Blog & Pastor Letters

Did you know that you can become royalty, for the right price? It’s true — for the low, low cost of $50, you, too, can purchase a 12-square-inch souvenir plot of Sco¡ish land and call yourself “Laird So-and-so.” Now, this lordship or ladyship doesn’t come with the ability to boss anyone around, but maybe your friends will be impressed enough to bend the knee.

In the time of Christ, sacrifice was nothing new to the Jewish people. The Israelites were experts at sacrifice. So, after centuries of every kind of offering imaginable, what was so special about Christ’s? What made it so different from the sacrifices offered by the Levitical priests for centuries before his death?

What does sacrifice look like? I think of those who serve in the Armed Forces. They have sacrificed much for my freedom and to work towards real peace in our world. I think of those in service to our Church: priests, deacons, and religious. Their lives are dedicated to prayer and good works so that the Good News might not only be preached but be seen in the love they display toward God and their fellow brothers and sisters.

“Stewardship” can get a bum rap these days. When folks hear the term “stewardship” from the pulpit, their eyes tend to kind of glaze over. “Here’s Father asking for more money,” they groan inwardly, “Get ready for the passing of the pledge cards.”

Christ refutes this idea when he gives us what he calls the greatest commandments — instructing us to love God and to love our neighbor. Now, Christ is a man who chose his words carefully. He meant exactly what he said — and he didn’t say that the greatest commandments were to tithe and to give money to charity. If he had wanted stewardship to be only about money, he would have said so.

After Sunday masses this weekend, I shall set out for my vacation to Nigeria. It’s important for me to take this opportunity to decompress, relax, and refresh my spirit to return strongest for work. Therefore, from 27 October until 15 December, I shall be on vacation. A few activities are lined-up for me already.

Giving as God does

Ask yourself this question — what would you pray for if you really believed God could and would do anything for you? In my experience, we all have something. We all have that miracle we’re afraid to request, afraid we will be disappointed.

What’s in it for me?

I think we’ve all been guilty of looking at a situation and wondering what’s in it for us. It doesn’t matter if it’s a particular work assignment, someone at the parish asking for help with the mission trip bake sale, or your spouse asking if you’ll take over the grocery shopping this week. Often, our first reaction to one of these requests is a heavy sigh and the thought: “If I do this, what will I get?”

I oftentimes say in prayer, "Grant me the wisdom to see Your will for my life and the courage to follow that will." It is a request for true discernment to see that God's will is always more important and fruitful than my own will. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking happiness and fulfillment lie in doing what I want to do and following my own wants and desires. Our entire secular culture is filled with that message.

How often do we hear couples having playful or loving nicknames for each other, especially at the beginning of their relationship or marriage? Those names often reference the uniqueness of that couple’s love for each other. Perhaps the best image to have for a better understanding of the sacrament of marriage is to look upon your spouse as an ox.

Each week we recite in the Nicene Creed that we believe in “One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.” It sounds pretty clear: there is one Church, gathered by the Holy Spirit and made holy by the body of Christ. She is catholic on account of her totality and being endowed with the fullness of faith. And she is apostolic because she is taught, ministered to, and shepherded by the Apostles and their ordained successors, the bishops. But as we all know, there are Christians who live a moral life, read the Bible, and have a prayerful relationship with Jesus, but they are not members of the Catholic Church. How should we understand our relationship to them?

What does success look like for a Christian? Our culture has its own standards determining what constitutes success and failure. Fame, wealth, and power are, of course, indicators that one has “made it” in this world.

Anyone who studies Sacred Scripture understands that there are some differences between the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We call the first three of these the Synoptic Gospels because they “take a common view” of the life, death, and Resurrection of Christ. St. John’s account is widely regarded as the latest chronologically of the four and the most distinct in its approach.

In the Rite of Baptism, the priest or deacon prays over the newly baptized child in the very manner in which our Lord heals in today’s Gospel. Touching the ears and mouth of the child, he prays the following words: “The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the mute speak. May he soon touch your ears to receive his word and your mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father.”

On this Labor Day weekend, with college and professional football leagues getting underway, a favorite American pastime can resume: armchair quarterbacking. This is an activity in which a spectator, watching from the comfort of his favorite chair at home, tells everyone else in the room what Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow or Josh Allen should do to march their offense down the field and into the end-zone. The armchair quarterback always thinks he knows better than the professionals who prepare and practice for hours and hours each week.