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Hello my friends! I love you! This weekend, I'm looking forward to speaking about our Children's Faith Formation program. We have the largest program in the diocese*, and I love to brag about the amazing children, families, and volunteers who make everything possible.

I did it again! I opened up my phone and looked at the news. It didn’t fill me with joy or peace; instead, it left me feeling disheartened, discouraged, and even a little angry. And those feelings are on top of my own personal anxieties and struggles! So why do I do it? Why do I continue to open up my phone and go down the rabbit hole that is the news? I realize with today’s Gospel that I am in good company. I imagine that the disciples on the road to Emmaus were feeling very similar feelings, since I know that only last week I, too, “stopped, and [looked] downcast.”

Did you notice in the recent World Baseball Classic there was a mercy roll for the early rounds of the tournament? A game is called if a team leads by 15 or more runs after 5 innings or 10 or more runs after 7 innings. When I hear of this mercy rule, it tells me the tournament organizers are giving up on the losing team because they think the team doesn’t have a chance of winning the ballgame. I remember the mercy rule when I played baseball in Little League. I hated it. I did not want to concede until the final out of the game. I didn’t want anyone to give up on me!

Happy Easter everyone! Today and for the next fifty days we celebrate the greatest event in human history. Jesus Christ rose from the dead and He continues to rise in the lives of his followers. The evidence of his resurrection is compelling and stunning. Not only is it reported in all four of the gospels but, according to St. Paul, the risen Christ “appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at once" (1 Corinthians 15:6). His appearances compelled Christians to spread this Good News around the world for twenty centuries. They were not only proclaiming that Jesus had risen from the dead, but also that we can rise with him to everlasting life.

Welcome to the holiest week of the liturgical year. From Palm Sunday to the Easter Vigil, we accompany our Lord from his jubilant entrance as the Messiah/King into the royal city, though his Last Supper with his disciples, his rejection, crucifixion and resurrection. Each year we are invited to find our place in the greatest story ever told, as it continues to unfold in and through us. Let us journey together with Jesus through his Passiontide, “For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection” (Romans 6: 5, Easter Vigil Epistle). Here are a few highlights from the story of this earth-shattering week.

Dear Lord, I read this Sunday’s Gospel story from John on how you raised Lazarus from the dead. I must be honest Lord; I didn’t know at first why you waited a few days before you traveled to Bethany. Mary and Martha’s faith was being tested. I know my faith is tested a lot too. I think it’s because I don’t always understand.

In today’s reading from the Gospel of John, the man born blind progressed through four different names for Jesus. First he referred to him as “the man called Jesus” (9:11); then he called him “a prophet” (9:17); then he spoke of Jesus as being “from God” (9:33); then, looking in the face of Jesus with his newly-opened eyes, he said, “I do believe, Lord!” and he worshiped him (9:38). This narrative challenges our minds to make the same conclusion and our hearts to make the same response (cf. Scott Hahn, Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, John 9:11 footnote.)

I have grown up in this parish; many of you watched me grow up. This parish is my family, and in my love for the Church and zeal for Christ, this place has always been my home. I see your ministries, apostolates, and prayer groups—the places where you dedicate your precious time. I see how each distinctly intertwines to make a beautiful tapestry of love and faith. The effect of that tapestry is visible: it can be seen within our community of Northglenn! I see your hearts, and I am in awe. But now, we need your help.

In my sixteenth summer I had an unforgettable mountaintop experience. In April of that year, I had re-committed my life to Jesus in a personal way. My new Christian friends took me on a few practice hikes in the San Juans Mountains of Southwest Colorado. Then we traveled east to the Sangre De Cristo Range. On a warm July day, we began hiking from the Sand Dunes up into the high country and camped in a meadow beside a creek at the base of Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle. Early the next morning we began crawling up the boulder fields and reached the summit of both “fourteeners” by noon. Perched there at the top of the world, basking in the summer sun with mountains as far as I could see, I felt absolutely blessed. I realized then that “Happiness / blessedness is communing with God in the beauty of creation giving thanks.” Our Creator richly blessed me that summer by revealing his beauty through nature and letting me play in his amusement park. Eventually I came to realize that the most beautiful creation of all is the loving person: friends, family, and especially the family of the Church.

Lent means Springtime, and it certainly seems appropriate to the weather we’ve been having lately. But if we don’t get some rain (or snow) we probably won’t see many flowers this Spring! Spring is a time for new life and the Season of Lent leads us on the path of spiritual renewal. Our readings for this First Sunday of Lent make it very clear that the fundamental way for us to experience spiritual renewal is through obedience to the will of God.

Next week we begin the season of Lent which calls us to renewal in our spiritual lives. We follow Jesus into the desert for forty days of renewed prayer and penance. The Church calls this time a period of “purification and enlightenment” not only for those preparing for the Sacraments of Initiation, but for all of us. So next weekend we will focus on Stewardship of Prayer, and we will do so in a renewed way.

I’m sure there have been moments when you have been in a dark room or driving at night in a rural area where it’s pitch black and you’re trying to find your way. It can be a bit nerve-wracking and you may start to feel uncomfortable. In darkness, we can lose our way. Our senses are heightened because we’re not sure what is around us, so we become anxious.

This Sunday we read the opening lines of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount which is the first of his five major discourses in the Gospel According to Mathew (chapters 5 – 7). It takes place “on the mountain,” a setting which recalls the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19-24). Matthew is presenting Jesus as the new Moses come to fulfill the Law. However, as Scott Hahn points out, “Moses brought the law down the mountain to the people, whereas Jesus delivers his teaching to disciples who have come up the mountain.”

This weekend the Church gives us yet another chance to say “Yes” to Jesus. We are near the beginning of the Gospel According to Matthew which will lead us through the thirty-four weeks of Ordinary Time. Jesus has been baptized by John, then the Spirit led him into the desert where he resisted the devil’s temptations for forty days. Then in today’s gospel, Jesus begins his public ministry. His first words are, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (4:17). Then he calls His first four disciples on an adventure.

This Sunday the Lord says to us, “I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49: 6). And St. Paul addresses us as “the Church of God… called to be holy” (1 Corinthians 1: 2). That’s a pretty high calling! In many ways we are moving in this direction as a parish family. But how can we accelerate our growth in holiness and shine the light of salvation more brightly?

This weekend marks the end of the Christmas season as we celebrate the Baptism of The Lord. We began the Christmas season with the birth of our Lord, and we end it by fast-forwarding 30 years in his life to his baptism in the Jordan River. Church Fathers teach that Christ allowed John the Baptist to baptize him so that the Messiah could wash away the sins of the world. According to St. Peter Chrysologus (Sermo 160: PL 52, 620-622), John laid his hands on Jesus not to forgive but to receive forgiveness. Others such as St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Augustine emphasized Jesus’ humility, setting an example and the baptism’s role in establishing the sacrament that truly cleanses sins.

“Magi from the East” found their way to the Christ child by the guidance of a star and the Jewish Scriptures. There they “did him homage… offered him gifts… and departed for their country by another way” (Matthew 2: 1-12). Who were these mysterious Magi? And what is the main point of this captivating story?

Being a parent is hard! I don’t know about other parents, but I felt a lot of “dad fear” the moment the hospital released us after our daughter was born. I remember thinking to myself, Are you sure you want to let us go home? I don’t know if I know what to do, and it’s really nice just having a nurse here to guide us when we need it. In light of that constant struggle to be a good parent, we might experience today’s feast of the Holy Family with some discouragement. With everything we may struggle with in our families, we may feel like we will never be good enough, like the Holy Family. On the other hand, we can instead be encouraged by the example of the Holy Family. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph can give us hope that we, too, can attain the eternal rewards we long for, even as we live in a broken world.

On this Fourth Sunday of Advent we hear about the first of three dreams that St. Joseph had which encouraged him to cooperate with God’s plan. It was a dream coming true in a most surprising way. Prophesies of old had foretold that God would send a Messiah from the house of David. This Messiah-King would re-gather the tribes of Israel, lead them in conquering their enemies, and reestablish the kingdom of Israel. The Scriptures often refer to the kings of Israel as shepherds. Since some of them were not good shepherds, God promised to come and shepherd them himself; that is, to be their king.

A few days ago, I looked up the definition of the word “focus.” When used as a verb, focus means to direct one’s attention or efforts toward someone or something specific. So, what happens we don’t focus? It can negatively impact our lives, lead to poor decision-making and cause a general sense of confusion. Have you felt overwhelmed lately? Do you feel exhausted? Have you lost focus?