Fr. John Ehrich Catholic Homilies

God Is Calling Men To Be Leaders - Holy Family

December 29, 2019 02:44 - 11 minutes - 26.3 MB

In the readings, we hear words like ‘obedience, honor, and subordination.’ One thing we can remember when we hear these terms, especially in the context of family and relationship with God, is that the desire to be obedient comes from a place of respect and love and awe for the other person. Even in the structure of the Holy Trinity, the three persons of God are completely equal, mutually respected and loved among the three. This Trinitarian relationship is meant to be made manifest in our m...

The Divine Author - Christmas

December 26, 2019 02:31 - 11 minutes - 25.4 MB

Let’s say you were the author of a story. The characters that you created are vast and intimately known by you, their creator. You decide to give your characters free will because that way, they get to choose themselves rather than be controlled. What are you to do as the author brings their attention to you? Would you enter into their story? Maybe you could enter into that story so that you could communicate directly and say, “ I love you, I have created you from the beginning and I have al...

Just Say "Yes" - 4th Sunday of Advent 2.0

December 23, 2019 00:10 - 11 minutes - 25.5 MB

God does amazing things through the people who say “yes.” Abraham is the one who makes a covenant with God initiates this pattern in scriptures. When finally the angel Gabriel asks of Mary to bear the son of God, she said yes to God's plan even without knowing the full story. Joseph also was asked to accept a difficult truth and to say yes to the idea of raising a foster child. Without knowing the entirety of the situation, these figures in the Bible represent an abiding trust in simply sayi...

God Is Always With Us - 4th Sunday of Advent 1.0

December 23, 2019 00:10 - 12 minutes - 27.9 MB

Abraham and Sara wait and are blessed with the fulfilled plan of allowing them to conceive. Even we’ll pass their old age, they desire to conceive and are finally graced with a child. There are many similar storylines in the Bible that share this theme. Conception as a gift from God. Its almost as if God was preparing humanity for the big one. The immaculate conception and the very salvation that would miraculously enter into the world. Emmanuel, God with us. We see in this narration a God ...

Bring Your Sacrifice To The Altar - 3rd Sunday of Advent

December 16, 2019 00:36 - 12 minutes - 29.7 MB

Rejoicing. On this caudate Sunday, we hear all about all the blossoming of good things God will do, specifically in the “desert.” The location of the desert is significant because, during the time of John the Baptist and earlier prophets, the desert was seen as a place of barrenness, where the vast dryness of nature resides. Isaiah focuses on the messiah coming to these places of death, vast infertility, blindness, deafness, etc. We hear that He will renew the earth, renew and restore all pe...

Can We Be People Of Encouragement? - 2nd Sunday of Advent

December 09, 2019 01:20 - 10 minutes - 24.2 MB

Confrontations and discouraging instances are no surprise for Jesus. He faced many such encounters. In the time of the gospels, the Pharisees would revel in the chance to point out the ways that others were wrong, unworthy, or not ‘measuring up.’ But notice that Jesus never joins in with that approach, rather He dismisses the Pharisees for it and instead, loves the ones who have been beaten down by life. Rather than condemn and criticize, how can we encourage and build one another up? We sho...

Preparing The Way - 1st Sunday of Advent

December 02, 2019 02:35 - 12 minutes - 28.5 MB

It’s Christmas time! Let the shopping and holiday events begin. As Catholics, this time of year is especially important as a time for preparation on a spiritual level, but we can only do this preparation by actually allowing ourselves to slow down, hearing Gods call to peace. St Paul asks us to not settle for the worldly expectations that constantly surround us, to not be complacent but to be always awaiting the coming of Christ. Can we take the time to place ourselves in the face of Je...

Jesus, Remember Me - Christ the King

November 24, 2019 01:54 - 10 minutes - 23.1 MB

Priest. Prophet. King. Offering sacrifice, delivering God’s message and even ruling over nations are anointed actions shown in prefigurements in the Old Testament. People such as Moses and David. The New Testament accounts Jesus as a different kind of leader, as someone who does not desire the worldly platitudes we expect from other priests, prophets and kings of the past. A salvific leader, Christ’s kingdom encompasses a differing vision from temporal reality. The greatest act of power is n...

Some Of That Old Time Religion - 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

November 17, 2019 02:03 - 10 minutes - 23.8 MB

Fr. John reflects on the gospel and refers to the reactionary responses that often follow any hearing of "the end times," whether in scripture or in everyday life encounters. In the gospel, Jesus foretells the signs, both false and true, that will occur. As Christians, we believe in the Truth of the person of Jesus Christ, who desires us to choose Him over any other fears, idols, or ideologies that circumvent our understanding of Him. Fr. John names radical subjectivism as one of those dange...

There's No Golf In Heaven - 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

November 10, 2019 16:25 - 10 minutes - 23.8 MB

Fr. John Ehrich describes some misconceptions that many might hold in regards to our ideas about heaven, which are described by Jesus in the gospel. The idea that our loved ones who have passed have “become angels” may serve comfort to grieving families, but ultimately, we must clarify that we are only “like” angels, not actually new angels, when we enter into heaven. Another clarification is that marriage in heaven is not a part of the equation. Though Christ has compared eternal life to a ...

The Man In The Tree - 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time

November 03, 2019 20:09 - 10 minutes - 23.6 MB

A pervading message in our minds is the phrase, "not good enough." A phrase that pops up in our thoughts about other people and especially ourselves. "I am not good enough." It is a damaging thought that can pervade our mentalities due to upbringing, culture, or just our own standard of evaluation. But God has not created anything that is not good. We cannot fully rely on our own judgement about ourselves because the reality is that Christ loves us in all that we are. If we exist, we are lov...

Jesus, Have Mercy On Me A Sinner - 30th Sunday In Ordinary Time

October 27, 2019 02:55 - 10 minutes - 23.6 MB

Fr. John continues to expand on the themes of the Gospel of Luke to be persistent in prayer, what prayer ought to be like, and what our disposition in prayer should be. We see how the comparison between the Pharisee’s prayer and the tax collector’s prayer speak to their different postures when approaching the Lord. In today’s time, the Pharisee could be seen as a “Good Catholic”, one who thinks that they are doing everything moral and upright because that’s what it takes to get to heaven. Th...

Does God Answer Our Prayers? - 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 20, 2019 17:29 - 12 minutes - 28.3 MB

This week’s homily addresses the power of prayer. Is God telling us the truth in promising to give us what we ask for? Or did he mean something else or more for us? There are many cases in which are prayers are not answered…we see in war and worldly issues. Yet there are instances too in which sick people are healed after being told they have a certain amount of time to live from diseases. Fr. John Ehrich takes a survey of the congregation and many raised their hand and shared that they have...

Let Us Live In Gratitude - 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 13, 2019 01:45 - 12 minutes - 29.1 MB

Fr. John Ehrich relates the ideas of Sunday’s first reading and Gospel passage, drawing attention to the parallels of gratitude and healing. The outcasts depicted in the scriptures, (such as lepers, or non-Jews) display this gratitude to Christ; the ones who are least expected to show gratitude, do. They not only recognize the immensity of God within their midst, but respond with earnest and honest graciousness. How often do we take Christ’s love and presence for granted in our lives? He ex...

Fr. John Ehrich Catholic Homilies

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