The Lord Wants to Bless Us

by © LPi Fr. John Muir  |  02/16/2025  |  Weekly Reflection

I craved four things as a teenager: success in sports, food, fun and the attention of popular people. However, I noticed that as I acquired them, I was more unsatisfied than before. So, I’d strive even more energetically, achieve more, and the sense of emptiness was greater still. These four things started to feel like burdens or even curses. Soon after, I encountered Christ in my high school youth group. Experiencing his love was totally different than anything those four things previously produced. It produced a lasting happiness.

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Free for New Chapters

by © LPi Fr. John Muir  |  02/09/2025  |  Weekly Reflection

My parents’ garage is full of old junk that no longer serves any purpose in my life. As a 46-year-old man, I admit that’s pretty lame. Either due to my sentimentality or laziness (or both, probably), I just couldn’t get myself to throw things away. But a few days ago, by a grace of God, I thought: “I’ll hire my nephew Ryan to throw a bunch of my stuff away — he couldn’t care less about my junk!” And you know what? It worked. In one day, Ryan chucked the majority of his uncle’s useless stuff. I feel so free, ready for a new junk-free chapter in my life.

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The Thoughts of Many Hearts

by © LPi Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman  |  02/02/2025  |  Weekly Reflection

When Simeon cradles the infant Messiah in his arms, he speaks of salvation and glory and revelation. He speaks of his own death. He speaks of the fulfillment of God’s promise to all people.

But most memorable, in my opinion, are his words about the hearts of men. This Child, he says, will be the way “the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

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Christ the King – Lord of All Creation

by © LPi Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman  |  11/24/2024  |  Weekly Reflection

I read an article, years ago, about an American filmmaker who decided to step away from a wildly successful film franchise that had been requiring him and his family to live abroad. It stuck in my mind because of the tongue-in-cheek reasoning he gave for the surprising decision, “My kids were starting to speak in British accents.” Sometimes, we just want to go home, don’t we?

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Summer is near

by © LPi Fr. John Muir  |  11/17/2024  |  Weekly Reflection

I recently moved into a new neighborhood. On my first evening I went grocery shopping and could not find my usual favorite Greek yogurt. Strangely, my heart started to race. All the losses of my previous life hit me. So many of my old friends, habits, comforts, and predictable experiences had fallen away. There I stood, a grown man, crying like a little boy whose world was falling apart in the dairy aisle.

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Give with Radical Trust

by © LPi Fr. John Muir  |  11/10/2024  |  Weekly Reflection

Once at an evening Mass as a poor college student, the collection basket was fast approaching, and I only had a ten-dollar bill. I was planning on using that to buy my favorite Chipotle burrito that night for dinner. Should I keep the money? Who would know if I did? If I gave it away, what would I eat? Would I be okay? I kissed my future burrito goodbye, dropped the money in the basket, and winced. But strangely, the rest of the Mass I felt more engaged than usual. I had skin in the game. I left the Mass excited to see how God would take care of me. And he did, in amazing ways.

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Love God with all your mind

by © LPi Fr. John Muir  |  11/03/2024  |  Weekly Reflection

Americans have long been fascinated with public debates. Farmers stood in muddy fields for hours to hear Lincoln and Douglas dispute each other in the 1860 presidential run-up. The televised debate between Kennedy and Nixon in 1960 fascinated the nation. These days, cable news outlets and social media parse every word spoken by candidates. We still love seeing public, rational disputes in the service of our nation.

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