Father Matthew Wiering Podcast

5/13/18: Solemnity of the Ascension: Heaven is Here

The mystery of the Ascension that we celebrate today nudges us to think more about heaven. One of the reasons we might tend not to think about heaven very often is because it seems so far away... But when the Son of God became incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary, heaven came to earth. And when Jesus ascends to heaven, he ascends in a human body, having taken upon himself our humanity, and earth goes to heaven. So in Jesus there is no dichotomy between earth and heaven. This reality of heaven is upon whenever we encounter Jesus, who lives in our hearts and who touches us here and now, on this earth, if we let Him!

5/6/18: 6th Sunday of Easter: Love is not a Feeling

Today's 2nd Reading and Gospel are totally about love. Jesus affirms God's love for him, his love for us, and the mandate that we love one another. But what does it mean for us to love one another? Does it mean that we have to have warm and fuzzy feelings for everybody? And if I don't have positive feelings towards everybody, what does that mean? Today we are reminded that love is not a feeling but willing the good for the other. This is how God loves us -- always giving us in life what is good for us, even when it is hard or costs us. And this is how God wants us to love each other.

4/29/18: 5th Sunday of Easter: If We Want to Bear Fruit, God Has to Prune Us (With a Brief Excursus on the Wonder of Wine)

Today Jesus calls himself the True Vine and we the branches. He then goes on to tell us that his Father (the "vine grower") prunes every branch that bears fruit so that it will bear more fruit. This means that getting pruned is a good thing, even though it involves a painful process of being stripped of the excess in our life. So how can we let God prune us? It is only possible if we "remain" in him. "Remain in me as I remain in you." 

4/22/18: 4th Sunday of Easter: God Shepherds Us through Human Shepherds

Every year on the 4th Sunday of Easter we celebrate the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, also known as "Good Shepherd Sunday", because the Gospel this Sunday is always taken from the 10th chapter of John where Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd." Jesus continues to shepherd us in the Church in a particular way--through the ministry of the bishops, to whom he has given his authority on this earth. The bishop is the chief shepherd of the diocese, but he cannot minister by himself; therefore he ordains priests to serve as his co-workers. As unworthy as we are, we minister in Christ's name and make him present through the Sacraments we celebrate and even through our presence among the people. This is how God desires to love and remain close to his people--by giving them human shepherds to minister in his name.

4/15/18: 3rd Sunday of Easter: Jesus is Alive (a.k.a. Why We Are Scared of Ghosts and Corpses)

In today's Gospel, Jesus appears to his apostles after his violent and humiliating death on the cross, and they are terrified because they think he is a ghost! And rightfully so because ghosts are scary! (For why we think this, listen to the podcast.) But to show that he is not a ghost, he makes it a point to allow the disciples to touch his body, and then he eats a piece of fish in front of them. All of this to show them that it is he, himself: Jesus, the One whom they have known and the One who knows them. It is this same Jesus who still lives today, and because He lives, a real relationship is possible with Him.

4/8/18: 2nd Sunday of Easter: Where is Jesus Buried?

Today we celebrate the Feast of Divine Mercy, instituted by St. John Paul II. In order to experience God's mercy, we first have to acknowledge and have sorrow for our own sinfulness--how far away we are from living in the Truth of the Risen Lord.

Easter 2018: The Only Proper Response to the Resurrection

In the account of the resurrection from Mark's Gospel, three women go to the tomb and are rightfully freaked out by what they find there: An open tomb, no Jesus, and a strange man with a strange message. No wonder they "flee" and "tell no one" because they were "afraid". But we, to whom the message and meaning of the Resurrection has been preached, we who have some understanding of the significance of what it means that Jesus lives forever-- how do we react? With fear? With indifference? What is my response to the Resurrection?

Good Friday 2018: A Garden, Wine, and the Blood

John's Passion account is full of symbols so today we focus on three of them that bring us to the heart of the mystery of salvation and how we got here in the first place: a garden, wine, and the blood.

Holy Thursday 2018: The Eucharist, Priesthood, and Sacrifice

One essential thing links the Eucharist and the Priesthood, and that is sacrifice. We've spent a lot of energy communicating the Mass as a meal, but we haven't done a good job of teaching that the Mass is sacrifice: The priestly offering that Jesus makes of his Body and Blood, which he then shares with us as our spiritual nourishment. The thousands upon thousands of slaughtered animals offered in sacrifice by priests of the Old Covenant, themselves attempts to achieve reconciliation with God, come to an end with the one sacrifice of Christ the High Priest offered for all time. This is the mystery that we encounter when we come to Mass--the mystery of the Divine Person offered and offering at the Altar, through the person of the priest, the efficacious sacrifice that brings life into the world. May we always grow in our devotion to this most profound mystery!

3/25/18: Palm Sunday: You Have Received Much (a.k.a. The Gift of Father What-a-Waste)

We have an interesting beginning to Mark's passion narrative: the story of the woman who breaks the alabaster jar and pours the ointment over Jesus's head. The episode might have passed over unnoticed had the jar and its contents not been so valuable--worth three hundred days wages--perhaps a $30,000 value in today's terms. A number of object to the woman's "wasting" something so precious on Jesus....yet doesn't this betray their belief that Jesus is not worth the sacrifice? We have received much; now we must freely give. And there is no gift too precious to be given over to God.