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!

Dr. Anthony Stone and Ben Freeman spoke at the end of our Mass, our 13th Ordinary Time

Listen to Dr. Anthony Stone and Ben Freeman hear their talks here.

Fr. David Forsman's Talk--Hymns of St. Thomas Aquinas

On Monday evening, January 28th, we had a delicious dinner and an essential talk from Fr. David Forman who spoke about the hymns of St. Thomas Aquinas.  Enjoy his talk here!

Last talk during our Advent Mission: Jesus Christ as I spoke with our St. Columban parishioners

Listen to the talk here.

Quick talk from me as when Eucharistic Adoration began, and we had three priests for Confessions

Listen to the talk here.

Mercy: Ben Frost's Talk on Tuesday, December 18th at St. Thomas Aquinas beginning our Advent Mission

Ben Frost gave a great talk about mercy as we prepared our hearts to receive Jesus Christ' love, mercy and compassion with Eucharistic Adoration, praise and worship music and Confession.

Powerful evening and you can hear Ben Frost's mission here.

Benediction at President Colette Christmas's Party at The College of St. Scholastica

An honor to speak and offer a benediction for our president, sisters, faculties, teachers, school board, students and donators at this yearly tradition at The College of St. Scholastica in Advent.

Listen to the benediction here.

Talk with our Principals and Teachers in our Diocese of Duluth: Monday, May 29th, 2018

Talk with our Principals and Teachers in Grand Rapids on their last Catechetical day for 2017-2018.

Listen to it here.

Enjoy!

Media: My Talk during Lent on Tuesday, March 6th, 2018

Another great thought as we walk during Lent.  This evening I spoke about media.  What is about media and social media?  How do these stand in morality?  What is good?  What is bad?  Check it out here.

Pets and Angels: Talk on Tuesday, February 27th, 2018

During our Lent, I continued to offer some different talks.  Today was about pets, angels and our soul.  Listen to it here.

The End of the Journey from our Earthen Life into Transfiguration (2-20-18)

Here was the first talk I offered to a group of parishioners.  During this Lent, I will be speaking about some different thoughts and conversations.  I hope you enjoy these notes below, and the recorded talk here.

Notes:

Talk and Conversation

“The End of the Journey from our Earthen Life into Transfiguration”

2-20-18

1.)   Prayer

2.)   Our ordinary sacraments and God’s extraordinary ways

·      Baptism

                       o   Anyone could Baptize someone in an emergency situation

                       o   Water and the words “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”

                       o   Nurses, Jewish, Muslim

                       o   If they do what the dying person believes

·      Confession

                       o   Priest

                       o   “General Absolution”

·      Extreme situations: danger of death threatens, not enough priests

·      Example: Airplane crashing

·      Eucharist

                       o   Bishop or Priest (with faculties) for

                       o   Traditionally only Bishop, Priest or Deacon could offer communion

·      Today Eucharistic of Ministry—laity

·      Confirmation

                       o   Bishop or Priest

·      Marriage

                       o   Bishop, Priest or Deacon

·      Ordination

                       o   Bishop

·      Anointing of the Sick

                       o   Bishop or Priest

3.)   Path towards the end of our earthly time

·      “Best Situation”

                       o   Anointing of the Sick

                       o   Confession

                       o   Eucharist

                       o   We used to call this sacrament “Extreme Unction” or “Last Rites”

·      Many people call the priest when they are almost dying

·      But today we say, “Anointing of the Sick”

o   Interesting spectrum we learned in seminary

o   One extreme is when we do not need Anointing of the Sick if we are healthy…or if we have a could

o   On the other extreme, we cannot offer this sacrament if someone has already die

o   Some where in the middle

                                                                                                      •     Elderly that are sick

                                                                                                      •     Big surgeries

·      “Dying”

                       o   Anointing of the Sick

                       o   Apostolic Pardon

                       o   Eucharist: Viaticum

·      Prayers

·      Tell your children, your family and your Pastor

4.)   Funerals

·      Challenges in our culture

                       o   Wrong order

·      I have had several parishioners that did not receive a Funeral Mass

·      Why?  Their family had a different decision

                       o   Cremation Society

·      Money

·      Quick fix

o   People scared of death and when someone else dies, they go make it as fast as possible

                       o   Funeral Homes

                       o   Other buildings

                       o   Or nothing

·      Best situation:

                       o   Please, have a will. 

·      Have your information for several people in your family, with your doctor, with your “Guardianship” or other names for health, finances, etc.

·      Prepare your funeral when you can make your decisions

·      You, your kids, your will or your parish can record this information

                       o   Preparation with the parish: Pastor, Deacon, Suitable laity

                       o   Tradition

·      Vigil the evening before

o   Visitors

o   Prayer

o   Rosary

o   (I just heard about Fr. William Baer’s with Adoration all night…I would like that!)

·      Funeral with a Mass

·      Coffin, not an urn

o   Holdingford

o   Where will people know where your corpse is?

o   The Church has said that a cremation is ?

·      No eulogy is in our rite

·      Burial right after the Mass

o   Where will your body be buried?

                                                                                                      •     Put that in your will!

o   (I know that I want to be buried in the Calvary Cemetery in Duluth, in the “Circle of Priests”)

·      Lunch after

·      Last important decisions

                       o   Please call the Pastor first—put that in your will, and your family

·      Talk to the Pastor about the date (several times I have been the last person to know what the date “is”—as I might be out of town

·      In IFalls, do the best to talk with Leif

                       o   Order for a funeral

·      Funeral service: Bishop, Pastor, Assistant Priest, Deacon (as they can lead a funeral service), and, if needed in an emergency situation, a laity member

                       o   Music

·      Worship hymns in the Church—that’s where Jesus lives, not in a concert auditorium

·      Even there, don’t have a concert, but worshiping hymns

5.)   Questions and discussion

·      Next week?

6.)   Closing Prayer 

Talk: Eucharistic Adoration from Marge Veeder

At St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Columban will be focusing to Eucharistic Adoration.  That is our mission this Lent.

Listen to her great talk at the end of Mass here.

Repent!: Reconciliation on Tuesday, December 19th, 2017

Listen to the homily here.

Reconciliation on Tuesday, December 19th, 2017: Talk with Hannah Malani about Surrender

Listen to Hannah Malani's talk here.

Talk about St. Columban: Tuesday, November 21st, 2017

Listen to the talk here.

This year we had a celebration on Tuesday, November 21st for a Mass and a potluck at St. Columban in Littlefork.  We did so because St. Columban's day is on November 23rd, but this year Thanksgiving was on the 23rd.  Thus we offered an event two days earlier to remember our Patron.

Our Lady of Fatima: Talk after Mass on Friday, October 13th, 2017

Notes:

Awesome book!

1917 in Portugal

·      Apparition with an angel

o   Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta continued to practice what the Angel had taught them, praying and offering sacrifices to the Lord.

·      Then with Mother Mary

o   May, June, July, August (19^th), September, October

o   Apparition = “An apparition, however, is a charismatic gift granted by God for some greater purpose of His than the benefit of the one receiving it.  It says nothing necessary about the sanctity of the recipient(s); although God usually chooses simple and good Christians…”

o   Just before: May 5^th, Pope Benedict XV “had made a direct appeal to Mary to intercede in ending the Great War…”

o   Few are supported by our Catholic Church

§  Lourdes (France), Guadalupe (Mexico), Knock (Ireland), Fatima (Portugal)

Our Lady of the Rosary: title

·      Diocese of Duluth patroness

Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta

·      World War I

·      Rosary

·      Russia

John Paul II

·      Mystic = a person who having persevered in the Christian spiritual life, usually a notable length of time, receives by God's free choice the infused supernatural grace of contemplative prayer

·      Apostolic motto: Totus Tuus = “totally yours” = Mary à God

·      Shot on March 13^th, 1981 at 5:13pm

·      He put the bullet in a statue of Mother’s crown

Communism

·      = “a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs”

·      Marx quote: “Religion is the opium of the people”

·      Mother Mary going against Russia à communism

·      No God…the state is the god

·      Abortion and divorce

Many popes had challenged communism

·      Leo XIII, Pius XI, Pius XII, Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI

·      John Paul II

o   Lived against nazism then communism in Poland

o   War against them, not with guns, but through spiritual lives

Today?

·      Who is really in charge?  Our president?  Our government?  Our economy?  Nope…God

·      Is religion an opium?  What about real opium…opiates today, alcohol, drugs, pornography?

·      Religion (St. Thomas Aquinas through New Advent) = Religion in its simplest form implies the notion of being bound to God; the same notion is uppermost in the word religion in its most specific sense, as applied to the life of poverty, chastity, and obedience to which individuals voluntarily bind themselves by vows more or less solemn. Hence those who are thus bound are known as religious.

·      Private vs. public

·      Up or down?

·      Rosary

Eucharistic Adoration with a procession

40 Hours for Eucharistic Adoration at St. Thomas Aquinas Church

We had a wonderful and peaceful weekend through 40 Hours for Eucharistic Adoration.  I am proud for our parishioners to spend time with Jesus Christ.  We also had three talks throughout this weekend.  Please find them here:

Fr. Michael Garry's talk: "Eucharist and the Poor" (3-31-17)
Pat Bjorum's talk: "Our Neighbors of Poverty" (4-1-17)
My talk: "Love your Neighbor like the Good Samaritan" (4-1-17) 

Teaching Mass (Sections in order #1-#5) on Wednesday, March 8th

Listen to the Teaching Mass through the sections below.  I hope you enjoy it!

Section #1: Talk before Mass and the priest's clothes;
Section #2: Homily;
Section #3: Information and Intercessions;
Section #4: Preparation for the Altar (there is no recording for the Eucharistic part of Mass);
Section #5: Question and Answers

Reform your Life...Repent: Nic Davidson's talk at Advent Mission on 12-7-16

Listen to Nic Davidson's talk here.

Reform your Life...Repent: Advent Mission: Aly Schissel's Talk on Wednesday, December 12th, 2016

Listen to Aly Schissel's talk here.