Finding God In Our Hearts with Msgr. Don Fischer

Msgr. Don Fischer
Finding God In Our Hearts with Msgr. Don Fischer

At a particular time in our evolution, God chose to enter into our world and a story was born. It has been carefully written, proclaimed and pondered. It possesses the power to awaken a knowing that has always been in us…the ability to experience the God who is, and to know a love that exceeds all others. Msgr. Don was ordained a Catholic priest in 1967. His preaching ministry grew beyond his parish work, and in 1987 began a Sunday radio broadcast that ran for 36 years on WRR in Dallas, TX. He has never tired of pondering the story, and admits the God he knew at his ordination, has little in common with the God he has discovered.Pastoral Reflections institute is non-profit located in Dallas, TX dedicated to enriching your spiritual journey.

  1. HOMILY • The First Sunday of Lent

    19H AGO

    HOMILY • The First Sunday of Lent

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    27 min

  2. 1D AGO

    PRI Reflections of Scripture | Saturday after Ash Wednesday

    Gospel Luke 5:27-32 Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, "Follow me." And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus said to them in reply, "Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.” Reflection This story is a beautiful story about the clarity of who Jesus was compared to the leaders of the temple. They saw evil as something that should be avoided at all times. You don't get near it, you don't get around it. And that would make you holier. And it’s so interesting that they didn't seem to care for those who were in the pain of sin, and Jesus comes to turn that upside down. The Pharisees and scribes were not to be models of perfection, but they were to be healers. And Jesus pointed this out so clearly when he simply reminds them that the God who created them, the God who is, came into the world as a healer, not an example of perfection. Closing Prayer Father, we know that evil is a powerful force. But you've taught us that you are so much more powerful. And when you are within us, when we are counting on your strength, not our own, to overcome evil, we will always succeed. So bless us with this confidence. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    6 min

  3. 2D AGO

    PRI Reflections of Scripture | Friday after Ash Wednesday

    Gospel Matthew 9:14-15 The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast." Reflection Fasting in the time of Jesus was not just not eating food. It was about deep reflection, most especially about repentance. Wanting to change, struggling to change. What Jesus is pointing out, that when you have the source of forgiveness living with you, when you have this source of truth living with you, there's no reason to go off by yourself and to ponder and to wonder and to ask when he is right there in your midst. It's a beautiful image of what the Old Testament is versus the New Testament. The Old Testament longs for a Savior. The New Testament announces his presence. Closing Prayer Father, during this season, help us to recognize the reality of your presence in our hearts. That when we go there and converse with you, we are truly engaged in the most important work, particularly the work of this season. Bless us with an awareness of your presence. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    6 min

  4. 3D AGO

    PRI Reflections of Scripture | Thursday after Ash Wednesday

    Gospel Luke 9:22-25 Jesus said to his disciples: "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised." Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?” Reflection Jesus had to die in order to bring life into the world. It's the great paradox. Why would we he be asked to die in order to live? If it wasn't for the fact that there is such a radical change when Jesus came into the world to explain how and why we are here. It is a cry for authenticity. It is the need to be honest about who we are to ourselves and to one another. The less authenticity there is, the less grace that abounds. Closing Prayer  Father, your will is that the kingdom be established here on this earth. And it cannot grow. It cannot become what you long for it to become, without our honest reflections on who we are and why we're here. Bless us, especially during this Lenten season, to ponder these mysteries and to grow in our authenticity. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    6 min

  5. 4D AGO

    PRI Reflections of Scripture | Ash Wednesday

    Gospel Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 Jesus said to his disciples: "Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. ”When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. "When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.” Reflection What strikes me in this list of things that we should do, is the image of prayer. When you pray, you go to the inner room. Where is that inner room? What is it? And it seems so clear to me, it's our heart where God dwells. We are taught to go to that inner place, and to spend time with God, and to seek his advice and his direction, it’s called our conscience. And it's such a gift, such a treasure. And during this season of lent, it seems like nothing would be better than to spend more and more time with God in our hearts and listen. Listen to how he wants us to grow and change. That's his will. That's why he is present. Closing Prayer Father, you make yourself so available to us. Dwelling in our hearts. Resonating love and healing. Bless us with this recognition. Help us never to lose the beauty of your relationship with us as we continue to work for your kingdom. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    7 min

  6. 5D AGO

    PRI Reflections of Scripture | Tuesday of the 8th Week in Ordinary Time

    Gospel  Mark 10:28-31 Peter began to say to Jesus, 'We have given up everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first.” Reflection It's clear that Jesus had a message that people could not fathom at the beginning, because they didn't have the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to help them. So when he talks about the first being last, the last being first, he's saying, I'm going to be giving you a whole new vision of who you are and what this world is about and why you're here. And what he's saying to his disciples, be patient. It's difficult to rethink everything, but simply know that it leads to a fullness. It's not a loss. But a gain. Closing Prayer Father, we always want things to be more simple. We want to say, if I do this, I get this reward. Bless us with a freedom from that kind of thinking. Open this up to a new mystery. A mystical life where God is continually reforming who we are and opening our mind to why we are here. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    6 min

  7. 6D AGO

    PRI Reflections of Scripture | Monday of the 8th Week in Ordinary Time

    Gospel Mark 10:17-27 As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, ""Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"" Jesus answered him, ""Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother."" He replied and said to him, ""Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth."" Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, ""You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."" At that statement, his face fell,  and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ""How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God!"" The disciples were amazed at his words. So Jesus again said to them in reply, ""Children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For men it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.” Reflection The enthusiasm of the young man running up to Jesus, hoping to get an A-plus for the work that he had done to receive all the gifts that God is offering. And Jesus, in a very loving way, points out that he’s misunderstood something so essential. No one saves themselves. No one is the source of their salvation. Salvation is a gift given by God to those who are humble enough and grounded enough to receive it as the essence of God's gift of life. That's what he longs for us to have. But we don't get it by earning it. Please pause and reflect upon these images and then I will close with a prayer. Closing Prayer Father, you teach us over and over to be receptive to all that you long to share with us. Your greatest gift is your spirit, the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. And it brings us such wisdom. So bless us with receptivity, trust, openness, not to figuring it out, but to receive the answer. That's who God is. And we ask this in Jesus’ name Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    7 min
  8. HOMILY • The Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

    MAR 2

    HOMILY • The Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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    28 min
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About

At a particular time in our evolution, God chose to enter into our world and a story was born. It has been carefully written, proclaimed and pondered. It possesses the power to awaken a knowing that has always been in us…the ability to experience the God who is, and to know a love that exceeds all others. Msgr. Don was ordained a Catholic priest in 1967. His preaching ministry grew beyond his parish work, and in 1987 began a Sunday radio broadcast that ran for 36 years on WRR in Dallas, TX. He has never tired of pondering the story, and admits the God he knew at his ordination, has little in common with the God he has discovered.Pastoral Reflections institute is non-profit located in Dallas, TX dedicated to enriching your spiritual journey.

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