14th Sunday After Pentecost
You'll hear a lot of reverberation in this sermon in an old Florida basilica (my new home) but you'll need to tweak your volume until I adjust the basilica microphones for future podcasts. In this sermon, you'll hear about the Gospel of the day applied to Hurricane Irma.
Undivided Hearts: The Power of Celibacy
What does it mean to have an undivided heart for the Lord? "The unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit."—1 Cor 7:34 I gave this talk to homeschooling families that have taken literally God's command to "be fruitful and multiply" as the Old Testament says. But the New Testament generally holds it to be a calling to be fruitful and multiply for the salvation of more souls for Jesus Christ's kingdom. Therefore, this talk is about why to encourage your children to be very open to the calling of celibacy for the salvation of even more souls than physical generation. The how to encourage this was mentioned only at the end, during the Question/Answers. I subtitled this talk: Undivided Hearts: Allowing Your Child to Choose the Higher [...]
Annulments Sermon
This sermon is about the beauty of marriage by way of the pain of annulments, and it is sure to be controversial. It might sound excessively traditional, but it is based on a key line that I forgot to quote from Pope John Paul II. He said that for a declaration of nullity to be granted, run-of-the-mill difficulties in marriage were not sufficient, but rather, "real incapacity is to be considered [for an annulment analysis] only when an anomaly of a serious nature is present"—Pope John Paul II's exhortation on Canon 1095, written on 25 February 1987. One example of "an anomaly of a serious nature" would be the couple's decision during engagement to have no children. That is, they were not just using the Pill (albeit an abortifacient that kills and also a mortal sin for both spouses in [...]
The Conversion of Gloria Polo
On the 5th of May 1995, Gloria Polo, a dentist and mother, was struck by lightning just outside the University of Bogotá, Columbia. She died shortly afterwards in the trauma unit. She went before God and her sentence was hell. God gave her another chance, and this is the account she has given to millions of South Americans with the approbation of the South American Bishops. You will see while reading this rather-long but worthwhile blogpost why she was given another chance by God. Although not a word of this blog post is mine, it is the most important blog post I have ever produced. This is Gloria Polo’s conversion story, with translations from the Italian by Fr. Orlando, posted originally by Fr. Joseph Dwight, and with final touch-ups to the translation by me. THE TESTIMONY OF GLORIA POLO Good [...]
11th Sunday After Pentecost
Extreme Unction: This sermon is about the last rites a priest will pray over you, as well as the last words that a dying Catholic is supposed to say. Photo credit Fr. Richard Heilman.
Assumption Sermon
How to be holy like Mary (kind of.)
Demonology Q and A
These are the questions and answers that I gave on the topic of exorcism and demonology. This talk was cut and paste into Q and A format by a friend who runs a radio show.
Transfiguration Sermon
This sermon is about Mount Tabor and the Transfiguration by way of the Sermon on the Mount and the countercultural calling of the Maccabean martyrs.
A Priest’s Thoughts on Cyberbullying
This subtitle is The 7 Hidden Dangers of Smartphones for Teens. The first of these seven is indeed cyberbullying. Simply read the first one if you were lured-in by the title of this blog post. Recently, I was at a large family’s home. The kids were all out back blowing bubbles. The older kids, being about 10 years old, twirled foot-long wands out of their dish soap to create bubbles about six inches in diameter. The youngest brother who was playing bubbles with them was only five years old. He simply couldn’t help himself from popping his older sisters' bubbles. I told him: "Just make your own." He looked at me with a smile of pure-gold and said, "Yes, sir." He then tried so hard for the next five minutes to obey me and his sisters’ pleas for longer bubble-longevity. He cranked [...]
8th Sunday After Pentecost
Baptism Sermons, Part II of II: Sin and Grace.