Heart to Heart, A Catholic Media Ministry
“Go into all the world and proclaim the
Good News to all creation.” Mark 16:15
What would happen if you threw open the windows to your own spiritual life? Would you be more open to the movement of the Holy Spirit? In today’s homily (given on the Feast of Pope Saint John XXIII) Fr. Michael recalls the beginning of Vatican II and Pope Saint John XXIII’s call of “Aggiornamento!” or…
10 days ago on October 19th, we celebrated the Feast of the North American Martyrs, 6 Jesuit priests and 2 of their lay companions who were killed spreading the faith of Jesus to Native Americans in the New World. Fr. Michael tells us the story of two of these men, Sts. Isaac Jogues and Jean…
Discover the joy and hope of the Resurrection. Do not despair. Do not fall into the trap of “rugged individualism” that leads away from God’s loving embrace. Open the eyes of your heart. These are a few of the lessons from today’s homily by Fr. Michael. The theme is again one of healing, but focused…
Jesus gave the disciples, two simple sentences that still today profoundly direct our lives as Christians… “He said to them, ‘When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do…
Lazarus waits to die, with dogs licking his wounds, while the rich man feasts and overlooks the plight unfolding right outside his gates. What was the rich man’s sin? What did he do wrong? His was a sin of omission, of forgetfulness, of blindness to the needs of others; to the needs of Lazarus. Fr.…
Three years ago the first interview with Pope Francis was published in America Magazine and in that article the author asks Pope Francis, “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” and Pope Francis responds: “I am a sinner.” Today’s homily on the call of Matthew the tax collector examines the reality of our human sinful nature and…
Hidden in this week’s Gospel for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is the more familiar passage known simply as John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. You might be…
How will your call be remembered? In today’s Gospel and Homily, we hear the call of Nathaniel by the Apostle Philip. Philip tells Nathanael that “the one whom Moses wrote about in the law” has been found and that he is from Nazareth. Nathanael ignobly replies: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” But despite this…
This week we get a second summer bonus homily from Fr. Michael! Martha and Mary. Two sisters representing two halves of the fulfilled spiritual person. Fr. Michael takes us on a journey into their home, and into their encounter with Christ. While Martha takes the brunt of Jesus’ initial rebuke, we learn that neither is…
This week we get a bonus homily from Fr. Michael. While in Cincinnati for a summer writing sabbatical, Fr. Michael celebrated a Memorial Mass on the 15th Anniversary of Fr. Jim Willig’s birth into eternal life. In this homily, Fr. Michael remembers his friend, Fr. Jim, and draws parallels between Fr. Jim’s life and the…
As summer approaches, Fr. Michael’s weekly homilies also approach a hiatus. This two part posting has the last homilies until September. Instead of a weekly homily during the summer, you can hear longer recordings from Fr. Michael that will be sent out to the mailing list for Fr. Jim Willig’s Gospel Studies. Fr. Jim did…
This week’s homily again comes from Fr. Michael’s recent journey to walk the Way of St. James, or the Camino de Santiago. Our lives, like the Camino, are made up of multiple journeys. This week Fr. Michael highlights the importance of the outer journey and the inner journey. With some humorous examples of pilgrims’ follies…
Today’s homily was given in Spain while Fr. Michael walked part of the Camino – the ancient pilgrim path to the final resting place of St. James the Apostle, with a group of 34 people – the youngest was 12 and the oldest 78. Some were in great shape (two marathon runners), but others were…
By and large in the United States, we are spared many of the hardships endured by those in other parts of the world. For the most part our water is clean, our food safe and our way of life secure. The same is not true for everyone, especially those displaced by war, natural disaster or…
If YouTube existed in Jesus’ time, this Gospel would be in a compilation titled “Jesus’ Epic Fails” and included with it would be Jesus’ arrest, His prosecution, His crucifixion & death, and then the martyring of almost all of His disciples. In this Gospel many of Jesus’ followers leave him. They walk away. They decide…
Whose voice will you follow today? The voice of the One Shepherd, or the voice of the deceiver? Fr. Michael reminds us that the language of faith is the language of poetry, not the language of science and reason. Jesus speaks using alliterative language to describe his role and the love that God has for…
Last week, we heard the story of Jesus appearing to Peter and some Apostles who were fishing. At the end of the Gospel, Jesus asked Simon Peter three times, “Do you love me?” This week Fr. Michael suggests another question. Will you choose darkness or light? Will you live by circumstance or choose to acknowledge…
Can you remember the last Saint you met? Who was that person that you just knew was bound for heaven? In this week’s Gospel and Homily, Fr. Michael explores St. Peter’s transformation from humiliated denier to rock of the Church. He draws parallels between St. Peter’s life and Fr. Jim Willig’s life and describes the…
Just like Jesus, Mary Magdalene was an unlikely witness to God’s love for us. A troubled woman with a questionable past, she clung to Jesus like a baby to it’s mother; until… Until… Until that is, Jesus told her, “Do not hold onto me.” He sent her on a mission to evangelize, to spread the…
After Jesus died, his disciples were left alone, bereft of their leader, mocked by their people and generally in a state of fear and despair. While traveling from Jerusalem to Emmaus, two of those disciples encountered a strange man on the road who appeared oblivious to all that had gone on. They took it upon…