Finding God In Our Hearts with Msgr. Don Fischer

PRI Reflections on Scripture | Tuesday after Epiphany

Gospel  Mark 6:34-44 When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already very late. Dismiss them so that they can go to the surrounding farms and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” He said to them in reply, “Give them some food yourselves.” But they said to him, “Are we to buy two hundred days’ wages worth of food and give it to them to eat?” He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?  Go and see.” And when they had found out they said, “Five loaves and two fish.” So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass. The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties. Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; he also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments and what was left of the fish. Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand men. Reflection This is the only miracle found in all four of the Gospels, and I think it's because it is such a beautiful image of what the kingdom of God is really like. God comes into our life in the form of a spirit. Jesus is the model. And when we are filled with this Holy Spirit, we are able to do things beyond our imagining. And the most important thing I think it's saying about the Kingdom of God is it's about abundance, not just a little nourishment, but more nourishment than anyone could imagine. It's the Holy Spirit that is described as that thing that is the blessing that we receive. And having received it our work, our being with one another, becomes abundantly nurturing and life giving. What a great gift God has given us. The model is Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the power. Closing Prayer Father, we look at situations in our life and we see them as almost impossible to handle. And yet you're telling us if we allow the Blessed Spirit to enter into our life, we are able to do so much more than we could ever imagine, because it's not just us doing it. It's your love, your healing, your wisdom flowing through us, enabling us to establish the Kingdom of God. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

PRI Reflections on Scripture | Monday after Epiphany

Gospel Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25 When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee.  He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet  might be fulfilled: Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen. From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.  His fame spread to all of Syria, and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases and racked with pain, those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics, and he cured them.  And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him. Reflection This entire week is focused on the coming of Jesus, the major transformation that's happening. John the Baptist is setting himself out of the picture, and into the picture comes this incredible figure of Jesus. And it's interesting that he goes to a Gentile town, not to Jerusalem. And there he starts his ministry, which is so impossible to believe that everyone he encountered, he would heal them. And it was just this beautiful image of a great light comes into the world so bright that it destroys pain and suffering and darkness and evil. It was almost too much for people to grasp, and that's exactly what happened. The beginning of his ministry was difficult because people had no idea what the kingdom of God was really about. Closing Prayer When Jesus came to initiate the kingdom of God, he changed everything. And the most important thing for us, and we pray for it always, is that we’ll grasp fully what this new light and life really means. It's not just that we become the receiver of healing, but we also become the partner with God in the work of healing. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

HOMILY • The Epiphany of the Lord

THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD Original Airdate: January 8, 2023 Isaiah 60:1-6 | Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6 | Matthew 2:1-12 Oh God, who on this day revealed your Only Begotten Son to the nations by the guidance of a star, grant in your mercy that we, who know you already by faith, may be brought to behold the beauty of your sublime glory through  our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

PRI Reflections on Scripture | Christmas Weekday

Gospel John 1:29-34 John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one of whom I said, 'A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.' I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel." John testified further, saying, "I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him. I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.” Reflection In a way, it seems strange that John the Baptist would say that he didn't really know Jesus. He certainly knew Jesus the cousin, the relative, the playmate. But when he says, I did not know him, he’s emphasizing the importance of the moment at the baptism of Jesus, when there was a voice from God saying, this is my beloved son on whom I favor rest, listen to him. Imagine that experience for John the Baptist. It is the absolute confirmation of everything he dreamt about, thought about, wondered about, hoped for. It was made clear to him who this Jesus is. And John was so ready to step away to allow this gift to take flesh and to change the world. Closing Prayer There's a way in which we can understand John the Baptist as representing everything that happened in the Old Testament. It was all pointing to something. It was all awakening people to something that's coming. And we see John the Baptist so clearly naming it, and he was the one they thought might be the one who was to come. But no, he's so clear. This is not me that is coming. It is the Christ. My cousin, my friend. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

PRI Reflections on Scripture | Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church

Gospel John 1:19-28 This is the testimony of John.  When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, “Who are you?” he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, “I am not the Christ.”  So they asked him, “What are you then? Are you Elijah?”  And he said, “I am not.”  “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.”  So they said to him, “Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us?  What do you have to say for yourself?” He said: “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”  Some Pharisees were also sent.  They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?”  John answered them, “I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”  This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. Reflection It's hard to underestimate the importance of understanding John the Baptist. He's the transition. He occupies the liminal space between the Old Testament and New Testament, and he's using such an interesting image here. He's saying, the things that I've done for you are symbolic of what's to come. I've had a ritual of baptizing you with water, which is an image of being cleansed. But then he reveals one is coming after that will not baptize simply with water, but with fire. And Holy Spirit. It's interesting, there's so many things in the Old Testament we can see as symbols of what is coming, and nothing is more clear than John the Baptist's role of pointed out that there is something so much more powerful than any prophet or any temple leader. Closing Prayer Father, it's hard for us to make the radical change that the New Testament invites us to believe in and live. And perhaps is because the things that are promised are so extraordinary, so beyond our imagining, that we can be transformed, radically transformed by grace, not by our own efforts, but by gifts that flow from the life of God. It comes to us regularly in his presence, blesses us with openness to that. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]