Finding God In Our Hearts with Msgr. Don Fischer

PRI Reflections on Scripture | Wednesday of Holy Week

Gospel Matthew 26:14-25 One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The teacher says, "My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”‘“ The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover. When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, “Surely it is not I, Lord?” He said in reply, “He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.” Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” He answered, “You have said so.” Reflection There is such an interesting image in this particular passage that always catches my imagination. And is, whose house was this? Who is this man who they were to find? He’s not named. They will offer his house to Jesus for the most important moment in his ministry, The Last Supper. And I think it's so interesting that the line in your house, I will celebrate the Passover. What is our house that God longs to enter? It is our heart. And what is the Passover other than the institution of the miracle of God dwelling in us, a Eucharistic presence that we take in every time we celebrate liturgy. When that is offered, we enter into that same moment of this is the house in which God has chosen to dwell. That's the hope for all of us. That's what we trust in. Closing Prayer Father, we face so many things alone. We feel like we need to do something in order to win your affection. But help us to see how clearly in these stories, particularly at the end of your ministry, you made clear to us that you long to dwell within us. You want to celebrate in our house, in our heart, your presence, your healing power, and your truth. Help us to keep that in mind, to believe in it. 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 | Tuesday of Holy Week

Gospel  John 13:21-33, 36-38 Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, "Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me." The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus' side. So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus' chest and said to him, "Master, who is it?" Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it." So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him. So Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly." Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him. Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him, "Buy what we need for the feast," or to give something to the poor. So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night. When he had left, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, 'Where I go you cannot come,' so now I say it to you." Simon Peter said to him, "Master, where are you going?" Jesus answered him, "Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later." Peter said to him, "Master, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times.” Reflection This is one of the most dramatic moments in Scripture. It's a confrontation between goodness and evil. And many people ask, you know, why did this happen? Why was Judas turning toward the evil? I mean, it's like there was no more holy environment in which to grow and change than this tiny group of people listening every day to the work and seeing the majesty of Jesus. How could evil get into that? How is evil a part of the world? And we have to understand that in the plan of Jesus, in the plan that's been revealed to us. Evil has a place. And when Jesus said, this is the way it's written, I think that's what he's really saying. The work that we have is a struggle, and we know that we have a power much greater than any evil. But when it's there, we have to name it and ask it to leave  Closing Prayer Father, mystery of imperfection Evil is very difficult for us to grasp. We tend to think that you want us to be free completely of all evil. But that's not your plan. It comes in. We struggle with it. We learn from it. Help us not to be afraid of the fact that, yes, like the disciples themselves, we get caught up sometimes in a way of seeing the world and the what we need over what should be done for others. We get lost in that. Give us patience with ourselves as Jesus had patience with Judas. 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 of Holy Week

Gospel John 12:1-11 Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, "Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days' wages and given to the poor?" He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions. So Jesus said, "Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me." The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came, not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him. Reflection These next two weeks are very, very important, for they talk about the very essence of why Jesus came into the world and the resistance and the acceptance that He encountered. Three people in the story stand out, obviously. Judas, Lazarus, and Martha. Judas represents all those who reject Jesus, Martha, all those who accept him, embrace him, and long for that same strength that he has to be something that touches everyone's life, to be anointed. And the image of the aroma going through the whole house is so beautiful. And then there was Lazarus, who more than almost anyone else, witnessed the power of God over death, over everything that would harm us. So we see three major actors in these next two weeks that set the stage for the recognition of who Jesus is and how he touched so many people and how some rejected it. Which one are you? That's the question. Closing Prayer Father, you have now come to the end of your ministry. You are about to make so many statements, so clearly stating who you are. And that you had to return to the father in order for all these things that you are talked about, that you are, that we can become. Open us to this great mystery of transformation. That's the gift of Christ's redemption. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

HOMILY • Palm Sunday

Original Airdate: April 5, 2020 Matthew 21:1-11 | Philippians 2:6-11 | Matthew 26:14—27:66 Dearly Beloved, since the beginning of Lent until now, we have prepared our hearts by penance and charitable works.  Today we gather together to herald with the whole church the beginning of the celebration of the Lord’s Pascal mystery, that is to say, of his passion and his resurrection, for it was to accomplish this mystery that he entered his own city of Jerusalem.  Therefore, with all faith and devotion, let us commemorate the Lord’s entry into his Holy City for our salvation, following in his footsteps so that, being made by his grace partakers of the cross, we may have a share also in the resurrection and the life.  Amen.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

PRI Reflections on Scripture | Saturday of the 5th Week of Lent

Gospel John 11:45-56 Many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.” He did not say this on his own, but since he was high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God. So from that day on they planned to kill him. So Jesus no longer walked about in public among the Jews, but he left for the region near the desert, to a town called Ephraim, and there he remained with his disciples. Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before Passover to purify themselves. They looked for Jesus and said to one another as they were in the temple area, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast?” Reflection Caiaphas marks a significant change in the attitude of the Pharisees and scribes to Jesus. They were doing everything they could to discredit him, or to try to kill him, get rid of him, so people would stop following him. But even the Pharisees had a difficult decision to make. How could they do such a thing without any authority, without any assurance that they were doing the right thing until someone gave them a way out? Hey, it's okay to kill someone if you're trying to save people. So instead of discrediting Jesus, they said, Oh, now we can say we're saving the Jews from the Romans. It worked. And the plot was set. Closing Prayer Father, what we are longing for in the fullness of your presence within us is the gift of the Holy Spirit wisdom to help us to make moral decisions. Guide us with that wisdom as we choose what is true, what is life giving, what we need to turn toward, what we need to turn away from. You died to give us that gift, help us to use it. And we asked this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]