Father Matthew Wiering Podcast

On Grapes and Vines (Remaining in Jesus)

Today we celebrate the 1st Communion of a number of our young people, and we have the perfect Gospel to prepare us for this gift. Jesus gives us the very familiar biblical images of grapes and vines, which tell us so much about how we must live in imitation of Jesus (by being willing to be crushed like grapes) and how we have the strength to do this (by remaining on the vine that is Jesus).

The Grace to be a Good Shepherd

On this Good Shepherd Sunday, we take a closer look at St. Peter, who gives a fiery speech to the religious authorities in the 1st Reading from the Acts of the Apostles. There is no better example of the transformation that can come from grace than St. Peter, who went from denying even knowing Jesus out of fear to fearlessly witnessing to him in front of those who could imprison or even kill him. At the Last Supper, Jesus says to Peter, "I have prayed for you, Peter, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brethren." Jesus's prayer remains efficacious today, as we look to the Successor of St. Peter, as the guardian and guarantee of the faith of Jesus.

From Fear and Guilt to Peace and Joy

In this account of the Resurrection from Luke, we begin in a similar way to last week's Gospel from John: The disciples are gathered together in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. Out of fear they have locked themselves in to keep any enemies out. We can only imagine the fear that they feel, that what happened to Jesus will also happen to them. But we can also only imagine the guilt they must have felt: Each had abandoned Jesus in his time of need. Yet it was precisely into that bad spiritual space that Jesus entered and speaks not words of condemnation but rather, "Peace be with you". And he shows them his hands and his side. This encounter with the living Lord changes their fear and their guilt into joy. May our encounter with the Risen Lord at every Mass do the same!

God's Easter Gift is Forgiveness

The Gospel tells us that on the evening of Easter, Jesus appears in the locked Upper Room to his disciples, who were obviously in a state of misery -- grieving and confused, fearful that what happened to Jesus would happen to them, and guilt-ridden because of how they abandoned Jesus. Yet Jesus's first words to them were not, "You have really disappointed me," or, "Did you learn nothing from me over the past three years," but rather, "Peace be with you." And the effect that these words and the sight of his wounds had on them was immediate: "The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord." May the whole Church, and each of us, individually, know the gift of His Forgiveness this Divine Mercy Sunday -- his Easter gift to the Church!

Easter Sunday: God is Greater

Through the Passion and Death of Jesus, all of the dysfunction and disorder of the world is hurled on Jesus. Hatred, anger, oppression, greed, abuse, betrayal, abandonment ... the worst that the world has to offer is heaped upon Jesus. And Jesus accepts the violence and hate. He does not defend himself but allows himself to succumb to these worst forces of evil, dying, being buried, and descending into hell. But this is not the end of the story! The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the sign that God is victorious over sin and death. There's no filth that the world can throw at Jesus that itself is not forgiven and redeemed in the ocean of God's mercy. And ourselves, too: May we allow Jesus to touch the dysfunction and disorder in our hearts, so that this contact with the most pure one can render us clean with the new life of the Resurrection!

Holy Saturday Night: Jesus Fulfills the Ancient Promises

Good Friday: Why is Jesus Silent during the Passion?

It's interesting to think about the silence of Jesus during the Passion. On Good Friday we hear the Passion according to St. John, which begins in Chapter 18. Chapters 14-17 of John's Gospel are Jesus talking nearly continuously at the Last Supper. (It's his longest discourse in all of the Gospels.) And then the Passion begins, and he hardly says anything. We especially notice this when Jesus is asked direct questions by Pilate and others interrogating him, and he stays silent. Tonight while he presided at the Stations of the Cross, Pope Francis gives us an explanation: Jesus is silent because he is praying. He is uniting himself to the Father. He is accepting the suffering of the present moment. And he is forgiving those who were attempting to harm him. May we learn to imitate him!

Holy Week: Jesus's Life All Poured Out

St. Mark introduces his Passion Narrative in an interesting way, by recounting a dinner that takes place in Bethany just before Jesus enters Jerusalem for the last time. He dines at the home of Simon, and a woman breaks an extremely expensive jar of perfumed oil and pours out its contents on Jesus's head. The Greek word here translated as "breaks" has the sense of being "shattered." Obviously, if the jar is shattered, all of its precious liquid will be poured out. The image helps us to interpret what is happening to Jesus as he suffers and finally dies on the cross. His body is shattered, and all of its contents -- everything that he has and is -- body, soul, humanity, divinity -- is poured out for love of you and me. As we meet Jesus this week making a total gift of self, may we respond with a total gift of self to him in return.

Unless a Grain of Wheat...

In John Chapter 12 we encounter Jesus at the height of his career. He has just raised Lazarus who had been dead four days in the tomb. When he enters Jerusalem for the last time, crowds gather to sing and wave palm branches in celebration. In today's Gospel we see that even the Greek-speaking Jews who have traveled a great distance to Jerusalem have heard about him and are trying to see him. Everybody is talking about him, and many desire to crown him King of Israel. It is at this moment, when Jesus has so many eating from the palm of his hand, that he announces how he, the Son of Man, will be glorified: "Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it will yield a rich harvest. Whoever loves his life loses it, but whoever hates his life will save it for eternal life." To say that this is not what the crowd is expecting Jesus to say would be an understatement. Yet Jesus is showing us the secret to new life in Christ: We must die to ourselves every day, so that Christ will live anew within me.

You are Loved

In today's Gospel we hear the magnificent verses from John 3:16-17: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him might not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him." The 2nd reading from St. Paul is so similar: "God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions..." What do we believe God's attitude towards us is? How do we believe God feels about us? Do we believe he is disappointed, or frustrated, or angry, or indifferent? May the Word of God transform our mind so that we may believe that -- even when we are dead in our sins -- God has only one disposition towards us, which is love.