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St. Patrick Catholic Parish Podcast

St. Patrick Catholic Parish

Homilies, Chapel Chats, and more from the largest Catholic parish in Brighton, Michigan.

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27 episodes
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English

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Monday · 18 min
Catholic Principles for End-of-Life Care - Part II of The End-of-Life Series| Fr. Peter Randolph
In this homily, preached on October 25, 2026, Fr. Peter concludes the mini-series on end-of-life issues by preaching on the Church's principles regarding end-of-life care. He begins by stating that the intention for using or forgoing a treatment can never be to kill the patient. Then, he explains the difference between Ordinary and Extraordinary means. Ordinary means are morally obligatory. For a treatment to be Ordinary means, it must provide reasonable hope of benefiting the patient and not be excessively burdensome to the patient and not impose an excessive expense on the family or community. Extraordinary means are those treatments that do not provide reasonable hope of benefiting the patient (they are futile) or are excessively burdensome to the patient or impose an excessive expense on the family or community. Extraordinary means are optional. Fr. Peter then clarifies that food and water (even through a feeding tube and IV) are always considered ordinary means until the person's body can no longer digest them. Fr. Peter then covers comas, advanced directives, and ventilators. Lastly, he states that Catholics do not have to try every possible treatment to keep their loved ones alive for as long as possible. If a treatment is recognized as extraordinary means, it can be declined. His practical for the week is to pray every day for the grace of a happy death, both for one's self and for loved ones. The link the National Catholic Bioethics Center is here (https://www.ncbcenter.org/).
October 20 · 16 min
Anointing of the Sick - Part I of The End-of-Life Series| Fr. Peter Randolph
In this homily, preached on October 18, 2026, Fr. Peter begins a mini-series on end-of-life issues by preaching on the Anointing of the Sick. He covers the primary graces and the essential rite of the Anointing of the Sick. He then covers the requirements for someone to be anointed. Having covered those fundamental points, he moves on to answering some common questions about the Anointing of the Sick and discussing when to call the priest for the Anointing of the Sick. Lastly, he touches upon the Apostolic Pardon. His practical for the week is to pray for those who are dying, since the moment of death is such a crucial moment in people's lives.
October 12 · 14 min
Our Mission at St. Pat's | Fr. Peter Randolph
In this homily, delivered on October 11, 2026, Fr. Peter preaches on the mission of St. Pat's Catholic Church. The parish's mission is to make Spirit-filled missionary disciples of Jesus for the glory of the Father. The parish strives to help nonbelievers become disciples and to help those who are already disciples to mature in their faith. A core part of this mission is to get parishioners to enter small groups. As a way of gauging how the parish is doing at its mission, there is an annual survey to see where people are in the Five Thresholds of Conversion and whether they are in small groups. Fr. Peter walks through the Five Thresholds of Conversion and leads the congregation in a prayer to commit their lives to Jesus. At the end of the homily, he encourages everyone to take the survey.
October 5 · 12 min
Father, Not As I Will, But As You Will | Fr. Tim Nelson
In this homily given by Fr. Tim Nelson on Sunday, October 4th, 2026, he interprets Jesus’ parable of the Wicked Tenants as an allegory about God, Jerusalem, Israel’s leaders, the prophets, Jesus, and the Church. Its central message is that true life only comes from being faithfully obedient to God’s will. Sin, on the other hand, separates us from God. Pride is the chief obstacle to faithful obedience to God's will, and humility as its remedy—not self-degradation, but a grounded acceptance of reality and a dependence on God. Because human beings are created in God’s image, loved by Him, and called to share in His divine life, they must learn to love God and pray with Jesus, “Father… not as I will, but as you will.” The homily concludes by noting that God provides opportunities to grow in humility in our day to day lives. Fr. Tim offered two examples; one from his prior profession as a cardiologist; and one from a gentleman whose severely disabled step-son humbly admitted to his mother, “Mom, I am the wounds of Christ.”
September 28 · 12 min
Becoming an Attractive Christian By Loving (Not Judging) Others | Fr Mathias Thelen
In this homily given on September 27th 2026, Fr Mathias breaks open Philippians 2 and challenges us to love others and not judge them. St Paul exhorts us to humbly regard others as more important than yourselves. Because they think they are better, proud people look down on others for their faults and failures and judge them. Humble people because they don't see themselves as better than others seek to give the benefit of the doubt and have compassion on others. The difference is love. Father challenges us to have the mindset of Jesus who made himself a slave of us in our faults and failings. He challenges us to ask Jesus to show us the roots of our judgment of others. If judgement and pride in the Christian are ugly and repulsive to unbelievers around us., loving humbly like Jesus is very attractive. Father ends his homily inviting us to ask Jesus for his gift of love for those around us.
September 21 · 19 min
There is No Wasted Time with God | Fr. Peter Randolph
In this homily, delivered on September 20, 2026, Fr. Peter preaches on the reality that there is no wasted time with God. We can often be tempted to think that God cannot redeem our past. For example, if we failed our kids in the past, did not start to pray until later in life, or keep falling into the same sin, then the messy situations we find ourselves in cannot truly be redeemed or that we will never be as holy as we should have been. Fr. Peter speaks the truth into that temptation: God can redeem every situation if we allow Him to do so. Because Jesus died on the Cross, He can use the broken situations to draw us close to Himself. This does not give us permission to sin but does give us hope for our lives and helps us to ward off discouragement. Fr. Peter challenges us to ask the Father to redeem some situation in our lives in which we feel that the past cannot be redeemed, whether it be years of less-than-perfect parenting, a very distracted prayer time, or yet another fall into our habitual sin. By making this prayer, we are giving the Father permission to redeem all things in our lives.
September 14 · 12 min
The Kind of Father We Have | Fr. Peter Randolph
In this homily, delivered on September 13, 2026, Fr. Peter preaches on the goodness of the Father. He points out that our way of viewing God heavily impacts the way that we approach Him and live our lives. The parable of the Unforgiving Servant reveals the great mercy of God. The servant owed an unpayable debt, but the king chose to forgive him; in the same way, the Father is incredibly merciful to us and wants to forgive all of our sins. However, the servant, perhaps because he did not believe that the king was truly that merciful, tried to make another servant pay back a much smaller amount. The king respected the servant's decision to try to pay back the debt and handed him over to the torturers until he repaid the debt. If we believe that God is not truly the Father that He says He is, then we will end up holding onto our sins and choose not to forgive others, and God will respect that decision. However, that does not end up well for us in this life or the next. The Father has so much more for us than that. The Father wants us to live in freedom, peace, and joy both in this life and the next. He wants us to know Who He truly is and live in accord with that reality. Fr. Peter invites us to ask the Father to reveal His love and mercy to us so that we can live in the freedom and joy that the Father has always wanted to give us.
August 24 · 13 min
Receiving Everything from the Father and Giving Everything Back: Stewardship Series Part I | Fr. Peter Randolph
In this homily, delivered on August 23, 2026, Fr. Peter preaches on what it means to be a good steward. Stewardship involves receiving everything from the Father then giving it all back to Him out of love and gratitude. Since this dynamic of giving and receiving is at the heart of the Trinity, being a good steward is actually a participation in divine life. This is made concrete in our daily lives by giving of our time, talent, and treasure. Fr. Peter walks through examples of what it means to give of our time, talent, and treasure. His practical for the week is to spend ten minutes praying about stewardship. In the first five minutes, reflect on the time, talent, and treasure that God has given you, and in the second five minutes, ask the Father how He wants you to give of your time, talent, and treasure to those you are called to love. This is the first part of a two-part series on stewardship.
August 3 · 13 min
Food is for Communion | Fr. Peter Randolph
In this homily, delivered on August 2, 2026, Fr. Peter preaches on the reality that food is for communion. In today's world, there is a lot of discussion and debate surrounding food, and many people wrestle with how to feed themselves and their children. In addition, many people have a broken relationship with food because of stress-eating, concern about body image, and other such things. It can be so easy to be caught up in what or what not to eat, that we often do not consider why we eat. Food is for communion, both with God and with others. God did not have to make food, but chose to create food so that we could be united with Him and others through it. In both the Old and the New Testaments, God uses food to draw His People into communion with Himself, and the ultimate expression of this is in the Eucharist. Fr. Peter invites the congregation to approach daily meals as a way to enter into communion with God and others, allowing the grace before meals to be a practical reminder that we are about to enter into a time of communion.
July 28 · 12 min
Why We Hesitate to Joyfully Sell Everything to Secure Jesus our Treasure | Fr. Mathias Thelen
In this homily given on the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time (July 5, 2026), Father Mathias preaches the parable of the treasure buried in the field. He outlines three reasons why people don't joyfully sell all they have (surrender) to secure the treasure of Jesus. 1) They simply haven't found Jesus yet. 2) They have found him, but they're not convinced of his real value 3) They have found him and they're convinced of his value, but they refuse to change and repent. After relating this parable to the five thresholds of conversion and the mission of St Pat's, Father ends his homily challenging us to identify our hesitancy and resist joyfully selling all that we have to secure Jesus our treasure.
July 20 · 12 min
Transformation Over Time | Fr. Peter Randolph
In this homily, delivered on July 19, 2026, Fr. Peter preaches on the gradual nature of our transformation in holiness. It can be easy to fall into discouragement because it seems like we keep committing the same sins or getting distracted during prayer. However, our transformation is gradual, just like the rising of bread is gradual. That is why the parable of the woman with the yeast can be a great source of encouragement. Since our transformation takes time, we never need to be discouraged, and we can dream big. We can continually open our heart to Jesus each time we fall and trust that, little by little, we will be transformed.
July 13 · 11 min
Seed into Wheat, Wheat into Bread, Bread into Jesus | Fr. Peter Randolph
In this homily, delivered on July 12, 2026, Fr. Peter preaches on the way we can offer everything to Jesus in the Eucharist. He explains that Jesus is the seed that encounters the soil of our lives. If we open up to Jesus, we bear fruit, and our lives can be transformed in the Eucharist. He describes how this has been a living reality for him in a particular way over this past year as the Lord met him in his grief.
July 6 · 9 min
Why the Proud Don't Receive Much from God | Fr. Mathias Thelen
In this homily given on the 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time (July 5, 2026), Father Mathias preaches on why God hides himself from the proud but reveals himself to the humble. Because the proud are self-focused and self-reliant, they are not open to reality, they are not open to change. As such they become blind to God and what he offers us. But the humble are open to reality, they know they need God and are open to receiving from God. If Jesus wants us to come to him to receive his rest, then we need to be humble enough to come to him to receive his rest. The problem is that those who are proud don't come to Jesus, they don't think they need to, they don't want to. Therefore, they don't receive much from what he offers. Father ends his homily inviting us to come to Jesus as a little child to tell him what's going on in our prayer so we can receive what he has for us.
June 29 · 10 min
Why You Should Love Jesus More Than Your Family (And How to Do It) | Fr. Mathias Thelen
In this homily given on the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time (June 28, 2026), Father Mathias preaches on one of the most difficult teachings of Jesus: whoever loves parents or children more than him is not worthy of him. The human race is divided on its response to Jesus. Some accept him and follow him, others do not. That creates tension in families and causes temptations to compromise and love family members more than Jesus. Father Mathias offers two reminders to help renew our minds that can help us love Jesus more than our children and parents. 1) Remember that your love for your children/parents is merely a faith echo of how much God loves them. 2) Your children/parents do not belong to you; they are gifts of God entrusted to you for a short time. He ends the homily exhorting us to renew our faith in Jesus as our first love when we receive him in Communion.
June 22 · 14 min
What a Father Does | Fr. Joshua Fons
On Father's Day, June 21st, 2026, Fr. Joshua Fons gave his last homily at St. Patrick's. (He will be moving to East Lansing to serve the student parish for Michigan State) In this powerful homily, he unpacks the mission and vocation of every father, and what makes fatherhood so essential. Fathers teach us our place in the great story, they show us how to live in this world, how to love, and what to fear. They invite us to step into our own role in the story. Especially in a culture that is struggling for lack of fatherhood, fathers need renewal and strength to live out their mission.
June 16 · 11 min
Why We Should Sing At Mass No Matter How We Feel | Fr. Mathias Thelen
In this homily given on the 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time (June 14 , 2026), Father Mathias preaches on Psalm 100 and why we are to sing a joyful song of praise to the Lord at Mass. After outlining why singing at Mass is one way we actively participate in divine worship of God at Mass, Fr Mathias outlines several common reasons why we might resist singing to the Lord at Mass: we mistakenly believe singing is optional, we might not know or like the music, the music might not be good, we're not certain about who God is, we simply don't feel like it. But the Mass is not about us; it's the worship of God, giving him what's his due. Therefore, we need to resist the temptation to not sing to God because we don't feel like or we don't want to. Since God is Good, no matter how we feel, Father challenges us to sing his praises at Mass precisely when we don't feel like it. Doing so opens our hearts to the God who loves us and wants to bless us in whatever we're going through in our lives.
June 8 · 12 min
What the Lord is Doing in the Desert | Fr. Joshua Fons
On the Feast of Corpus Christi, June 7th, 2026, Fr. Joshua Fons invites us to walk with the Israelites in the Desert. What seemed like a time of hardship, was actually a training ground in trust, a time when they had to learn that they had a God who cared for them and provided for them. The Lord does the same with us, he allows us to wander in the desert so that we can encounter his provision, particularly through the Holy Eucharist. We have to come to realize that we cannot live on bread alone, so that our hearts can hunger for the true food, the bread of life.
June 1 · 12 min
That Voice of Condemnation in Your Head is Not From God | Fr. Mathias Thelen
In this homily given on Trinity Sunday May 31st, 2026, Father Mathias preaches on the fact that God, who is Father Son and Holy Spirit is love itself. Drawing from the Gospel, Father reminds us that God is for us and not against us; he has come to save us from our sins, not to condemn us. Father challenges to avoid a false spirituality of fear that has crept back into the Church masquerading as a traditional Catholic spirituality. He ends his homily offering a few reminders of how God relates to us in our sin for those struggling with a voice of condemnation in their hearts.
May 26 · 12 min
What Pentecost Can Teach the Church Today | Fr. Joshua Fons
On the Feast of Pentecost, May 24th, 2026 Fr. Joshua Fons challenges us to look to Pentecost for the source of the Church's renewal. Pentecost is part of our tradition, in fact, it is the very start of our Church. To ignore Pentecost is to ignore what Christ has given to us: the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit who gives us the courage and strength to live out the Church's mission: making disciples of all nations.
May 18 · 12 min
The Holy Spirit Is Not a Side-Issue for Jesus (or For Us) | Fr. Mathias Thelen
In this homily given on Ascension Sunday (May 17, 2025), Fr Mathias preaches on one of the reasons why Jesus ascends into heaven: to obtain the promise of the Father and baptize us in the Holy Spirit. This is what he died to do: to immerse us into the very life of God and to bear witness to him. Essentially, Jesus wants everyone to be baptized in the Holy Spirit As Catholics we believe we receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit in the sacraments of baptism and confirmation. But we also believe that the sacraments are not magic and require proper interior dispositions for the graces of the sacraments to be released into our lives. Theologians call this release of the graces of sacraments of initiation as the "the baptism in the Holy Spirit" After outlining key signs that one is baptized in the Holy Spirit, Fr Mathias encourages us to ask the Lord to baptize us in the Holy Spirit.

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