Pastor’s Column 13th Sunday Ordinary Time June 30, 2019 And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go and bury my father first.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” From this Sunday’s Gospel: Luke 9: 51-62 Jesus’ words certainly sound harsh. But things are not what they seem here. This man’s father was almost certainly not dead or even dying. What this person was asking for was time to go home and think about the Lord’s offer. Perhaps this man intended to put off being a follower of Christ for many years to come. He was undecided. But time was the one thing that this man did not have. He did not ha

Pastor’s Column June 23,2019 “Brothers and sisters: I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 1 Corinthians 11:23 We Catholic Christians have a very radical religion. Corpus Christi, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord, demonstrates how unique our faith really is. The Son of God had not only the humility to become a human being, but even went so far as to offer us His Body and Blood to consume, that we might become like Him, members of his family, that we might die and rise with him as

(but you cannot bear it now) Pastor’s Column Trinity Sunday June 16, 2019 Jesus knows his time on earth is growing short in this Sunday’s gospel (John 16:12-16). He must communicate the essentials of his teaching to his disciples before he goes. Then Jesus says: I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. What does Jesus mean by this? First of all, this is how the Lord taught the disciples from the beginning. When Jesus called Peter and the other disciples to leave everything and follow him, he made it sound very appealing. The disciples would witness miracles and work a few themselves; they would be left spellbound by his teaching. But notice what Jesus does not say: “Com

Pastor’s Column Pentecost Sunday June 9, 2019 Who in this world doesn’t have problems? Who in the world has the answers to these problems? The Holy Spirit will help us navigate the daily joys, sorrows and opportunities life brings us each day if we invite him in. The Holy Spirit knows exactly what is best for us; which decisions we ought to make; how to handle even the gravest of difficulties in our lives. So how do we access this knowledge? In this column, I want to share with you a bit of wisdom that my spiritual director shared with me a while back. I keep this quote in my prayer book and read it daily. These words are easier to say than they are to do! Pentecost Sunday is the perfect ti

Pastor’s Column Feast of the Ascension June 2, 2019 “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” From Acts 1: 1-11 By this time Jesus had been with the disciples for over three years. Over and over again, Jesus had taught them; they had seen him work miracles in many lives; they had been through the crucifixion and their own loss of faith, and then Christ’s resurrection from the dead. And after all this time, now that Jesus is about to ascend into heaven, the disciples ask–the wrong question: “Now are you going to set up an earthly kingdom and make Israel the center of a world-wide empire?” It is encouraging for us that, even at this late date, the disciples still