Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Our time in salvation history: Tuesday, November 29th, 2016

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

Luke 10: Turning to the disciples in private he said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.  For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

Advent: we know a bulk of the “story”
·      We are waiting for our own death
·      We are waiting for the second coming of Jesus Christ


During Advent reflect on the story of humanity

Advent for our Family: Monday, November 28th, 2016

Listen to the homily here.

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Three thoughts for Advent: light/darkness, stay awake, house: 1st Sunday of Advent Time

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

We come back to the beginning of our year
·      Advent
Our nature, darkness, light and our house
·      Roman 13
o   “…the night is advanced, the day is at hand.” 
§  Like our season
§  But also in our spiritual lives
o   St. Paul is challenging the Romans against orgies, drunkenness, promiscuity, lust, rivalry and jealously
o   What is the darkness in your soul?
·      Then he will say:
o   Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day…”
What do we do in Advent?
·      We must stay awake against the darkness!
o   Matthew 24: Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into.  So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
·      How do we stay in the light?
o   Well in winter we stay in our house with electrical lights
o   We have a lantern, flashlight when ice fishing
o   Putting our lights on our vehicles
·      Keep the lights on in your spiritual life
·      Go to our house…God’s house!
o   Mass: Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
o   Adoration: Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
o   Prayers: Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord
In Advent
·      Stay awake!
·      Keep the lights on in your spiritual life
·      And walk in four weeks to grow in your spiritual life against the darkness of sin versus the light in a relationship with Jesus Christ and our Catholic Church


Parish Bulletin Article: "Thanksgiving for Nation and Families": 11-27-16

            Know of my prayers after your Thanksgiving, your families and friends as well as your weekend.
            As I mentioned last weekend, Fr. Paul Strommer (assistant priest in Brainerd) and I are swapping our assignments this weekend.  Many of you met Fr. Paul last November when he served as a deacon in our Masses.  And now he is a “baby priest” in our diocese!  We are proud that a new priest in our Diocese of Duluth is visiting here.  (And make sure that he has a delicious donut).
At the same time, I am spending cherish occasions with my family—parents, brothers and sister-in-laws, niece and nephew and food.  I will be serving three Masses at All Saints and St. Francis parishes.  It is a cool experience for both Fr. Paul and I to walk with our brothers and sisters in other parishes in our diocese.
I would simply like to say thank you for some touching experiences here.  At St. Thomas Aquinas, we have finished a mission for both the bell and a new electronic system for the bells.  In the surface level, we did receive monies for this mission.  But deeper though, is our relationships with our parishioners—and it happened in only a few months!  Our breakfasts, fall dinner, meetings and conversations gelled our cookers, servers, advertisements, marketing, announcements, food, relationships, parents, children, grandparents, etc., etc., etc.  Congratulations and thank you!
At St. Columban we are proud for four little babies in the last few months.  Thank you and congratulations to the little ones, their siblings, their relatives, new or already grandparents and their parents.  Praise God!  As you already know, it is a beautiful moment to both see and hear the angelic voices for our next generation.
Again, know of my prayers, thank yous, and congratulations!
God Bless!

Thanks before Thanksgiving: Wednesday, November 23rd, 2016

Listen to the homily here.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Last days in our liturgical calendar: Tuesday, November 22nd, 2016

Listen to the homily here.

The Widow of the Coins and the Presentation of Mother Mary: Monday, November 21st, 2016

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

The widow with two coins

“I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.”

Her gift: yes
·      This was more than coins
·      It was everything

Trust
Humble

Offering


Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, Diocese of Duluth and UCA: The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Listen to the homily here.

The Diocese of Duluth UCA video can be seen here: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXaOMINDimc>

Notes:

This is the last weekend of our Catholic calendar
·      This is the 52nd weekend of our year
·      Next weekend we begin a new year
And what is our last weekend?
·      Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
Listen to some of the verses in our readings:
·      Psalm 122: “Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.”
·      Colossians: God “transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son…”
This weekend I would like to share our King and our Kingdom—God’s house
·      Yes, we have a house in Jesus’ kingdom through our parish: St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Columban
·      But this kingdom is not in one island
o   Our King is bigger than one church
o   Our King is bigger than our diocese
o   Our King is bigger than our family in our country
o   Our King is bigger than our continent
o   Our King is bigger than our world
o   This King is in earth and heaven
As it is important to speak about each of these levels of our family, I would like to speak this weekend—our Diocese of Duluth…I would like to share a 4:00 minute video of our UCA
·      Video
A few thoughts with UCA
·      I enjoy the video
·      If we do not have UCA—you would not have a parish…you would not have a diocese…
During our deanery meeting, I asked other priests how their churches fulfill their assessment
·      They have letters, bulletins, announcements, posters, etc.
·      Most do not make the assessment
·      But they do send a check from the operation funds
·      I do not know the exact numbers in our history with the UCA, but I would share that we have not done this for 15-20 years
Finally—my last thoughts for the UCA as quickly as I can:
·      Your UCA supported your first diocesan priests after 100 years of religious priests
o   Fr. Kris, Fr. Joe and me
·      Your UCA gives CREED gifts to our school, faith formation and parish education?
·      Our Operation Rice Bowl is organized through our Diocese?  Several non-prophets have received hundreds of dollars to support the poor and homeless
o   Remember last Lent?  We gave $2000 of coins for the poor…these were ordered at the Diocese so that our gifts could go in the world through CRS…which went back to our community
·      Our employees: Principle Dawn, Joan Ecklend, Jane Silvers, Marnie Kostiuk, Sabrina Etienne, Les Hendricks are trained through our diocese
·      Marriage, annulments, safe environment, Indian ministry
This year we still have $24,000 to our assessment
·      Let’s make it!
o   This is a great time to reduce your taxes as we are a non-prophet
·      You should write a check to the UCA as it will not land in our operation dollars, which mean a larger assessment
o   My prayer is that you can do this without me making a check to finish the line
Jesus Christ is our King
·      We live in his kingdom
·      As we discern his kingdom, we must grow with our relationship with our parish, neighbors, diocese, country and world

·      Now, please take time to pray and discern how to support our Diocese of Duluth

Parish Bulletin Article: "Grace, Mercy and Love in our National Election": 11-20-16

            President Elect Donald J. Trump.
            What?!
            I would like to share some thoughts as a Catholic pastor in a big-time topic in our country.
            Jesus Christ is our King.  We Catholics and Christians are in God’s Kingdom both here on earth—which is not perfect through humanity—and in heaven.  Jesus already won the game and destroyed evil.  He died for us.  He rose again and opened the gates of heaven.  Jesus Christ is the only one who was both God and man and that is the rock of our faith.
            Here is a good question to pray, discern and think about: how much time do we speak about Jesus Christ versus this election?  
I will quote again what I spoke several weeks ago through my homily (26th Sunday of Ordinary Time) from a faithful athlete: “[President] Obama can’t save us.  Ms. Clinton can’t save us.  Mr. Trump can’t save us.  The only one Who can save the heart of man is the Lord.”
I think that many parishioners in our parishes are either excited, or happy, or sad, or scared, or confused about this election.  Please consider some other thoughts. 
God’s eternal gifts through His kingdom offer each of us grace, mercy and love.  This is infinitely greater than our human leaders, countries or worldly communities.
Our Catholic and Christian brothers and sisters must walk together to Jesus Christ.  On the journey we must show our love to each other, even if we disagree.  Conversations, communication or friendship can serve each other through personal challenge situations.  But we should never judge or condemn others.  St. Paul wrote in Romans 2:3: “Do you suppose, O man, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God?
We praise you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  As our King of your Kingdom, we ask to teach us to follow You.

God Bless.

Some cool thoughts for our School: Thursday, November 17th, 2016

Listen to the homily here.

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Jesus taught us about money: Wednesday, November 16th, 2016

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

At our pastoral council we spoke a bit about Jesus teaching about money
·      Over and over and over
Parable today with Jesus in the Gospel of Luke
Picked up some coins at the bank yesterday
·      Why do you want coins?
·      Parking?
·      Laundry?
·      I mentioned about our Operation Rice Bowl

We all can give some more coins

Jesus, Zacchaeus' house and your house: Tuesday, November 15th, 2016

Listen to the homily here.

Monday, November 14, 2016

True Prayer: Monday, November 14th, 2016

Listen to the homily here.

After our Presidential Election remember our King and Kingdom: 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

This weekend I would like to share some thoughts for our election
·      I actually already wrote the bulletin article for next weekend, but as I pray I think this is a good time
I have heard many thoughts of our election in which President Elect Donald J. Trump
·      We have a whole spectrum: some are pumped up…some are scared…some are in fine
·      But I think there is at least one word for each person: shocked
This is where I would like to remind about our Catholic and Christian faith
Jesus Christ is our king
·      Several weeks before I quoted a faithful athlete and I will quote it again: “[President] Obama can’t save us.  Ms. Clinton can’t save us.  Mr. Trump can’t save us.  The only one Who can save the heart of man is the Lord.”
·      He already won the game
·      He already destroyed evil
·      He forgives sins, offers grace and mercy and love
We have two types of citizenships
·      One is we live in an awesome country “...one Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
·      But the more important citizenship is in God’s Kingdom
o   Both on earth (around the whole world) and in heaven
o   Psalm 98: “The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice.”
·      The citizenship for our country is temporary…God’s Kingdom is here and in eternity
I think it is good to have a perspective of our world
·      We should see the forest through history, rather than just one tree, or one branch, or one leaf
o   Jesus was predicting that the Jewish Temple would eventually end—and it did in 70ad
o   Roman Empire—in for centuries, then done
o   Holy Roman Empire—in for centuries, then done
o   But we continue to grow!
No matter what happened in our political, leadership, local or national areas through this election
·      We must walk with each other as Catholics and Christians
·      Show love for each other
·      Have candor conversations

But here is a great question to pray, discern and think about: how much time do we speak about Jesus Christ versus this election?  

Parish Bulletin Article: "The Church Militant, the Church Suffering, the Church Triumphant": 11-13-16

            Last weekend I spoke about the three levels of our family—us on earth, those in purgatory and those in heaven.
            I would like to write this weekend about another name of the mystical body of Jesus Christ: the Church militant, the Church suffering and the Church of triumphant.  While these words may be odd in our culture today, it is up and down the history of our Catholic Church.
            How are they explained?
            The militant is us on earth.  We are challenged by the world, our flesh and evil.  We must be militant to fight against our enemies to serve Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church he built.
            I imagine that our lives are like a marathon runner.  A runner challenging a 26.2 race has to work through the good times or bad times, perfect weather or brutal weather, hungry or full.  The challenge is to keep going onward.
We must go forward in our journey with Jesus Christ on the way to the finish line of our lives.
            The suffering describes our brothers and sisters who are being purified on the way to heaven: purgatory.  These are in an experience in passive cleansing from God, saints and our own prayers.  This is why we pray for the dead—all souls. 
            When I think about purgatory I remind when I have finished a marathon.  Sometimes I needed a medical doctor to help me stand.  Other times I received a massage for ached muscles, or water and food to cleanse my body with calories and liquids.  My parents would find my bag so I can change, use deodorant and allow my disgusting shoes, shorts and singlet to go away.  I could not do these without volunteers, medics or family and while I will be invited to the party tents, I needed some time to be cleansed. 
After death (or the finish line of our life), we would be assisted from God, the saints and our family on earth as we are washed of our imperfection from sins.
            The triumphant is in heaven and God Himself.  These are saints.  These are members of our family who pray both for us and those in purgatory.
            One of the best times after a marathon is to be in the presence of friends, family and other runners that I do not even know.  After the race the party begins!  It is also a cool experience to cheer the next group of runners who are still going, or those who have just finished the race.
            The Church militant, the Church suffering and the Church triumphant are some powerful beliefs for our Catholic family on earth, in purgatory and in heaven.

            God Bless!