Deacon Patrick Homilies

Christmas 2020 homily

The question Jesus proposes to us is simple - are we willing to let Him interrupt our life?  Are we willing to renounce our own plans and designs to allow Him to lead us where He desires?  If we can do that - we will be saints.  But if we don't, then we never will be.  Let Jesus interrupt you so that He can reveal Himself to you more fully!

The Lord invites us to subject ourselves to his discipline so that we may be molded into saints who know Him truly and who allow Him to know us. How can we enter into that discipline well so that we can be transformed by it? How can we know Jesus to enter in through the narrow gate that leads to our salvation?

Jesus wants to set the world on fire! Will we let him?

May we have the courage of the martyrs in witnessing to the faith!

May we receive the gifts that the Lord desires to give us to have the "holy memory" to know of His presence.

We pray for the grace of faith to believe that the Lord's words to us can and will be fulfilled.

Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything. Jesus extends the invitation to answer that question. Where are my deepest loves? Let our love for Jesus be the thing that decides everything.

How is the Lord speaking to you today?

How is the Lord speaking to you today?

The Lord desires to speak to us like he speaks to Moses - face to face, as one friend to another.

The Lord calls us to be aware of the invitations He places before us so that we can respond to them. We pray for that grace.

Jesus offers us a challenge when it comes to prayer today. Why do I even need to pray? How am I supposed to do it? What about when God doesn't seem to answer? Today Jesus invites us to authentic prayer that focuses not on getting things but on getting to know Someone.

God can be found in many walks of life! St. Bridget reveals this to us!

Mary Magdalene waited - let us follow her example of waiting on the Lord!

What's the lesson of Martha and Mary in our lives today? Martha asks a very pointed question to Jesus - Do you not care?? How can we know that the Lord really does care about what happens to us?

What do superheroes have to do with the Good Samaritan? See how we can to respond to the heroic love that Jesus invites every single one of us to!

In the Gospel we hear the mission that Jesus gives to the 72 - what does that mission have to do with us?

The homily preached at my Mass of Thanksgiving for the Solemnity of the Ascension by Fr. Andre Melancon at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church.

The Master has need of it. Will you respond?

Jesus gives Peter a simple command that is actually a giant call. Who can be worthy of such a call? In the face of those fears, Jesus says, "Do not be afraid!"

God speaks powerfully to us through his Word. The Word - Jesus Christ - gives us our identity as Christians. But what does that look like? How do we balance our daily lives and our life in Christ? Our call is to transform the world from the inside out!

Any preparation that we do to allow Jesus to enter more deeply into our lives must be motivated by love. By recognizing what God has done for us, we can't help but love him more. "Where there is no love, put love, and you will draw out love." - St. John of the Cross Given at St. Louis Catholic Church in Bayou Blue, LA

Sometimes it's the simplest of messages that have the deepest meaning.

Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you. All things pass away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things. He who has God finds he lacks nothing; God alone suffices.

Don't settle for being spiritually average or mediocre! We long for so much more. Jesus is calling us to true spiritual heroism - and offers us the invitation to do that! Don't walk away sad, but seek Him with an undivided love.

Jesus is clear - whoever asks will receive, whoever seeks will find. Be bold in what you pray for, and the God who surpasses all our hopes and desires will hear us.

Being a martyr (a witness) must flow from really knowing Jesus. Today we hear how that can look in our lives.

Almighty ever-living God, who in the abundance of your kindness surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat you, pour out your mercy upon us to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to ask.

Jesus offers a challenging critique of divorce today. How can we make sense of that in today's broken world? We need to rediscover the beauty of what God wants to reveal to us in the sacrament of marriage!

As we continue through the Book of Job, we see today the importance of hope - not just wishful thinking, but real hope founded on God's providence. It builds up in us a desire for Him!

We continue our journey through the book of Job, which deals with the question of why suffering exists. Today, Job deals with the lie that God is just too big to hear his prayers.

Holy Guardian Angels, pray for us and be with is in the midst of our sufferings!

Jesus has some more harsh words for us today. We need to cut out whatever leads us to sin, to Gehenna. What lengths are we willing to take?

Does it seem like we keep repeating the same mistakes in history? Or you keep struggling with the same sins? Why do you think that is?

Week Three of Source and Summit: A Walk Through the Mass. Have you ever had questions about the Mass? Wondered what it all means? Join us as we dive more deeply into what's really happening in the Liturgy of the Eucharist!

Guide me, Lord, in the path of your commands, because it is there that I find my delight, my true desires, my ultimate fulfillment. (cf. Ps 119:35)

"Where there is no love, put love, and you will draw out love." -St. John of the Cross

Pride is the cause of a lot of our problems. It pits us against each other and creates conflicts. What's something practical we can do to try to purify that?

Today we hear the essence of the faith from St. Paul - Jesus died and rose for us. Does that make in impact on our lives? Can we imitate that example?

Week Two of Source and Summit: A Walk Through the Mass. Have you ever had questions about the Mass? Wondered what it all means? Join us as we dive more deeply into what's really happening in the Liturgy of the Word!

We are the Body of Christ - many members with unique gifts for the building up of God's kingdom! We are all called to use our different gifts in different ways, all united to Christ our Head.

Why do we exalt the Cross? Because of what it reminds us of! I preached this homily to St. Genevieve Catholic School for Grandparents Day, exploring this mystery of the Cross.

Week One of Source and Summit: A Walk Through the Mass. Have you ever had questions about the Mass? Wondered what it all means? Join us as we begin to dive into this greatest mystery of our faith so that we can enter into it more deeply! Handouts for the night: https://goo.gl/gRGS32

Are we Christians for ourselves or for others? What's the best way to give witness to those around us? Pope Paul VI said, "Modern man listens more to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it's because they are first witnesses."

What can we learn about harmony in a Christian community from St. Paul's reading today? Honest dialogue has to be the key - rather than gossip or tolerance that avoid getting to the heart of conflicts.

St. Paul sounds a little harsh in this selection from his letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 5:1-8). What is he getting at? Take 2 minutes and listen!

What does it take to encounter Jesus today? How can we be the disciples to renew the Church? Today's Gospel opens up the solution to us!

Put out into the deep! Right in that moment of feeling out of control, God wants to work. Don't pull back, don't stay shallow, but put out into the deep!

"What have you do to with us?" Guard against the demonic temptation that God isn't involved in our life!

Why do the Pharisees care about hand washing? And what does Jesus' response mean for us in these times? We are in a time of renewal!