St. Patrick Catholic Church

07/07/2026

A big thank you goes out to The Altar & Rosary Society and Knights of Columbus Council #7064 for handing out donuts, cookies, and flags in celebration of our nation's 250th birthday.

07/07/2026

Fr. Matthew Brumleve: Homily-14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

So today we are fortunate to have a guest speaker, our old friend Douglas who stops in from time to time. . .

Hey guys, it’s me again, Douglas, I’m passing through Kansas City to watch a few soccer games and wanted to spend some time with you. How about that US soccer win, pretty awesome, huh?

Anyway, I wanted to talk to you today about giving your worries, your anxieties, your burdens, your fears and concerns, to God, because none of us have to carry those things on our own. . .
You know, Satan really wants to get ahold of our souls by making us feel alone and overwhelmed and stuck. Satan wants you to feel as if you have no hope, then he has you in his possession rather than God. . . But as followers of Christ, we know that we always have hope in Jesus Christ, we don’t have to carry our burdens by ourselves and we don’t have to get overwhelmed.

Let me go back to soccer for a minute. Every time we have practice, when the end comes, we put all the soccer balls into a big mesh bag. It ends up being a bunch of balls, some 20 or 30. And even though soccer balls are filled with air, with that many, the bag becomes heavy.

After one practice, I was the one who had to load up the balls, put them in the bag, and get them out to the coach’s car. I tried to pick the bag up, but just could not do it. It was just too heavy to carry, so I was just dragging it along the ground.

Slowly but surely I was making some progress, but then the coach saw me and said, “Douglas, you don’t have to do that by yourself, let me help you.” And just like that, I was relieved of the burden, as he got on one end of the bag, I was at the other end, and we carried the bag to the car.

It got me to thinking, we do the same thing in life. . . sure we get weighed down by a lot of stuff:

- worries about family
- financial burdens
- stress with our jobs and in our relationships
- health problems and concerns
- maybe we are overwhelmed with grief
- or anxious about a move or a new job
- we can worry and fret over peace in the world or the quality of the environment - or whether or not the sun is going to come out tomorrow and whether or not we are going to be alive to see it. . .

We can carry all those things in our minds and our hearts and our lives, and most of us just want to buck up and say, well, that’s life, and I have to do the best I can. And we do just get weighed down. But, and this is the kicker, it doesn’t have to be that way!

Because Jesus has offered to help us, just like coach helped me with the soccer balls. Jesus us told us very openly and bluntly: “Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” Jesus said that, and he means it! He doesn’t want us to play the strong man or woman and try to carry all of that on our own. All we have to do is say, “hey God, I need your help with this.” And God WILL simply love to help us, because God loves us so much, and believe it or not, there are others who love us, and are willing to help too! We just have to ask. . . And the really cool thing is, God is SO BIG, it doesn’t matter how big or heavy your worries, fears, or burdens are. It’s not too big for God.

And so that’s my challenge to you guys today: that you will be willing to cast all your burdens and fears, and worries and anxieties. That you will be willing to take all this stuff, and turn it over to God: That you will talk with God, pray to God, tell God what is weighing you down, what you are struggling with, what your problems are, what’s keeping you from your dreams or keeping you from being the very best version of yourself.

As a friend of mine always says: “Let go, and let God” because God loves us all so much, God wants to help us carry our burdens.

Make the prayer you say at every Mass your prayer everyday: Lord, by the help of your mercy, may we always be free from sin and safe from all distress as we await in blessed hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Or how about the song we sang at the beginning of Mass: Leave your worries and fears in the arms of God, and the burdens you carry will fade within God’s care.

Okay, thanks for letting me spend time with you today. And allow me to say USA, for the soccer team and our 250th anniversary. I’ll see you next time I’m here in Kansas City, which may be that football home opener when the Chiefs beat the Broncos. . .

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06/29/2026

Fr. Matthew Brumleve Homily: 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

One day, a golden retriever, known to be an easily distracted dog, stretched in the sun and began his day on the farm. He caught sight of a deer chomping away at the hostas in the side yard and immediately began to chase it. As they ran by the garden, he noticed a rabbit having its breakfast on the lettuce. Quickly forgetting the deer, he began to chase away the rabbit.
Running near the pond, he saw a flock of geese grazing, and forgetting about the rabbit, quickly began to chase the geese until they took flight.

Then he caught sight of the old barn cat who was chasing a mouse, chased the cat away, and took up the pursuit of the mouse, until it ran down a hole in the ground. And thus began the day for the golden retriever, first chasing after a great deer, and ending up looking down a hole in the ground where he had pursued the small mouse.

Distractions, the golden retriever had them, and so do we. Distractions are those things that can easily pull our minds, our hearts, our energy, and our attention away from pursuing the things of heaven, which build the kingdom of God in our midst, as we end up pursuing the things of this earth.

As we sang last week: where your treasure is, there your heart shall be. . . So where is our treasure??

If we were to base Jesus’ understanding of family life solely on today’s gospel, we might get the wrong idea. Jesus isn’t telling us to reject our family. Rather, Jesus uses this to illustrate a point: even loyalty to our family, or listening to their opinions, can be a distraction in following after Jesus with all our minds and hearts.

Case in point, if I had listened to what my father wanted me to do in life, I would not be here, but in a dentist's office somewhere, and I might be retired by now. I would not be leading a faith community, or two, at the present moment.

And my mother thought I would not be a good priest because I “lacked the gift of gab,” as she put it. Even though I pointed out to her, Mom, we’re German, we’re stoic, we don’t talk a lot like the Irish and the Italians! And perhaps that works to your advantage with shorter homilies – who knows??

Pursuit of wealth, worrying about what other people think of us and our status within a community, the need to surround ourselves with flashy cars, stylish clothes, the best vacations we can or cannot afford, living in certain neighborhoods, or hanging out with the right people, all can distract us from the pursuit of the kingdom of God.

And again, as we heard last week, fear, too, can be a distraction: fear of what others might think, fear of failure, fear of suffering, fear of the cost of discipleship can all be distractions. Accepting Jesus means accepting the cross. Suffering is an unavoidable part of discipleship: “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”

St. Paul reminds us in the letter to the Romans that the choice to accept Jesus and what, then, we should pursue in life, was made at our Baptism: “Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into his death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we, too, might live in newness of life.”

Part of our life in Christ requires following the example Christ gave us. We are to feed the hungry and thirsty. We are to welcome those who are excluded. We are to share the love of God. We are to turn the other cheek when wronged and be the first to offer forgiveness. These are all essential things when choosing discipleship. And they are all important things. So don’t get distracted! Stay focused. Don’t begin your day pursuing the great values of the kingdom – only to get distracted by the smaller things of the world.

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06/25/2026

06/03/2026

Fr. Matthew Brumleve; Homily for Trinity Sunday

I saw a cartoon once that showed a group of teens leaving their high school in the afternoon. They were all, more or less, dressed identically, same baggy and torn jeans. Same t-shirts. Same baseball caps, some turned backwards. Same brand of tennis shoes. . .
One of them says to the group: “I heard we’re gonna have to wear uniforms next year.”
Another complains: “That’s not fair! I don’t wanna have to dress like everyone else.”

Many of us have a peculiar relationship with the concept of DIVERSITY. Due mostly, I think, because it has been politicized. Because when I pulled out my trusted Roget’s College Thesaurus, newly revised and expanded back in 1978, when I was IN college, synonyms, or words which mean the same as diversity include: difference / dissimilarity / variation / and variety, with the antonym or opposite meaning listed as : conformity.

What’s so scary about those words – difference, variation, variety – which we probably use more often than diversity??

In one way, we are all for diversity, “I want to do my own thing” we think or say. “I have to express my individuality.” OR “I do things differently than you and that’s okay.” Or say something as simple as: I enjoy a different variety of apple than you do!! But in another way, we distrust it: “Diversity will destroy community. We have to do things alike to get along together.” OR “In unity is our strength!”

Those teens in the cartoon wanted diversity in dress, That’s not fair! I don’t wanna have to dress like everyone else. And yet, in reality, they were already all dressed alike.

Sometimes we do something similar. We say we are all for diversity, yet we squelch any sign of it in ourselves and certainly in others.

Why can we be so intolerant of diversity?? For one thing, we may be afraid- although Jesus tells us many times NOT to be afraid! Being human, we all have our fears. We are afraid of germs, wasps, snakes, strangers, heights, new ideas, the future, God, and even ourselves.
And these innate fears cause us to do some strange things, for example, to curb diversity. We reason, the more diversity there is, the less we will know and understand. And the less we know and understand, the less control we will have over our lives. And not having control is a scary thing! And so we curb diversity in small ways. We demand, or at least want, everyone to act in the same way. We can say or think things like: “we should all dress alike. . . we should all pray alike. . . we should all hold the same values. . . and practice the same devotions.” People who are intolerant of diversity assume, mistakenly, that there is really only one right way of doing things, one right way of being in this world. And that is, of course, OUR WAY.

But diversity is not a threat. It is a gift. In fact it is one of the outstanding characteristics of God’s creation. All we have to do is look at the world of plants and animals . . .:
When God thought “flower”, God did not think merely of daisies or roses. God also thought: lily, violet, geranium, orchid, daffodil, iris, hyacinth, aster, azalea, and so on. Likewise, when God conceived “animal”
God did not stop with just dogs and cats - but continued with horse, goat, whale, camel, parrot, rabbit, cobra, elephant, giraffe, and hedgehog. And when God thought “people” God did not stop with Adam and Eve – but continued on with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Moses, Ruth, David, Mary, Joseph – all the way down the family tree to you and me— and all the way down the color palette: black, white, brown, yellow, and red.

As we heard St. Paul tell us last week on the feast of Pentecost: there are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit. There are different forms of service but the same Lord. There are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.” St. Paul sees the diversity among Christians as a reflection of the diversity among the Persons of the Holy Trinity.

In the passage quoted: the Spirit is of course the Holy Spirit. The Lord is Jesus Christ. And God is the Father of creation. God is diversity! The three persons are unique from each other. And we who have been made in God’s image, share in God’s diverse nature. And diversity, like all of God’s creation, is GOOD!

Jesuit spiritual writer, Father Anthony de Mello, tells this story: When God created the world, God smiled and said, “This is very good.” But the devil also looked upon what God had made, and he smiled too, and said: “That is very good.” But then added: “Now let’s organize it.” And we have been fighting ever since!

So as we celebrate our diverse God today: three persons but one God, we should take some time to reflect on questions like: How welcoming are we of diversity when we encounter it, especially in other people? Do we see diversity as delightful or lamentable? Do we fear and resent what is different or unfamiliar, or do we see it as fascinating and challenging?

Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The God of diversity: help us to appreciate and delight in what is different and unfamiliar. And be in awe of your diverse creation. AMEN!

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05/20/2026

Fr. Matthew Brumleve; Homily for The Feast of the Ascension:

Legendary basketball coach and fellow Hoosier to me, John Wooden, tells this story:
I loved preparing for practice. Every day the staff and I would meet a couple of hours to clarify the plan. The meetings began at 10:00 am. We would schedule each minute and every aspect of the practice. I wanted the team manager to know how many balls we required and where and when we needed them. We evaluated who needed extra work and on what. All the coaches and managers had minute by minute details and instructions written on 3 x 5 cards. I loved working with my team and loved practices. Since retiring, I don’t miss the games, but I miss the preparation for the games. We would be so well prepared that once the game started, I thought I could just go up in the stands and the team would not miss me, because they knew what to do.
(One-On One, Day 40)

Today, on this feast of the Ascension, we don’t celebrate Jesus’ retirement, but we do acknowledge the fact that 40 days after his resurrection, on a mountain in Galilee, “he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from the sight of the apostles.”

Practice was over, now it was time for the game. Of course, the disciples would miss their master and friend, but would they know what to do?? Had Jesus taught them well enough that he could now just sit up in the stands and watch?

Jesus, of course, tried his best to teach the Apostles what they should do and say. Some of the lessons he taught them just during the Easter season have been: Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.

Oh how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke. He took bread, said the blessing, broke it and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him. The shepherd walks ahead of the sheep and they follow because they recognize his voice. I am the gate, whoever enters through me will be saved. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. John the Baptist baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Practice is over. Jesus has been taken from their sight.
Have the disciples listened?
Have we been listening?

If so, then we should know what to do:

All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations - teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

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