Our Lady Of Lourdes Podcast

"When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem." (Matthew 2:1) -"Caravans of camels shall cover you, dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; All from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and heralding the praises of the LORD." (Isaiah 60:6) -"I was still praying, when the man, Gabriel, whom I had seen in vision before, came to me in flight at the time of the evening offering. He instructed me in these words: 'Daniel, I have now come to give you understanding.'" (Daniel 9:21-22) -Love will make you poor. When you truly love someone, love always leads us to poverty. Always. -Fr. Brian -I don't mean, necessarily, that you will be materially poor. You might be. There's a reason why priests and religious are supposed to be at least materially simple. What I do mean is that anyone who loves, loses their life. -Fr. Brian -"They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They pro

kerygma - the basic Gospel message The hardest to break through with the Gospel is not people who have big sins, it's people who are apathetic. They just don't need God. Everything is great. -Fr. Brian Churches are meant to say to us that we can walk into the mystery of the Christian life.... If a church is built properly, we walk into it, and the mystery of Christ surrounds us. -Fr. Brian As Christians, we don't believe Christianity starts with you. Christianity does not begin with you getting your act together. It does not start with you doing the right thing and going to serve the poor, it doesn't start there. It starts with Christ, with His love for us. Once that's happened, you and I have to respond. -Fr. Brian Faith is a surrender where you and I hand over our lives and take a step toward God. -Fr. Brian When I gave my life to Jesus, I didn't experience it as I have to give up all this stuff.... I experienced it as something I never even realized open up in front of me. Heaven is actually real. My

-kerygma - the basic Gospel message -If you don't know the heart of the Gospel and the basic story, you're always going to put the emphasis in the wrong place. -Fr. Brian -The Gospel is not good advice, it is good news. And I think part of the reason people in the culture don't want to hear from us—they are sick and tired of hearing from Christians—and I think part of the reason is because when we encounter the world, we're always kind of scolding them on how they should be living a moral life. Which we're not wrong about, they should be, but who wants to hear that all the time? -Fr. Brian -"For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, deluded, slaves to various desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful ourselves and hating one another."(Titus 3:3) -There are three things that Satan does to every one of us to keep us in slavery: (1) Accuses. (2) Discourages. (3) Lies. -Rescued: The Unexpected and Extraordinary News of the Gospel by Fr. John Riccardo -"And even when you were dead [in]

-"God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:10) -John Paul II talks about, in the Created Order, there were four good relationships: us with God; us with creation; us with other human beings; us with ourself. Before the Fall, these were perfect, and all of these led to a deeper intimacy with God. -Fr. Daniel -When they looked within, when they looked in the eyes of their beloved, and when they looked at creation around all them, all they could do was praise, glorify, and love their Creator. Now if that doesn't stir your hearts, I don't know what does.... That was how it was meant to be. That was how God created it for us. -Fr. Daniel -(Wisdom 2:23-24) -Jesus is King of the Universe, but in many ways, Satan is still king of this world. And we long for and wait for the final coming of our king. This is one of the aspects that we celebrate in Advent. -Fr. Daniel -For us to understand truly the gift that God has given us in His Son—what it means to be rescued—you can't understand our redemption and being rescued unle

​Homily #1 -Advent is a new beginning. You might not have woken up today and thought of this, but today for you as a Christian, today is New Year's Day.... Advent is a season of hope, and what Christians do during Advent is they look to the time that Christ returned to make all things as they should be, and then towards the end of Advent, we start looking back at the time that He first broke into this world. But the theme that runs throughout Advent is that God wants to make all things new. -Fr. Brian -God wants to make you new. What if you believe that? What if this Advent, over the next four weeks, you were utterly convinced that God could make you new? What would that look like? -Fr. Brian Homily #2 -kerygma (Greek) - the basic Gospel message -The good news of Christianity is not that you got your act together and so God decided to love you. That is not what Christianity is. That's not good news. -Fr. Brian -Simply Good News by N.T. Wright -John Muir (b. 1838 - d. 1914), Scottish-born American natural

-"Jesus answered, 'My kingdom does not belong to this world.'" (John 18:36) -kerygma (Greek) - the basic Gospel message -"If I had a $1,000,000" (1992 song) - Or rather $10,000,000, adjusted for inflation and the cost of living in Denver. -Money has everything to do with your relationship with God. -Fr. Brian -"For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be." (Matthew 6:21) -What we do with our money says something about where our heart is. Even small things. A lot of sins in our life, Jesus doesn't tell us to really be watchful. Money is tricky, because none of us thinks that we are a greedy person. But if I'm honest, I'm a greedy person. There's a piece of my heart, I just like nice things. -Fr. Brian -"That which someone cherishes above all else, admires and loves above all, this is that person's God." (Origen) -Our money is not about paying the bills at the church. Your money has everything to do with what you worship. -Fr. Brian -"Come, Lord Jesus, take away scandals from your kingdom,

-"Jesus said to his disciples: 'In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.'" (Mark 13:24-25) -It's yours. This is your house. You paid to the church to help to renovate the sanctuary. But we do this to build up the Church. Money as you know is not good, it's not bad. Money is neutral. It depends how you use it. —Fr. Witold -Jesus spends 25 percent of preaching on money in the New Testament. He never said that you're supposed to give ten percent or five percent to the Church. No He has never said something like this, never ever. He said that we are supposed to support the poor, help the sick, this is needed. Money, as you know, doesn't bring happiness. But it can help someone, so we can bring happiness by using money. -Fr. Witold -The way you give money, for example to the Catholic Church, is to help you to not be attached to the money. -Fr. Witold -The Fifth P

Fr. Brian Larkin preaches about the readings for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time on November 7, 2021. -- -lepta (Greek) — coin (two lepta = 1 quadrans) -quadrans (Latin) — Roman coin (one quadrans = 1/64th of a denarius) -denarius (Latin) — one day's wage for average person in ancient world -"For, remember, you were slaves in Egypt, and the LORD, your God, redeemed you from there; that is why I command you to do this. When you reap the harvest in your field and overlook a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; let it be for the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the LORD, your God, may bless you in all your undertakings. When you knock down the fruit of your olive trees, you shall not go over the branches a second time; let what remains be for the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow. When you pick your grapes, you shall not go over the vineyard a second time; let what remains be for the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow. For remember that you were slaves in the

Fr. Brian Larkin preaches about the readings for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time on November 7, 2021. -- -lepta (Greek) — coin (two lepta = 1 quadrans) -quadrans (Latin) — Roman coin (one quadrans = 1/64th of a denarius) -denarius (Latin) — one day's wage for average person in ancient world -"For, remember, you were slaves in Egypt, and the LORD, your God, redeemed you from there; that is why I command you to do this. When you reap the harvest in your field and overlook a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; let it be for the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the LORD, your God, may bless you in all your undertakings. When you knock down the fruit of your olive trees, you shall not go over the branches a second time; let what remains be for the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow. When you pick your grapes, you shall not go over the vineyard a second time; let what remains be for the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow. For remember that you were slaves in the

-You can't love God if you don't fill your mind with thoughts of Him; if you're not attentive to Him. You can't do it. -Fr. Brian -shema (Hebrew) — hear -(Deuteronomy 6:4-5) -The load-bearing wall of your life, is the love of God.... If you don't have that, if you take that wall out, it might stand for a little bit, but nothing else in the end will make sense. This is the centerpiece of everything—not just for Christians. The way that God created humanity, brothers and sisters, He made us so that this is the center of our existence. -Fr. Brian -He did not create you for a life of comfort, or a life of success, or a life of power, or a life where you did some great things. God created you to participate in this mysterious, beautiful, mystical word. This word we call love. And that's the reason you exist. -Fr. Brian -Real love means that I know how to sacrifice for you, it means that I choose you, even when it's difficult. Love is not just that feeling, it is something much more beautiful and something muc

Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk preaches about the Gospel for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time on October 24, 2021. -- "The blind man replied to him, 'Master, I want to see.' Jesus told him, 'Go your way; your faith has saved you.' Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way." (Mark 10:51-52) -"He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus." (Mark 10:50) Holding on to this cloak was the key, that was everything he had. So actually throwing aside his cloak, he took a 100 percent risk to leave everything he had. -Fr. Witold -Each one of us has this kind of cloak in our lives, whatever it is. This cloak says that this was something that the blind man depended on. All his happiness was there. That's what each one of us has in our lives, this kind of self-sufficient, "I can do whatever I want," I'm holding onto something, I don't need God. -Fr. Witold -For each one of us, there is something—this kind of cloak that we hold onto—and we need to find it out and make a decision like the blind man. T

I am not your priest. Jesus is. And that's such good news.... You and I need to pray with this more. We have to drink deeply of the reality that we have a high priest that is the greatest priest imaginable. —Fr. Brian -"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession." (Hebrews 4:14) -"Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins." (Hebrews 5:1) -"Aaron shall offer the bull, his purification offering, to make atonement* for himself and for his household." (Leviticus 16:6) -The good news of the New Testament, and what Hebrews is all about, is that our sacrifice is not a bull or a goat. It's Jesus Himself. Whatever your sin is tonight, whatever you've done, whatever the brokenness is in your life, whatever that message is that Satan is whispering in your ear—when he tells you that your sin is too great, or that your heart is too corrupt—what

Lord, I want your joy, your generosity and your freedom. That love that just emanates, it radiates from you. Jesus I want that life; Lord, do I want the lifestyle that goes hand-in-hand with the life you give? -Fr. Brian Larkin Readings for 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time "If you want to experience the life of Jesus, you have to adopt the lifestyle of Jesus." (John Mark Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry) "'Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?'" (Mark 10:17) Lord, I want your joy, your generosity and your freedom. That love that just emanates, it radiates from you. Jesus I want that life; Lord, do I want the lifestyle that goes hand-in-hand with the life you give? -Fr. Brian "I want that life. But then I think about the lifestyle behind it. While I was up watching The Man in the High Castle and drinking red wine until midnight (hypothetical scenario, I promise...), they ate celery and water for dinner and went to bed at 9 p.m..... The reality is, I want the life, but I'm not willing to ad

Fr. Sean Conroy preaches on the readings for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time on October 3, 2021. -"Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness." (Genesis 1:26) -"God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good." (Genesis 1:31) -"The LORD God said: It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to him." (Genesis 2:18) "The man gave names to all the tame animals, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals; but none proved to be a helper suited to the man." (Genesis 2:20) -"So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The LORD God then built the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman. When he brought her to the man, the man said:“This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man this one has been taken." (Genesis 2:21-23) -From the side of Adam is the birth of woman, just as fr

Fr. Brian Larkin preaches about the readings for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, particularly Mark 9:38-48, on September 26, 2021. -Jesus calls you and I not to be haphazard about our Christian life, but to be intentional in fighting against temptations to sin. -Fr. Brian -"If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna." (Mark 9:43) -You and I, we don't compromise with sin, we make war against sin.... We have to be intentional in the battle against sin. -Fr. Brian -"If I, who seem to be your right hand and am called a priest and seem to preach the Word of God, if I do something against the discipline of the Church and the rule of the Gospel so that I become a scandal to you, the Church, then may the whole Church in unanimous resolve cut me, its right hand, off and throw me away." (Origen) -We follow one God, we follow one Church, we do not follow people who veer too far off the track of what Jesus and His Church teaches

Fr. Brian Larkin preaches on the readings from the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time on September 19, 2021. -"Taking a child he placed it in their midst." (Mark 9:36) -paidiá (Greek) — child, or servant -"Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, 'If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.'" (Mark 9:35) -The Gospel teaches that one human soul, one, is worth more than all the created universe. -Fr. Brian -The greatest Christian heresy of all of our history is called gnosticism. -Fr. Brian -Gnosticism is already being addressed in the New Testament: 1 Corinthians, 1 John -The reason gnosticism is so dangerous is because it has so much truth in it. But then it distorts it. -Fr. Brian -gnosis (Greek) — knowledge -Gnosticism is the belief that some kind of wisdom, knowledge or polished mysticism will save you.... The Gnostics couldn't handle the cross. -Fr. Brian -Christianity is not a collection of wisdom, it is not a moral law, it is not good advice. Chri

Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk preaches on the Gospel for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time on September 12, 2021. "He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days." (Mark 8:31) "Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, 'Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.'" (Mark 8:32-33) "And he asked them, 'But who do you say that I am?' Peter said to him in reply, 'You are the Messiah.'” (Mark 8:29) Who is He for you? Not for the world, but for you. That question has to be answered by each one of us. -Fr. Witold ​You have to, each one of you, has to take up your own cross. Which is not easy. We don't like, as human beings, we don't like suffering. No one likes it. We always take painkillers.... St. Peter is trying to be a painkiller for Jesus. -Fr. Witold If you do not und

Notes for Fr. Brian Larkin's homily on the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time on September 5, 2021 Paul Claudel, French poet + playwright (b. 1868 - d. 1955) -Many of the mistakes we make in life and the problems we have in life come when something is off and we don't perceive something correctly.... If you don't see straight, if you don't hear correctly, brothers and sisters, if your senses are off, you cannot live in the world as you should. -Fr. Brian Physical healings in the Bible are almost never just about physical healing. -Fr. Brian -"Make the heart of this people sluggish, dull their ears and close their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and their heart understand, and they turn and be healed." (Isaiah 6:10) -"And [immediately] the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly." (Mark 7:35) -"He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on him and asked, 'Do you see anythi

I think that you are here because you believe that this man, on the cross, was killed because of you. He chose to be killed, out of love, and He stayed. So now it's really time to do the same. Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk

21st Sun. of Ord. Time | Do You Want To Leave? | 8.22.2021 | Fr. Witold Kaczmarzyk by Lourdes Denver