Know - Grow - Go
Weekend homilies from Holy Trinity Parish, a vibrant, diverse community located in Beaverton, Oregon. Our mission is to KNOW Jesus more personally, GROW in that relationship, and GO forth into the world and make a positive difference.
Episodes
By giving God the glory and thanking him in good times and in bad, we humble ourselves and recognize that are not in charge. No matter what befalls us or the sins we commit, God is always there wanting to restore our sight and inviting us to reconcile with him. And, by exposing the darkness of sin in our lives, the light in each of us becomes more visible to those around us.
Our ultimate thirst and yearning is for God, who wants to pour his love into our hearts. Lent is a time to ask what we are filling our hearts with and how we are pouring ourselves out for others. Are we filling our hearts with murky, dirt-laden water; with soft drinks that are best enjoyed sparingly; or clear, pure water that begets more life when we share it? Jesus is the source of this life-giving water. May we drink deeply of hi...
While the Sacrament of Reconciliation (a.k.a., Confession) is one of Fr. Bill's favorites, that's not the case for most people. Fr. Bill walks through some of the questions and fears surrounding this healing sacrament to explain its importance and show how we can experience a Transfiguration through it.
Lent is a time to retune the ears of our heart. That’s really the point of our fasting, prayer, and sacrifice: they’re invitations to weaken the ego with its incessant demands, to refocus our gaze back to God, and to hear Him say once more to us, “You are my beloved child. I know your heart. I know what’s best for you. I have plans for you. Come back to Me."
You don’t have to have your act together. You don’t need to hide anything....
Lent gives us a special time to be keenly aware of our sins and our own selfishness. Jesus' challenge in the Gospel is not to stop doing righteous deeds or prayer altogether, but to do them for the good of others and the glory of God regardless if they will be seen or not by others. As you begin your Lenten journey and practice, measure it against the standard of how it will be good for others, not just yourself.
Living the commandment to love our enemies is probably the hardest thing we can do. Simply put, we cannot do this without the supernatural grace of God. Remember that "love" is not the same as “like.” Loving someone is willing good for the other, while liking someone is a much more subjective thing. You don’t have to like everyone, but you must love them.
This commandment is not a suggestion. It’s just the hardest thing to do. So, ...
The vocation to marriage calls an individual to imitate God’s love by dedicating oneself to service for their spouse and to be open to the children conceived from their love. In this covenant of love, husbands and wives strive to live out the promise to love as God loves in a particular way, by giving of each other without condition. Through the highs and lows, the ecstasies and crucibles of marriage, each spouse’s vocation is to h...
Humility is knowing who we are as God has created us; knowing our true place in life, not more and not less. We are meant to recognize our God-given talents and tend those gifts to the best of our ability, not for the sake of ourselves but for God and others. To be ultimately motivated for our own sake is arrogance, empty, and vain. Our struggle is that we are prone to slip into the two extremes: “I’m pond scum” and “not worthy to ...
In the end, the Beatitudes are really about God’s love for us, hidden in the cross; God waiting for us in the difficult places. It’s not easy to trust that, to surrender to that. If you haven't yet, pray the Surrender Novena; there's strength and courage in that prayer, a peace that the world cannot give. All of us have those hard places in our life, places that are out of control, ugly, sad, hurting; places that we wish were diffe...
During this Ordinary Time, when you leave church after Mass, share your faith. Bring God into your conversations. Be an agent of Christ and his Church in the world in the small moments, even those perceived as insignificant. It is in these seemingly small, ordinary encounters in which Grace abounds.
Videos referenced in homily — "Newhart" final scene | Bob Newhart on "Newhart" finale
Darkness is everywhere. Sometimes it comes from evil actors or outside forces; sometimes it comes from us. But, as baptized Catholic Christians, do not lose sight of the good things born of God’s amazing grace which abound everywhere. His light has been entrusted to you by virtue of your baptism, and you are called to be a light unto the nations.
When you watch the news, pray for every news item, for the victims and the perpetrator...
When you became part of the Body of Christ, you became a child of God, and He loves you with the very same love with which He loves Jesus, His only-begotten Son. There’s power in knowing that, and even more power in making that the pole – the stillpoint – around which your life revolves. A parent's love is only a shadow of the love that the Father has for each of us – and we can trust in His love no matter what life throws our way....
If you are feeling down, left out, lonely; if you are struggling with selfishness, greed, envy; if you struggle with self-worth or are being too critical of yourself: give yourself over to God. Surrender to Him. Then, God can give you a profound gift, one that will set you free to love as He loves and to to be rescued from whatever binds you. Christmas is a time to celebrate what God did when He lowered himself to become a baby in ...
A litmus test of our faith can be, in part, how thankful we are. The Church even proclaims how giving thanks to God is ultimately the best response in the Preface at Mass (“Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.” “It is right and just.”). God is the author of all we give thanks for, so it is right and just to give that thanks back to Him after it passes through us. May we put our gratitude into action as a gift and response to eac...
Do you find yourself captured or afraid? Does the weight of sin or its consequences feel like it will crush you? Know that Jesus sees you. He wants to rescue you from whatever pit you have found yourself in and carry your yoke together. He knows what you are going through - He too was mocked, lied to, felt abandoned, a failure, and wished that his suffering would pass him by. But while he experienced all that it was to be human, He...
When you're struggling with something - including church teachings and dogma, like that of the Immaculate Conception - remember: nothing will be impossible for God.
Why is the world so broken? The short answer is because we've believed the lie that we are not okay as we are; that the life God has given us is not enough. Doubting God, doubting His care and His plan for us, we place our hopes elsewhere and set up new lords in our hearts. And just when those lords have their hooks in us, they turn on us, robbing us of our peace and freedom and leaving us unhappy, disgruntled, unruly captives.
Our Advent homily series will focus on the kerygma — the basics of Salvation History. Salvation History is the story of God’s work in his creation, specifically how he interacted and saved us. It's the story of what God has done, is doing, and why.
God created us in his image and likeness, to have an eternal soul. Every person is called to live in harmony with God in heaven. As we gaze into the stars, all of humanity find themselve...
What are you thankful for? That’s the question Fr. Bill asks of our Thanksgiving Day Mass attendees. Consider what you are thankful for as you listen to their responses!
Popular Podcasts
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
It’s a lighthearted nightmare in here, weirdos! Morbid is a true crime, creepy history and all things spooky podcast hosted by an autopsy technician and a hairstylist. Join us for a heavy dose of research with a dash of comedy thrown in for flavor.
New episodes come out every Monday for free, with 1-week early access when you join Amazon Music or 1-week early and ad-free for Wondery+ subscribers "SmartLess" with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, & Will Arnett is a podcast that connects and unites people from all walks of life to learn about shared experiences through thoughtful dialogue and organic hilarity. A nice surprise: in each episode of SmartLess, one of the hosts reveals his mystery guest to the other two. What ensues is a genuinely improvised and authentic conversation filled with laughter and newfound knowledge to feed the SmartLess mind.