Change Is Inevitable

Dear Parishioners,

The summer is not only a time for vacation but also a time for changes. In the Catholic Review, new assignments for priests and deacons have been announced. Here at St. Jane’s, some changes in our staff are happening as well. Our wonderful administrative assistant, Lori Reinecke, is retiring and moving to Florida to be close to family members and friends. She has been a great help to me and a real blessing to the parish. I will miss her loyalty, dedication, efficiency, and her upbeat friendly attitude at all times. I wish her all the best.

Fortunately, we have found an able replacement in Genevieve (Gina) Bujanowski. She is no stranger to St. Jane’s having worked in the Religious Education Office for 4 years. She comes to us from St. Athanasius where her duties were much the same as Lori’s. She, too, comes with a good attitude and should readily adapt to our parish, and we are pleased to welcome her back. For the next several weeks while she and Lori hold a turnover of responsibilities, please be patient. It will be necessary to close the office on Wednesdays to facilitate the transition.

Today I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into the sacristy of the church. There I saw a dozen members of our Youth Group down on their hands and knees cleaning and scrubbing the floor, wiping the shelves of closets, and cleaning the grime from the radiator vents. We are so blessed with our youth and the leadership of Miss Claire.

I also want to thank our Sodality for their generous donation for the AED (Automated External Defibrillator). Hopefully, it won’t be needed, but it can save a life in an emergency situation. So it is good to finally get one.

- Fr. Carl

“Wherever we are, and whatever we do,
we shall always meet with spiritual difficulties. ”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

Live For God’s Glory

Dear Parishioners,

In Christ, we are called to live to the praise of God’s glory, to think and act, to believe and serve, to understand and give. How do we live to the praise of God’s glory? We do so following Jesus who loved the unlovely, healed the broken, sat with sinners, and forgave those believed to be unforgivable. We all long for glory, for wonder, for that feeling deep within our souls that what we believe really matters to us, to God, and to others. When we live as God’s children, when we act as God’s people, when we take up the hard work of putting holy words into holy actions, we live for God’s glory.

- Deacon Robert

“Our Lord wishes nothing but your happiness.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

Freedom of Religion?

Dear Parishioners,

This weekend as we celebrate the Fourth or July, we relish the liberty for which our forefathers fought and sacrificed. We are the land of liberty, freedom, and opportunity. And while freedom is a great blessing, it is not enjoyed by all people around the world. Freedom is not an end in itself. Otherwise, it becomes a false idol; it takes the place of God, the only one we should adore. Freedom has limits and boundaries which, if not respected, lead to chaos, violence, and self destruction. St. Peter, in the New Testament, tells us, “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cloak for vice.” (1 Pet 2:16) And Pope St. John Paul II teaches us that, “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” (Homily at Camden Yards Mass, Baltimore, 1995)

One of the blessings that God bestowed upon the human race was free will or freedom. We know from the story of Adam and Eve what happened when they abused that gift. Satan entered into human history, and we have had problems ever since. (Gen 3:1-24)

Today, our religious liberty and freedom is being threatened by the courts, legislature, and executive branch of the government which wants to restrict freedom of religion to the four walls of our church buildings. Some of the teachings of the Bible and our moral beliefs are being labeled as hate speech and bigotry, because they contradict the views of modern culture. The late Cardinal George of Chicago opined that while he expected to die in his home, his successor would die in prison, and his successor would die as a martyr. Perhaps that insight is a bit far-fetched. However, many years ago when Margaret Sanger was told that legal contraception would lead to abortion, she said that would never happen. Well it did. What will happen to freedom of religion if we do nothing?

- Father Carl

“The saints did not all begin well,
but they all ended well.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

God Never Gives Up On Us

Dear Parishioners,

Those who don’t believe in God, atheists, sometimes use death, suffering, and evil to justify their lack of belief. They say, “A good God wouldn’t allow all this suffering and pain, especially in the tragic death of a young innocent child.” However, the first reading teaches us differently (Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24). As we hear Wisdom say, “God does not make death nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living… But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world.”

Adam and Eve lived in a beautiful garden where all their needs were met, and they did not have to work, suffer, or die. Furthermore, they had a personal and intimate friendship with God who regularly moved around in the garden in the “breezy part of the day.” Since the devil no longer had this kind of relationship, he was envious. His successful temptation led to the sin of Adam and Eve which brought about the sin and evil we see all around us. Still, we know God didn’t give up on the human race. He sent Jesus. In today’s gospel (Mark 5:21-43), we see our Lord restoring health and life to those suffering physical evil in this world. He wants to do the same to us, curing the spiritual evil (sins) in our life and leading us to eternal life.

Let us pray for the grace to remain faithful to God in resisting the devil’s temptations and turn back through the sacrament of Confession when we fail. For Jesus will never fail us.

- Father Carl

“Do your work, not in order to grow rich or to
win the approval of men, but for God’s sake.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

In The Eye Of The Storm

Dear Parishioners,

Jesus calmed the storm, talking to the wind and sea as if they were rambunctious children playing too loudly in the living room. He simply called out to the weather and said, “Calm down.” Immediately the wind stopped, the sea returned to placid, and the clouds parted. Then Jesus turned to the disciples and seized this teachable moment to address the storm that had been raging inside each of them. “Why were you afraid? Calm your fear by your faith.”

And there it is: the reason Jesus could sleep in the middle of a storm, the reason he could keep his head even though everyone else around him was losing theirs. He lived, worked, and rested by faith. That connection with his heavenly Father kept him balanced, focused and centered… no matter the storm. Couldn’t that work for us too?

- Deacon Robert

“If we loved our Lord, we should have the Tabernacle,
that dwelling place of God, always before the eyes of our mind.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

The Parable of the Seeds

Dear Parishioners,

What might be the meaning of these parables about seeds? (Mark 4:26-34) In all of these agricultural parables that open this teaching sequence in Mark’s Gospel, we are struck with the hope and power of seeds. Certainly a farmer is necessary to sow the seeds, work the fields and gather the harvest, but it is the power of seeds and soil that perform the magic, transforming scarcity into abundance and turning ridiculously small beginnings into transforming and powerful ends. Jesus said the Kingdom of God is much like this. Its beginning is not impressive… just an itinerant preacher talking with peasants in a small country on the backside of the Roman Empire. This is the mustard seed phase of the Kingdom. But somehow, hidden from the sight and input of humankind, God transforms such humble beginnings into the greatest power ever unleashed upon human history. God’s small, germinating kingdom seeds have begun to sprout!

- Deacon Robert

“Virtue demands courage, constant effort, and
above all, help from on high.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

This Is My Body, This Is My Blood

Dear Parishioners,

Our Lord performed many miracles during his time on earth. He turned water into wine, gave sight to the blind, cured lepers, healed the lame, the deaf and the mute. He even raised Lazarus from the dead. But the greatest of all miracles took place at the Last Supper when he instituted the Eucharist. He gave his disciples his body and blood under the appearance of bread and wine. While all his other miracles took place only during Our Lord’s time on earth, this miracle continues to take place every time Mass is celebrated. What is more astonishing is the fact that this miracle can’t be seen by the human eye. The bread and wine doesn’t seem to change. It looks like, smells like, and tastes like bread and wine, but it is not. It’s Jesus. How do we know? Because Jesus tells us so in the gospels (Mark 14:12-16, 22-26). Still, people have had their doubts. So there have been a number of miracles seen throughout the ages where hosts have literally turned into bleeding flesh or hosts have not disintegrated even after several hundred years. You can read about these miracles in several books: “This Is My Body, This Is My Blood; Miracles of the Eucharist” by Bob and Penny Lord, and “The Eucharistic Miracles of the World” by Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association.

However, the greatest miracle is what the Eucharist does for us. It unites us to Jesus every time we receive it, provided we are in the state of grace, and gives us the grace and energy to be authentic disciples of Jesus. What an amazing miracle!

- Father Carl