baptist, "Are you the Messiah or do we need to keep waiting?" Jesus gives an interesting answer: He doesn't say "yes" or "no" but "look at what's happening around me." And what was happening around Jesus? Miracles. Lots of them. Physical miracles, yes, but also the greatest miracle: Jesus speaking into spiritual poverty and effecting a conversion of heart. Conversion -- a change of heart -- is actually the greatest miracle that Jesus can work in our life. Let us seek to allow Jesus to give us this this Advent!