How Is Your Prayer Life?

Dear Parishioners,

How is your prayer life? I know it is a simple question, but it can be hard to answer. Are you spending enough time in prayer? I know, I know that there is a lot going on in your life. Time is in short supply. But one of the pillars of our faith is prayer. Christ got away often and prayed, so much so that his disciples would go looking for him. He left the crowds following him so he could pray.

Prayer is our primary communication channel with God. He hears our prayer. Now we may not get a quick response, but God is always on the other end of the line. It has also been said that God knows what we are praying about even before we pray. Prayer centers us and yet also takes us outside ourselves into the reality of God to whom we speak in our prayer.

Prayer opens us up to God who easily reads our heart. Our attitude in prayer is akin to contemplation, a quiet consideration, a flowing dialogue with God, an openness to something larger than ourselves. We grow through prayer into a greater relationship with God. Our spiritual vocabulary increases as we pray. The depth of our relationship with Christ increases as we ask, express, honor, complain, and give thanksgiving to God. Of course, the Holy Spirit is involved with all of this, because it is the Spirit who helps us to speak and to listen to God. The Spirit softens the ground of our being, so we are ready to be in relationship with God.

On Sunday evening, February 11 at 6:30 in the church, we will hold another prayer service under the title of Bridge to Christ. This is an opportunity to pray for someone in your family, a colleague, or friend who has drifted from God. We are the bridge that can connect others to Christ. That bridge is prayer and the example of our lives. Please consider attending.

Blessings,
Deacon Steve

Depend on Change

Dear Parishioners,

I have been around long enough to know that things change—always. I thought a lot about retirement as it got closer, and frankly, it isn’t what I had envisioned. Things change. But I am reminded as well, that God does not change. He is fundamentally and essentially the same. His Law of Love continues to shroud us in warmth and care. Even when times are rough, his presence is reassuring, his consolation strong and supportive.

Scripture remains a source of wisdom and insight into life. It is still the greatest story ever told, a view of the divine none of us have access to on our own. God is always available to us, as close as prayer. I believe he is also in the kind words we say to each other, in those moments of quiet giving, in our sacrifices, in our gentleness, in our care to one another. God’s strength is not something that gets used up. Rather it is like the flame of a candle that is shared with other candles. It does not diminish or lose its luster when given away. God’s energy is endless. His desire for goodness in us and for us is always available. We cannot sap God’s energy. Even when we sin, he continues to hope for our turning again toward him. He judges our weaknesses and prunes us if necessary, but then is there with mercy and love. Our world is not perfect nor are we, but God continues to push us to be perfect, perfect in love, perfect in joy, perfect in our kindness and generosity. And as we call out to him in our need, God will hear us and offer us his consolation. Let us trust and depend upon this great God of the universe, this creator God, this loving God, this God who was incarnate and walked among us. In him, we can depend.

Blessings,
Deacon Steve

Use Time Wisely

Dear Parishioners,

This week after the Christmas season, we return to what the Church calls “Ordinary Time” and so called after ordinal numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. It does this to distinguish it from the liturgical seasons – Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter. Actually, time isn’t ordinary at all. Along with space and matter, it was created by God. Before the creation of the world, time didn’t exist. We often take time for granted, but we shouldn’t. We are only given so much of it in this life, and unlike money, we can’t get any more of it. Queen Elizabeth I as she lay dying allegedly said, “I would give away all my possessions for just one more day on earth.” Hopefully, we will use our time wisely so that we will look forward to leaving time here to enter eternity with Jesus, Mary and the saints.

In the gospel today (John 1:35-42), we see John, Andrew, and Peter using their time wisely by spending it with Jesus, not only that day but every day. Is there a message there for you and me?

Fr. Carl

“Ask our Lord for the grace to think only of him and to desire only to please him in all you do during your whole life.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

Happy New Year!

Dear Parishioners,

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and that 2018 has started out well for you and your family.

In spite of the frigid weather, my heart was warmed by the crowds at the Christmas Masses and your generous donations. One unexpected blessing came from the estate of a deceased parishioner. It was a very substantial amount for which I am very grateful. It also reminded me to review my own will and make a few revisions. If you are looking for a good practical resolution for 2018, I recommend you do the same. In the process, please don’t forget St. Jane’s who connects you to Jesus. After all, she is our mother having given us life through baptism and nourishment through the sacraments.

May God bless you and your family throughout 2018.

Fr. Carl

“All the angels and saints are engaged in trying to prevent us from committing sins.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

The Holy Family

Dear Parishioners,

This Sunday, we honor the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. I know that all families have interesting histories, but the Holy Family has an especially powerful story. Did Mary speak about the visit from the angel with her friends? Did Joseph talk with his fellow carpenters or neighbors about his intention to divorce Mary and the dream telling him otherwise? Did they tell Jesus the story of his birth as he grew up? What was Jesus like as a toddler or a 5-year old? Did he play with neighbor kids, or did he spend his time reading Hebrew religious texts, aspiring to be a rabbi? Was he Joseph's carpentry assistant? Did Mary and Joseph talk about money or where to live? There is an ancient book of Thomas which has Jesus doing supernatural things as a child. It wasn't accepted into the sacred canon of scripture. We can see only a brief and minimal view of Christ's upbringing.

Our modern sensibility looks for the analysis of family life, causes, traumas, and dynamics to understand family life. The early church fathers saw little need for this. The Church offers us this day to honor the Holy Family through which the infant Jesus becomes the adult tempted in the desert, declaring to some fisherman to follow him and he will make them fishers of men. The Holy Family brought the gift of the infant Jesus with its beauty, glory, and songs of hosanna to the adulthood of Christ so that his mission may be accomplished. His mission was no less than the salvation of the world. This he indeed accomplished with his stainless life and his cruel but sanctifying death and resurrection. May all our families carry us through to the fulfillment of our mission to love each other and to honor and glorify God. May God support, heal, and sustain all families.

Blessings,
Deacon Steve

(Gen 15:1-6;21:1-3; Heb 11:8,11-12,17-19; Luke 2:22-40)

“Pure souls shall form a circle round our Lord. The purer we have been on earth, the nearer we shall be to him in Heaven.
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

A Change Of Plans

Dear Parishioners,

Life doesn’t always go as we plan. From his kingly palace, David thought it not right for God to dwell in a simple tent. So he talked with Nathan, God’s prophet, and decided to build a more fitting dwelling place for the Lord (Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16). Nathan agreed but later discovered God had other ideas. So it was David’s son, Solomon, who built the Temple in Jerusalem. As we read in the bible, “God’s ways are not man’s ways.” (Isaiah 55:8)

Again in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 1:26-38), we see the same idea. Mary’s plan to marry Joseph didn’t include children. She was going to remain a virgin and not become a mother. But God, again, had other ideas. Mary would remain a virgin but would also become a mother as well. Thankfully, Mary agreed to God’s proposal and became the mother of Jesus, the Church, and ourselves—which turned out wonderfully well for the world.

May God help us to discern when God’s plan calls for us to change our plans. And may we be just as agreeable as Mary was.

Fr. Carl

“To love God with our whole mind is to make the sacrifice to him of our knowledge and our reason, and to believe all that he has taught.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

Increasing Light of Advent

Dear Parishioners,

We got our Advent wreath out of the attic and set it up. Our granddaughter was excited about it, probably because it was lit and aflame. I think it is a wonderful metaphor for our progression through Advent. This is a time of preparation and hope. We look forward with bright intentions to the birth of Christ when all sorts of miracles will occur at his hand and because of him. At first we have just one small flame. It can dimly light a small room. We can hardly make out what is in the shadows. It can be a beautiful experience with one candle. Things close are illuminated while things father away are hidden in the background. What is close begins to be seen. We can attend to our lives before us. What God has given us becomes clear. With two candles lit, we see a little better. Our eyes adjust and the light is sufficient to see another's face or to see our own hands. Those people in our lives become clear. We can see in the two candle light, those we love. We are brought together by the light to see our family. At three candles, the room is brighter. The light is fuller. I can now see the guest at the table with us, the friend, relative or neighbor. Perhaps the stranger that someone else invited can be seen. We can see the contours of their face, we begin to know them. A community is forming under the brightening light. With four candles, the light is bright and opens up the room. The space becomes bigger. The small voice we heard at one candle is now audible, and we can hear voices in harmony. The room is full, we notice. At four candles, our hope is big and our anticipation is high. We are taken outside of the dinner space into the night where the light from our candles brightens even the sky, and there we see a star coming to us bringing joy and a love not felt before. Our four candles open our lives and renew our spirits. It is not our little world that we attend to now but the larger world outside ourselves, our families, our community. It is the touch of God on our world and what that touch brings and how it is wrapped up in a little baby who would be our king and savior. May your Advent bring you increasing joy as God’s light increases within you.

Blessings,
Deacon Steve

“O My child, use your voice always for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars