Homilies

Today I want to tell you stories about two different married couples. The first story involves a young married couple named Ali and Chris. They were out to eat with their children when they noticed an elderly gentleman at a nearby table eating alone. They sent their kids over to ask if he wanted some […]

There are some musical artists I just never get tired of listening to. One of those artists is Rich Mullins. He was an extremely successful musician and songwriter throughout the 80’s and 90’s and was constantly played in the Gardner household growing up. One of the things I always loved about Rich Mullins was his

It’s almost universally accepted that if we want to grow and mature in a certain way, we need to be challenged.  In sports, if we never face an opponent who might be bigger, stronger, or faster than us, we might not be competitive.  In academics, if we don’t stretch our knowledge to learn, it will

My thoughts are on “The Lord of the Rings” as we ponder the readings the Church gives us today. For those few people who may not be familiar with the story, “The Lord of the Rings” follows the grand adventures of Frodo, a member of a race of little people known as hobbits. Frodo comes

Two Summers ago I was blessed to reconnect with my good friend, John Bradford, who is the founder of a men’s apostolate in the Church called Wilderness Outreach. John started this apostolate as a way to build up Catholic men to live out their vocations more fully. As John puts it on the Wilderness Outreach

For four weeks now we have been reading from the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John.  And for us as Catholics, is one of the most important chapters in all of the scriptures, because in this chapter is the foundation for our teaching and belief in the “True Presence” of the Eucharist – that

I want to tell you the story of Bree Solstad today. Her story has been featured by multiple Catholic outlets recently and is really beautiful. Bree grew up in a single parent household as a Lutheran, but drifted away from her Christian faith during her college years. She fell hard into drinking and promiscuity and

As you all know, Father Tom and I recently returned from a two-week pilgrimage in Europe, travelling to five cities in three different countries: Fatima, Portugal; Burgos, Spain; Lourdes, France; Barcelona, Spain; and Paris, France.  It was a Marian pilgrimage, where each place we visited had special places that were dedicated to our Blessed Mother. 

Not too long ago, I saw a movie entitled The Boys in the Boat. If you haven’t seen it, do it! Based on a true story, it’s a great movie about a rowing team in the early 20th century. I’ll probably talk about the story from that movie in a future homily, but this Sunday

This Sunday I’m thinking of the life of a young Catholic girl who was born in very humble circumstances. Her father, Francois, was a poor miller. After being raised by a wet nurse for the first two years of her life, this young girl returned home to her family. They didn’t have much, but their