Heart to Heart: Fr. Jim Willig - Gospel Teachings

Heart to Heart, a Catholic Media Ministry

Gospel teachings and lessons recorded by Fr. Jim Willig during his "Lunch with the Lord" Bible Study.

  • 27 minutes 35 seconds
    John 11:1-45 | Come Alive with Fr. Jim Willig

    His friends believe him dead. Jesus challenges their faith and performs one of His greatest miracles in raising Lazarus from the dead.

    John 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33B-45
    The sisters of Lazarus sent word to Jesus, saying,
    "Master, the one you love is ill."
    When Jesus heard this he said,
    "This illness is not to end in death,
    but is for the glory of God,
    that the Son of God may be glorified through it."
    Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
    So when he heard that he was ill,
    he remained for two days in the place where he was.
    Then after this he said to his disciples,
    +Let us go back to Judea."

    When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus
    had already been in the tomb for four days.
    When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,
    she went to meet him;
    but Mary sat at home.
    Martha said to Jesus,
    "Lord, if you had been here,
    my brother would not have died.
    But even now I know that whatever you ask of God,
    God will give you."
    Jesus said to her,

    "Your brother will rise."
    Martha said,
    "I know he will rise,
    in the resurrection on the last day."
    Jesus told her,
    "I am the resurrection and the life;
    whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,
    and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
    Do you believe this?"
    She said to him, "Yes, Lord.
    I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,
    the one who is coming into the world."

    He became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said,
    "Where have you laid him?"
    They said to him, "Sir, come and see."
    And Jesus wept.
    So the Jews said, "See how he loved him."
    But some of them said,
    "Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man
    have done something so that this man would not have died?"

    So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb.
    It was a cave, and a stone lay across it.
    Jesus said, "Take away the stone."
    Martha, the dead man's sister, said to him,
    "Lord, by now there will be a stench;
    he has been dead for four days."
    Jesus said to her,
    "Did I not tell you that if you believe
    you will see the glory of God?"
    So they took away the stone.
    And Jesus raised his eyes and said,
    "Father, I thank you for hearing me.
    I know that you always hear me;
    but because of the crowd here I have said this,
    that they may believe that you sent me."
    And when he had said this,
    He cried out in a loud voice,
    "Lazarus, come out!"
    The dead man came out,
    tied hand and foot with burial bands,
    and his face was wrapped in a cloth.
    So Jesus said to them,
    "Untie him and let him go."

    Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary
    and seen what he had done began to believe in him.

    The Gospel of the Lord


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    20 March 2026, 9:00 pm
  • 28 minutes 11 seconds
    Matthew 17:1-9/Luke 9:28-36 | Vision Statement with Fr. Jim Willig

    from Matthew 17:-1-9
    Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother,
    and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
    And he was transfigured before them;
    his face shone like the sun
    and his clothes became white as light.
    And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them,
    conversing with him.
    Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
    "Lord, it is good that we are here.
    If you wish, I will make three tents here,
    one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
    While he was still speaking, behold,
    a bright cloud cast a shadow over them,
    then from the cloud came a voice that said,
    "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased;
    listen to him." ...

    Read the full scripture: bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030126.cfm


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    25 February 2026, 1:00 pm
  • 28 minutes 7 seconds
    Matthew 5:17-37 | Where Does Sin Begin? with Fr. Jim Willig

    Jesus came to fulfill the Law. Listen as Fr. Jim teaches what that really means.

    from Matthew 5:17-37

    Jesus said to his disciples:
    “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
    I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
    Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
    not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
    will pass from the law,
    until all things have taken place.
    Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
    and teaches others to do so
    will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.
    But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
    will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
    I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses
    that of the scribes and Pharisees,
    you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. ...

    Read the full scripture passage: bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021526.cfm


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    11 February 2026, 11:00 pm
  • 27 minutes 33 seconds
    Matthew 5:13-16 | Let Your Light Shine by Fr. Jim Willig

    from Matthew 5:13-16

    Jesus said to his disciples:
    "You are the salt of the earth.
    But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?
    It is no longer good for anything
    but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
    You are the light of the world.

    Read the full scripture passage: bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020826.cfm


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    4 February 2026, 10:00 am
  • 28 minutes 34 seconds
    Matthew 5:1-12a | The Beatitudes by Fr. Jim Willig

    from Matthew 5:1-12a
    When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,
    and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. 
    He began to teach them, saying:
    “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
    Blessed are they who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
    Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the land.
    Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be satisfied. ...

    Read the full scripture: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020126.cfm


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    30 January 2026, 3:00 pm
  • 20 minutes 33 seconds
    Matthew 4:12-23 | Gospel of Life - A Gospel Teaching by Fr. Jim Willig

    In this previously unreleased Gospel Teaching by Fr. Jim Willig, Fr. Jim examines the call of the first Apostles by Jesus and invites us to consider our own call to follow the Lord.

    from Matthew 4:12-23

    When Jesus heard that John had been arrested,
    he withdrew to Galilee.
    He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea,
    in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,
    that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet
    might be fulfilled:
    Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
    the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan,
    Galilee of the Gentiles,
    the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,
    on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death
    light has arisen.

    Read the full scripture passage: bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012526.cfm


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    24 January 2026, 1:00 pm
  • 28 minutes 28 seconds
    John 1:29-34 | Recognizing Christ Through John the Baptist by Fr. Jim Willig

    Even John didn't know that Jesus was the Messiah until the Spirit of God revealed the truth to him. How can we learn from John the Baptist to recognize Christ?

    John 1:29-34
    John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said,
    “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
    He is the one of whom I said,
    ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me
    because he existed before me.’
    I did not know him,
    but the reason why I came baptizing with water
    was that he might be made known to Israel.” ...

    Read the full scripture: bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011826.cfm


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    16 January 2026, 12:00 pm
  • 25 minutes 10 seconds
    Hanging to the Right of Jesus | Luke 23:35-43 with Fr. Jim Willig and Fr. Michael Sparough, SJ

    With a dramatic reading by Fr. Michael of those who mocked Jesus' on the cross, Fr. Jim focuses on the thief hanging to Jesus' right side; the thief who recognized his own sinfulness and need for repentance.

    from Luke 23:35-43
    ...Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying,
    "Are you not the Christ?
    Save yourself and us."
    The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply,
    "Have you no fear of God,
    for you are subject to the same condemnation?
    And indeed, we have been condemned justly,
    for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes,
    but this man has done nothing criminal."
    Then he said,
    "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
    He replied to him,
    "Amen, I say to you,
    today you will be with me in Paradise."

    Read the full scripture passage: bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112325.cfm


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    22 November 2025, 3:00 pm
  • 28 minutes 1 second
    Waiting for the Kingdom of God | Luke 21: 5-19

    When will Jesus return? The disciples didn't know 2,000 years ago and we don't know today, but the message is the same: Believe in me. Tell others about me. Wait for me, patiently and with perseverance. Listen as Fr. Jim expounds.

    from Luke 21:5-19

    "Before all this happens, however,
    they will seize and persecute you,
    they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons,
    and they will have you led before kings and governors
    because of my name.
    It will lead to your giving testimony.
    Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand,
    for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking
    that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.
    You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends,
    and they will put some of you to death.
    You will be hated by all because of my name,
    but not a hair on your head will be destroyed.
    By your perseverance you will secure your lives."

    Read the full scripture passage: bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111625.cfm


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    12 November 2025, 9:00 am
  • 24 minutes 7 seconds
    This Life or the Next? | Luke 20:27-38 with Fr. Jim Willig

    Which life is your priority? This one or the next?

    from Luke 20:27-38
    Jesus said to them,
    "The children of this age marry and remarry;
    but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age
    and to the resurrection of the dead
    neither marry nor are given in marriage.
    They can no longer die,
    for they are like angels;
    and they are the children of God
    because they are the ones who will rise.
    That the dead will rise
    even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,
    when he called out 'Lord, '
    the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;
    and he is not God of the dead, but of the living,
    for to him all are alive."

    Read the full scripture package: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110622.cfm


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    7 November 2025, 12:00 am
  • 28 minutes 28 seconds
    Going Out On A Limb | Luke 19:1-10 with Fr. Jim Willig

    Zaccaeus went out on a limb for Jesus. Would we?

    from Luke 19:1-10
    At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.
    Now a man there named Zacchaeus,
    who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man,
    was seeking to see who Jesus was;
    but he could not see him because of the crowd,
    for he was short in stature.
    So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,
    who was about to pass that way.
    When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,
    "Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
    for today I must stay at your house."

    Read the full scripture passage: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/103022.cfm

    Homily read by Fr. J. Michael Sparough, SJ
    Gospel Study by Fr. Jim Willig


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    1 November 2025, 10:00 am
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