Mike Landry: Catholic speaker, writer, & music minister in Alberta, Canada HomepageMike Landry: Catholic speaker, writer, & music minister in Alberta, Canada

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In the end, we get what we loved the most

The following is a column I wrote for Grandin Media, reflecting on the Herod’s actions around the feast of Epiphany.

A few weeks ago, we celebrated the feast of the Epiphany.

The Gospel proclaimed for Epiphany came from Matthew 2, and we often (rightly) spend a great deal of time contemplating the beautiful mystery of these three Magi, their journey, and the gifts they shared with our Lord.

On their journey, these three wise men encountered King Herod. While meeting with the Magi, he asked them to report back to him on the Messiah’s location – telling them that he, too, wished to come and pay Him homage.

Herod had no intention of worshipping the newborn king, but instead wanted to do whatever was necessary to stop the Messiah before he ever got started, as it would somehow infringe on Herod’s regime. When the Magi didn’t return to him, he ordered the massacre of the Holy Innocents in an attempt to not only protect his power but also to exercise his own authority over the will of God.

You’d think that Herod would have known better.

(Click the link below to read the rest of the article…)

In the end, we get what we loved the most

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Don’t Want to Miss a Thing (Grandin Media)

Here’s a link to a new article Grandin Media recently published in my “Life in 3rd Place” column:

Armageddon.

You may have never seen the 1998 science-fiction/disaster movie, but I’m fairly certain you’ve heard the first song on the soundtrack: I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.

Rolling Stone magazine included this song in a list of the “25 greatest slow songs ever,” and 20 years later, it remains a mainstay at school and wedding dances.

Even if you don’t know the title, you’re almost certain to recognize it with Steven Tyler of Aerosmith fame belting out the chorus:

Don’t want to close my eyes, I don’t want to fall asleep
Cause I’d miss you, baby, and I don’t wanna miss a thing
Cause even when I dream of you, the sweetest dream would never do
I’d still miss you, baby, and I don’t want to miss a thing

It’s not deep theology, and I wouldn’t suggest it’s particularly profound love poetry.  What it does do, however, is capture one of the most overwhelming sentiments found in young love: the fact you can’t see beyond the excitement and the emotion, and how you just don’t want to leave that moment because you “don’t want to miss a thing.”

I got to thinking about that song and sentiment as I was reading the story of the tower of Babel found in Genesis 11.

(Click the link below to read the rest of the article…)

Don’t want to a miss a thing

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The Cross = a Broken Heart?

Photo Credit: John & Sarah Pollard

Today, the Church celebrates Good Friday.  It seems odd to me to call the day Jesus suffered, died, and was buried “good.”  Because on this day Jesus shed his blood, we have been rescued from sin and death, and we also know just how deep and wide the love of God for us really is that makes it truly good. [Read more…] about The Cross = a Broken Heart?

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The Carrot & the Stick: Homily for August 7, 2016

Photo Credit: By Neoclassical_Velocity.JPG: Unitfreak Carrot.svg: Nevit Dilmen (talk) Stick.svg: Nevit Dilmen (talk) derivative work: Nevit Dilmen (Neoclassical_Velocity.JPG Carrot.svg Stick.svg) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo Credit: Nevit Dilman via Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 3.0]  

Below is the written text for Deacon Pat Hessel’s homily at Holy Trinity Parish on the weekend of August 6-7, 2016 – on our motivation for living our life of faith.

Some people speak about reward and punishment in terms of “the carrot and the stick.”  They talk about it in relation to motivating people.  It comes from the image of a person sitting on a cart pulled by a mule.  The driver dangles a carrot in front of the mule.  The mule wants the carrot, so it moves forward.  But the driver also holds a stick, and if the mule stops or doesn’t move fast enough, the driver hits the mule with the stick.  In the business world, carrots and sticks are used all the time to encourage productivity.  The top salesperson might get a special bonus at the end of the month – a carrot.  On the other hand, the worker who doesn’t perform well or who misses work often, risks being fired – a stick.

Many of us view our faith life in terms of carrots and sticks.  Our ultimate carrot is, of course, heaven, and our ultimate stick is hell.  Carrots and sticks sound manipulative, but they work.  “If you get your homework done before supper, you can have ice cream for dessert.”  “If you don’t do your chores, you’re going to lose your telephone for two days.”  All of us as parents have used carrots and sticks with our kids.  They work – most of the time. [Read more…] about The Carrot & the Stick: Homily for August 7, 2016

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Lessons From Star Wars: The Stony Heart

Photo Credit: James Jordan on Flickr (CC-BY-ND)
Photo Credit: James Jordan on Flickr (CC-BY-ND)

“…show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” -2 Corinthians 3:3

One of the first large youth ministry events I organized was a youth rally meant to bring together the young people from several parishes in the Edmonton area.  We titled it “Hearts of Stone and Flesh” in reference to the above scripture passage.  Among other exciting things, we promised to give out free t-shirts to all who registered for this rally, and we wound up having 250 shirts printed with the following emblazoned across the front of the shirt in big, bold letters:

“ARE  YOU STONE?”

This, of course, looked an awful lot like “are you stoned,” and reflects the first and last time I was ever allowed to design youth event t-shirts.  In spite of these t-shirts, the rally was a great success (and is now headed into its thirteenth year) – and the theme is one that has stayed close to me in the years that have passed.  Simply put,  someone with a stony heart, is someone who, for a variety of reasons (usually sin or pain) has closed themselves off from loving others and being loved by them.  Ezekiel explains that God intends to heal us of this condition:

“A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” -Ezekiel 36:26

There is perhaps no place we see this play out more quickly than in the story of Luke Skywalker and his father, Darth Vader, in the original Star Wars trilogy.
[Read more…] about Lessons From Star Wars: The Stony Heart