Homilies about obedience

Humility: The Lowly Road that Sets Us Free (with Fr. Patrick)

Father Patrick

This homily, part of a Lenten mission, explores humility through the lens of the Blessed Virgin Mary, contrasting it with human desires for glory and self-will. The speaker uses personal anecdotes, including a chaotic Vatican tour and his own emotional experience of realizing his vocation, to illustrate how humility involves accepting God's plan and confidently embracing one's true self, ultimately leading to faithful obedience even in suffering.

Why God's Rules Are an Act of Love (A Priest's Story)

Father Dean Stacil

Father Dean Stacil emphasizes that God's commandments and the Church's rules are not meant to restrict, but to guide us out of love, leading to harmony and joy. He illustrates this with personal anecdotes about his mother's Lenten discipline and his father's curfew, showing how rules, even when seemingly strict, stem from a desire for our well-being and protection.

St. Joseph: A Model for All Fathers in the Shadows

This homily focuses on St. Joseph as a model of fatherhood, emphasizing his obedience to God, humility, tender love, and diligent work. It encourages all fathers, including adoptive, godfathers, and spiritual fathers, to emulate St. Joseph's example of prioritizing God and serving their families with quiet dedication and respect, rather than seeking personal acclaim.

The Unforgivable Sin: Why We Must Obey God's Voice

The homily focuses on the unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit, which is calling God evil, as seen in the Gospel where people attribute Jesus's power to Beelzebul. The priest connects this to the first reading, emphasizing the importance of listening, obeying, and heeding God's commandments, contrasting it with modern society's value of independence over obedience. He warns against becoming blind to God's work in our lives, especially during suffering, and encourages deliberate focus on God's presence and love.

Why You Can't Be 'Self-Actualized' (and What to Do Instead)

The homily emphasizes that Jesus' claim of equality with God forces a choice: either he is crazy or he is God. It challenges the secular idea of 'self-actualization,' proposing instead 'God-actualization' or 'grace-actualization' as the path to true fulfillment, especially during Lent. The core message is to root our Lenten observances in God's reference point, not our own, fostering a union of love and obedience.

How to Make the Kingdom of God Present in Your Life

The homily emphasizes that the Kingdom of God is not a distant future concept but is present here and now for those who actively live out the two greatest commandments: loving God with all their being and loving their neighbor as themselves. It highlights that understanding these commandments is not enough; one must embody them to experience the transformative presence of God's kingdom in the world.

God's Unwavering Love: Why He Will Never Forget You

The homily emphasizes God's unwavering love and mercy, drawing parallels between a mother's love for her infant and God's promise never to forget us. It highlights Jesus as the fulfillment of God's covenant, offering full access to the Father's healing, forgiveness, and eternal life, urging believers to surrender to God's divine will with trust and obedience.

Beyond Listening: How to Truly Obey God's Word This Lent

The homily emphasizes that Jesus fulfills the law and that true listening to God's word means active obedience. It challenges listeners to move beyond passive hearing to actively apply God's commands of love, forgiveness, inclusion, and sharing in their daily lives, especially during Lent.

Why Humility is Key to Receiving God's Healing

The homily emphasizes that a proud mind rejects God's plans, believing it can manage life independently. It draws on the story of Naaman the Syrian, highlighting how humble obedience led to his healing from leprosy. The core message is that humility and obedience to the Church's voice are essential for purification and witnessing God's wonders, particularly through baptismal waters.

Do You Only Turn to God When You Need Him?

The homily emphasizes the importance of truly listening to God's word and obeying it, contrasting it with the Israelites' tendency to only turn to God in times of distress. It challenges listeners to reflect on their own relationship with God, urging them to strengthen their faith not just in need, but in all moments, and to choose to live as better people by actively following God's commands.

Why Simple Acts of Faith Lead to Miracles in Lent

The homily emphasizes that God often works in simple, ordinary ways, which require humility and obedience. Drawing from the stories of Naaman and Jesus in Nazareth, it encourages setting aside pride and expectations to embrace God's grace, especially during Lent, where small acts of faith can lead to profound miracles.

The Bitter Taste of Christian Life: Why Salt was Used in Baptism

Mon Senior Dawn

The homily reflects on the historical significance of the Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent, particularly for catechumens learning the commandments. It connects this tradition to the ancient practice of placing salt on the tongue during baptism, symbolizing the bitterness of suffering in the Christian life, and emphasizes the enduring importance of God's law.

Why God's Law is a Protective Fence, Not a Prison

The homily emphasizes the goodness and protective nature of God's law, contrasting it with the human tendency to disregard it unless it serves personal benefit. Using the analogy of a garden with a protective fence, the priest explains that living within God's law provides safety and peace, while straying outside leads to sin and its consequences. He challenges listeners to study and meditate on Church teachings, especially those they find difficult, to deepen their understanding and obedience.

Lenten Call: Return to God, Listen, and Obey

The homily emphasizes the importance of returning to God, listening to His voice, and obeying His commandments, especially during Lent. It draws on the readings to highlight the contrast between gathering with God and scattering, urging listeners to be in God's camp and not harden their hearts.

Beyond Words: How to Show Your Love for God Through Action

The homily emphasizes that true love for God is demonstrated through actions, not just words, by faithfully observing His commandments. It draws parallels between Moses' instruction to Israel, Jesus' fulfillment of the law, and Mary's perfect obedience, urging listeners to allow God's word to transform their lives, especially during Lent.

St. Katherine Drexel, Humility, and the Call to Obedience in Lent

The homily connects the life of St. Katherine Drexel, who dedicated her life and fortune to serving African-American and Native American peoples, with the Gospel's call to humility and the prophet Isaiah's admonition for repentance. It emphasizes that true obedience to God's will, which is good, is essential for receiving mercy and achieving unity in Christ through the Eucharist, urging believers to serve others as Christ served us.

Why God's Commandments Are Not Suggestions

This homily emphasizes the critical importance of obeying God's laws, not as mere suggestions, but as divine commands essential for societal order, personal success, and spiritual growth. The priest argues that flouting God's laws, even without immediate earthly punishment, leads to sin and a deadened conscience, urging a conscious effort to keep God's commandments to achieve holiness and inherit the kingdom of heaven.

Beyond Rules: How God's Commandments Lead to Love and Freedom

This homily, delivered during a communion service due to priests being away, emphasizes that God's commandments are not merely external rules but invitations to internal love, mercy, and faithfulness. It highlights that Jesus fulfills the law by revealing its deeper meaning, calling us to see others with God's eyes and to let love be the motive behind all actions. The speaker also notes that every commandment leads to life, freedom, and deeper love, citing Pope Benedict XVI on the liberating power of God's laws.

Are God's Laws Like a Stop Sign or Gravity?

The homily uses the analogy of a self-driving car stopping at stop signs to illustrate how people often treat God's laws as mere suggestions rather than inescapable rules with consequences. It emphasizes that divine laws, like the law of gravity, are given by our Creator to help us navigate a broken world and fulfill our potential, leading to eternal life when followed.

Are You Truly With Jesus? A Lenten Call to Active Faith

Father Juan Diego

The homily emphasizes the importance of actively choosing to listen to God's voice and live out our faith, rather than being passive observers. Drawing from Jeremiah and Luke, it highlights that God calls us to a full commitment, urging us to overcome indifference, fear, or pride that might separate us from Him and His will.