Pilgrim Priest

Have you thought sermons were boring? Think again as Fr. Joel unpacks the word of God for today's audience. Fresh, local, and live takes on the Gospel for our world. A new homily every Sunday.

Is This the Worst Kind of Suffering? | #1620 04/04/2026

We Love Because He First Loved Us | #1619 04/02/2026

Donkeys are Marked with the Sign of the Cross | #1618 03/29/2026

Have You Prepared for Your Funeral? For Your Resurrection? | #1617 03/24/2026

Jesus Teaches a Master Class on Evangelization | #1616 03/11/2026

Jesus Teaches a Master Class on Evangelization | #1616 Our annual parish Lenten retreat talked about discipleship, stewardship, and evangelization. Let's watch Jesus as he shows us how to evangelize. Jews and Samaritans don't get along, so Jesus starts with something they have in common. Jesus knows that she is thirsty. All this time as she has been searching and thirsting, Jesus has been the one she has been looking for. The Samaritan woman has been blocking the flow of God's life by her selfish lifestyle choices. She tries to change the subject to an argument about religion. Jesus points out her deep desire to be a worshiper of the true God. She leaves her water jar. She no longer needs to ask the things of this world to satisfy her because she has found the source of true life and true love. When we are trying to evangelize, we need to first remove the obstacles that prevent us from truly receiving the life of God. We need to recognize how thirsty we are, and unblock ourselves from all the ways we have tried to satisfy our own thirst with something other than Jesus. Jesus was sitting on the well. God was standing on the rock in front of Moses. In a similar way, Jesus is already present in the lives of those we love. He can do for them what we cannot do ourselves. Evangelization is not about convincing people that we are right. It's about helping people we love discover how thirsty they are, and then showing them where to find the spring of life-giving water. (8 Mar 2026) Going Deeper: Listen to about how to evangelize and the lay vocation. How is God calling you to evangelize? You can also read . | | Over 15 years of homily episodes available at | Like, , and share us with your enemies. | Find me on | | or leave a nice review on your favorite podcast platform. | | Over 15 years of homily episodes available at | Like, , and share us with your enemies. | Find me on | | or leave a nice review on your favorite podcast platform. /episode/index/show/wordcast/id/40391815

A Mountain Top Experience As We Journey Into the Desert | #1615 03/02/2026

Guarding the Garden | #1614 03/02/2026

Half-Hearted Lovers | #1613 02/22/2026

Let Your Yes Mean YES and Your No Mean NO | #1612 02/19/2026

Illuminating Holy Matrimony | #1611 01/26/2026

Let's Talk About Confirmation | #1610 01/24/2026

Let's Talk About Confirmation | #1610 Last Sunday we celebrated the feast of our Lord's Baptism. This week, the readings speak to us of the Holy Spirit. Confirmation is the sacrament most closely connected to the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was Baptized by John in the River Jordan, me came out of the water and the Holy Spirit landed on him like a dove. The Holy Spirit remained with him. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, "His whole life and his whole mission are carried out in total communion with the Holy Spirit whom the Father gives him 'without measure.' This fullness of the Spirit was not to remain uniquely the Messiah's, but was to be communicated to the whole messianic people.... Those who believed in the apostolic preaching and were baptized received the gift of the Holy Spirit in their turn." Ordinarily, the Bishop is the one who confers the Sacrament of Confirmation. The Bishop is a successor to the Apostles who were present at Pentecost. This practice shows that the Christian who is confirmed is in Communion with the local Bishop, who is the guarantor and servant of unity, catholicity, and apostolicity in his church. The Bishop traces a sign of the cross on the forehead of each person to be confirmed and says, "Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit." A seal in the ancient world was a mark of ownership. St Paul tells us that God has put his seal upon us. It shows ownership and protection. And it is permanent. Like Baptism, Confirmation can be received only once. It marks the person as a Christian. The catechism calls this "an indelible spiritual mark" which means that your Confirmation cannot be erased by any power. What are the effects of the Sacrament of Confirmation? "It is evident from its celebration that the effect of the sacrament of Confirmation is the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost. From this fact, Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace: - it roots us more deeply in the divine filiation which makes us cry, "Abba! Father!"; - it unites us more firmly to Christ; - it increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us; - it renders our bond with the Church more perfect; - it gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross." The Syriac liturgy of Antioch expresses the epiclesis for the consecration of the sacred chrism (myron) in this way: "[Father . . . send your Holy Spirit] on us and on this oil which is before us and consecrate it, so that it may be for all who are anointed and marked with it holy myron, priestly myron, royal myron, anointing with gladness, clothing with light, a cloak of salvation, a spiritual gift, the sanctification of souls and bodies, imperishable happiness, the indelible seal, a buckler of faith, and a fearsome helmet against all the works of the adversary." "Preparation for Confirmation should aim at leading the Christian toward a more intimate union with Christ and a more lively familiarity with the Holy Spirit - his actions, his gifts, and his biddings - in order to be more capable of assuming the apostolic responsibilities of Christian life. To this end catechesis for Confirmation should strive to awaken a sense of belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ, the universal Church as well as the parish community. the latter bears special responsibility for the preparation of confirmands. "To receive Confirmation one must be in a state of grace. One should receive the sacrament of Penance in order to be cleansed for the gift of the Holy Spirit. More intense prayer should prepare one to receive the strength and graces of the Holy Spirit with docility and readiness to act. Each candidate for Confirmation is accompanied by a sponsor, a fellow Christian who has already been Confirmed, is at least 16 years old, and is himself living a good example of faith in the Holy Spirit. Each candidate also chooses a patron saint and is Confirmed in the name of the saint. So we have an earthly helper, a fellow Christian, and a heavenly helper. We need to keep and preserve the gifts that God gives us. We must all work to grow in a more intimate union with Christ, and a more lively familiarity with the Holy Spirit. (18 Jan 2026) Going Deeper: Read about the . 1285 Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the "sacraments of Christian initiation," whose unity must be safeguarded. It must be explained to the faithful that the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. For "by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed." Read more in the -1381. AdobeStock_472225992 | Over 15 years of homily episodes available at | Like, , and share us with your enemies. | Find me on | | or leave a nice review on your favorite podcast platform. /episode/index/show/wordcast/id/39862905

I Never Thought I Would Preach a Homily on This Topic | #1609 01/17/2026

Gifts for the True Star | #1608 01/11/2026

A Mother's Authority | #1607 01/04/2026

Joseph's Secret to Being a Great Father | #1606 01/01/2026

The Only Gift That Will Save You | #1605 12/28/2025

A Sign That God Is With Us | #1604 12/23/2025

Waiting In Joyful Hope | #1603 12/19/2025

The Most Perfect Gift | #1602 12/09/2025

Be Ready With This One Simple Habit | #1601 12/04/2025

Be Ready With This One Simple Habit | #1601 Winter was coming, but were you prepared? Advent was coming, were you ready? Jesus is coming; are you prepared to meet him? Some of our Protestant brothers and sisters use today's Gospel to justify "the rapture." But in the days of Noah, the evil people were taken and the good people were left. The rapture is the opposite: the good people are taken and the evil ones are left. The Catholic church does not believe in the rapture. We believe that Jesus will walk with the good people through difficult times. "He who perseveres to the end will be saved." When Jesus says, "One will be taken and one will be left," I think he means the experience of loosing those who were close to us. How can we be ready when it's our turn? I recommend the old Catholic practice of seeing every bedtime as a little death. We never know if today is our last day on earth. Before you go to bed, prepare yourself to meet Jesus. Spend some time in gratitude. Where was Jesus present in your day? How did you respond to his presence? Say an Act of Contrition. Then make a resolution for tomorrow. Winter was coming. Were you prepared? Christmas is coming. Are you prepared? Jesus is coming. Are you ready to meet him? (30 Nov 2025) Going Deeper: Before bedtime, make three simple steps: Gratitude, Contrition, and Resolution. . Introducing the New Album for 2026 Welcome to Season 16 of the Pilgrim Priest Podcast. This season is titled Breath Fire Light. The new podcast year always starts with the first Sunday of Advent. I try to find a meaningful title for the podcast that reflects what is going on spiritually in my life and in the parishes. This year, the image that came to me was that of a fire that has almost burned itself out. There are just a few coals left flickering. You breathe on the fire to breath life back into it. Then you add some kindling and keep breathing on it, coaxing it back into life. If you are successful, there is a moment when the kindling bursts into flame. Suddenly you have light! Our parishes have grown cold and many Catholics are barely smouldering. We need the Holy Spirit to breathe on us and coax us into flame. When we catch fire, then we can start to be a Light to the nations again. Breath. Fire. Light. | Over 15 years of homily episodes available at | Like, , and share us with your enemies. | Find me on | | or leave a nice review on your favorite podcast platform. /episode/index/show/wordcast/id/39263240

What Do You Need to Entrust to the King? | #1550 11/24/2025

Set Apart for the Worship of God | #1549 11/14/2025

Funerals Have Much in Common with Baptisms | #1548 11/04/2025

Hastening to the Heavenly Jerusalem | #1547 11/03/2025

Persistent Prayer Changes the World | #1546 10/25/2025

The Healing That Flows From Obedience | #1545 10/15/2025

The Devil's Secret Plot to Take Over the World | #1544 10/06/2025

The Devil's Secret Plot to Take Over the World | #1544 "I cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you do not intervene. Why do you let me see ruin; why must I look at misery? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and clamorous discord." Was the prophet Habakkuk looking over my shoulder as I watched the evening news? We come to Sunday Mass to get a new vision, a vision that is different from the evening news or your social feed. God appears not to intervene because he is more concerned about the state of your soul than about the state of the world. Let's consider an attitude adjustment. First, how do we look at the global and national news? Some people like to use the lens of "Spiritual Warfare." By this, they mean that the Devil has a secret plot to undermine the Church and take over the world, and we have to act now to stop him! But that's not how the Church sees the world. Our Father is still in control, and he is quietly working things out for our good. We spend a lot of energy on the big-picture things we have no control over. And we miss chances to change the world immediately around us. I'm an advocate of Stewardship because I believe that it can be an antidote to our consumer culture. It starts when we are grateful for God's gifts. Then we can be generous with the time, talents, and treasures that God has given us. The more we give, the more we will see ourselves as a gift. If I'm trusting in myself, my resources, and my smarts, then I only have a limited amount to work with. But even the smallest amount of faith gives us access to the infinite power of God. Faith enables us to act with power, love, and self-control. And when we have done great things by God's power, we can simply say, "I was just a faithful steward." (5 Oct 2025) Going Deeper: Take some time to re-evaluate your life. "Am I really living as a Steward?" Am I taking care of my little world, and trusting God with the big picture? AdobeStock_125406453 | Over 14 years of homily episodes available at | Like, , and share us with your enemies. | Find me on and | | or leave a nice review on your favorite podcast platform. /episode/index/show/wordcast/id/38474275

Winners and Losers | #1543 09/30/2025

Snake! (Look at the Cross) | #1542 09/14/2025

Discipleship Only Works When You Do This | #1541 09/14/2025

Discipleship Only Works When You Do This | #1541 We think we are free, but many of us are slaves. We are burdened by the needs and worries of the flesh. The book of Wisdom says, "For the corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns." In today's Gospel, Jesus seems to be adding more burdens: Hate your family, take up your cross, and renounce all your possessions. In reality, Jesus is not adding more burdens, but lifting burdens from us. He is setting captives free. Think of the times we worry about our family and friends. If Jesus is the most important person in our lives, all our other relationships will find their proper order and place. We all face suffering. But if we carry our crosses with him and for him, our burdens will be lighter. We all worry about our material possessions. But if we follow Jesus, he will make sure we have what we need. I find marriage to be a useful illustration of this "all-in" principle. Can a husband say to his wife, "I love you, but my mother is more important than you. My family, my friends, these are all more important."? I tell you, his marriage will not last long. A wife needs to be the first and most important woman in her husband's life. Then the other relationships will find their proper places. How many would want to be married to a spouse who says, "I will be with you when things are easy, fun, and comfortable, but I will be leaving as soon as things get hard?" Even in marriage we must take up our crosses daily. Lastly, the possessions of one become the possessions of both when you are married. Some people are trying to be married as a kind of side job. Marriage only works when both spouses are willing to go "all-in". In a similar way, many of us are trying to follow Jesus as if it were a side-job, something we do after we've done everything else. But it's only when we are willing to be "all-in" disciples of Jesus that everything else falls into place. (7 Sep 2025) Going Deeper: Join me for this year. Learn more at | Over 14 years of homily episodes available at | Like, , and share us with your enemies. | Find me on and | | or leave a nice review on your favorite podcast platform. /episode/index/show/wordcast/id/38213655

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