Finding God In Our Hearts with Msgr. Don Fischer

PRI Reflections on Scripture | Tuesday of the 4th Week of Lent

Gospel  John 5:1-16 There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be well?" The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me." Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your mat, and walk." Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked. Now that day was a sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who was cured, "It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat." He answered them, "The man who made me well told me, 'Take up your mat and walk.'" They asked him, "Who is the man who told you, 'Take it up and walk'?" The man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there. After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, "Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you." The man went and told the Jews that Jesus was the one who had made him well. Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus because he did this on a sabbath. Reflection It's fascinating to look at the different ways in which Jesus used his power to heal. Sometimes people begged him to do it. Sometimes someone touched him and he didn't even know that he was then healing them. And there's this story where this man just was simply asked, Would you like to be better? But you like to be healed? The man didn't ask him for that. So what I'm hearing in this is that there's this way in which this love that God has for you and me is so connected to the healing power that he had. It is not something that has to be earned or worked for as much as it's simply something that has to be believed in. Do you want God to heal you of things? Do you want to change? Do you want to let go of patterns of behavior that have been part of you, but you know somehow they're not healthy for you? That's all we need to have, giving him permission to do his work. Closing Prayer Father, during the season of Lent, give us that wisdom that we need to have in terms of reflection on things that we might be caught up in that we need to be released from. Help us always to put more trust in your work in us, than in our work trying to fix ourselves to be pleasing to you. 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 the 4th Week in Lent

Gospel John 4:43-54 At that time Jesus left [Samaria] for Galilee. For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his native place. When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves had gone to the feast. Then he returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left. While the man was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. He asked them when he began to recover. They told him, “The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.” The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he and his whole household came to believe. Now this was the second sign Jesus did when he came to Galilee from Judea. Reflection Jesus was used to people constantly looking at him, wondering who he was, and they wanted some kind of proof that he was who said he was. And it was tiring to Jesus to constantly prove before anyone would believe in him that he was who he said he was. What's different here is this man looked at Jesus and knew who he was, knew the power he had, believed he had it, and simply said, Please come before my child dies. And Jesus knew the difference in a moment. He was not asking for Jesus to prove who he was. He was simply asking Jesus to do what he came into the world to do. It's a beautiful way of understanding what belief and faith really is in Jesus. Closing Prayer Father, confidence. Confidence is you are in our life giving us all that we need. Enabling us to do the things we’re called to do. Help us to be always conscious of this presence within us that will always accomplish what is necessary. It is not we who do your work, it is you who do your work through us. That's our confidence, always in you and in your presence. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

HOMILY • The 4th Sunday of Lent

Original Airdate: March 19, 2023 1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a | Ephesians 5:8-14 | John 9:1-41 Oh God, who through your word reconcile the human race to yourself in a wonderful way, grant, we pray, that with prompt devotion and eager faith, the Christian people may hasten toward the solemn celebrations to come.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

PRI Reflections on Scripture | Saturday of the 3rd Week of Lent

Gospel Luke 18:9-14 Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Reflection I know you probably have people in your life like I do that seem to always be pointing out the negative, mostly in someone else. And there's something about a disposition of self-righteousness that does tend to be critical of everyone who isn't doing what they think they should be doing. It’s usually a sign that they're really not content with what they are, or who they are. So bless us with an understanding of the human nature that we all share. So we will not focus so much on judgment, but understanding and forgiveness. Closing Prayer Father, free is from the spirit of criticism and condemnation. It sneaks into our vocabulary. We find ourselves often picking at other people, picking at situations, always pointing out what is wrong. Bless us with the release of that and let us look always toward that which is positive. Honoring those who do well, complimenting those who do well. 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 | Friday of the 3rd Week of Lent

Gospel Mark 12:28-34 One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?" Jesus replied, "The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these." The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, He is One and there is no other than he. And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." And no one dared to ask him any more questions. Reflection It's clear in this passage that Jesus has a clear message as to what the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God is going to be like. It's a constant evolution of consciousness that moves people more and more into one single focus to love, to love God, to love who we are, to love our brothers and sisters, to love everything that God has created. Love is the most important thing because it is the one thing that brings the essence of the Kingdom of God together. It's called Union Communion. Oneness. That's what we long for. An end to the isolation, the fear, the anger, the shame that keeps us separated. Love unites us. Everything else tends to divide us. Closing Prayer Father, you give us a prayer that we are taught to recite over and over. It's the only time you taught us how to pray. And one of the key lines in it is we pray thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So bless us with knowing and also longing for this union and communion that love can bring to your kingdom and make it real for all of us. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]