Msgr. Don Fischer shares his weekly reflections on Scripture to help awaken listeners to the indwelling presence of God.
Reading the feed…
Pastoral Reflections 8-30-26 - The 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: August 30, 2020 Jeremiah 20:7-9 | Romans 12:1-2 | Matthew 16:21-27 God of might, giver of every good gift, pour into our hearts the love of your name so that by deepening our sense of reverence and thy watchful care keep safe what you have nurtured. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. There’s a beautiful image in the opening prayer of our liturgy today, and it’s this image that there’s a
Pastoral Reflections 8-23-26 - The 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: August 27, 2023 Isaiah 22:19-23 | Romans 11:33-36 | Matthew 16:13-20 Oh God, who cause the mind of the faithful to unite in a single purpose, grant your people to love what you command and to desire what you promise that, amid the uncertainties of this world, our hearts may be fixed on that place where true gladness is found. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen. I’ve been around for a long tim
Pastoral Reflections 8-16-26 - The 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: August 16, 2020 Isaiah 56:1, 6-7 | Romans 11:13-15, 29-32 | Matthew 15:21-28 Oh God, who has prepared for those who love you good things, which no eye can see, fill our hearts, we pray, with the warmth of your love so that loving you and all things and above all things, we may attain your promises, which surpass every human desire. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. This is a fascinating
Pastoral Reflections 8-9-26 - The 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: August 2, 2020 Isaiah 55:1-3 | Romans 8:35, 37-39 | Matthew 14:13-21 Draw near to your servants, oh Lord, and answer their prayers with unceasing kindness that, for those who glory in you as their creator and guide, you may restore what you have created and keep safe what you have restored. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. Time is such a strange thing. I turned 80 years old this year. I
Pastoral Reflections 8-2-26 - The 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: August 2, 2020 Isaiah 55:1-3 | Romans 8:35, 37-39 | Matthew 14:13-21 Draw near to your servants, oh Lord, and answer their prayers with unceasing kindness that, for those who glory in you as their creator and guide, you may restore what you have created and keep safe what you have restored. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. Time is such a strange thing. I turned 80 years old this year. I
Pastoral Reflections 7-26-26 - The 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: July 30, 2023 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12 | Romans 8:28-30 | Matthew 13:44-52 Oh God, protector of those who hope in you, without whom nothing has firm foundation, nothing is holy, bestow in abundance your mercy upon us and grant that, with you as our rule and guide, we may use the good things that pass in such a way as to hold fast even now to those that ever endure. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever,
Pastoral Reflections 7-19-26 - The 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: July 19, 2020 Wisdom 12:13, 16-19 | Romans 8:26-27 | Matthew 13:24-43 or 13:24-30 Show favor, oh Lord, to your servants and mercifully increase the gifts of your grace that, made fervent in hope, faith and charity, they may be ever watchful in keeping commands. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. This parable is fascinating to me, because I worked with it for a long time without reading t
Pastoral Reflections 7-12-26 - The 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: July 16, 2023 Isaiah 55:10-11 | Romans 8:18-23 | Matthew 13:1-23 Oh God, who show the light of your truth to those who go astray so that they may return to the right path, give all who, for the faith they profess, are accounted Christians the grace to reject whatever is contrary to the name of Christ to strive after all that does it honor. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. We’re listeni
Pastoral Reflections 7-5-26 - The 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: July 9, 2023 Zechariah 9:9-10 | Romans 8:9, 11-13 | Matthew 11:25-30 Oh God, who in the abasement of your Son have raised up a fallen world, fill your faithful with holy joy, for on those you have rescued from slavery to sin, you bestow eternal gladness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. The beauty of this particular set of readings is found in its promise. Life is not supposed to be a b
Pastoral Reflections 6-28-26 - The 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: June 28, 2020 2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16A | Romans 6:3-4, 8-11 | Matthew 10:37-42 Oh God, who through the grace of adoption chose us to be children of light, grant, we pray, that we may not be wrapped in darkness of error but always be seen to stand in the bright light of truth. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. In ordinary time, we’re going to relive the experience of one of the evangelists
Pastoral Reflections 6-21-26 - The 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: June 25, 2023 Jeremiah 20:10-13 | Romans 5:12-15 | Matthew 10:26-33 Grant, oh Lord, that we may always revere and love your holy name, never deprive of your guidance those set firm on the foundation of your love. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. A couple of weeks ago, I was with a friend, and we were talking about life, the way the world is, what we’re afraid of, and somehow the questi
Pastoral Reflections 6-14-26 - The 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: June 18, 2023 Exodus 19:2-6a | Romans 5:6-11 | Matthew 9:36—10:8 Oh God, strength of those who hope in you, graciously hear our pleas, and since without you mortal frailty can do nothing, grant us always the help of your grace that, in following your commands, we may please you by our resolve and our deeds. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. Somehow I’m struck today with the idea that I’
Pastoral Reflections 6-7-26 - The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: June 11, 2023 Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9 | 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 | John 3:16-18 Oh God, who in this wonderful sacrament have left us a memorial of your passion, grant, we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries of your body and blood that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of your redemption, who lives and reigns with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. I want you to think for a few moments about Jesus the man, li
Pastoral Reflections 5-31-26 - The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: June 7, 2020 Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9 | 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 | John 3:16-18 Grant, we pray, almighty God, that we who have come to know the grace of the Lord’s resurrection may, through the love of the Spirit, ourselves rise to newness of life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. We’re about to begin what we call the ordinary time of the year, and so during these last many, many weeks,
Pastoral Reflections 5-24-26 - Pentecost Sunday Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: May 28, 2023 Acts 2:1-11 | 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 | John 20:19-23 Almighty, everliving God, who willed the Pascal mystery to be encompassed as a sign in 50 days, granted from out of the scattered nations the confusion of many tongues may be gathered by heavenly grace into one great confession of your name. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. As a Catholic, I was obviously very much formed by the li
Pastoral Reflections 5-17-26 - The 7th Sunday of Easter • Ascension Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: May 21, 2023 Acts 1:1-11 | Ephesians 1:17-23 | Matthew 28:16-20 Grant, we pray, almighty God, that we, who believe that your only begotten Son, our Redeemer, ascended this day to the heavens, may in spirit dwell already in heavenly realms. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. I’ve been a priest for 56 years, just had an anniversary, and I think about what I’ve been doing those years and what’s the most important thing that I’
Pastoral Reflections 5-10-26 - The 6th Sunday of Easter Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: May 14, 2023 Acts 8:5-8, 14-17 | 1 Peter 3:15-18 | John 14:15-21 Grant, almighty God, that we may celebrate with heartfelt devotion these days of joy, which we keep in honor of the risen Lord and that what we relive in remembrance we may always hold to in what we do. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. This sixth Sunday of Easter is, in a way, the end of the teachings that started in the beginnin
Pastoral Reflections 5-3-26 - The 5th Sunday of Easter Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: May 7, 2023 Acts 6:1-7 | 1 Peter 2:4-9 | John 14:1-12 Almighty, everliving God, constantly accomplish the Pascal mystery within us that those you are pleased to make new in holy baptism may, under your protective care, bear much fruit and come to the joys of life eternal through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. These readings seem, to me, to be focused on the role of the church. Church is an interestin
Pastoral Reflections 4-26-26 - The 4th Sunday of Easter Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: April 30, 2023 Acts 2:14a, 36-41 | 1 Peter 2:20b-25 | John 10:1-10 Almighty, everliving God, lead us to a share in the joys of heaven so that the humble flock may reach where the brave shepherd has gone before, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. The words of Peter in this first reading are addressed to a group of people that have just had an experience. The experience they’ve had is the one that, in a sense, ushers in a new age, a new
Pastoral Reflections 4-19-26 - The 3rd Sunday of Easter Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: April 26, 2020 Acts 2:14, 22-33 | 1 Peter 1:17-21 | Luke 24:13-35 May your people exalt forever, oh God, a renewed youthfulness of spirit so that rejoicing now in the restored glory of our adoption we may look forward in confident hope to the rejoicing of the day of resurrection through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. There’s something consistent about the message that God has placed before the human
Pastoral Reflections 4-12-26 - The 2nd Sunday of Easter Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: April 16, 2023 Acts 2:42-47 | 1 Peter 1:3-9 | John 20:19-3 God of everlasting mercy, who in the very recurrence of the Pascal feast kindle the faith of the people you have made your own, increase, we pray, the grace you have bestowed that all may grasp and rightly understand in what fount they have been washed, by whose Spirit they have been reborn, by whose blood they have been redeemed. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one
Pastoral Reflections 4-5-26 - Easter Sunday Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: April 12, 2020 Acts 10:34a, 37-43 | Colossians 3:1-4 | John 20:1-9 Oh God, who wonderfully created the dignity of human nature and still more wonderfully restored it, grant, we pray, that we who share in this divinity may share it with those that we are called to serve, and we ask this through Christ our Lord, amen. Every time I proclaim the liturgy of the word for you and pick a song that I think amplifies what I want to say, I get to this moment where I feel a kind of intimacy with you, and what I want,
Pastoral Reflections 3-29-26 - Palm Sunday Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: April 5, 2020 Matthew 21:1-11 | Philippians 2:6-11 | Matthew 26:14—27:66 Dearly Beloved, since the beginning of Lent until now, we have prepared our hearts by penance and charitable works. Today we gather together to herald with the whole church the beginning of the celebration of the Lord’s Pascal mystery, that is to say, of his passion and his resurrection, for it was to accomplish this mystery that he entered his own city of Jerusalem. Therefore, with all faith and devotion, let us commemorate the Lord’s
Pastoral Reflections 3-22-26 - The 5th Sunday of Lent Msgr. Don Fischer Download Orginal Airdate: March 26, 2023 Ezekiel 37:12-14 | Romans 8:8-11 | John 11:1-45 By your help we beseech you, oh Lord our God. May we walk eagerly in the same charity with which, out of love for the world, your Son handed himself over to death. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen. Today’s gospel completes the five major teachings we find in the season of Lent. In the early church, these gospels were used, because people w
Pastoral Reflections 3-15-26 - The 4th Sunday of Lent Msgr. Don Fischer Download Original Airdate: March 19, 2023 1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a | Ephesians 5:8-14 | John 9:1-41 Oh God, who through your word reconcile the human race to yourself in a wonderful way, grant, we pray, that with prompt devotion and eager faith, the Christian people may hasten toward the solemn celebrations to come. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. The opening prayer always sets the tone for this set of readings, and t
