Listen to the homily here.
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Some have left God. Some have left Jesus. What is your decision?: 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Listen to the homily here.
Notes:
Notes:
The last week of John 6
Let’s also check out our first reading
Joshua told his people:
· "If it does not please you to serve the LORD,decide today whom you will serve,the gods your fathers served beyond the Riveror the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
· They responded with a yes!
o “"Far be it from us to forsake the LORD…He performed those great miracles before our very eyesand protected us along our entire journey…Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God."
So let’s start with the first verse today towards the end of John 6
· “Many of Jesus' disciples who were listening said,‘This saying is hard; who can accept it?’”
· Well, what we have listened the last month
o Jesus is the bread of Life
o Jesus is literally talking about eating his Body and Blood
· And yes, “This saying is hard”
Then in John 6:66
· “…many of his disciples returned to their former way of lifeand no longer accompanied him.”
Now here is the kernel of our belief as Catholics
· The Eucharist
· We believe in Jesus Body and Blood
o The accidents—the bread and wine—looks, tastes, smells and feels like bread and blood
o But we believe that it’s substance—its material, is changed
o Transubstantiation
· “Jesus then said to the Twelve, ‘Do you also want to leave?’ Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believeand are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."
So you, brothers and sisters, people left Jesus…people left God…people do the same in our secular society today
What I ask you today is this
· I believe in Jesus Christ and I believe in the Eucharist…I believe in Jesus Christ real presence of His body and blood
· Do you? Does your family? Will you stay as Catholics? Or would you leave?
"If it does not please you to serve the LORD,decide today whom you will serve…”
Parish Bulletin Article: "Sexual Abuse within our Catholic Church": 8-26-18
This article is an adamant one: sex abuse within our Catholic Church.
This last week I have been reading about another tragic situation within the Diocese of Pittsburg. It is utterly sickening to learn again about the abuse of children, high school students and even seminarians by men in authority positions. It also crushed my heart to determine that one of these abusers was a cardinal/bishop. Disgusting.
We must continue to pray for every person who has been sexually abused by a priest (not all, not most, but some), as well as bishops (again, not all, not most, but some). I hope that we can provide and support each victim through our prayers, our treasure, our compassion and our following God’s will and justice, especially for victims. \
People in leadership with these abusive acts within our Catholic Church is undoubtedly evil. When a cardinal, bishop, priest or deacon uses his authority to abuse, or even turns an eye from another brother’s exploitation to any child or anyone else within God’s flock, must be called out and receive the justice for the victim.
Our Catholic Church in our country, and around the world, must “clean our house” to be purified in our war against evil and egregious sinful acts that are truly brutal to our brothers and sisters.
While most of these sad events were many years ago, we must avoid any bad apples within leadership circles in our Church. We must always get better to serve in the best practical and professional jobs to serve God’s Kingdom, and we have received many opportunities in our Diocese of Duluth—our police, psychologists, committees and leadership within our Safe Environment—and hope to prevent these harmful actions.
I want you, parents, to know that everyone who works with your children—myself, our employees, and even volunteers—must complete our strict Diocesan Safe Environment process, as well as a background check from our civil authorities before they can serve your children and this is repeated. If any individual does not conclude this process, they will not serve your children.
Finally, if you have been abused, whether within our parishes, our school, our diocese, or any other occasions within our public society, please call the police. Personally, I am proud of our police, as they have been trained well to keep all of us safe, especially your children which I am writing about today. (I am grateful that our police are across the street from our parish and school in International Falls!).
As I have mentioned before, God is in charge of this place. And Jesus still reminds me, and hopefully to you in all headship positions today, “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”
Pray for the victims. Pray for our priests who are genuinely seeking holiness in their vocation to walk and serve you, well. Pray for even our “enemies” which Jesus himself taught.
God Bless.
Sunday, August 19, 2018
As repetition is needed for sports, music and more, so is our Mass and Jesus' Body and Blood!: 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Listen to the homily here.
Notes:
Notes:
4thweek of John 6
At this point, people were now quarreling
· The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
· A flag right away, is to know that this is a literal reading
o Without the Scriptures we have several different types to read the Scriptures which include history, poetry, parables with images beyond reality, fiction, apocalyptic, metaphors
· This was indeed literal
· The people were literally thinking that Jesus’ Body and Blood was cannibalism!
Throughout the Gospels, especially John, Jesus offered several images
· “I am the gate”
· “I am the shepherd”
· “I am the way, the truth and the life”
o These are indeed metaphors that were also true, though was Jesus really a physical door? Was he really a shepherd?
· In John 6, he pressed forward, literally saying that he was going to offer his Body and Blood
Now, let’s not think that Jesus is like a zombie or a vampire that is allowing people to eat his body or blood as a human
· No…he was teaching what would happen after his death and resurrection
· “Amen, amen, I say to you,unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my bloodhas eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.”
you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my bloodhas eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.”
There is in another place to show his disciples how he showed His Body and Blood
· Luke 24:28-31: “So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared to be going further, but they constrained him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight.”
· These two disciples saw Jesus
· Was his glorified body vanished? Well, no, he was still there as His body!
This is a paradox
· When we receive Jesus Body and Blood, the accidents—the bread and wine—are still there—it looks, feels, and tastes it as bread and wine
· But in the substance itself is changed—thus transubstantiation—the presence of Jesus’ Christ
No science can test this, no other god, guru or prophet offered this, but this question concludes with two simple results: faith and God
And our God: our Father, Son and Holy Spirit offer us love, nourishment and strength in our journey
Parish Bulletin Article: "New Opportunities with Stewardship": 8-19-18
Brothers and sisters, today I would like to mention several ideas for our Parishes and our School. I will do so with an introduction and then focus on things we need and things that we want. Each of these will hone into our stewardship with your time, talentand treasure.
First, here is where we are with our UCA process:
· St. Columban is at 50% on the way to our goal (treasure)
· St. Thomas Aquinas is at 26% on the way to our goal (treasure)
· Both parishes needto conclude our goal by December 31st, and if we are short we will write a check to the Diocese of Duluth to finish our 2018 UCA process
Second, here are some essential ideas that we need through our stewardship (time, talentand treasury):
· We already have one parishioner at St. Thomas Aquinas that will pick up individuals who cannot make it to mass (time). We need to have a list to organize this offer from this individual (time). Could we do the same thing at St. Columban? Also, who would love to systematize this new program (timeand talent)?
· We needsupport for each of our parishioners and our school to continue to clean our property and buildings (timeand talent). If you are interested in these, please email or call to STA, SC leaders and our School.
· We needmore involvement for our parishioners within several areas: liturgy, servers, musicians, sacristans, ushers, lectors and EM’s, fun events, welcoming people at Mass and our School (timeand talent). Please contact our leaders in both parishes and School.
· We also needmore involvement for St. Thomas Aquinas School with our parents and parishioners. At this point, we could use some help with your participation. Would you like to lead Scrip (as we need a volunteer to cover this…timeand talent)? Could you organize our School’s library that our children can borrow these books (timeand talent)? Could we reorganize a relaxed event where parishioners to read to our students like novels or the Bible (timeand talent)?
Third, we wantsome financial opportunities for some of these:
· St. Columban will be paying into the new roads in Littlefork. Who could fiscally support these dollars (around $12,000) (treasure)?
· Our School would wanta second swing set which would cost about $1,000 (treasure)? Who could support this for our kids?
· Our Building and Grounds at STA decided to wantto resurface the parking lot with a cost around $5,600. Who could fiscally support this (treasure)? And, if this does take place, would you be able to use your timeto help our Buildings and Grounds if they needsome more support in this or other fixer-uppers (timeand talent)?
· At STA, we have already been saving $5,929 for a new Baptismal Font. To do so, we would want$3,000 more to receive this blessing (treasure).
Please consider your prayer and your discernment for all the above with a great image of stewardship within our family. Thank you!
God Bless!
In Matthew 18, Jesus reminds us for forgiveness: Thursday, August 16th, 2018
Listen to the homily here.
Sunday, August 12, 2018
The Bread of Life: 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Listen to the homily here.
Notes:
Notes:
As we continue to walk through John 6, a few thoughts to begin
First, after my stroke three years ago, this is about three years ago that I again could receive the Eucharist from Fr. Rich Kunst…the next day was my first time to concelebrate with Mass
· Fr. Rich said, Ben, put on your stole as you are still a priest.
Second, another great connection between the Old and New Testament
· Elijah was resting…touched by an angel, and given bread and water
· Not once, but twice
· “After he ate and drank, he lay down again,
but the angel of the LORD came back a second time,
touched him, and ordered,
"Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!"
He got up, ate, and drank;
then strengthened by that food,
he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.”
but the angel of the LORD came back a second time,
touched him, and ordered,
"Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!"
He got up, ate, and drank;
then strengthened by that food,
he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.”
Third, people murmured after Jesus said, “I am the bread of life”
· And it just gets deeper
· "Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,and I will raise him on the last day…Amen, amen, I say to you,whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.”
· Their ancestors died, even eating God’s bread—manna—for forty years
· As Jesus went deeper and deeper he said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven;whoever eats this bread will live forever;and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."
The dichotomy today is, do you believe in the bread of life, or not?
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