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You are currently browsing the archives for the Fr. Joachim category.
Ave Maria! One Hundred Homilies!!! Glory be to God! Come and listen as Fr. Joachim reflects on our today’s readings, including our inability to serve two masters (God and money), our needless anxieties, and our need to follow God’s commandments if we expect Him to answer our prayers. Ave Maria! |
Ave Maria! Today the church honors St. Paulinus, contemporary of St. Augustine, who converted and was baptized in his late 30s, shortly after the death of his new-born son. Fr. Joachim gives a brief biography of this generous man in his homily today. Ave Maria! |
Ave Maria! Come and listen to Fr. Joachim’s brief homily on St. Aloysius and today’s readings. Ave Maria! |
Ave Maria! Come and listen to Fr. Joachim’s short reflection on today’s readings. Ave Maria! |
Ave Maria! Today were remember a wonderful 10th-century hermit saint, St. Romuald: St. Peter Damian, to whom we are indebted for a Life of St. Romuald, notes that the saint was enraptured by silence and enamoured of God: “Contemplation of God enraptured him so forcefully that, almost blinded by tears and burning with an indescribable fire of love for God, he would cry out, ‘Dear Jesus, peace of my heart, ineffable desire, sweetness and gentleness of the angels and saints…’”. The son of Duke Sergius of Ravenna, immersed as he was in silence, discovered that this ability to be still before the Lord opens the heart and unites us with God, who speaks in silence and solitude.
Ave Maria! |
Ave Maria! Fr. Joachim instructs us in the words of St. Paul – “Now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation” – and illustrates the uncertainty of life with a story of an unwise friend of St. Thomas More. Don’t think you can put off conversion ’til the last minute! Ave Maria! |
Ave Maria! Our love for God is measured by how fully we embrace His forgiveness. The sinful woman in today’s gospel embraced forgiveness with the gratitude of balm and tears; the righteous Pharisee embraced it with the gratitude of contempt. I am not the judge of my neighbor, but I must be the judge of ourself, and I ought to gauge my love for God by measuring my gratitude toward Him and my generosity toward my neighbor. (As a famous journalist once noted, “The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.”) In his frank homily, Fr. Joachim points to the sad reality of many who claim to love Christ yet selectively neglect or scoff at the commandments of His Church. Father also aims squarely at the present-day contraceptive-mentality, a mentality which demonstrates a lack of faith in God’s providence, a lack of hope for the future, and a sorrowful lack of love. Ave Maria! |
Ave Maria! Fr. Joachim instructs us on the history of devotion to the Sacred Heart from St. Gertrude the Great (1256-1302) to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690), and, for the skeptics, he points them to the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano. Ave Maria! |
Ave Maria! Father preaches today on the life of Blessed Baptista Varani (1459-1517), a Franciscan Poor Clare who encouraged us to strive to do everything for the love of God. So let us keep our mind fixed always on God, whether or not our feelings nurture or hinder our faith. Hillare Belloc once gave a sharp analogy on how faith is the assent of the intelligence and of the will, with or without “good feelings??:
[Click here for today's readings.] Ave Maria! |
Ave Maria! In his brief homily, Fr. Joachim reflects on today’s reading from the book of Sirach: ??For the LORD is one who always repays, and he will give back to you sevenfold.?? Fr. notes that in the Jewish mentality, seven was the number of perfection. What could be more perfect than God’s generosity towards His creation? Though we may not see or always experience His generosity, everything that God places in our path is intended for our eternal good and our eternal glory – God’s glory and mine – if we trust Him and entrust ourselves to Mary Immaculate, our New Eve and Mother. If it weren’t for trials, what would become of our prayer life? [Click here for Today's Readings.] Ave Maria! |
Ave Maria!
Click here to read more of St. Margaret’s life, and listen to today’s homily by Fr. Joachim on this saint, known as the Magdalene of the Franciscan Order. Ave Maria! |
Ave Maria! “To be Christian means to proclaim the message (of Christ) untiringly in every generation.” The commission given to the apostles is now our commission. Listen to Fr. Joachim’s brief homily on the apostles James & Phillip & on our call to be the apostles & the witnesses of Christ in our world today.[Click here for today's readings.] Ave Maria! |
Ave Maria! Fr. Joachim delivers a wonderful & insightful homily on the life & times of Pope St. Pius V & how in some ways they mirror our own troubling times. [Click here for today's readings.] Ave Maria! |
Ave Maria! As with Johnson’s baby shampoo, so it is in heaven: “No more tears.?? There are many misunderstandings about heaven in our postmodern culture. When the postmodern mind isn’t denying the existence of heaven, it’s quick to assert that everyone eventually gets there. “God’s love is unconditional, so it doesn’t matter how I behave,?? they reason. True, God’s love may be unconditional, but getting to heaven is very conditional: as Christ said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.?? Listen now to Fr. Joachim’s homily on the promises and conditions of gaining eternal joy. [Click here for today's readings.] Ave Maria! |
Ave Maria! Fr. Joachim preaches the homily for the Franciscan feast day of St. Fidelis a martyr in the 1600s in Switzerland. He started his career as a lawyer and then became a Capuchin and was martyred when evangelizing the Protestants. Let us seek true ecumenism as we honor this martyr who shed his blood for Christian unity. Ave Maria! |
