Fr. Neil Pfeifer

About Fr. Neil Pfeifer

Podcast by Fr. Neil Pfeifer

Publisher

NJPfeifer

Category

religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

2 May 2021

Latest episode

8 Jan 2023

Latest episodes

90 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   8 Jan 2023

   A Lesson From the Wise...

   Wise People Still Seek Him. Epiphany (with a capital E) is celebrated twelve days after Christmas. We rejoice that Jesus came for the benefit of ALL humanity. The Magi represent the people of the world who believe that Jesus is The Messiah. Anyone who seeks Him and has faith in Him will not be sent away. Epiphany (with a lower case e) is a sudden revelation or breakthrough, usually initiated by an ordinary incident. An epiphany is sometimes called the “Aha!” moment. Many television crime-solvers have epiphanies. By seeing an overdue library book, for instance, they are suddenly able to explain who committed the crime, how, and why. In a real life example, Helen Keller had an epiphany when Anne Sullivan and a water pump led her to the connection between objects and their names. So when did you have your epiphany that Jesus came for you? When did you first understand, not with your head but with your heart, that He gave His life for you? Or are you still waiting for the “Oh, I get it now” moment? Don’t wait any longer. Use Epiphany to kickstart your journey to the Lord. Spoiler alert: seek and you shall find. Once you have your epiphany, offer yourself as a gift to the Lord each and every day -in thankfulness, in supplication, in repentance, and in joy.

2. 

   1 Jan 2023

   Goals Through the Lords Eyes

   Mary, Mother of our Family We learn a lot from our parents, and for many of us our mother plays a critical role in making us the people we become. For young children, a mother is literally a source of life. Moms teach first words, catch us when we fall, and maybe even teach us how to pray. Moms are a gift for us, and while some of us may have a strained relationship with our mother, or perhaps no relationship at all, we know that (in the ideal setting) the relationship between a mother and child is, in many ways, sacred. Jesus had a mother that was specifically chosen for Him, and like any mother she taught Jesus how to walk, talk, and even pray. Mary was there for the big moments of Jesus’ life — including His death and resurrection. From the very beginning, Mary knew that she was carrying the promised messiah — a savior for humanity — but she didn’t know the full picture. She knew Jesus was destined for great things and would save us, but how or when were beyond Mary. Remember, Mary was human and while she was the Mother of God (a title we celebrate on this solemnity) that doesn’t mean she had superhuman powers or could see the future. Mary was a normal mother with some very extraordinary experiences. In the Gospel, we read and hear that shepherds came to honor Jesus, a child they had no other connection to, and they glorified and praised God when they saw Him. Can you imagine being present hours after a new child is born and suddenly the hospital room is crowded with strange people who start singing? Many mothers (especially new mothers) would justifiably be freaked out. Instead Mary “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). There is a secret to discipleship in that single line. Mary is the Mother of God. She bears the messiah in her womb, gives birth to Him, raises Him, watches His ministry, and is even present at His death. She is a witness to His resurrection. But all the moments leading up to that, Mary didn’t know what might happen next. Instead she trusted God and reflected on the work that God was doing in each moment. We can easily get caught up in “what comes next” in our lives and miss what God is doing right now. Instead of trying to tell the future or look ahead, we could find much more peace and joy if we adopted a heart like Mary — a heart that “keeps all these things” — trusting that God knows the journey and will lead us to where we need to be.

3. 

   26 Dec 2022

   Celebrate Wherever You Are

   The Prince of Peace Wants It To Happen Again During the height of the Second World War there was a prisoner-of-war camp near the town of Warrington, England. Like all English towns during the war years, Warrington was blacked out at night to avert possible German air attacks. When Christmas approached, no colored lights lit up windows and trees. And so, as the Catholics of Warrington trudged through the streets to Midnight Mass, no Christmas lights lit their way. By 11:30 the church was filled except for the front three rows on each side. Promptly at 11:50 a group of German and Italian prisoners filed into the church, flanked by armed guards, and filled the empty rows. At 11:55 Fr. Rochford, the parish priest, appeared and announced to the congregation that he had bad news. The Mass would have to be celebrated without music. The parish’s only organist had taken ill. A groan rose up from the congregation. At this point a German prisoner turned to a guard and said something. The guard went up and spoke to Fr. Rochford. The priest nodded his head in agreement. Then the prisoner went over to the organ and sat down. Slowly and reverently he began to play in a way that brought tears to the eyes of everyone in the church. That night, despite the darkened streets and windows, the spirit of Christmas lit up the town of Warrington in a way that people would never forget. That night in Warrington, people—friends and enemies—saw each other as God intended them to be: one family. That night in Warrington, the words of the prophet Isaiah, which we have heard during this Advent season, came alive for the people of Warrington: “The wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest.” That night, the Prince of Peace came to the people of Warrington. We enjoy stories of enemies becoming friends, particularly when, as in the case of Warrington, many years have passed and have dimmed the pain and tragedy of war, and the enemies of that conflict have been our friends and allies ever since. But when we are in the midst of war, as our Nation is now, when the enemies are still enemies, when we are “at war” with members of our families, our colleagues or neighbors, then stories like that of Warrington seem like fairy tales: simplistic, saccharine, and devoid of reality. But that’s why we need stories like that of Warrington: to remind us that the Prince of Peace who rested in that town so many years ago, is the same Prince of Peace that comes to us on Christmas night. If He could bring together in peace enemies literally at war with one another, can He not come again this Christmas and let His peace rest upon us? Upon the world now in armed conflict in Russia and Ukraine, with terrorist attacks unleashing death, fear and mistrust in the US? Upon our families, our friends, colleagues and neighbors? Upon all the grudges, bad memories, mistrust and hurt that lies so near the surface in so many of our relationships? When we call Jesus, the Prince of Peace, it is not so much a title of who He is, as it is a description of what He does, not just in the past, not just in Warrington, but also in Jamestown, Windsor, and Buchanan, and in you and me. May the Prince of Peace reign in our hearts this Christmas.

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Apple Podcasts (US)

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1 ratings

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