Parish Bulletin Article: "Holy Family": 12-29-19

“Today, in the joyful atmosphere of Christmas, the Church, reliving with fresh wonder the mystery of Emmanuel, God-with-us, leads us to contemplate the Holy Family of Nazareth. From contemplation of this admirable model, the Church draws the values to hold up to the women and men of all times and all cultures” (St. John Paul II on his Angelus, December 27, 1998).

As we continue to celebrate the eight days of Christmas, we gather this weekend for The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph: the best family ever!

I soaked in words from St. John Paul II above to think about how important families are in our society.  Jesus, Mary, and Joseph show us the best image of a family: a perfect Son, a perfect Mother, and an amazing Dad who adopted this Son.

At the same time, you probably already know that your family, or my family, is quite away from being “perfect” as a family!  So, what do we do?

Nic Davidson gave us an excellent talk during our Advent Mission with Eucharistic Adoration, praise and worship music, confession, and silence.  He spoke about his family, who, like all of our families, was chaotic, crazy, and not perfect.  One of his best answers during these challenges was simple from God: “I want you!”

No matter what situation you face in your family, allow Jesus into your heart. Whether your family is going through exciting or hard moments, let Jesus be with you.  If your parents have been divorced, let Jesus be with you!  When your siblings are fighting, pause to allow Jesus to be with you!  If death occurs, allow Jesus to be with you!  If your family is having a great vacation, let Jesus be with you!

As Jesus, Mary, and Joseph show us the best situation of a family, seek their prayers, their compassion, and their love.  This family showed the best love out of any family, which was more profound than emotions, but the truth.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph pray for us and pray for our families in our society to allow Jesus to be in our hearts!

God Bless!

Merry Christmas: God is with YOU and Welcome Home: Christmas

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

Merry Christmas again!

·      This day is truly beautiful and thank you to be with God, with Mother Mary, with Jesus Christ, with St. Joseph

·      Brothers and sisters, welcome home!

Immanuel: God is with us!

·      God is with us and God is with YOU

The Scriptures offer us some thoughtful nuggets

·      “you shall be called "My Delight,"…“For the LORD delights in you…”

·      Remember that one, especially if you are experiencing tough times in life

o   The lost loved ones

o   Physically or with Brain illnesses or not feeling God’s presence

·      Remember how He speaks to you in the Scriptures, in your hearts, in your family, with your friends, and with our family together

We also sang together: “For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.”

·      On Christmas Eve (night, midnight, morning) it has blown my mind how goodness our Lord is

o   Sometimes in my own life I experience challenges, wrong decisions, thinking of going the right actions which are actually wrong

o   Yet He still loves me…God loves you

·      I mean, our Father sent His son to our planet

o   Doing so, he showed us the plan for salvation, not only that he became a human, but gave his life to save us

·      And as much as we can love God or when we seek His goodness, He loves you MORE than you could imagine your love for Him

We come tonight to be with God, with the God-Man in a baby, our King

Once again, Immanuel! God is with us and God is with YOU!

Merry Christmas!

Elijah and John the Baptist: Monday, December 23rd, 2019

Listen to the Homily here.

All Sacred History Falls on one Name: Immanuel: 4th Sunday in Advent

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

4^thSunday in Advent

Connections in the Scripture is essential

·      Some of our readings at Mass can be different, sometimes challenging to find a connection, and sometimes the connection is spot on

·      Like today

The prophet Isaiah was writing the words of God to a king and we heard this in our first reading today:

·      “Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.”

Then we hear some of the first words in the Gospel according to Matthew

·      (Quick comment here, this is the same reading we will hear on Christmas Eve and could have the genealogy of Jesus Christ)

·      “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel, 
which means "God is with us."

Both of these readings connect some powerful beliefs

·      God or an angel spoking to someone

·      The woman would be a virgin, aka, no spouse, no man

·      Both used the word Emmanuel, and in Matthews narrative, Emmanuel = God is with us

God is with us! God is with you! 

·      Now, imagine reading the whole Bible

o   It would probably be challenging as the books in the Scriptures are different with genres, generations, language, etc.

·      Now, back up in history and imagine those who lived and died almost two thousand years before Jesus and two thousand years after Jesus…how could we connect the verses around the Scriptures?

·      Well, brilliant theologian scriptural leaders help us do that, and I am ecstatic for our readings today

Emmanuel: God is with us

·      And God became a God-Man, as a baby in a manger 

·      And the whole “story” in the Scriptures take a totally different change: our Savior who will save us from our sins, destroy death and open the gates of heaven

Birth of a Child: Thursday, December 19th, 2019

Listen to the Homily here.

Joseph: Wednesday, December 18th, 2019

Listen to the Homily here.

Nic Davidson's Talk: God is With Us

An amazing talk given by Nic Davidson to start our Advent Mission: God is With Us.

Listen to it here!

Genealogy of Jesus Christ: Tuesday, December 17th, 2019

Listen to the Homily here.

Balaam and John the Baptist: Monday, December 16th, 2019

Listen to the homily here.

Be Strong, Fear Not: 3rd Sunday in Advent

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

3^rd Sunday in Advent: Gaudete

Gaudete: rejoice!

Here are a few scriptures that we heard today that can support us to rejoice, even when we face challenging times…for instance

·      “Strengthen the hands that are feeble,make firm the knees that are weak,
say to those whose hearts are frightened:Be strong, fear not!”

o   For those who have lost loved ones, be strong, fear not!

o   For those who are experiencing “SADD” with our darker days and depressed weather, fear not!

o   For those who are overwhelmed with our society with busy, busy, busy when we ARE in Advent, not Christmas, be strong, fear not!

·      Then in James:

o   “Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord.See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with ituntil it receives the early and the late rains.  You too must be patient.”

o   How important patience is

o   Once again, our culture seeps into our minds of wanting something right now.  Want something on Amazon?  Click, click and it’s on its way.  “Black Friday,” I want to the best deal I have ever had…for that fleeing moment.

o   But patience is what we ought to seek with gratified patience

·      Finally for Isaiah and Matthew which shared almost the same words

o   "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, 
the lame walk,lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear,the dead are raised,and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me."

o   Jesus spoke to John, not about possessions, money or power, but with PEOPLE who needed Jesus’ love, and needs our love

Rejoice, and I will say it again, Rejoice!  Let’s prep ourselves for the Birthday of Jesus Christ!

Parish Bulletin Article: "+Bishop Paul Sirba": 12-15-19

In the second year of my priesthood, I was invited to visit Bishop Paul Sirba in his office.  Each of the six men in our class knew what we would be speaking about—our second assignment.

We began with a prayer, salutations, and a quick conversation.  Bishop asked about how I was doing within my first year and a half as a priest.  Then came the questions from Bishop, and I was not only nervous but also funny, as the six of us were trying to guess where we would be assigned!

His first question: "Fr. Ben, would you like to be a pastor with a parish that has a school?" I smiled and responded, "Yes, Bishop.  I would be 100% excited to work at a school." The second question: "Do you like driving?" My smile grew to an immense grin and answered: "Bishop, hypothetically, are you talking about International Falls?" He definitely chuckled, but as I learned over many years, he did not give me an answer, or an assignment.  It took me several weeks of curiosity, excitement, and suspense. 

I'll never forget receiving my second assignment from Bishop Paul Sirba, which was written: "Fr. Ben Hadrich, I am assigning you to serve at St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Columban…" Praise God; I was once again with gratitude for Bishop's assignment.

As I have now been a priest for over seven years, I am thankful for +Bishop Paul Sirba.  I was obedient to him and did not have to make any decisions for my assignments.  I have felt freedom because my Shepherd knew more than me where I would be called.

These last few weeks have been challenging.  Not only have I experienced "normal" parts of we priests' life with masses, confessions, baptisms, weddings, anointing of the sick, meetings, school events, but also quick moments went from a high to a low within a few moments.  I went from the hospital to bless the body of a baby, to then quickly learn and see my niece's picture.  I also (for the first time), gave the same sacrament, and witnessing a marriage in an ER. And the hardest was baptizing my niece in a NICU and was called that +Bishop Paul Sirba had died.

I am still in the process of grieving.  I am still in the process of celebrating.  And I am so grateful to be with you, as my brothers and sisters: my family.

As this may be cliché, but changes take place in time.  Someday I will have another assignment.  Someday we will have a new Bishop.  Someday other loved ones will pass away.  Someday new loved ones will be born.

But I thank Jesus, that for this time, I am trying to soak in God's mission to serve you, and I am thankful for the many ways that you support me.

+Bishop Paul Sirba, rest in peace.  Parishioners, let's continue to grow closer to Jesus Christ and welcome more people to be back to Church because someday, God will call each of us out of our lives on earth and be brought to be in a different place.  I hope that we may be delivered to Him because His son said: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few" (Matthew 7:13-14).

God Bless.

7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit with +Bishop Paul Sirba: 2nd Sunday in Advent

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

2^nd Sunday in Advent

“On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:
a spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
a spirit of counsel and of strength,
a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,
and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.”

During this season of Advent, this passage hit my heart, especially as we lost our Shepherd, Bishop and Father.  As he passed away during Advent, I wanted to speak about our reading first in Isaiah and then in Romans

·      These gifts of the Holy Spirit that flow into our souls at Baptism and empowered with Confirmation as we were chatting about that earlier this week

o   And as no one is perfect, Bishop Paul Sirba inspires me with these seven gifts

·      Wisdom

·      Understanding

·      Counsel

·      Strength

·      Knowledge

·      Piety

·      Fear of the Lord

Then, as not only in any other Advent, we have been and will continue to be encouraged and seek endurance:

·      “Whatever was written previously was written for our instruction, 
that by endurance and by the encouragement of the Scriptures 
we might have hope.”

·      Monday evening we will be having Adoration at 5:00pm and Mass at 6:00pm for our Bishop, and us as a family

“Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God.”