Father Matthew Wiering Podcast

9/3/17: 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time: God Invites Us to Accept Suffering

In the Gospel Jesus has some very strong words for Peter: "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me!" What prompted this rebuke from Jesus? It was Peter's insistence that the Messiah would not suffer. But this was not God's plan. God's plan was one of love, which implies suffering: willing the good of the other, which always requires me to sacrifice. It was true for Jesus, and it is true for us!

8/27/17: 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time: How We Know that What the Church Teaches is What Christ Taught

Today's Gospel is astonishing. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, tells Peter, a weak and sinful man, a simple fisherman, "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." He says this after giving him "the keys to the kingdom of heaven." Jesus makes Peter the head of his church on earth with full authority to act in his absence. So this is where our confidence comes from as Catholics that what the Church teaches -- protected by the Holy Spirit through the Office of Peter -- is what Christ taught. What a great mercy of God -- that I don't have to "figure out" for myself what is true. How liberating it is that I myself do not have to be the arbiter of what is true but that I can receive the truth through the One who is Truth in Person: Through the voice of the Church who has the authority and mandate to speak on behalf of Christ.

8/20/17: 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time: When Jesus Responds to our Prayer with Silence

Today's Gospel may trouble us because of Jesus's apparently dismissive response to the Canaanite woman. The good thing is that we can know that, because Jesus did not sin because He was God, He was not mistreating her but loving her in this conversation, lest we misinterpret the Gospel. There is a profound theological meaning that is revealed through their conversation. But what I want to focus on is the FAITH that the woman manifests even in the face of Jesus's silence. How do we respond when Jesus responds to us with silence? May the Canaanite woman, praised for her faith, be our example!

8/13/17: 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Jesus Walks Over our Wind and our Waves...and Wants Us to do so as Well

In the ancient world, the sea represented that primal, chaotic force that man could not manipulate or control. So what does it mean when Jesus walks on it? It means precisely that He is Lord over the wind and waves. Jesus is also Lord over our wind and waves...and wants us also to be able--like Peter--to peacefully and confidently walk over the wind and waves of our life. This we can do, but we must keep our gaze fixed on Jesus!

8/6/17: Feast of the Transfiguration: Homily in Honor of Brother Maximus Marie Kennedy

When I was in the seminary, one of my close friends shocked me to discerning a vocation to and then joining the Carthusians, one of the strictest religious orders in the world. Today I am so happy to say that he made his final vows as a Carthusian monk. Here is a little bit about him, his religious community. and the death that each of us must die when God calls us to our vocation.

7/30/17: 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time: All Things Work for the Good of Those who Love God (a.k.a. The Power of God's Unconditional Love)

Married couples are asked to make an unconditional promise on their wedding day. Mothers and fathers love their children unconditionally. Why is it that parents love this way? How is it that spouses can love this way? It's only possible because the one who created us loves like this. In "all things", through the good, the bad, and the ugly. Through the messiness of life. "All things work for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).

7/23/17: 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Unlike Us, God Shows His Power through Leniency (a.k.a. A Christmas Homily in July)

Today's first reading from the Book of Wisdom reveals something that is a subtle theme throughout the Scriptures. While He could demonstrate His power through use of force and might, God manifests His power in the opposite way: by showing mercy, by forgiving, by tender love. The place that we see this most poignantly is in the person and life of Jesus.

7/2/17: 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time: The Will of God is Best for Me and ... Everybody Else!

Jesus makes it clear in today's Gospel that God is asking for our first allegiance -- that we put him first, even before our parents, our spouse, our children. What we might forget is that putting God first IS putting our children and spouse first. What is God's will for me is also God's will for my children and spouse. What is good for me is also good for my children and spouse. This should give us courage to make the sacrifices that we need to make for God -- including when we face opposition from our children and spouse.

6/25/17: 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Showing and Offering our Hearts

This past Friday the Church celebrated the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Today we meditate on what we learn from this special devotion and image in our Church's tradition and, in particular, how Jesus shows us and offers us His Heart. This becomes the model of what we must do too: to show and offer our heart!

5/28/17: Ascension Sunday: Not Bye-Bye Jesus but Hello Jesus in the Church.

Today we talk about "what" the Ascension is and "why" it is not a bad thing that Jesus leaves earth but a totally good thing--as now He is present in his disciples in the Church in a new and expansive way...