Christmas in New Guinea

Christmas - "Why did God choose Shepherds and what can we learn from Peanuts and hidden tribes in Papua New Guinea?"

Jesus Coming and Our Response

First Sunday of Advent - "What is Advent and what does it teach us? How can we better prepare for the coming of the Lord?"

Suffering and Glory

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - "What does it mean to be a suffering yet blessed disciple? What can we learn from the lives of Jesus and the saints?"

Love, Love, Love...

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time - "What does it mean when Jesus tells us to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength? More than you think."

Confidently to the Throne

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time - "Hebrews tells us to come confidently to the throne of Jesus for mercy and grace. Why would we want to do that and how?"

Marriage and Natural Law

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time - "Natural Law helps us to understand what Jesus was getting at when he answered the Pharisees' question about marriage and divorce. What does the fuller message of Jesus' response tell us?"

Who Is the Real Jesus and Church?

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time - "Lessons from 9-11 and scandals. Who is the real Jesus and what is the real Church? It is in knowing Jesus by how he reveals himself to us. Then it is in his presence and action in the world. We as his disciples are called to know this and do what he asks."

Opening Ourselves to Christ and His People

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - "Opening ourselves to God so we can receive his Word and Life. Avoiding partiality. Don't buy into the sell job by the media, politics, or educational institutions who claim we are enemies with other people."

The Assumption and Us

Feast of the Assumption - "What is the Assumption and why does that matter to us?"

The Bread of Life

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time - "Jesus as the Bread of Life makes himself accessible to us if we see him with the eyes of faith."

Four Stages of Discipleship

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time - "Discipleship is spelled out by being excited about what God is doing, counting the cost, resting in Christ, and stepping out when we see need."

Where Prophets are Found

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time - "What makes a prophet different than a politician? what does a prophet do and why should we be prophets?"

Is the Eucharist Really Jesus?

Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ - "What is the Eucharist and why do we believe it to be Jesus?"

Connected in Christ

Fifth Sunday of Easter - "The Vine and Branches speak about how we are best connected with God and with one another. Our culture is saying something different, but who's right?"

Knowing the Shepherd

Fourth Sunday of Easter - "Jesus the Good Shepherd knows us and he says we know him. How do we know him?"

Why Did Jesus Rise?

Third Sunday of Easter - "It's pretty clear why Jesus had to rise from the dead. The answer lies with a combination of forgiveness of sin and newness of life. Are we willing to take him up on the invitation? If so, how do we do it?"

Not So Doubting Thomas

Second Sunday of Easter - "The story of Thomas and how we can learn from him to work through doubts and return to the table of the Eucharist."

The Effect of the Resurrection

Easter Sunday - "The effect of the resurrection in history and in the lives of believers."

The Bronze Serpent and Jesus

4th Sunday in Lent - "What is the significance of the bronze serpent and why does Jesus use that image?"

How the Commandments Work

3rd Sunday in Lent - "The Commandments and the 1st and 5th in particular."

Turning to the Lord

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time - "Turning to God in all times is a hallmark of Christian discipleship. Maturing in our faith is also a part of that process."

Baptism of the Lord

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord - "What is baptism? Why did Jesus become baptized? What can we do in response to our baptism?"

Christmas 2020

Christmas Sunday - "How is it that the humility of God is the great sign that speaks loudly and gives light? What did the incarnation do and who is Jesus, really?"

What Dives Tells Us About Lazarus

The 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time. "Why does the rich man have no name? What is our response to poverty and why does it matter?"

The Prodigal Son

The 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time. "What the parable of the Prodigal Son teaches us about life and life in God."

Christian Correction

23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time - "What do we do when we've been wronged? How can we respond in a Christlike manner?"

Authority and the Keys

21st Sunday of Ordinary Time - "The difference between hypothetical and personal responses. What the keys mean and why that matters to us today."

Obstacles and Sowing

15th Sunday of Ordinary Time - "What are the obstacles that keep God and his Gospel away from us, and how can we be better at removing those obstacles for our sake and the sake of others?"

Billboards and Life

12th Sunday of Ordinary Time - "How Jesus' teachings give us a way to live that is not only counter to the culture but the better way to live for many reasons. We don't need to live in fear of anything in this world because our God is a God of justice and love."

The Eucharist and Life

Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ - "When Jesus is with us we thrive. When he is far from us we starve. How do we experience life in the kingdom vs. life in the world?"

Patton and Testimony

"Who is Mary? What does the Bible say about her and what does the Church teach? What about apparitions and the theology of why she matters? This is a brief talk that touches upon those and other matters. It isn't an exhaustive teaching, but one that might be helpful as we prepare with her this Advent for the coming of Jesus."

The Dishonest Steward

The 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time. "What is Jesus getting at with this strange seeming parable? How can we apply its principles, especially with evangelization and stewardship?"

Marriage - God's Intention and the Impossible Ideal

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time. "What did Jesus teach about marriage and why? How does his teaching help us to strive toward his intention in our creation and how do we do that?"

Sodom and Gomorrah

The 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time. "Sodom and Gomorrah are symbolic of idolatry and a people giving themselves over to every kind of sin. How do we understand sin and how do we respond to it as Christians?"

Special Teaching - Immigration

Immigration is a hot issue today. In this special teaching, Fr. Mike explores the Bible, Church Teaching, Pope Francis, and some practical responses.

How Do We Pray?

"How do we pray? A small book by Fr. Thomas Greene gives us some good insights"

The Good Shepherd

4th Sunday of Easter. "Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He comes from a long line of shepherds in the Old Testament but he is God so he can fully accomplish what a Good Shepherd must. We also are commissioned to shepherd others.."

Is the Resurrection Believable?

Is the Resurrection Believable? "Is there evidence for our belief in the Resurrection? Is it reasonable to believe in the Resurrection? What evidence is there?"

Why Does God Allow Tragedy?

Third Sunday of Ordinary Time "Why did God allow the tragedy in Haiti to happen? Was it because he doesn't exist or isn't good? Is it punishment for sin? Or is there a greater reason? Also check out Fr. Mike's Blog on frmikewalker.com for more on this topic."

Lenten Mission - Answering the Skeptic

This week and for the next three weeks we have a parish mission The mission is partly based on the book "The Case for Jesus" written by Brant Pitre as well as Fr. Mike's own research and commentary. It is focused on giving reasonable explanations to the skeptic who might also have a bias against Christianity. How can we know and explain who Jesus was and is? How do we know that our information is accurate? Can we reasonably have confidence in what Jesus said and did? Did Jesus really claim to be God? These and other questions will be discussed."