Sermons on The Evangelist Andrew:

Eastern Spirituality And Christian Prayer....compatible?

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Oct 23, 2017

The objection that caution be exercised, that illusions are possible, may appear contrary to evidence.

“Catholic doctrinal truth and sound spirituality are companions. They support and protect each other...” page 99 “In the more esoteric instances of pursuing experiences of God, the labyrinth of the soul’s interiority is the temple where the religious seeker must make pilgrimage. The passage is no ...read more

Denomination: Catholic

Distractions In Prayer And God’s Transcendence: Still, Small Voice

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Oct 23, 2017

The voice of Jesus that speaks in the gospel pages is the same voice that hides in the language of divine silence. But if we do not hear the one, we are unlikely to hear the other

“We initiate a time of prayer sensibility when we prostrate ourselves before God in adoration. We bow in adoration because of two truths—our own nothingness and God’s infinite goodness. The act of adoring God prepares our soul for the God who remains hidden always even as we meet him. His ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 19:11-13

Denomination: Catholic

Emotions In Prayer

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Oct 23, 2017

There may be souls of spiritual depth who presume in themselves a meager capacity for prayer because they find interior silence unachievable.

“Clearly, then, the idea we have of God can make prayer difficult, if not impossible. We block our way to God by every wrong notion of God. That can happen if we dwell too much on God’s transcendent mystery, if we look upon him as distant and remote, as a God without eyes. A God unavailable to our ...read more

Denomination: Catholic

The Hidden God In Silent, Quiet Prayer

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Oct 23, 2017

We seek in love a God who has penchant for hiding himself, and we are drawn to follow him into his own hiding places.

“Even in the consolation that silent prayer may grant, there is always a deeper layer of spiritual need untouched by peace, unsoothed by the tranquil breeze. This recess of poverty in the soul longs for a companion still not seen. It craves for more the passing satisfaction. Our gratitude ought to ...read more

Denomination: Catholic

Hungering And Thirsting For Righteousness And My Digital Device

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Oct 23, 2017

Faith today faces a challenge in the modern culture of technology, which in turn is also an obstacle to contemplative life.

“Faith today faces a challenge in the modern culture of technology, which in turn is also an obstacle to contemplative life. The problem is not technology in itself, but a certain poverty of spiritual intelligence resulting from a predominate exercise of the mind. The drive for efficiency and ...read more

Denomination: Catholic

Pobreza De Espiritu,

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Oct 25, 2017

La pobreza de espíritu no puede buscarse como conocimiento de uno mismo. Esta pobreza guarda siempre lo desconocido, es una cualidad elusiva.

La Pobreza de espíritu es una manera de penetrar en la oración, especialmente al principio. La pobreza de espíritu no puede buscarse como conocimiento de uno mismo. Esta pobreza guarda siempre lo desconocido, es una cualidad elusiva. No puede ser simplemente un pensamiento acerca de nuestra ...read more

Denomination: Catholic

Last Judgment

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Nov 3, 2017

The road of human life divides into two, one half splitting off toward a punishment that never ceases and the other toward an undying life with the Lord in his Kingdom.

The Last Judgment One morning, 4-year-old Kevin and his grandpa went out to buy donuts. On the way, Grandpa turned to Kevin and asked, “Which way is heaven?” Kevin pointed to the sky. “Which way is hell?” Kevin pointed towards the floor of the truck. Grandpa continued, “And where are you ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:31-46

Denomination: Catholic

Emotional Blackmail

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Nov 13, 2017

If you can work and don’t, you shouldn’t eat.

Emotional Blackmail by Fr. Emmerich Vogt, O.P. Something I always like to cover in my missions is the role of feelings and emotions in our moral lives. Someone just gave me a copy of a book by Susan Forward, Emotional Blackmail. It’s about those who prey upon people’s emotions as a form of ...read more

Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 3:6-14

Denomination: Catholic

Advent Comfort

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Nov 16, 2017

God has forgiven their sins and has reclaimed them as His own people. What good news that was for them and what good news for all those who seek to be God’s today.

Advent2B A story came across my desk recently about a man who worked for the Post Office. This man’s job was to process all the mail that had illegible addresses that that computer scanning system could not decipher. One day, a letter came to his desk addressed in shaky handwriting to God. He ...read more

Scripture: Mark 1:1-8, Isaiah 40:1-5

Denomination: Catholic

Three More Fish Stories

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Apr 13, 2019

Third Sunday after Easter, Year C

Easter 3C Three more Fish Stories 1. "Children, have you caught anything to eat?" They answered him, "No." John 21:5 1: Open fridge, nothing to eat. 2: Open cupboard, nothing to eat. 3: Lower standards and repeat. The meaning of catching no fish is that they have saved ...read more

Scripture: John 21:1-19

Denomination: Catholic

Jueves Santo Y Viernes Santo

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Apr 13, 2019

Ano C

Jueves Santo Cierta jovencita vivía en Mexico ayudando a sus padres. Mañana, mediodía y noche sacaba su bolsita de te de una lata que tenía la foto del ‘Cerro Verde’. Después de la muerte de sus padres, decidió viajar en autobus a Centro América y de pronto, ...read more

Scripture: John 13:1-15

Denomination: Catholic

Three Shepherd Stories: Good Shepherd Sunday

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Apr 17, 2019

Mother’s Day and Good Shepherd Sunday, Cycle C

Mother’s Day and Good Shepherd Sunday One man tells about working at a club on the weekend of the biggest motorcycle gathering of the year. When the roaring machines pulled up outside, the patrons of the club turned their eyes toward the door and the conversation turned into an uneasy ...read more

Scripture: John 10:27-30, Acts 13:43-52

Denomination: Catholic

If Then Else: Conditional Blessings

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Apr 26, 2019

Sixth Sunday of Easter—Year C

There are some conditional blessings that God wants to give us that are like computer programing languages that have code that states: If–then (–else) which means “IF” YOU DO THIS “THEN” THIS WILL FOLLOW OR ELSE THIS HAPPENS. This helps us not to put everything on God and make him responsible for ...read more

Scripture: John 14:23-29

Denomination: Catholic

The Ascension Of Jesus

Contributed by Paul Andrew on May 1, 2019

Let go to go

The Ascension marks the beginning of a new phase in Christ’s relationship to humanity, kind of a "spiritual presence of the absence“ for baptized believers. After all, “Christianity was founded upon the loss of a body,” writes the Jesuit historian Michel de Certeau, what he calls “an ...read more

Scripture: Luke 24:46-53

Denomination: Catholic

"Check The Fruits, Fix The Roots” --8th Sunday In Ordinary Time

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Feb 4, 2019

Our First Reading relates the steady application of three processes over time to create a separation or distinction based on intrinsic properties of quality: faults revealed when one speaks, santification, and discernment

Sirach, chapter 27, from our First Reading, relates the steady application of three processes over time to create a separation or distinction based on intrinsic properties of quality: 1). The first is the image of shaking a mesh strainer to reveal the husks from the kernel which is similar to ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:39-45

Denomination: Catholic