Sainthood by Surprise

In our Gospel story today (Luke 18:9-14), the Pharisee believes that he is saintly in the eyes of God while the tax collector can only express his sorrow and ask for forgiveness. But only God gets to decide who pleases Him. It is all a matter of heart according to Jesus. Do morals matter… of course! Does obedience to God’s commandments matter… you bet! But for God, every sinner has a future, a new course of action on the other side of repentance. The first step, the best step, is to begin that new journey with a humble heart. That is the path to sainthood. And as always, it will catch the true saint totally by surprise… and what a joyous surprise it will be. Keep your heart and attention focused on God alone, and “let the saints go marching in!”

- Deacon Robert

“We too should be clear in our
Christian life that entering the glory
of God demands daily fidelity to his
will, even when it demands sacrifice
and sometimes requires us to change
our plans.” ~ Pope Francis

When Does God Hear and Answer Our Prayers?

Jesus does not give us a tidy answer to solve the mystery of why God seems so distant at times and does not answer our prayers as we think He should (Exodus 17:8-13; 2 Timothy 3:14 - 4:2Luke 18:1-8). Saint Paul was persistent in his prayer for healing of his “thorn in the flesh,” yet God’s answer was to learn strength in the weakness that thorn gave him. On the cross, Jesus himself lifted a cry to the silent heavens that seemed to go unanswered… until Easter gave us all a new perspective of Good Friday. So this seems to be the point Jesus is teaching us about prayer today. Keep praying, not because prayer forces God to answer, but because prayer keeps us in relationship with our heavenly Father who can be trusted, even on the darkest days when prayers seem to go unanswered.

- Deacon Robert

“Being Christian is not just obeying orders but means being in Christ,
thinking like him, acting like him, loving like him; it means letting him
take possession of our life and change it, transform it and free it from the
darkness of evil and sin… Let us show the joy of being children of God, the
freedom that living in Christ gives us which is true freedom, the freedom
that saves us from the slavery of evil, of sin and of death!”
~ Pope Francis

Gratitude

Dear Parishioners,

Last week while I was out of the office, I received a call from one of the secretaries. It seems the Archbishop called. He left a message to give him a call. He said it was “all good” about what he wanted to discuss. I was glad he said it was “all good” because whenever you get a message from the “big boss” you start to worry. I didn’t get to talk to the Archbishop as he left a very nice, long message on my cell phone thanking me and the parish for reaching our goal and exceeding it for the Capital Campaign, Embracing Our Mission. By the way, we have received a rebate of $33,580.00 which has allowed us to pay for the repair of our church gutters – Bring on the rain! Of course, more work needs to be done in the parish hall and kitchen, and it will be as the rebates come in during the next several years.

This week the scripture readings deal with gratitude to God (2 Kings 5:14-17; 2 Timothy 2:8-13Luke 17:11-19). Naamon, the foreign general, in gratitude for being cured from leprosy, will return to Syria, but only worship and offer sacrifice to the God of Israel. In the gospel, however, only one of the ten lepers, a detested Samaritan, returns to offer thanks to Jesus. The others couldn’t be bothered! We all have so much for which to be grateful. The best way is the Mass each weekend where we celebrate the Eucharist. Did you know the Greek word “eucharist” means “thanksgiving”? Today, we Catholics need to develop a greater attitude of gratitude for God’s gifts. Stewardship, the generous sharing of our time (prayer), talent (community and church service), and treasure (almsgiving and church support) is the way we do this. It’s the way we are called to live our faith. We all want to hear Jesus say to us as he did the Samaritan at the end of today’s gospel—“Stand up and go your way, your faith has been your salvation.”

- Fr. Carl

Why is October the month of the Rosary?

Dear Parishioners,

On October 7, 1571 a famous naval battle took place near the Bay of Lepanto off the southwestern coast of Greece. What led up to this famous battle, the last major battle fought by oar-powered ships, was the military might of the Ottoman Turks. They had become the scourge of the Mediterranean Sea capturing Christian ships with their cargoes and turning Christian sailors into galley slaves to pull the oars. So successful had this Muslim force become, that along with their armies, Christian people in Europe were in severe danger of being conquered and being forced to surrender their faith.

Finally, the pope, Pius V, called on the Christian people to gather an armada of ships to engage the Turks in battle. Ships were sent from Genoa, Venice, Naples, Spain, Malta, and even from the pope’s navy under the command of Don Juan of Austria.

When the two navies met, it was in the early morning on this very date. The winds were favorable for the Turks. Moreover, the Turkish fleet was superior in ships and manpower. Things did not look favorable for the Christians. However, at the last minute, the winds shifted in favor of the Christians, they won a decisive victory, and saved Europe from Muslim domination.

What caused the winds to shift? At the time of the battle, the pope and a number of his brother Dominicans were praying the rosary on behalf of the Christians. He, therefore, attributed their victory to Mary’s intercession and dedicated a feast which he called Our Lady of Victory. Later the name was changed to Our Lady of the Rosary and October has been called ever since – the month of the Rosary.

I encourage you and your families to pray the rosary together as we fight to save and preserve our families, our faith, and our religious freedoms which are constantly under attack from the forces of secularism and materialism.

- Fr. Carl

The More You Give, The More You Get

Dear Parishioners,

Last week we heard the story of the dishonest steward who wasted his owner’s property (Luke 16:1-13). He was fired, but before he lost his job, he enterprisingly reduced the debts of his master’s debtors so that he might get some help from them when he became unemployed. While his actions were devious, he was enterprising and using the talent he had been given. The parable reminds us that we are stewards or managers of God’s gifts to us in terms of time, talent, and treasure. One day we will have to give God an account of our stewardship and how we have used His gifts.

Today’s gospel parable of the rich man and Lazarus continues that theme (Luke 16:19-31). God blessed the rich man with tremendous treasure, yet he was so insensitive and self-centered that he shared nothing of his food and treasure with poor Lazarus. The rich man was a poor, ungrateful steward and rightly deserved the punishment he received after death.

Stewardship is about using God’s gifts of time, talent and treasure to help build up God’s kingdom on earth. It’s about caring and sharing with God and neighbor because we have developed an attitude of gratitude.

One thing we should remember is “the more we give in time, talent and treasure, the more we get” both here and hereafter. GOD WILL NOT BE OUTDONE IN GENEROSITY.

- Fr. Carl

“How does Joseph respond to his calling to be the protector of Mary, Jesus and the Church? By being constantly attentive to God, open to the signs of God’s presence and receptive to God’s plans, and not simply to his own…In him, dear friends, we learn how to respond to God’s call, readily and willingly, but we also see the core of the Christian vocation, which is Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation!”
- Pope Francis

Dishonest Wealth

Dear Parishioners,

Our gospel today shows us a shocking restoration (Luke 16:1-13). The dishonest, squandering manager who garnered no sympathy, suddenly discovers anew the boss’ blessing. Here we see a glimpse of the resurrection, life from death, hope from despair, grace from judgment. We are not sure if the man got his job back, but I believe he got his life back.

The story ends with our Lord’s charge to “make friends by means of dishonest wealth.” This ending, though difficult, is perfect! The only wealth God lavishes on any of us is the currency of dishonest wealth. None of us can earn it, none of us deserve it, and no printing press in the world can issue it. Grace is the ultimate “dishonest wealth” because it has no basis in anything we consider important or lasting. The way God does business, grace is the only wealth that matters, and surely the only wealth that endures. This is indeed a tough story to hear, but aren’t you glad you heard it?

- Deacon Robert

“Christ opened the path to us. He is like a
roped guide climbing a mountain who, on
reaching the summit, pulls us up to him and
leads us to God. If we entrust our life to him,
if we let ourselves be guided by him, we are
certain to be in safe hands, in the hands of
our Savior, of our advocate.”
- Pope Francis

Patience and Mercy

Dear Parishioners,

In case you haven’t noticed (and there is no reason you should), the gutters around the church have been repaired, relined, and repainted. So we shouldn’t have the leaks into the church we have had in the past. That’s because the $20,000 rebate we received from the Embracing Our Mission capital campaign enabled us to pay for the work. Thank you for your generosity. Our next phase is retiling of the parish hall floor next year.

We also did some landscaping in front of the school to enhance the entrance around the flagpole and flower beds. Since we did some work in front of the church several years ago, it was only fair that we do the same for our school.

Two weeks ago, I talked about the virtue of humility as per the scripture readings. This week, the readings talk about two more difficult virtues: patience and mercy (Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-32). We all appreciate God’s mercy and look forward to receiving it. Yet, when we are asked to show mercy after we have been wronged, it’s not so easy for us to dispense it. However, it would help if we never forget our great debt to Jesus and our hope for God’s mercy. As for patience, it only comes from prayer and the remembrance of God’s patience with Israel on Mount Sinai and in the desert, and Jesus’ example in the gospel, as well as regular reflection on the many stupid mistakes we have made in the past. Above all, be more patient with yourself; God hasn’t finished working on you.

- Fr. Carl