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Weekly homilies of Father David Neuschwander
Ash Wednesday What is Lent about? Is it about giving something up? Well...not exactly. Is it about sacrifice? Well...not exactly. Lent is about Jesus Christ. Lent is about us intentionally following Jesus and growing closer to Jesus. If we forget that, then anything and everything we do during Lent - all the practices, all the sacrifices, all the r…
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time When we think of Lent we often think of some sort of sacrifice that we make, something that we "give up" for Lent. But a great question to ask the Lord as you consider your Lenten resolution(s) is, "How will this help me grow closer to You, Jesus?" The whole point of a sacrifice in Lent is to be a sacrifice of love to th…
3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Our readings today give us an outline of the Christian life, the three necessary steps of what it means to live as a Christian. Our destiny is to be in a total, life-giving, rich relationship with Jesus Christ, the Father and the Holy Spirit for all eternity...and to begin living in that reality now through these three s…
The Baptism of the Lord Today Jesus is baptized, not to be washed by the water but to wash the water; not to be cleansed by the waters but to cleanse the waters. Today Jesus isn't baptized by water - water is baptized by Jesus. So when we go down into the water in baptism, we no longer just get wet, we get Jesus Christ! At our baptism we were set f…
Feast of the Holy Family Jesus not only came as a baby at Christmas, He also entered into a human family - with all the joys and frustrations that go with it. We are challenged in all relationships, but especially in the family, to put the wants and needs of others before our own, to stretch our hearts, to learn how to love more, to sacrifice for e…
Merry Christmas! O holy night! The stars are brightly shining, It is the night of our dear Savior's birth! Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn! Fall on your knees Oh hear the angel voices Oh night divine Oh night…
4th Sunday of Advent On this 4th Sunday of Advent, Deacon Brian gives an incredible homily on Mary's fiat to God ("may it be done to me according to your word") which lays the groundwork of the vision for our parishes in the coming year. In it he uses the analogy of a NASCAR race to portray God's first call and primary challenge for all the lay fai…
3rd Sunday of Advent People started following and listening to Jesus in large part because of the signs that accompanied his message - the miracles he was performing. December 12th was the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In 1531 Mary appeared to an Aztec peasant named Juan Diego asking that a Church be built on the spot. Accompanying these appariti…
1st Sunday of Advent We humans change one step at a time - it's just the way we're wired. And once we've made a change that tends to become the new normal and we stick to it, for better or for worse. This Advent season God wants to work in your life in new and powerful ways! But for that change to occur, there is a requirement: DAILY prayer and ref…
Feast of Christ the King We've been so concerned recently with who's going to be our president, have we stopped to ask ourselves how concerned we've been with Who's going to be our King? This weekend, as we near the end of our liturgical year, we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King as we we look ahead to the end of time - when Jesus Christ will …
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time This last week we celebrated both All Saints Day and All Souls Day. On All Saints we rejoice and thank God for those whose souls are fully united to God in heaven; on All Souls day we pray for those people who have died and whose bodies are decomposing yet whose souls live on into eternity. Why do we pray for them? What…
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Michelangelo, one of the greatest artists of all time, loved sculpting most of all. He could look at a block of marble, see the potential, a vision for what that block of marble was hiding, and then carve away everything that was not that potential. When we stand in front of the mirror, each one of us is looking at a bl…
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time The parable which Jesus gives about a king inviting guests to the wedding reception of his son is ultimately a parable about eternal life and heaven (which our 1st reading from Isaiah speaks of as "God's holy mountain"). The king in the parable is God, his son is Jesus, and the wedding banquet is eternal salvation. Some…
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time In this Sunday's Gospel we have a story of change: one son says "no" to his dad's request but then changes his mind and does it; the other says "yes" to his dad's request but then changes his mind and doesn't do it. We all have the possibility to change, for better or for worse, every single day. Every day is an opportu…
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time This weekend our readings center on forgiveness, especially on how we will NOT be forgiven unless we first forgive others. While Jesus in the Gospel responds to a question by Peter saying he must forgive seventy-seven times (which seems very magnanimous), Jesus also goes on to give a parable in which a man is punished a…
21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Authority is a theme in our readings today - in both our first reading and Gospel "keys" are spoken of, symbolic of a position of authority. This time of Coronavirus has led to a lot of discussion about who has authority: who's in charge of what, to what extent can a governor proclaim a state of emergency, what rulings …
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time It's proven that certain practices make for a happier and healthier person - prayer and generosity being two of those practices. Why is that? God made us to live in relationship with Him, Jesus lived a life of intense moments of prayer and generosity, and the more we live that prayer and generosity the more we become li…
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus comes to the disciples today walking on the water - that's a Big Moment, a miraculous moment, one that's hard to miss, and it strengthens their faith. Elijah is told in our 1st reading that the Lord will be passing by: there is a great wind, a tremendous earthquake, a blazing fire, and yet, Scripture says, God was…
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time There are two movements in the Christian life - one is a turning away from sin, the other is a stepping towards God. The readings this weekend are more focused on the latter - stepping towards God. The individuals in our parables find something of great value to them! To get it, however, they have to sell everything els…
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time With all of the polarization in the media and the emotionally driven statements part of me wonders what happened to true, honest, good ol' arguments. In this sermon, building off of my last sermon on judgment, I explore why I think our country has lost the art of argument (which we used to possess) and what steps we as …
13th Sunday in Ordinary Time Life requires decisions, decisions require judgments. Tt follows, then, that we make judgments all day long. Every decision we make involves judging and judgment of various factors (even indecision is making the choice not to decide, which is guided by our judgments). So why does "judging" get such a bad wrap? Why does …
Corpus Christi As a freshman in high school I remember the day it hit me: that Jesus is physically present in the Eucharist! How many times had I heard that in religion class or at Church? And yet it seemed to always go in one ear and out the other. But this particular day it finally hit me - what looks like bread and what looks like wine is actual…
Ascension Sunday This weekend we celebrate Jesus' Ascension into heaven - that after rising from the dead and appearing to His disciples for a number of days, Jesus ascends to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. The ascension is not just a one-and-done event of history, though: creation is called to follow where its Master has gone befor…
5th Sunday of Easter Every Christian, by their baptism, is anointed priest, prophet and king. Peter challenges us this weekend to that first anointing: "be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God." There is the ordained priesthood by which priests in the Church offer to God the sacrifice of Christ and offer to God's people…
3rd Sunday of Easter On the road to Emmaus, Jesus walks up alongside two of his disciples, though He's not recognized for who He is but thought to be a stranger. This Stranger begins to unpack for them the Scriptures and how they foretell and prefigure the Christ. The hearts of these two disciples are set on fire as Jesus teaches them, though they …
2nd Sunday of Easter/Divine Mercy Sunday On this Divine Mercy Sunday, Deacon Brian reflects on the immensity of God's mercy. He lays out two common traps (both springing from pride) that we as Christians can fall into and which limit our reception of God's mercy. Like children at Christmas or Easter who freely and joyfully receive gifts, he encoura…
Happy Easter! During this time of COVID-19 I've heard people say both how unfortunate and difficult of a time this is, and how many blessings are hidden in this time. While I agree with both (and I most certainly see God's hand at work in my life, in our Church, and in our world in the midst of the difficulties) there is an easy mistake to fall int…
Palm Sunday “Holy” literally means “different.” As we enter into this year’s Holy Week we are certainly experiencing a very “different” time in our country and world. I would propose, however, that this time of COVID-19 can actually assist us in entering more deeply into this Holy Week, more deeply into the life, suffering, death and resurrection o…
5th Sunday of Lent This weekend one of my deacons, Deacon Brian McCaffrey, preaches the homily. During this unique time of COVID-19, I have decided to record and upload my deacons' homilies onto my website and podcast as well. While nobody is able to see us preach in person, I pray that being able to at least hear the homily will help us feel conne…
4th Sunday of Lent We are certainly in a unique and unprecedented time in our country (and world) with this response to COVID-19. In the Gospel today Jesus opens the eyes of a man born blind. He smears a muddy mixture of saliva and dirt on the man's eyes - not a clean or comfortable experience - then asks the man to go wash in the Pool of Siloam. T…
1st Sunday of Lent Our readings today present us the with tale of 2 men: The 1st man - Adam - and the New Adam - Jesus Christ. Both are tempted by the serpent. The Old Adam falls and turns away from the Father; the New Adam stands strong in faithfulness to His Father. This Lent is a journey into the desert with Jesus. It will be a time of testing a…
Epiphany Today three wise men/three kings/three magi arrive at the place where Jesus was born after following the sign of a star. The presence of these three non-Jewish kings shows that God is calling not only the Jewish people but ALL people of the world to believe in and follow His Son Jesus. God’s sign was a star; everyone can see the stars. So …
Feast of the Holy Family Jesus not only came as a baby at Christmas, He also entered into a human family - with all the joys and frustrations that go with it. We are challenged in all relationships, but especially in the family, to put the wants and needs of others before our own, to stretch our hearts, to learn how to love more, to sacrifice for e…
Merry Christmas! What child is this, who, laid to rest, On Mary's lap is sleeping? Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, While shepherds watch are keeping?
3rd Sunday of Advent This weekend we encounter a powerful New Testament figure, John the Baptist, in a difficult and dark time - literally and figuratively. John has been imprisoned, he probably knows he is not getting out anytime soon, and he (who proclaimed Jesus as the Lamb of God and prepared for Jesus' coming by his preaching and teaching) is …
2nd Sunday of Advent I had the privilege of spending this weekend with 50 inspiring high-school-aged young men and women from throughout our diocese! This fulfilled no Confirmation requirements for them, neither were any of them forced to come to this retreat - they generously set aside this time to step away from their busy lives and focus on grow…
1st Sunday of Advent We invest in the things that are important to us - we invest time, energy, emotions, intellect, mental space, money, resources. The more we invest in something, the more important it is to us, and the more returns it will yield; the less we invest in something, the less important it is to us and the less returns it will yield. …
Solemnity of Christ the King As Americans we are naturally weary of anything having to do with a "king", we also don't like the word "authority" all that much - it was the abuse of power by some oppressive authority, even some kings, that brought many of our ancestors to America in the first place. Scripture, however, has no problem with the idea o…
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Hellfire, brimstone, damnation - words we don't hear very often anymore, but words that our first reading calls to mind (and themes that arise out of our Scriptures). And lest we think that Jesus ushered in an age full of only mercy, pardon and mushy-gushy "love", Jesus Himself, multiple times in the Gospels, speaks str…
31st Sunday in Ordinary Time Why is it that we as Catholics are the only Christians that pray for our beloved dead? Why is it that we are the only Christians who believe in Purgatory? In this homily I will explore how other Christians believe Jesus saves us versus how we as Catholics believe Jesus saves us, and what that difference means in praying…
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time Sometimes God works incredible miracles that are visually and experientially miraculous. In our first reading and Gospel today we have 11 lepers who are all miraculously cured by God...but they're healed in very non-incredible ways: taking a bath and out for a walk. More often than not, God's ways are subtle, quiet and …
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time Today Jesus tells us one of His most confusing parables: "Look at this shady, crooked, underhanded businessman... You should learn a lesson from him!" Many people are clever in the ways of this world - they are smart and resourceful in using the people and situations around them to further their own gain (even if it is …
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time The most encouraging, effective and result producing words kids can hear from their parents are: "I love you; I'm proud of you." In our Gospel today Jesus shares three parables, all portraying the illogical, unreasonable, over-the-top love that the Father has for each one of us. No matter what we've done, no matter how …
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time It's proven that generosity makes for a happier person; generosity springs from gratitude - to the degree that we're thankful for the gifts we've been given in life, we have a desire to share these gifts with others. Thankfulness and generosity, though, are two virtues that you will not be challenged to grow in by popul…
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time In order to live in this world, we have to trust all kinds of things we see, hear and experience. On a daily basis we extend trust thousands of times - to people, situations, information...everything. A generic definition of "faith" is: "confidence or trust in a person, thing or concept." By this definition, every singl…
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time In our Gospel this weekend the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. After giving a short version of the Our Father, Jesus tells a semi-humorous story (in my opinion) highlighting the importance of persistence - in the context of this passage of persistent prayer. In our first reading we see a model of this kin…
