What’s The Plan?

Dear Parishioners,

Sometimes life doesn’t go as we plan. Problems, difficulties, and unforeseen situations appear out of nowhere and challenge us. Mary had planned on a virginal marriage to Joseph, but the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary a different divine plan (Luke 1:26-38). God asked her to change her plans, and she readily agreed. There is a lesson in that for us. When problems and difficulties arise, they might be a challenge to persevere in pursuing our objectives in life. However, they might be an invitation from God to change our plans and follow a new plan He has for us. No matter what, we should always bring it to God in prayer to discern His plan in life for us. If we do as Mary did, God will lead us to eternal happiness.

- Father Carl

“God only gave men ten Commandments,
and one of the ten has for its sole object the
reverence due to His name… Yet is there
anything nowadays that is treated with less respect
than the Sacred Name?”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

Could It Be That Good?

Dear Parishioners,

God’s kingdom is as good as Isaiah and Paul and John describe (Isaiah 61:1-2a, 10-11;1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28), and even more when it comes alive in the likes of us. How does that happen? What can God call from us today that would take us through the rest of this Advent journey and beyond with renewed joy and deeper faith?

Here is a simple suggestion: Invite God to free you from whatever is oppressing your soul. For some, it could be guilt over something you did or failed to do. Perhaps you let down a friend or disappointed a parent or hurt your spouse. The Kingdom is so good that God longs for every one of his children to know grace that forgives and restores and liberates. Whatever else you think you have to do between now and Christmas, let God set you free to know deep in your soul how very good this Christian life can be.

- Deacon Robert

“NOTHING is so contrary to charity as pride.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

Consolation, Reparation and Jubilation

Dear Parishioners,

Consolation, reparation, jubilation. These are the three ideas I see in today’s reading from Isaiah (Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11). The setting is toward the end of the Babylonian exile. Remember God’s people had not been faithful to Him who allowed Jerusalem to be conquered by the Babylonians and the people led into exile and slavery. Now they were being liberated and allowed to return home. God now offers comfort and consolation to an oppressed and weary people. However, they must now make reparation for their sins. They have to lower the mountains of pride in their hearts and fill in the valleys of spiritual laziness (sloth). If they do this, not only will they find consolation, but also joy and jubilation.

God offers us consolation, comfort, and jubilation provided we are willing to undergo reparation (the sacrament of Penance) for our sins.

- Father Carl

“God makes greater speed to pardon a penitent
sinner than a mother to snatch her child out of the fire.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

Peace for Mind and Heart

Dear Parishioners,

November is the month that the Church remembers our beloved dead as we pray for our deceased relatives and friends. It is also a good time to think about our own deaths and the help we might need as we approach God’s judgment. The best possible help we can get is a funeral Mass. The merits of one Mass are infinitely more valuable than a simple service at a funeral home. If you want the best help for yourself or loved ones, have a Mass and make sure your family and parish are notified before hand. All too often, surviving family members are choosing a service at a funeral home instead of a Mass because it is more convenient. Not a good reason! I just revised my will today and left money to be used for memorial Masses for my soul. I figure I am going to need all the help I can get. What about you?

As we come to the beginning of Advent on the last day of November, the readings remind us to be vigilant and look to the end (Isaiah 63:19b; 64:2-7; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:33-37). It is a sober reminder, at the start of this joyful season culminating in the celebration of our Lord’s birth at Christmas, that we must be ready to meet Jesus at the Second Coming or at our death. As Isaiah says in the first reading, “Would that you might meet us doing right, that we were mindful of you in our ways.” The best way to start doing right is through confessing what we have been doing wrong in the Sacrament of Penance. As St. Augustine said much more eloquently, “The beginning of good works is the confession of bad works.” So avoid the Christmas rush, and come to Sacrament of Penance sooner rather than later. Confessions are held each Saturday from 3:30—4:30 p.m. If you cannot come then, call the rectory and make an appointment. One of Jesus’ greatest blessings is the peace of mind and heart experienced after this beautiful sacrament of spiritual healing.

- Father Carl

“We listen to a sermon if we happen to like
the preacher… We must not act thus humanly.
It is not the shell we should look at.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

Christ The King

Dear Parishioners,

Jesus never called himself a king. To the contrary, he ran from it. During his ministry, he was always deflecting attention away from himself. A man calls him “Good teacher,” and Jesus says, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.” This is what qualifies Jesus to be the king the world needs. He had no self-seeking ambition. He was free of infatuation with power. His only business was his Father’s business. Jesus inverted the concept of kingship into servanthood. There has never been such a King. This is why he is our king… the King of Kings… he is for us Christ the King.

- Deacon Robert

“We must watch over our mind, our heart and
our senses, for these are the gates by which the Devil
enters in.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

Whose Got Talent?

Dear Parishioners,

After two weeks in the hospital, it is so good to be home. Thanks so much for your prayers and “get well” cards. They helped so much. My experience reminded me just how fragile life can be. One little spider bite led to cellulitis and then a very bad staph infection. Thanks to the doctors and nurses at St. Agnes Hospital, I am on the road to recovery and back home.

Today’s gospel used to be called the parable of the talents, because the original Greek says the master gave his servants five talents, three talents, and one talent respectively (Matthew 25:14-30). It says nothing about silver. A talent was a measure of weight that gradually became a measure of gold exchange and could weigh between 58 and 80 pounds. One talent of silver or gold would have been a very large amount of money. Three or five talents would have been a huge sum and a very generous loan from the man to his servants.

We are God’s servants, and he has been extremely generous to us, giving us many gifts and talents. Very often we take these gifts for granted—good health, food, clothing, shelter, family, friends, money, employment, etc. The question posed to us by the gospel is, “Are we using these talents for the good of God and the world or not?”

- Father Carl

“There is not a single creature which does not
provide us with the means of reaching God.
If any of them become an obstacle, it is only
by our misuse of them.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

Sacred Places

Dear Parishioners,

There is a beautiful, elegant house of worship in the city of Rome. This church, one of Rome’s four major basilicas is known as the Pope’s church. Tradition says that on the site of the basilica, St. John Lateran, the Roman Emperor Constantine was baptized in the third century. Today, November 9th, we remember the dedication of this great church.

But be sure that as magnificent as the ancient Temple in Jerusalem was, as majestic as St. John Lateran in Rome is, as deeply memorable as any place you would name “sacred” could be, no place on earth is as sacred as the holy place within you and me.

Unsure if his Corinthian Church understood his teaching, Paul then speaks plainly. “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17) We are God’s sacred space in this world, and in this sacred space within us, God chooses to live and do His sacred work.

- Deacon Robert

“When we come from our Communions, if anyone said to us:
‘What are you taking home with you?’ we should be able to reply:
‘I am carrying away Heaven!’”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars