Heavenly Existence

Dear Parishioners,

Jesus affirmed that we have relationships and awareness in heaven, but the primary relationship, the primary focus of heavenly life is with God, not each other (Luke 20:27-38). Heaven is not a second chapter of this life, like a Hollywood sequel. Comparing heavenly existence to earthly existence is like comparing football to baseball, apples to oranges… similar in some ways, but certainly not identical.

The point Jesus makes to the Sadducees and to us helps us to imagine that the normal experience of earthly existence, limitation of time and space, cycles of life and death relationships and roles… all of these will be transformed in heaven. Ours is not to fret about these matters, since they will only sidetrack us from the one thing that makes heaven heavenly in the first place. We will be eternally present with the God who created us, loves, and redeems us. Everything else is secondary in detail, best left to God anyway.

- Deacon Robert

“The Lord never tires of forgiving – never! It is we who tire of asking
His forgiveness. Let us ask for the grace not to tire of asking forgiveness,
because He never tires of forgiving. Let us ask for this grace.”
~ Pope Francis

Shopping For Bargains

Dear Parishioners,

We are all looking for a good deal. We constantly shop for bargains. In older days, we would clip coupons to save money at the grocery store or scour the newspapers for the sales at department stores. Today, we look to the internet for the best deals.

In today’s Gospel (Luke 19:1-10), Zacchaeus finds the best deal of all. He finds Jesus. However, even the best deals cost something. The coupons saved money, but you still had to spend some money to take advantage of them. Items obtained on the internet still cost money. Even Zacchaeus’ finding of Jesus cost him. Half of his possessions he gave to the poor and reimbursed four times over those from whom he extorted. It cost Zacchaeus a lot, but did he mind it? The answer is “No!” He did it enthusiastically and generously. He knew that in finding Jesus, he had found a bargain. So thankful was Zacchaeus that he shared generously of his treasure and grew large in the eyes of God.

- Fr. Carl

“In this period of crisis, today, it is important not to turn in on ourselves, burying our own talent, our spiritual, intellectual, and material riches, everything that the Lord has given us, but, rather to open ourselves, to be supportive, to be attentive to others…. Set your stakes on great ideals, the ideals that enlarge the heart, the ideals of service that make your talents fruitful. Life is not given to us to be jealously guarded for ourselves, but is given to us so that we may give it in turn.” ~ Pope Francis

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