Do whatever He tells you! (Jn 2:5)

The kingdom of heaven belongs to Annie the little Tiger

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 23:03:11 +0000

Homily

Funeral Mass for Annie Koester

31 July 2026

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village, KS

AMDG

The kingdom of heaven belongs to Annie the little Tiger.

In 2012 I was recruiting priests for the Archdiocese as vocation director. I knew of 6'8" kid at St. James Academy who was a 5 star basketball recruit. He was the tallest altar server I ever knew. He served at Mass regularly, just like Annie, though he was a giant compared to her. Connor died at age 17 before he could become a priest or a national champion for KU! Everyone was so devastated. Nobody understood why this had to happen. The KC Star wrote an article saying this remarkable young man with so much potential had lost his battle with cancer. I reposted the story, wanting to share the news of this incredible young man who just wanted to glorify God with his life. I got ripped by his classmates for reposting that article. His classmates were so upset that someone said that Connor had lost his battle, and was lost. In the comments they reminded me instead that his cancer was his cross, and that the cross of Jesus is never where life ends, it's where life truly begins. The cross is never where we lose; it's only where with Jesus we win.

Mark and Katie, you told me that Caroline was the first one to remind you that we have to forgive whoever did this to your family and your dear Annie. Caroline is right. There is something greater than the tragedy that has beaten you all up in every way so badly. Forgiveness is a power greater than evil and death. If anger or despair are the only things that result from Annie's death, evil wins another victory it never deserved. It's when Jesus had no reason to forgive that he said from his tragedy, his passion - Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.

So many of us prayed as you did for a miracle, for Annie's life in this world to be spared. For reasons we will never know, it wasn't meant to be. Katie you asked if we will ever know why this happened. We won't. That answer is hidden from us on this side of heaven. We are all devastated that this nightmare is your reality. We love you so much, and we will miss Annie so much, but not like you will. If we could bring her back, we all would.. We will be forever sorry and heartbroken for your loss of a little one so dear, so full of life and spunk and potential. It's not fair, and it shouldn't have happened. We all feel so guilty and heartbroken and helpless. These feelings are our honest prayer to God for consolation.

Today we are simply with you in this mysterious space that was experienced by Jesus in his passion. Surrendering to the way things are, while living in hope that the kingdom of heaven is built by those whose lives are conformed to Jesus' mysterious cross. This mysterious passion is at the heart of our faith. The heart of Jesus, bleeding and burning, and the heart of Mary, purified and pierced by suffering, remind us that only as we suffer and die together, do we live together. It's precisely in experiencing the evil of pain and loss that truth and goodness and love shine ever more brightly. In this mystery, the worst of times become the best of times. In this mystery, our tears of sadness become tears of joy. In this mystery, the moment of greatest loss is also the moment of greatest triumph.

As Jesus teaches in the Gospel, when His passion touches little ones the kingdom of heaven shines ever more brightly. It is in the light of this tragic loss that the spunk, curiosity, faithfulness and tenacity of little Annie the Tiger shines ever more brightly.

Annie reminds me so much of Therese of Lisieux, one of the famous little girls of our faith. Therese suffered so many things but that made her heart ever more tenacious. She had a heart that yearned for victory like Annie's, a heart that was spunky and curious and tenacious. Therese wanted to be the greatest saint that ever lived. Already as a young girl, she wanted to be a red rubber ball that Jesus threw around with reckless abandon. She wanted to delight Jesus with her spunk and curiosity and devotion and tenacity. Her little way, doing little things with great devotion, made her a great teacher of the faith, and earned her the nickname the the flower. Taken to heaven as a young girl, she spends her heaven doing good on earth.

With Therese the little flower it is Annie's destiny. This saddest day imaginable for Annie, as we grieve the loss of so much, is also her day of greatest victory and triumph, when her spunk, curiosity, devotion and tenacity shine more brightly in death than even in life. Annie is forever our little Tiger. On this day that our grief says life will never be as good without her, we say mysteriously as well that we are all happier and closer to heaven because of her.

Through the intercession of Annie the little Tiger, let's honor her beautiful life by building the kingdom of heaven as only children like Annie can, through our spunk and curiosity, and devotion and tenacity. Annie our little Tiger teaches us the way to build the kingdom of heaven. She played her part perfectly, and it will not be taken from her. Amen. Alleluia!

+mj

What do I want?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 17:07:21 +0000

Homily

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time A2

26 July 2026

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village, KS

AMDG

What do I want?

Add this to the list of terrifying questions. I've preached on them quite a bit. Father, how are you? Father, how can I help you? Father, what are you afraid of?

They're all terrifying if you don't know the answer. Add today's pivotal question to the list. What do I want? Does anybody really know the answer to this question? If not, add it to the list of terrifying questions that we would rather avoid than answer.

What do I want?

Why is this such a pivotal question for people of faith? Because God asks it constantly. It's the question asked of Solomon in a dream in today's first reading. What do you want? It's the question Jesus first asks his disciples in the Gospel of John - what are you looking for? Jesus tells his disciples over and over and over - ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you!

The problem is that I don't know what I want! The question is terrifying because if God is good and wants to give us good things, it's a question we can't afford to get wrong. What if I ask for the wrong thing? What if I ask for nothing compared to the everything God wants to give me?

What do I want? I want to be left alone and not asked this question! That's what I want!

In light of the Koester family's accident this week, a lot of us would ask for more protection. It's a dangerous world out there, fraught with all kinds of evils. Many of us would pray for safety. It's not a bad prayer, yet we also know it's not ultimate. Jesus embraced the worst evil happening to the most innocent person. The cross teaches us there is something greater to ask for than preservation of our bodies.

Many of us would ask for more comfort, for life to get easier. Yet we know this isn't right either. The hardest tough somehow becomes the best stuff, the most pivotal and transformative parts of our story. We are not made for comfort, but greatness.

The saints knew what to ask for.

Mother Teresa asked to thirst to hear the cries of the poor.

Thomas Aquinas asked not for intellectual gifts but only Jesus Himself

Solomon asked for an understanding heart.

The Blessed Mother asked for God's will processed through a pure and pierced heart.

St. Paul asks for the theological virtues - faith, hope and love.

John of the Cross asked for suffering.

John Paul II asked to totally belong to Mary.

The list goes on and on and on. Every saint could answer this question. If I'm not a saint yet, I still don't know and the question terrifies me. The parables of Jesus teach us that we get to will and choose and desire only one thing, and that is what we will receive. It's too much pressure! And yet it's a choice we are born to make, a risk of faith that is salvific for those who make it. It's the heart and most pivotal and dramatic moment of our story. Our answer to the question - what do I want?

Jesus taught us to pray the 7 petitions of the Our Father, and told us that the Father will give the Holy Spirit to whomever asks. In the Holy Spirit, we get 7 gifts in one - wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, courage, fear and awe.

In the Holy Spirit we get everything, and to ask for anything else or less is nothing.

I desire the will of God which is to have the Holy Spirit dwell richly in me. The will of God is to give the Holy Spirit so that I will always know what to ask for.

What do I want?

+mj

What's the best kind of prayer?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 12:43:04 +0000

Homily

16th Sunday of Ordinary Time A2

19 July 2026

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village

AMDG

What's the best prayer you have ever said?

The ultimate prayer we offer is the sacrifice of the Mass. It is the obedience to worship God the way in which He wants to be worshipped. The command is clear. Do this in memory of me. Do this. There's nothing greater than offering the sacrifice of yourself through, with and in Jesus Christ, the sacrifice that is infinitely pleasing to God, that unleashes the transformative power of the greatest love that has conquered all things. There is nothing more powerful than the Mass. It's ultimate. It's the greatest prayer.

Yet is it the best?

We know the Our Father to have been given as the perfect prayer. It's 7 perfect petitions, 3 for God and 4 for us, complete Jesus' response when asked to teach His disciples how to pray. It's hard to beat the Our Father. It's perfect. Yet is it the best?

Thursday over 500 people gathered here for the rosary. It's an incomparably beautiful prayer. We prayed for the Koester family, especially for our 5th grader Annie Koester, who is in grave danger due to injuries suffered unjustly in a car accident Wednesday morning east of St. Louis. Everyone felt so devastated and helpless. So we prayed the mysteries of our faith, by which God brings the greatest good out of the most tragic circumstances, through the heart of our Blessed Mother, who gave birth to J

Didn't you sow good seed in your field?

rest of homily incomplete

Am I boring?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 17:00:14 +0000

Homily

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time A2

12 July 2026

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village, KS

AMDG

Have I let myself becoming boring?

This is always the question I ask myself when hearing the parable of the sower. Parables are exciting. Mysteries are confounding. The ways of God are surprising. There is no adventure that compares to growing in the likeness of God, being driven with great compunction by the Holy Spirit that wants to dwell richly in you, and to participate with all your heart in the redemption mission of the Lord, the ultimate victory of life over death.

It's scary exciting. That's why I shy away from it. There are many things more comfortable, and less scary than the pursuit of holiness. There are many things cheaper and easier. There's nothing better.

Jesus speaks in parables because He wants those who think they get it to not get it, and those who think they don't get it to get it. The mysteries of God are inexhaustible. They cut to the heart, revealing the presence of God and the real meaning of life. They are no surface level, but for those who want to go deep so they can go high in the great adventure of glorifying God.

The only way to grow rich in these mysteries is to study and pray and worship. Those who do these things will grow rich. Those who don't will have stolen what they only superficially possess.

The whole point of life is to approach the mystery of God with childlike awe. It's to realize that you could just be dust, but through the Spirit of God breathing and nourishing the life of God in you, you are not a mere mortal. You are meant to pursue the glory of God.

It's to recognize the Word of God as Jesus Himself, who planted Himself in the ground in humiliating love, to reveal the ultimate source of life, a life that He nourishes not only in word but in sacrament, nourishing your two-fold unity as soul and body!

Parables are mysteries, showing when we have traded the glory of God for boring things that can bring life, be it our complicity with sin, or our fear of anything deeper than the superficiality of our temptations and distractions.

We're not supposed to get them. If we think we do, we are boring. If we don't, the great adventure which is God Himself lies open before us!

+mj

How dominant am I?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 18:17:26 +0000

Homily

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time A2

5 July 2026

Independence Day weekend 250 years!

St. Ann Church - Prairie Village, KS

AMDG

How dominant am I?

The word dominant comes from Dominus - the term used for kings and lords in antiquity. The be dominant is to have power. To be dominus is to have supreme power. How much power do I have? How dominant am I?

For 250 years now, the United States has been kicking ass so to speak! We are undefeated, never having been vanquished or occupied. That's quite a winning streak of kicking ass. The fireworks shows should be bigger than ever, a sign of our firepower as the most dominant and powerful nation on earth. Happy 250 years USA! What an incredible run and an incredible experiment these United States are. A government of, by and for the people it governs. No people in history have enjoyed the liberty and prosperity Americans enjoy, no matter whether you like the current politics or not. No matter how you slice it, we are the most blessed people of all time.

Does being a citizen of the most powerful country that is by and for the people make me dominant? What makes someone dominant? We should take our clue from the ultimate Dominus Himself, the most powerful person ever to cross the face of the earth, our Lord and King Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ has a different way of kicking ass. He rides on an ass, making an ass his chariot, a cross his throne and taking thorns as his crown. This is what domination really looks like. Having ultimate power, and using it to give life instead of take it, to serve rather than to use. Whoever wishes to be dominant among you will be the be last of all and servant of all. That is true domination.

Even if the most powerful country on earth, our heroes are not the killers but those killed. No one has greater power than this, than to lay down one's life for one's friends. That's domination. Nobody is truly free unless he has overcome the fear of death. That's domination. Jesus is pre-eminent in this. He has power to lay down his life and take it up again. This is ultimate freedom, not merely freedom from tyranny nor the freedom of choice. It's the freedom to love to the end, to glorify God by choosing to sacrifice for one another in the same manner that He has first loved us.

That's why Catholicism is the ultimate and dominant religion, and why it is meant to flourish in these United States more than anywhere. Under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception, we have a chance to live our faith anew on this land. A religion is a shared rule of life, in common pursuit of a highest good which is God Himself. Catholic worship is based in sacrifice, a making things holy by giving life instead of taking it. It is the building up of a Kingdom that attain peace not through war, but by mercy. Its ministers participate in the sacrifice of the King who established an eternal and universal kingdom from sea to shining sea by taking a donkey as His chariot, thorns as His crown and the cross as His throne. That's domination.

The dynamite of this true Lord is how to win the ultimate victory over evil without a shot being fired. Nobody else has found a way to do it.

Our great country exists to preserve the freedom of religion, the right according to one's conscience to pursue the ultimate and common good which is God Himself. The best and ultimate use of one's freedom is to glorify God alone, and to be dominant just how Jesus Christ the Lord is.

Freedom from the yoke of tyranny is meant to embolden the freedom to easily lay down one's life according to one's conviction. Let's use our freedom in awe and wonder and in courageous pursuit of what it truly means to be dominant!

+mj

What is ultimate in your life?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 13:45:31 +0000

Homily

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time A2

28 June 2026

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village, KS

AMDG

What is ultimate in your life? We can only answer this question if Jesus Christ, who reveals you fully to yourself, says something provocative and exclusive.

Jesus easily answers this question. It's hard and complicated for the rest of us. It's a question I ask couples on the brink of marriage. I ask it like this. What is the key to a fruitful marriage? Some get it, some don't. A lot of them say communication. A lot of them saying letting nothing get between them. A few of them say going to Mass, which is the source and destiny of their married love.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is always absolute. It never panders to any interest. It is clear. There is only one proper end to man, made in the image of God. It's to love God with all your heart, mind and strength. It is to glorify God by loving His will above and in all things. It is to die to self in order to love God for His own sake, which is the very definition of love.

When I interview people for funerals, I ask the remaining family what they learned from the deceased. What was ultimate in their life? Occasionally I get love of God's will, but not that often honestly. I usually get family as the ultimate meaning, and what a person lived and died for. Yet today's Gospel will not accept that as a final answer. The best way to love your family, if we are truly listening to Jesus, is to love God and His holy will alone. Only then will you be free to love your family. Many of us say that our family is our world. Of course we mean that they are very dear to us. But to love them in front of or in place of God is idolatry, and it will crush them to make them our ultimate concern.

What do I want St. Ann's to be known for? It would be easy for me to say community. We are relational beings, called into communion by God here at St. Ann. I want St. Ann to be a place where everyone wants to know everyone! I want us to be known as the very best place to show up and do life together. Even this according to the Gospel would be idolatry.

St. Ann's can only fulfill it's purpose if each and every person loves God and worships Him as He deserves and has asked to be worshipped. By making Mass the heart of my week, and my participation in the sacrifice of Christ and the mystery of His cross as first and ultimate in my life.

What is ultimate in my life? The Gospel only admits of one answer, if we're being honest. The Lord God is God alone. Him alone shall you serve. This is not a master commanding a slave. It's a savior inviting a friend to embrace the cross, where true love that endures and conquers all things is made perfect. It's from the cross that Jesus gives the new and ultimate commandment. Love one another just as I have first loved you.

In a few weeks I'll make my annual retreat. I'll have a room with minimal furnishings, just like Elisha had on the roof of a Shunamite woman. My spiritual director will ask if I have everything I need. I'll reluctantly say yes, and nothing more. But it needs to be this way. If I'm going to have any chance to focus on the ultimate question while being detached from any idols or replacements.

What is ultimate in my life? It's to love God alone exclusively with all my heart, and to love His will in all things. Nothing less brings with it the gift of eternal life.

+mj

What's the most dangerous thing I do?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 20:29:47 +0000

Homily

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

21 June 2026

St. Ann Catholic Church Prairie Village, KS

AMDG

What's the most dangerous thing I do?

I admitted a few weeks ago that I am afraid of heights. No bungee or cliff jumping for me. Definitely no sky diving or taking a trip to outer space. Verticality is not my strong suit. And that's the problem. Anyone playing it safe has already lost. We are meant more for vertical living, not necessarily physically through sky scrapers, but spiritually through our sense of adventure, our exploring with courage our capacity to glorify God by fulfilling our vocation to love.

As is clear from today's Gospel, Jesus believes you are the most courageous person in the world. Three times in a few verses He tells you his missionary disciple not to be afraid. It's the heartbeat of the Gospel. They are the first words of the most courageous person I have ever met, John Paul II. Do not be afraid.

If you're paying attention here at St. Ann, the most dangerous thing we do together is go to Mass. Many of you remember the decision a year and a half ago to have armed security in our school building. Those security measures extend into the celebration of Mass. Why did we do that? It was an admission that going to Mass, especially with our children, is the most dangerous and courageous thing we do. We are always working on security, so that St. Ann is the safest place or the family of God to gather. Yet going to Church is never playing it safe, at least it shouldn't be.

First of all, there is an evil one trying to kill the life of God in you. Jesus says be afraid of that person, and no one else besides God. One tactic of the evil one is to scare you out of going to Mass, where you feed and strengthen the very life of God in you. Evil knows where to strike, precisely at the point of our deepest commitment to explore a love stronger than death, with our children. If evil makes us scared to worship, it has won.

Yet an even better tactic is to make us comfortable going to Mass, to make you think going to Mass isn't dangerous. Whenever we are comfortable, we stop pursuing a love strong as death. When comfortable, we don't put our life on the line through the sacrifice of Jesus, we stop choosing to fear the Lord for love of His holy will. We just sit on the sidelines, complacent and distracted. Or out of complacency we don't show up at all.

Jesus knows we all need resistance training to grow in courage. Blessed are you when they insult and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. In order to be the most courageous people in the world, we can't hide our faith. It should be clearly evident in my life and yours that we know a love stronger than death, and would die in an instant for what we believe. Acknowledging this through a worthy participation in the Mass is the most courageous and dangerous thing we do.

Dads too are meant to do dangerous things. Dads have an irreplaceable role in leading a family courageously to overcome those evils that threaten to discourage us. Dads have a role in teaching a family to live vertically. Everyone should know what Dad lives and dies for, and where He is going to show up with courage. If a dad doesn't show up with courage, there is no substitute.

That includes at Mass, the most dangerous place we can be. The biggest predictor of Mass attendance is whether dad shows up. The other is whether it's easy or hard to go to Mass. Whenever it's easy, nobody goes. Whenever it's hard, even in danger of death, the place is packed. Do you know why that is?

This doesn't meant that we should be reckless, nor that we shouldn't take every precaution to make our Masses safe, and to defend against and deter evil. But Mass can never be complacent or comfortable. Mass is never less than a place to put your life on the line, to live the vertical dimension of your life through worship, and to participate from the heart in the exploration of a love stronger than death.

If Mass isn't the most dangerous thing I do, I'm not doing Mass right.

If not Mass, what is the most dangerous thing you do?

+mj

How's your royal priesthood going?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 13:44:14 +0000

Homily

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time A2

14 June 2026

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village

AMDG

How's your royal priesthood going?

I've told you many times one of the most terrorizing questions is this - Father, how are you? A close second is this - Father, how can I help you? It can be so threatening to receive the care and help of others. So many of you worry about my burning out. You ask about my time away, and my vacations. You ask me all the time when I'm going to get more priestly help. You ask me how I'm holding up in the midst of scandal.

The sheep care deeply about the welfare of the shepherd. I thank you for that.

What do I need mostly from you though? How can you help? I need you to exercise your priesthood! What are you talking about? I am not a priest! But oh my would you be so wrong! You are a priest. By virtue of your baptism, you are a member of Christ who is priest, prophet and king. The promise first made to Israel through Moses, that you would be a chosen people, a kingdom of priests, has fallen to you through Christ.

So I need to flip the terrorizing question back to you! How's your priesthood going? My priesthood serves yours. The best way you can help me is to fulfill your priesthood.

That's not all. You are also royalty. Last weekend I baptized the only grandson of a very royal family, the grandson of a Royals Hall of Famer. Maybe some of you saw it. It was glorious and a dream come true. I've been a Royals fan since I was 7 years old. Never would I have dreamt I would baptize the grandson of the bluest of blue Royal.

Here in Kansas City we should know more than anyone what it means to be Royal. It goes deeper than fandom in our baseball team. You are a royal nation, and a kingdom of priests. Your deepest identity is your royal priesthood, sealed, deepened and strengthened by the anointing with chrism at your baptism and confirmation.

I hope this new royal grandson is a future Hall of Famer. Yet I know even moreso that you share in the same destiny, to be a royal and holy priest in the ultimate Hall of Fame, the communion of saints in the Kingdom of Heaven.

It's why we are going to improve our church here at St. Ann. It's why we must. There can be no question when you drive by St. Ann or come into the royal temple of God, that your deepest identity and mission is to be a royal priest. Until we leave no doubt of this, our mission remains unfinished.

What do royal priests do? Look at what Jesus says in the Gospel! They pray for shepherd kings like David and the promised Son of David with hearts that move. They fight against evil so that people can experience healing and fullness and newness of life. They let themselves be called by name into God's lineup to win eternal victories for the glory of God and the building up of the kingdom of heaven.

That's your royal priesthood. Be ready the next time you ask me how my priesthood is going, for me to fire the terrorizing question right back at you.

How's your royal priesthood going?

+mj

Do I know my role?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Sat, 23 May 2026 18:30:19 +0000

Homily

Solemnity of Pentecost

24 May 2026

St. Ann Catholic Church in Prairie Village, KS

AMDG

Do I know my role?

It's been three years since Travis Kelce screamed into a microphone - shut your mouth and know your role, you jabroni! I didn't know what a jabroni is, cause I'm not a WWE wrestling fan. I guess a jabroni is a fool, one who talks but can't back it up. In the drama of wrestling, it's always the villain who shows bravado but is overcome by the hero. Kelce directed it toward the Cincinnati mayor, who had nicknamed our stadium 'Burrowhead' and hinted that Patrick Mahomes should call Joe Burrow his 'daddy.' The Chiefs got the narrow win, and went on to win the Super Bowl.

Do I know my role?

We all know that love is more than words, more than feelings. Love is action. Today the Church celebrates the windy and fiery action of the Holy Spirit, the love at the heart of God and all reality, bringing the Church to birth and launching Her mission with power! Pentecost is ultimate - the culmination of our 50 days of celebrating a love stronger than death, a love that has been poured into your heart and mine. A love that obligates us to know our role, and

The power that conquers the evil of the world is not a technological, or economic, or military, or political power. It is the power of the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. It is a power that has been entrusted to you, made His dwelling with you, and that burns within you until you accomplish your purpose.

Do I know my role?

As the Father has sent me, so I send you. Out of everything that Jesus ever did or said, this one bothers me the most. The salvation of the world depended upon Jesus knowing His role, and accomplishing His purpose. Now it depends on me. Now it depends on you. What was Jesus thinking?

He wanted to show how much He believes in you, by assigning you a participation in His paschal mystery, a critical part in the ultimate victory over evil and death, that only you can accomplish. He trusts you as much as His Father trusted Him. Try to talk him out of it. He's really bad at taking no for an answer.

So Pentecost is my Christmas and Holy Week. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. The same Spirit that created everything out of nothing, life from non-life, that breathed an immortal soul into every human person ever conceived, who conceived Jesus in the womb of the Immaculate Virgin, who raised Jesus from the dead, and forgives your sins, now dwells in all His fullness in you, so that you can know and accomplish your purpose.

As the Father has sent me, so I send you.

Do I know my role? Will I play my part?

+mj

Am I scared of heights?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Sat, 16 May 2026 15:05:19 +0000

Homily

Solemnity of the Ascension

17 May 2026

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village

AMDG

Am I scared of heights?

You bet I am. It's probably my #1 fear. Most of my nightmares end with me falling! Thank God I sleep alone, so no one else hears my screaming! Airplanes are fine. Hiking 14ers is ok - unless there are ledges and high winds. But cliffs? Hate 'em. Bungee jumping - negative! Skydiving? No way in hell. Rock Climbing - no thanks. I watched Alex Honnold, the famous free solo climber, in preparation for this homily. Are you kidding me? That guy is insane! I'm too chicken even for trampolines. This white man does not dunk.

Am I afraid of heights? It's the pivotal question of the Ascension. You bet I am. Aren't you?

They worshipped on the mountain, but they doubted! Sounds like me. I trust the rule of gravity more than the rule of the Ascension. Everything that goes up, must come down. I worship, raising my heart and soul to God, but then I come down. I doubt. Yet the rule of the Ascension is just the opposite, and it is more true than gravity. What is the rule of the Ascension? Whatever goes down, must go up!

Jesus has completed for us the greatest free fall of all time. From the heights of heaven, crashing down to his own death, descending even to the gates of hell. His ridiculous condescension of mercy to save us in unbelievable. Jesus knows how to take a dive for someone He loves.

Yet today He shows that He's even better at going up . . at climbing. He told us before it happened so that when it happens we would believe. The Son of Man must suffer and die, and then rise and be lifted up! Today Jesus takes everything encompassed in his free fall of mercy - every second of salvation history and ever ounce of his saving mysteries - he takes it all UP in his glorified and redeemed human body to where He started, to the heights of heaven.

Man did you and I make out good on this deal! At the Ascension, my humanity which at first was only an outer glimpse of the glory of God, now has a new home and destiny in the inner heart of God, on the throne of His glorious Kingdom, in the fullness of relationship and love that is greater than anything I could imagine.

Jesus now works from home - but not only his, but from mine. He dares me to follow, to climb, and to ascend in the Holy Spirit to my true home. He who once was happy to descend to where I am now, dares me to climb through His Spirit to where He is.

Mind you, it's not in a galaxy far, far away. Don't stare at the sky, the angel says! Jesus promises He will come to us again in an even more dramatic free fall that is the descent of the Holy Spirit. It is through this power from on high that I will know and observe all His commandments which are victorious over death, until He comes again in glory!

Jesus works from home, but home is not in a galaxy far, far away. Home is right here, in the heart of this liturgy, where earth is taken up into a new dimension in a greater ascent that our first fall from Eden.

In the Ascension, we see how love and life work. For death, what goes up must come down. For love and life, what goes down must go up. Love is not only a condescending compassion and mercy strong as death, love heals, lifts up, inspires, enlivens, ennobles and elevates the beloved. The law of the Resurrection and Ascension is what prevails. Life is stronger than death. What goes down, must by lifted up!

So, am I afraid of heights? I've had the worst Easter if the answer is yes. For today's liturgy dares me to conquer my fears through love and to attempt the most dangerous climb of my life. It's my ascent through the Holy Spirit to the very heart of God, into the fullness of relationship. For the Ascension has more to do with a person than a destination.

This fearless climb marks the life of a real hero, and a real disciple of Jesus. To live less by fear and doubt, that what goes up must come down, and more by the Holy Spirit, who commands the rules of the Resurrection and Ascension to prevail, that what goes down must go up!

The great solemnity of Ascension near the end of Easter dares us to answer the pivotal question. Am I afraid of heights?

Where do I go with my doubts?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 17:03:00 +0000

Homily

2nd Sunday of Easter A2

Divine Mercy Sunday

12 April 2026

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village

AMDG

Where do I go with my doubts?

I had the chance to take some hard-hitting questions from our 7th graders this week. I was impressed with the courage and honesty. They weren't being brats, cleverly doubting their faith just to be cool. They listened as I tried to give real responses to real doubts about God's existence and goodness. There's great hope in these young people. Believe me.

Now a couple of their questions weren't that great. Where did God come from? Do pets get to heaven? Those weren't the best. The better ones centered around whether abortion is ever necessary to save the life of a mother. And why did God make human freedom if he could foresee the abuse, torture and unfair suffering of innocent children?

I told them it was up to them as to whether the reality of human freedom is worth the price of human suffering. Without human freedom there is no drama, no story, no glory, no struggle, no purpose, no victories or defeat, no consequences. There's just the resignation that it is what it is. So most people say the interplay of freedom and suffering is worth it. The ultimate answer is not whether life is fair, but whether Jesus is doing anything about it, and whether He has invited me to play a part.

Jesus welcomed the doubts of Thomas. He welcomes the questions of our 7th graders. He welcomes your fears. He asks you to probe your questions within His glorious wounds, so that you can say whether the love of Christ really does overcome all evils; whether believing in the Resurrection makes any difference.

The early Church entered into a voluntary communism, just like families and monasteries and churches do, so we can explore our doubts together. The first Christians showed up for each other, for the koinonia, the breaking of the bread, the teaching and the prayers, and were overjoyed to explore a love stronger than death together. They put their lives within the wounds and paschal mystery of the Risen Christ, and found encouragement to suffer courageously for their faith.

The decision of you to show up today, the passing of the offertory as a sign of the life we share, and the sacrament of reconciliation that keeps us accountable to our common rule of life, our religion, and of our commitment to put our doubts and fears in the wounds of Christ, in the paschal mystery of our Lord, encouraging one another to grow stronger in that love that is greater than suffering, and that redeems everything it touches.

As the Father has sent me, so I send you. Only you can say whether showing up here is worth it, whether his Divine Mercy endures forever, and whether we all have a part of play in the glorious victory of life over death.

+mj

What does my heart break for?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 17:34:00 +0000

Homily

5th Sunday of Lent A

March 22, 2026

St. Ann Catholic Church Prairie Village, KS

AMDG

Would you rather experience a confession or a resuscitation? Most of us would say the latter. I avoid confession but would love to see a loved one come back from the dead. My mom will have been gone 25 years this March 30th. It still breaks my heart.

I don't really want to hear 1000 confessions this week. It's hell week for priests. Penance services non-stop. It could easily be 1000 confessions by Easter. I'm not complaining. I have the best job in the world. But there's 5000 of you. Hearing 1000 confession would only be 20%.

What would Jesus rather see? A resuscitation or a confession? You know the answer. It's written all over today's Gospel.

It breaks his heart that his friend Lazarus experienced physical death. It breaks his heart 1000x more when I don't use confession.

Physical death is not supposed to be that scary or threatening to faith. But it is, for all of us. Take it from two saints, Mary and Martha, who give voice to my experience of death. Lord, you could have done something. Why do you stay distant is the face of physical death. If you had been here, my mother would not have died. Jesus is the worst first responder in history. When he finds out that his best friend is dead, he freezes. He remained where he was for two days.

But physical death is not threatening to God. He can make something from nothing. He can create from dust. It's nothing for him to resuscitate or resurrect. He was ridiculed for saying the daughter of Jairus and the son of the widow in Nain were merely sleeping. He gets perturbed when people are so fearful of death. He is the resurrection and the life. For him physical death is nothing. He asks the Marys if they trust this. If they believe it.

So why does Jesus weep? Why does he let his heart break? It's to show how devastated He would be if my life ended in spiritual death. It's to show what it will cost Him to forgive my sins. It's because of my stubbornness of heart and slowness to believe that His heart is broken.

Which is to say he weeps when I don't go to confession. Which is the converse of His rejoicing more over one sinner who repents than over 99 people who skip confession. He cries that I try to hold on stubbornly to my bios when He wants only to restore my zoe, the Spirit of God dwelling in me.

As a sign of how much He wants to forgive my sins, He call Lazarus out of the tomb. This sixth and penultimate sign in John's Gospel is about the forgiveness of my sins. Lazarus goes into the confessional stinky dead; he emerges from the tomb alive again in the Holy Spirit.

My heart breaks for what breaks Jesus heart. When you settle for bios when you are meant for zoe.

Which means I'll see you in confession this week. It's not really hell week, but confess to beat hell week.

What does your heart break for? Is it for your friends who have lost their bios or their zoe? Would you rather see a resuscitation or a confession?

+mj

Why do you exist?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Sat, 14 Mar 2026 20:18:00 +0000

Homily

4th Sunday of Lent A2

15 March 2026

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village

AMDG

Do you need to have your eyes checked? The Jayhawks certainly do after shooting an ungodly 24% last night in the Big 12 tournament.

I certainly do as well. I've had bad nearsightedness my whole life. I live in fear of a detached retina from my eyes being so drastically corrected so many times. In the area of visual intelligence, I am special needs. My mind doesn't take pictures and it's hard for me to remember faces. I would be the worst witness to a crime. I'm the worst at spatial relations and seeing how things like puzzles fit together. It's torture for me.

I need to have my eyes checked. How about you?

How about the meaning of my life? Do I see it clearly? Let's see.

Why did God make me?

The Baltimore Catechism took a good crack at it. God made me to know, love and serve Him in this life and to be together with Him in the next.

Today's Gospel has a better answer I dare say. Why do you exist? You exist for the glory of God. You exist to be transfigured by His light. You exist to make God visible!

It's why the man in today's long Gospel was born blind. It's the reason you were born blind, without the light of faith in you. It's so that the glorious works of God might become visible in you!

The glory of God is you being fully alive. The shame of God is you remaining dead in your sins. Whoever has the light of Christ given in baptism, deepened by Confirmation, fed by the Eucharist and restored by confession is a new creation. Which means you are a unique and unrepeatable star in the constellation of heaven, a reflection of the invisible glory of God that can only be visible in you.

You are an image of God, destined to grow in His likeness. That's why you exist. To make God visible.

Whoever sees this in faith sees the most dramatic and glorious thing that has ever transpired in human history, you being reborn in baptism and coming back from the dead to new life. Whoever does not see this is blind.

Why do I encourage everyone to have their babies baptized at Mass? It's so we have a chance to know each other, in a spousal way, as those who become the intimate adopted family of God by baptism.

But there's another reason. It's because you keep forgetting the dignity of your baptism, and why you exist, and the most dramatic thing that has ever happened to you and is being made more visible at this very liturgy.

If you don't see the glory of your baptism being illumined by the light of the Gospel and fed with the food of the Eucharist, you are blind. You need to get your eyes checked. My sight on its own is very limited in its perspective. Yet I walk by faith and not merely by human sight. If I walk in the bright light of the Holy Spirit dwelling within me, I see the big picture, and my place in the most brilliant story ever written.

We baptize children so that we can see clearly that unless the light of the Holy Spirit dwells within us, we are simply existing not living. We put ashes on our forehead to make visible that unless we walk by faith not by sight, we are dead men walking.

Why do you exist? To reflect the glory of God!

The devil tempts in threes

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 13:56:00 +0000

Homily

1st Sunday of Lent A

22 February 2026

St. Ann Catholic Church

AMDG

Why does the devil tempt us in threes?

It's because to divorce us from God and to kill us, he has to attack the unity that God is, as a communion of three persons. God is a unity of three. We are meant to grow in his likeness. We relate and are joined to God most directly by the three theological virtues of faith, hope and love. So Satan devises a threefold attack against us, as clearly seen on the first Sunday of Lent, when he tempts the new Adam the Son of God in the desert.

Watch out. Be on your guard. For the evil one, the most cunning of all creatures, will attack you as he attacked our first parents, and tempt you as he tempted our Lord, in threes.

You know how it works. Satan appeals to your individual ego, your identity apart from God, through the deadly sins of pride, greed and lust. He will tempt you with ways to escape, avoid and hide. He will throw things that are quick, cheap and easy in the form of shortcuts, hacks and cheat codes. He will tell you that if you can only get away, get along and get by, through your privacy, choice and control, that you will be happy. He will appeal to your desire for power, pleasure and honor through by asking you to steal from what your heavenly Father is already waiting to give you.

Beware of the threes!

In letting himself be tempted in the desert, Jesus shows us that these temptations can be overcome by patience, perseverance and prayer. Only after forty days of fasting, only when His power has been made perfect through weakness, does He readily engage the personal attacks of the evil one. Because of his patience, because He knows sin is found in the quick, cheap and easy, He is able to recognize the lie of the evil one immediately and to reject it easily.

How are the three fold attacks of the evil one overcome? Through the weapons of self-restraint Through sincere prayer, fasting and almsgiving, and through the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience. This is the way to conquer sin that Jesus accomplishes not merely for us, but through us, with us and in us.

Sincerely deny yourself what is quick, cheap and easy. Go for the more. Don't trust me, look at the example of Jesus. It's worth it.

+mj

Can my life be lightly salted?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 14:04:00 +0000

Homily

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time AII

8 February 2025

AMDG

Am I lightly salted?

I got away for a couple of days this week. Two conversations stood out. Both were about the church and money. One was an Uber driver, the other a good friend. Both of them had the impression that the Catholic Church hoards lots of money. I tried to dissuade them, but noted that for them this is what the church is most known for.

What do I want the church to be known for? Whatever it is, I have to become this myself, for I am a living stone on the church and so are you. As much as I'd like to complain about others in the church, the reality is that I need to be the change that I want to see.

Jesus gives me no other option. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. So what would others say about your Christian faith? Are you lightly salted?

Salt and light don't exist for themselves. They exist to enhance something else. Salt and light are reminders to me that my true life exists in gift form. Whoever hoards this gift loses it, and whoever loses the gift saves it for eternal life.

St. Paul and the psalmist talk about the foolishness of lavishly giving to the poor. Yet this is what reflects the glory of God, who always gives more than is required and deserved. This is the foolishness of the cross, which is the wisdom and power and glory of God.

If salt doesn't enhance the flavor of other food it is worthless. If light fails to reveal something hidden, it is worthless. In the same way, if you're a hoarder, you're worthless. If the Church is known for hoarding, it is worthless.

The most powerful and wise thing you can do is to give your life to enhance others, especially those who can't pay you back.

If you do this, you are wise and powerful. You are salt and light. You are what the Church is meant to be known for. You reflect the glory of God.

Are you known for being lightly salted?

+mj

What if you knew the cheat code?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 21:20:00 +0000

Homily

4th Sunday of Advent A2

1 February 2025

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village, KS

AMDG

What if I handed you the winning ticket to the Powerball? Would you accept it?

I would if it were handed to me. Even knowing the Gospel, and knowing that taking that ticket could cost me my soul, I would grab it. I would grab it in a second. How about you?

You know who wouldn't grab it? My archnemesis, the Little Sisters of the Lamb. You would think that religious sisters would be my friends, not my enemies. But they make me uncomfortable, and I avoid them as much as possible.

My love has a price. My faith can be bought. Theirs can't. They beg from the violent and poor everyday. They are true peacemakers. They have the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and they wouldn't sell it for anything.

They know they are not the exception to the rule. I think I am. Because of that, they are happier than me. And there's something that I just can't stand about that. In fact, I despise it.

The reality is that the winning combination to true happiness is right in front of us. We just heard the Beatitudes anew at this very point of our lives. The Beatitudes are the cheat code to happiness. They are the secret recipe, playbook and script for someone who desires a happiness that cannot fade.

It's as simple as this. If you have a choice of being hungry or satisfied, choose hunger. To be poor or rich, choose poverty. To be in pain or in comfort, choose pain. To lose or to win, choose loss. To be empty or full, choose emptiness. To be a sinner or righteous, be a sinner. To have little sex or a lot of sex, choose little. To be in danger or safe, choose danger. To be rejected or chosen, choose rejection. To be hated or loved, choose to be hated. To be humble or proud, be humble. To fast or to party, choose to fast.

There it is. Plain and simple. You have the cheat code to happiness more than money can buy.

If only you don't think you're the exception to the rule.

+mj

How do I create more unity in the Church?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Sat, 24 Jan 2026 19:30:00 +0000

Homily

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time A2

Word of God Sunday

25 January 2026

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village

AMDG

How do I contribute to the unity of the Church?

Why is there still division in Christianity? It's a question for the Church that existed long before the Orthodox schism in the 1100s or the Protestant reformation in the 1500s. St. Paul rants about it in the early part of his letter to the Church at Corinth, that was filled with cliques and rivalries since its beginning? This last week was a week of fasting and prayers, for racial reconciliation, for the legal protection of all human life without exception, and ultimately, for Christian unity. Why are there still divisions in Christianity?

It's my fault. Mother Teresa reminded us often that the thing that most needs to change in the world is me. That's true in the Church as well. A church that is on the way to holiness, on the way to fulfilling its mission entrusted to her by Christ, is one completely committed individually and together to repentance and conversion. Why is there division in Christianity? Because I have not completed my contribution to the unity of the Church. It's because the Catholic church has squandered the incomparable gift of goodness, truth, beauty and unity, along with all the means of mercy and grace, that Christ has given to HIs bride, and has not given a compelling witness to the communion that we have.

It's why people are becoming Catholic, by the way. It's our unity. It's our community, and our lived experienced of the communion that Christ has given us. People become Catholic for many reasons, but it's ultimately because they see Catholics showing up for God and each other with authenticity and love. Jesus teaches and prays that His Church be one, that the world may believe in Him. Settling for anything less than the unity Christ has given us is unacceptable.

The Mass is the source and the sign of the Church's unity. That's why I have to show up every week, to make my contribution to the Church's unity. From the beginning, the Church gathered regularly for the teaching, the communion, the breaking of the bread, and the prayers. That's the structure of the OCIA, the process by which people enter into our unity by marrying the Church in faith. This is Word of God Sunday, a day to highlight the third luminous mystery, and the beautiful liturgy of the Church, through which we come to understand the revelation of the Bible, the written scriptures, in light of the lived experience of the Church's tradition. The Mass and the Magisterium, represented by the priest, are the ultimate interpreters of the written word of God, a word that takes on flesh in Jesus Christ and through His sacraments, especially the Eucharist. We can read the written word of God apart from the lived experience and living authority of the Church, but the Bible can't be separated from the Word made flesh. The Church has always understood this, that the Bible fulfills its role in salvation especially when it is proclaimed at Mass.

You get to make a contribution to the Church's unity in faith and morals. You have to by what you say and do. Your options in the Gospel are plentiful! You can fish, or hunt, or farm, or shepherd, or teach, or heal, or witness, etc. etc. etc. Jesus hired fishermen first because of their patience and perseverance. Most of us fish at the grocery store because it's easier to shop than fish.

But the Church isn't a store you buy things from. It's where you make a meaningful contribution to the Church's unity in faith and morals.

After another tough week out there, I'll remind you of what I've said a thousand times. There is no technological, political, legal or economic solution to the evils that surround us. There is only your contribution to building the kingdom of heaven. That's what we gather to do, as we gather every week for the teaching, the communion, the breaking of the bread, and the prayers.

+mj

You kn

Is this the year?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 20:43:00 +0000

Homily

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time A2

18 January 2026

St. Ann Catholic Church Prairie Village

AMDG

Is this the year?

You know what I'm talking about? Will 2026 really be any different? Will this be the year when my hopes are realized, and my resolutions are more than just wishful thinking? Will my desire to be more alive, and to truly love the will of God, find real traction? Or will it be another year that slips through my fingers, when I'm afraid of what it takes for real transformation to happen in my soul?

I'm not sure why there's a viral trend to post pictures from 2016. Maybe it's a good thing, to remember what has changed in the last 10 years, and what has not. Maybe it's a reminder especially that there is much I hoped for in 2016 that remains unfulfilled, and to wonder why.

Again real change is more than wishful thinking for circumstances to magically change in a new year. I'm fond of having a word of the year, and sharing it with my friends, as a small means of my being accountable to the gift and responsibility of my life. My word this year is joy, the fruit of a memorable conversation I had with a parishioners who said the parish needs to see me having more fun, for if the priesthood is not a joyful life, no mother would ever want her son to be a priest. I have a superabundance of good things that have been poured into my lap, so much so that it is very ungrateful for me to be obsessed with what I don't or can't have. My resolution is to fully enjoy the life I have chosen and been given. We will see if it really makes a difference.

I like to think that so long as I am faithful to prayer, exercise, spiritual direction and therapy, that I will grow in health and holiness, and that 2026 will be my best year yet. Yet I'm not always convinced that this is more than wishful thinking.

How about you? Will 2026 be any different for you? Is this the year?

The Church has us reflecting on baptism two weeks in a row to start ordinary time in 2026. Why the redundancy? It's because the promise of our baptism is our greatest opportunity for holiness, greatness and the fullness of life. No other resolution could compare to us fully knowing the dignity and destiny of my baptism.

Yet in our fallen condition, our greatest desire and potential is met with by the greatest fear. It's the fear of letting go of our sins that makes the quest for real greatness so scary. It is the total eradication of sins from our lives that free us to ultimately live heroic lives of courage, loving the will of God with incredible strength, and making a total and sacrificial gift of ourselves within the paschal mystery of Christ. Anything less than the total eradication of sin from our lives is lukewarm, weak sauce, and tentative.

Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This shocking, revolutionary proclamation of John the Baptist is meant to shock us out of complacency and back into the promise of our baptism, into a real, total and uncompromising desire for a holiness that is new and different and more. The unique proclamation of John the Baptist is repeated at every Mass, at a penultimate moment, to bring us clarity as to what is really at stake, the complete removal of any sin in my life that keeps me trapped in fear.

There could be no greater resolution in 2026 that to respond to the grace of my baptism, fed by the Eucharist, the Lamb of God who completely frees me from all sin by the inner working of his mercy.

How's that for a 2026 resolution? Is this the year?

+mj

Did my Christmas make any difference?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 21:07:00 +0000

Homily

Baptism of the Lord

11 January 2026

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village

Did my Christmas make any difference?

What time is it anyway? It's day 11 of the calendar new year, but as you see around you, the Church still thinks it's Christmas. But is it? Is it Christmas still or Ordinary Time? If the former, how do I keep celebrating Christmas - I'm out of gifts and out of ideas. If the latter, then is it time to get back to my normal life?

The answer is yes. The answer is both, which is often the case when dealing with questions of faith. The Church blurs this second manifestation of Epiphany of Jesus - the proclamation of who He is by the father at His baptism, with the beginning of his public work, his first day on the job as it were. The blurring is intentional.

Yes today is the official culmination of Christmas, and the beginning of ordinary time, but just as this Christmas was meant to be celebrated in a way that makes new things possible, so we return to our lives at the end of Christmas, just as the Magi did, by another way.

The whole point of Christmas, and the Incarnation, is that Jesus wants to visit His world in ever more dramatic ways, where the world is most in darkness. That includes your heart, your family, our Church and this world There are these smallest and weakest points, where fear and doubt are most threatening, where the Lord has desired to come and make all things new. Your Christmas depends on your reception of this visit, and whether you will remain in this grace of being loved and cherished at your weakest point.

Christmas culminates then with Jesus identifying with sinners, those who need visited by the Lord's mercy in that exact spot where we cannot change or save ourselves.

There is a reason the Church baptizes infants, though they cannot be guilty of personal sin. It's because they too need to be visited at that point of original sin that we all inherit, at that point where our destiny is sin and death, not holiness and life. Baptism transforms us inwardly, making us first of all children of God and the His favorite dwelling places.

Yet from our baptism on, the battle against sin rages. Baptism gets us into the game, and gives us all the saving grace we need to respond with faith and courage to the gift and opportunity of our lives. Yet the effects of sin are still all around us, and the temptation to cope with the pain of life with fear and doubt remain.

There will be a time for extreme training in the desert during the holy season of Lent. For now, it is time for us to begin testing if Christmas made any difference. With the Lord of my baptism always ready to visit me and remain with me at my weakest point, will I move forward in my life by another way?

Did this Christmas make any difference?

What did you get Jesus for Christmas?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 18:24:00 +0000

Homily

Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord

25 December 2025

St. Ann Catholic Church Prairie Village, KS

AMDG

What did you get Jesus for Christmas this year? You did get Him something right? You didn't show up to Christmas mass empty handed did you? Don't get me wrong, it's amazing to see all of you here, but your presence is not your present. You can do better. You have to do better. I believe you will do better. Jesus is betting this Christmas on you, and so am I.

You know what He wants. Today He appears as a human person, just like you. He wants what you want for Christmas. The difference is that He is not too proud or afraid to ask for it. He wants what everyone newborn baby wants first in this world. At this vulnerable moment, what He wants is also exactly what He needs, and that never changes. It will always be true. You know what He wants for Christmas. He wants you to hold Him. It's what He will always beg of you at Christmas. Did you bring a gift for Him? Christmas depends on you, and on your answer to the ultimate and precise question that Jesus comes tonight to ask you - will you hold me? The first Christmas depended on Mary and Joseph's answer. This Christmas depends on yours.

If Jesus wanted anything else for Christmas, I would be terrified of Him. One would expect a savior to come in power and to ask me these fundamental questions - How are you? Are you ready for this moment? What are you afraid of? How can I help you? But He doesn't, because He knows these terrifying questions will trigger my defenses. I am fine, I guess. No, I don't feel ready for this moment. I'm afraid of losing control. I'll figure it out on my own thanks.

So if Jesus is going to get what He wants for Christmas this year, which is to save me from my fears, He has to trick me. He has to don a disguise. He has to slip behind my elite defenses. He has to disguise his desire for me as need, or I'll get scared. So He tricks me tonight. He finds me tonight by hiding, trusting my faith to find Him. He gives by begging my love. He shows His power to get past my defenses by becoming helpless - cold, poor, naked and homeless. He makes sense of my life by becoming an absolute joke. Instead of asking me the scary question of what I want, He simply asks me - Fr. Mitchel, will you hold me?

How does He ask this question? It's through the most surprising disguise of all. In just a moment, the cave of Bethlehem will give way to this altar, the manger which once held the Bread of Life to that desperately hungry and fearful place in your soul that only the Eucharist can reach. You're about to put the Mass in Christ's Mass, you see. It's at that moment that you give Jesus precisely what He wants for Christmas, your answer to the precise and ultimate Christmas question - will you hold me?

I have no idea how your answer will save the world. I only know it's what Jesus wants for Christmas, and that Christmas runs through your answer, and your touch, if only you're not afraid to hold this baby in a new and deep within your soul.

Do not be afraid, Mary to hold me. Do not be afraid Joseph, to hold me. Do not be afraid, I dare each of you, to hold this baby.

If you've ever held a newborn baby, you know you're the one being held. If you're scared to hold a baby, you're scared even of Christmas. You've forgotten who you are, and the meaning of your life.

So Jesus is here at Christmas to see if anyone here tonight is ready to give Him what He wants, and is courageous enough to answer the original, precise and ultimate Christmas question - will you hold me? If you say yes, the Christmas miracle will happen here tonight. And what Jesus really wants, and what you really want For Christmas, will both come true.

+mj

Who is pursuing you?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Sat, 29 Nov 2025 21:39:00 +0000

Homily

1st Sunday of Advent A2

30 November 2025

St. Ann Catholic Parish Prairie Village

AMDG

Who is pursuing you?

The first question I put on our missionary discipleship worksheet was this one? How and why is God pursuing you? It's pointless to start one's spiritual life anywhere else. God's desire to visit you is infinitely greater than your desire to make your way toward him. But why is God pursuing you? And how? It's a primary question for the spiritual life - it's the perfect way to start Advent.

When someone surprises you by knocking on your door or calling you, what's your initial reaction usually - it is one of excitement or fear? Perhaps a bit of both. This question goes deeper than whether you are an introvert or extrovert. It's an attitude of faith. Faith loves surprises and interruptions, because it's nice to be wanted, chosen and desired. If you are living life as a gift, the most likely response to someone interrupting you is that they have a gift for you!

It's why God is pursuing you, by the way. He's a giver and gets great joy out of making a gift of Himself. You are made for God, not as a robot or slave to an owner or master, but as a child who is fit to receive the gifts your Father most wants to give you.

My initial inspiration to the priesthood, Msgr. Vincent Krische, lived life in just this way. He received every phone call, every interruption, every surprise knock on his door, as a gift. Not as a threat to his privacy, but as a gift. In fact, he left the front door of the rectory open in case someone wanted to leave a gift for him. Now, he did get a lot of things stolen, but his security was in knowing everyone and trusting their generosity. He received so much more than was ever stolen; and if something was stolen, he figured the person needed the gift more than he did!

Your very existence and certainly your future is secured by the weight of God's affection and attention bearing down upon you. Your growth in faith this year will not come from what you are able to privately master and control, but in how ready you are to respond to the surprises and interruptions in life with faith. For at the moment you least expect, the Son of Man will visit you to make the gift of His presence known.

Happy are those whom the Lord finds vigilant upon His arrival. This is Advent - awaiting with eager expectation the greatest news of all time - the Lord will not leave us to our own devices. We are not alone and He will not leave us alone. The Lord has come in history, he is coming now in mystery, he will come again in majesty!

Advent is about sensitivity, awareness and readiness to respond. We begin again our celebration of the Christian mysteries not by plotting, planning and tinkering with our own self-improvement projects, but by daring God to come faster, and to come sooner, and to actually mean it.

Come, Lord Jesus, come!

Who is pursuing you right now? Better yet, how and why is the Lord pursuing you?

Have I ever been stranded?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Sat, 01 Nov 2025 13:47:00 +0000

Homily

Solemnity of All Souls

2 November 2025

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village

AMDG

Have I ever been stranded? Most of us have. In this do-it-yourself world where privacy and self-reliance mask as true security, being stranded and not knowing how you're going to get home, or who is going to help you, can be a terrifying experience. Such is purgatory. Most of us can relate. Whether it was an accident, a canceled flight, a storm or natural disaster, or a breakdown, sooner or later, most of us find ourselves stranded, in need of help to survive and make it home.

You're the good Samaritan in this scenario, at least in today's liturgy of All Souls. Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and let the perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. May their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in peace.

This solemn duty of the Church militant - that's YOU btw - is highlighted today and carries through the end of the liturgical year, as the Church fixes its attention on the eschaton, ultimate things, and the Catholic final four of death, judgement, heaven and hell. Black vestments are recommended, along with the spiritual maxim to keep death daily before our eyes, so that we may gain wisdom of heart. What is more, today we resolve as part of our faith, prayer, and holy work, to never forget our beloved dead, and to always offer the best of anything we do that in pleasing to God in union with the saving sacrifice of Christ, to those most in need of his mercy, to the most forgotten soul in purgatory. We do this in union and through the heart of our blessed mother, who received the dead body of Her son from the cross, and prepared the body to return to the dust from which it came. Her 'pieta' is the symbol of our prayer for All Souls day.

At every funeral Mass we wish our beloved dead to have a safe trip, and to come home safely! When we ask people to pray for us, and promise to pray for them, we mean it most of all once they have passed from this world. It's when our beloved ones die that we really start praying for them to have a good trip, and to let them know we're here if they need anything!

Today we solemnly remember that it is a complete waste of time to presume that nice people go to heaven. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Gospel is just the opposite! Nice guys always finish last, and the lukewarm are always cast out of the kingdom of heaven, unless they passover in Christ to the fullness of love that constitutes who God is. Man has just one proper end - to become like God, who is perfect, sacrificial and heroic love. That passover process must be completed, sooner or later, in every person. The transformation and divinization of the human person from good to holy is the most dramatic and improbable change of all. It is only possible through fervent prayer and through fear and trembling!

Again, I say that canonizing nice people is a complete waste of time, and totally misleading. Of course we live in the hope that God desires each of us to be saved and to lose nothing of what belongs to Christ, but to equate myself with a saint like Maximilian Kolbe, and to pretend there is no substantial difference, is to do the most absurd thing of all. To equate my friends to Mother Teresa, or my family to St. Therese of Lisieux, and to pray like they are close enough and ready instantaneously for heaven, is to truck in nonsense.

The God of justice and love is too good and too loving to shove us into a new reality that does not correspond to the state of my soul. Hence purgatory, the doctrine of justice and love and great hope, which is highlighted today and celebrated as a solemn duty and corporal and spiritual work of mercy for the Church militant.

I'm so glad it fall on a Sunday this year, so we can all mark this feast together. It's not about earning out way to heaven, but praying our way to a worthy participation in the passover mystery of Jesus, a cooperation with the one saving sacrifice that infinitely pleases the father, and a sharing of these graces won by love with our beloved dead, especially the forgotten souls in purgatory most in need of God's mercy.

+mj

Is holiness easy or hard?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Sat, 04 Oct 2025 17:27:00 +0000

Homily

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village

5 October 2025

AMDG

Is holiness easy or hard?

I bet your first answer is that holiness is really hard. Really hard. And you're not wrong. Or perhaps your first response was that holiness is neither easy nor hard. Maybe you sniffed our a false dichotomy. When considering matters relating to God, paradox oftentimes prevails, and both . . and answers are much better than either . . . or answers. So maybe holiness is both easy and hard.

The right answer is the last one though. Holiness is easy. Holiness is simple. My yoke is easy and my burden is light, says the Lord. All it takes is the smallest amount of faith. Then holiness, a complete sharing in the love and power of God that overcomes all things, is the fruit.

Holiness is easy. It is simple. It is expected. It is at hand.

Don't believe me? Look at the three honorees who receive the Ave St. Ann award this weekend. They make it look easy. What's the key ingredient, the common thread between these St. Ann heroes of faith? They pray. They have faith. They put themselves simply at the the service of God's plan. They live not an ego-drama of trying to get, but the theo-drama of simply giving. The result of this trusting relationship of faith is powerful indeed; the fruit is a heroic love the endures and prevails and bears fruit that lasts.

None of the three honorees - Dick and Martha Taylor, Al and Pat Kolarik, Jim and Patti Lisson - think they deserve these awards. Which is why we are so happy to give them to them. Each would in their own way say they are the least deserving, that they are only unprofitable servants, doing what life requires. Yet in trusting God and serving His plan and not their own, they have truly moved mountains.

Faith obtains all things. Perseverance obtains all things. Prayer obtains all things. Chastity obtains all things. Service obtains all things. Being pro-life obtains all things! It's all utterly simple, and just takes a mustard seed of faith.

It's hard when you make your life about you; when your life is about you, the simple demands of holiness seem impossible. Yet they are easy for God, and easy for one who just has a mustard seed of faith.

I'm not saying that the Taylors, Kolariks and Lissons have had comfortable lives. Far from it. They have just learned a very simple secret. That trusting God and serving Him redounds to their own benefit. Trusting in God's plans makes them strong. The just one is not one who has life figured out, but the one who lives by faith.

In honoring our Ave St. Ann inaugural award winners, we honor all of us, just as when we honor the saints, a new path to holiness opens up for each one of us. Thank you Lissons, Kolariks and Taylors, for showing us the way. Holiness is for everyone. And for the one who has faith, it's not hard at all.

+mj

What's your favorite paradox?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Sat, 13 Sep 2025 20:39:00 +0000

Homily

Exaltation of the Holy Cross

14 September 2025

St. Ann Catholic Church

Prairie Village, KS

AMDG

What is your favorite paradox?

Before we answer that question, let's make sure we understand paradox. A paradox is an expression that seems contradictory, but is actually true, and in so being, pushes the limits of what we can know and experience.

Jesus plays in paradox all the time, and so consistently reminds us that as far as the heavens are from the earth, so far are God's ways about our ways. You know some of the simplest and maddening paradoxes. Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who persecute you. Give to those who steal from you. Then, and only then, will you understand what love fully and really is, what love is capable of.

Paradox is a key feature of the Gospel. It's the secret sauce of the beatitudes, what it means to be truly happy. It is constitutive of heaven, where our narrow categories, judgments and ways of thinking give way to deeper and greater truths and realities.

Another way to think of it is remembering something that you were most sure about, that you were wrong about. Last weekend I was in Columbia, Missouri, and I was horrified. I hated it. Yet I loved it. The last thing I would ever need are Mizzou friends, and now I'm getting lots of them. I hate it, but I don't. I joked that the worst thing that could ever happen to me was to be made the bishop of Jefferson City, and have the University of Missouri as part of my flock. That would be the worst day of my life, but paradoxically, maybe not.

A parent said at a kindergarten parent party Friday night - my last kid is starting kindergarten. We have a long way to go, but it will be over too soon. How can it both be true that I can't wait for it to be over, but I'll miss it too? Cue paradox.

Another paradox is that we are safest not when we are in lockdown, but when we face our fears with courage. Another is that the greatest way to defeat evil is not to defend against it, or even eliminate it, but to suffer it with courage in love. No has greater power than this, than to surrender one's life for one's friends.

There's so many!

Jesus paradoxically says that I am happiest when my suffering and pain is greatest, for it is precisely at that point when I am most threatened, that my faith, hope and love are stretched to the limits, and my security is placed in them not in self-preservation.

It's when it's most dangerous to go to Mass and stand up for what I believe, that people are motivated to go. When it's cheap and easy, it's not worth anything.

Fast forward the paradox of the cross, a reminder that that punishment due to sin is also mysteriously, in Christ, the cure. When I embrace the thing I least want, or can change, I rob it of it's power. When I kiss the most threatening thing in my life, I overcome that thing.

The cross is re-presented to us in the middle of ordinary time, as the reminder I need is that the paradox of the cross is my only glory as a Christian. The glorious cross, the ultimate paradox which reveals fully the power of God and the wisdom of God.

+mj

Is life just a potluck dinner?

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman) — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 16:40:00 +0000

Homily

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time B1

St. Ann Church - Prairie Village

31 August 2025

AMDG

Is life really just a potluck dinner?

The more I pray over the dinner stories in the Gospels, the more I think the answer is yes.

What did Jesus do all the time? Well, lots of things, but He was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard, hanging out with tax collectors and sinners. In today's Gospel, He's at a fancy dinner again, and observing things carefully.

What do priests do all day? Well, we're just like the rest of you. We live hand to mouth. We gotta eat. We survive meal to meal. It's the one thing we all have to do. How we do it, and with who, makes all the difference. All of life and all of reality pass through dinner. It's how heaven is described. If you're paying attention, it's how Jesus set it up. All of life and all of reality pass through this wedding banquet right here.

How do we do it? Jesus says make sure you have the right four food groups. Did you catch them? Make sure you have the poor, the blind, the crippled and the lame. Remember it's not only what's for dinner, it's who for dinner. Make sure you're eating with people who can't pay you back. Invite people who are broke, and sick, and stuck, and lost. It shouldn't be that hard.

Life is just a potluck dinner, when you never know what you're going to get. Jesus teaches us that we worry way too much about our rank and place at the table, seeking security in people who have the same status as us. To hell with that, says Jesus. Dinner is much more exciting when there is risk, vulnerability, and unpredictability.

That's true for Mass too. There has to be something at stake, some risk in it. Ironically, the more dangerous it is to go to Mass in history, the more people come to Mass. The more comfortable we are, the less we value Mass.

That is not to say that we should be reckless or throw out all precautions for Mass. Far from it. We have entered a time when we will probably always be adding security to Mass. I don't know if we can ever go back to the way things used to be.

But if we let fear scatter us, then evil wins and has the last say. That can't be so. There has to be some risk, and vulnerability and unpredictability to Mass, or it's not worth coming to.

All of life and all of reality pass through this wedding banquet, and this sacred meal. Jesus set it up that way. And in the end, He really just wants it to be a potluck dinner.

+mj