Remember Me

Dear Parishioners,

The thief, dying on the cross alongside Jesus asks only to be remembered when Jesus comes to his rightful throne (Luke 23:35-43). He does not want to be forgotten. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Suddenly it occurs to us that this thief is playing our part in this drama. He is saying our lines and speaking our hopes… we do not want to be forgotten either.

And so Jesus’ answer to this thief, and to all of us who listen with faith for His response, is the ultimate word of grace and comfort. “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” It was more than the thief asked, and certainly more than he deserved. That Jesus would remember us when all human memories have ceased is incredible. But Jesus offers more. He promises that those who trust him with this gallant faith will actually be with Him, after our death, in paradise.

- Deacon Robert

“This is the invitation which I address to
everyone: Let us accept the grace of
Christ’s resurrection! Let us be renewed by
God’s mercy; let us be loved by Jesus; let
us enable the power of his love to transform
our lives, too; and let us become agents of
this mercy, channels through which God
can water the earth, protect all creation and
make justice and peace flourish.”
- Pope Francis

It’s Better to Be Toasted Than Roasted

Dear Parishioners,

Each day the hours of sunlight shining down upon us becomes fewer and fewer. The end of the calendar year is approaching. So, too, is the end of the church year, and with the passing of each year, so too our life on earth. Today’s readings call our attention to the end of time and God’s judgment.

In the first reading (Malachi 3:19-20a), Malachi uses the image of the sun. The sun can scorch and set fire, but it also heals with its warming rays. So it will be at the end of time. For the evildoer, judgment will be terrible, but glory and joy await the faithful steward. So let’s be generous with the time, talent, and treasure God has given us here to use on his behalf. After all, it’s better to be praised for our good deeds at the heavenly banquet, than punished for our bad ones at the gathering down below. Or to put it more succinctly, it’s better to be toasted than roasted.

- Fr. Carl

“Sometimes it may seem as though God does not react to evil, as if He is silent. And yet God has spoken. He has replied, and His answer is the cross of Christ: a word that is love, mercy, forgiveness.” ~ Pope Francis

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