Category: Uncategorized

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Faith:

Today’s readings from the first Book of Kings and the Gospel of Mark provide examples of the faith of two widows in God. In the first reading we saw a poor widow who trusted Elijah’s God and risked her own and her son’s last meal before the strong possibility of starving to death. God rewarded her faith, as well as Elijah’s. In the Gospel we see a similar situation. While those who have much are seen to give for the wrong reason, the poor widow is giving all she has in a sense she is giving her whole life into God’s hands just as that first widow did. For this widow the temple is a holy place, a place of prayer. She goes to the holy place with true piety and gives herself into God’s hands.

What does that mean for us? What can we learn from our two poor widows? We learn the importance of trusting in God. The second widow illustrates how the disciples of Jesus (you and me) should live. The Pharisees wanted to be noticed when they gave money. Their concern was for appearances. On the other hand, however, the poor widow humbly gave all she had with faith that the temple needed it more than she. This widow put her life into God’s hands, just as Elijah’s widow had. She is for us a figure of a true Christian disciple a person who believes in God’s love and providence and so is able to humbly share what she has.

Which brings us to the all-important question: How may we be such Christian disciples? Can we do it? Do we have to give up our car, our home, our children’s toys, and their future college or technical education? Does it mean I should tell my family we shall be living on the street just as soon as we can give away everything we have?

No, of course not. There are so many ways we can be generous even without money. We have our time, our encouragement, our friendship. Don’t tell your family you will all live on the street. Instead, ask them how you can be generous Christian disciples together right were you are. Because it is in humility and generosity that we may all be disciples of Christ.

I hope you have a Christ-filled week!

St. Vincent de Paul, pray for us!

May the Holy Spirit always be with you.

Deacon Mike

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Faith:

Today is a special for us. Our parish doesn’t have to be named All Saints for today to be special for us. What makes All Saints Day special is the fact that we are celebrating all of the saints of heaven”so great a cloud of witnesses”  and not just those who have been canonized. We may not often think about it, but millions and millions of holy men and women are in heaven right now, praying for us and cheering us on. If we could hear them, they might be saying, “Don’t give up! Stay close to Jesus! It really is worth it!”

For the most part, these saints are all people just like us, only now they are in heaven. Their lives mirrored ours our desires, our doubts, and our struggles to follow Jesus. If you are a wife, a mother, or a teacher, look to Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. If you are praying for family members who have fallen away from the faith, look to Saint Monica and ask her to pray for them as well. If you struggle with dividing your time between prayer, work, and play, let Saint Benedict help you.

Today’s feast is a reminder for us that the saints in heaven are not just the famous ones like Mother Teresa or Francis of Assisi. The list will include our deceased parents, grandparents, old friends, and former pastors. All those who were closest to us in life are also close to us in spirit now — a sort of heavenly support group! They are looking down upon us with love and concern, and they want nothing more than to see us grow into Christ’s love more and more each day.

God’s plan is wonderful, isn’t it? He has already given us the gift of life, and he has given us families and friends. He has given us our own unique set of gifts and talents, which we can use to glorify him. He has even given us the gift of salvation, along with the sacraments and the life of grace to sustain us. And yet, that is still not enough because he has called each of us to be with him in heaven forever!

A good way of celebrating all of God’s saints is to spend some time today talking about some of our beloved ones who have gone before us. How did they live the Beatitudes? How did their lives show comfort, mercy, and the hunger and thirst for righteousness? How were they peacemakers?

We are all in this life together and it is up to us to pass it on and share God’s unlimited love with others.

I hope you have a Christ-filled week!

St. Vincent de Paul, pray for us!

May the Holy Spirit always be with you.

Deacon Mike

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Faith:

The readings for today all involve a call from God. In the first reading from the Prophet Jeremiah, the Lord makes a joyful announcement as he calls his people out of captivity and back to their homeland of Jerusalem. He promises to rescue them and accompany all of them along the way. He is determined to leave no one behind and he is preparing the way for a new covenant, and he wants all his people to join him.

In the second reading God calls his Son, the unblemished Lamb of God, to the high priesthood as the One who offers forgiveness and whose self-offering shows us the way to our heavenly Jerusalem.

Finally, in today’s Gospel, Jesus issues another call — a call filled with hope — while on the road to Jerusalem. He calls Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, to his side. He makes it clear that he has come to rescue everyone. He will leave no one behind, not even this blind man. Not even us! The hour has come. Jesus, the great high priest, now walks to the place of his Passover sacrifice where he will offer a new covenant in his very own blood, and he invites us to join him as joyful witnesses.

As their paths meet, Bartimaeus throws off his cloak and eagerly follows Jesus. What an image! As we receive the Eucharist at Mass, could we be like Bartimaeus and throw aside everything that limits our vision and expectations? Jesus has marvelous plans for our lives, so why not let him heal our hearts and fill them with the fire of his love.

As adopted sons and daughters of God, we all have a royal heritage. We should not let obstacles or difficulties make us lose sight of this fact, because it is not where we come from, but where we are heading that counts. So, let’s try our best to persist with faith and trust in the Lord. We must believe that he will remove what needs to be removed, strengthen what needs to be strengthened, and give us the grace to get up and follow him.

Remember, he is calling you!

Speaking of service, please take note of our Help Wanted notice elsewhere in today’s bulletin. We are desperately seeking a person or persons willing to serve the parish as Hall Manager for events held in our Parish Hall. Are you the person for this job?

I hope you have a Christ-filled week!

St. Vincent de Paul, pray for us!

May the Holy Sjpirit always be with you.

Deacon Mike

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Faith:

It has been estimated that internet start-up companies try to squeeze ten years’ worth of growth into just three years. Just imagine the grueling amount of work the entire team would have to perform over that time—all in the hope of a huge profit.

Now imagine if, one day, one of the employees of such a company stood up in a meeting and asked the founder to make him a key executive over everyone else. Can you see how angry his co-workers would be? They had all worked hard! Why should this fellow get special treatment?

This scenario is a modern-day take on today’s gospel reading as James and John ask Jesus to guarantee them special seating when he comes into his kingdom. All the disciples had worked hard and followed Jesus faithfully, so why should these two be raised above the others?

It seems James and John missed three important points about Jesus and his ministry. First, they did not understand that Jesus was destined to be a heavenly king, not an earthly one. They missed that he wanted to build a kingdom built on mercy and love, not power and domination.

Second, they did not realize that Jesus had come to die, not to reign. He had not come to be served as royalty, but to serve his people—to the point of giving his very life for them.

Finally, they missed the point that this is not a competition. Everyone who serves Jesus will be given a seat of honor in heaven!

Like the apostles, we, too, are part of Jesus’ team. So let us think about our role in his organization. How is he calling us to serve? How can we make his kingdom more and more successful in the world?

Speaking of service, please take note of our Help Wanted notice elsewhere in today’s bulletin. We are desperately seeking a person or persons willing to serve the parish as Hall Manager for events held in our Parish Hall. Are you the person for this job?

I hope you have a Christ-filled week!

St. Vincent de Paul, pray for us!

May the Holy Spirit always be with you.

Deacon Mike

In the Gospel Jesus tells us how hard it is for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. What a strange thing to say. Don’t we all strive for material well being? Our culture certainly tells us that wealth, status, and power are the most important things in life.

I recently heard an interview with a person who immigrated here from a very poor county in Central America. This person said they were very glad to be here and to have enough food and clothing and good shelter and a chance to learn and work but they also said it seemed as though people here were lonely in a profound way in spite of our busyness and activity. In some ways people here seemed unconnected to each other. They missed a sense of real community.

In poor countries people just don’t have things to keep them entertained and busy and distracted from the realities of life. They only have each other and they know that without each other and without the help of God they will not survive.

I wonder if this is part of what Jesus meant when he said that it was hard for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of god. Sometimes the more money and material possession we have the more ways we have of running away from God and blocking out his voice. Being able to control and manipulate our things gives us a false sense of power and self sufficiency.

Jesus tells us many times and in many ways that loving God and each other is what brings us to the kingdom of God. It is the only real wealth there is.

Peace.

Mary

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Faith:

I find it interesting that our United States Supreme Court changed the legal definition of marriage for our country in the same year our Church called for an international convention on marriage and the family to be held in Philadelphia last week. This weekend’s readings from Genesis and Mark’s gospel address this very topic.

The story in Genesis is from the second chapter in which God declares that “it is not good for the man to be alone,” so God sets out to “make a suitable partner,” for the man. However, none of the animals prove suitable to help the man overcome his primal aloneness. So God uses the only human material available – Adam’s rib – to create a suitably different counterpart to the man. At this, the man utters the first human words recorded in scripture in praise of the woman: “This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.” The passage closes with the statement we Catholics have come to believe, “This is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh,” which is part of our marriage ritual to this very day.

Jesus reflects on this same story while answering a question about divorce. Jesus reaffirms marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman.

Pope Francis, during his flight back to Rome from his visit to the US and Cuba, was asked if he supported individuals, including government officials, who refuse to abide by some laws, such as issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. He said, “Government officials have a ‘human right’ to refuse to discharge a duty…if they feel it violates their conscience. Conscientious objection must enter in to every juridical structure because it is a right.”

Bishop Cistone sent three messages to us about the sacrament of marriage since June. They included brief reflections on permanence, fidelity, and the procreation of children. I hope you were able to hear all three and meditate on the Bishop’s thoughts on Saint Augustine’s three ‘goods’ of marriage.

I hope you have a Christ-filled week!

St. Vincent de Paul, pray for us!

May the Holy Spirit always be with you.

Deacon Mike.

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Faith:

“Who’s in and who’s out?” This question is most of ten asked by those who are pretty sure they’re in! In today’s first reading Joshua was feeling sure that Eldad and Medad were not in. Moses rebukes Joshua and asserts that he wished all the people of the Lord were prophets who had been given the Spirit.

“Who’s in and who’s out?” John felt certain that the one casting out demons in Jesus’ name should be stopped. However, Jesus reminds John that, “Whoever is not against us is for us.”

“Who’s in and who’s out?” Pope Francis has issued statements to the effect that, during the Year of Mercy, priests will be allowed to forgive those who have undergone abortions, and that the rules for those divorcees seeking a decree of nullity for their original marriage should be relaxed. Think of the negative reactions in some quarters the Holy Father has been given, simply for reaching out to those who may have felt excluded in the past!

“Who’s in and who’s out?” St. Benedict, in the Prologue to the Rule, proclaims that the Lord seeks his laborer in a multitude of people. Age-old monastic wisdom suggested combating judgmental tendencies by always putting the best interpretation possible on what our companions in faith are doing. This seems like a very good idea! Can’t we all remember the embarrassment of being completely mistaken in judging another, or how hurt we were when we were on the receiving end of another’s erroneous judgment?

“Who’s in and who’s out?” We must take care never to cause someone who is seeking Jesus to stumble over our poor example as Jesus’ disciple. Rather we should strive wholeheartedly for absolute integrity and single-minded dedication as a full-time commitment to the Lord.

I hope you have a Christ-filled week!

St. Vincent de Paul, pray for us!

May the Holy Spirit always be with you.

Deacon Mike

Being told to be like children would have been surprising or even shocking to the disciples. In the ancient world children occupied a very different place than children do in our society. Unlike today’s culture, children were not catered to as an important consumer group. They were completely under the authority of the men in their family. They had no legal rights or special protection under the law.

Although parents in that time undoubtedly loved their children, the belief in their culture was that children’s feelings and needs were definitely subordinate to the needs and plan of adults. A child’s main duty was to fulfil their parents’ wishes. Although we have different ideas and customs about family life and the best way to live, there is still truth here that applies to our life. Children are dependent on their parents. Jesus wants us to acknowledge our dependence on our heavenly Father. Not in an irresponsible way that cripples us but in being able to give up control of the things that are God’s prerogative. He wants us to accept that we are not self-sufficient in this life. We need the help and grace and love of God all through our lives. When we forget this we make it hard for God’s love to reach us. When children have good parents they can trust them even if things are not always the way they want them to be. So too we need to trust God and his love and plan for us even when we don’t understand the current circumstances.

Children are not as set in their ways as adults are and are open to being guided and formed by those they love. We also must be willing to be formed by God. All of these things encourage us to be the servant that trusts God and does not insist on having the highest status because we are secure in God’s love and trust his purpose for us and for the world.

Peace

Mary

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Faith:

Sunday, September 13, is the day our own Director of Faith Formation, Mary Moomey, will be officially commissioned as a Lay Minister for the Diocese of Saginaw. Bishop Cistone will be commissioning Mary and ten of her classmates at a celebration of the Eucharist at 2:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of Mary of Assumption in Saginaw.

Mary’s commissioning is the culmination of four years of prayerful study of many aspects of the teachings of the Catholic Church, and practical experience, most recently as our DFF. It has been a pleasure to have Mary with us since last February and to have benefitted by her hard work in our parish. We currently have two people working toward their own Commissioning as Lay Ministers. Gerri Clark has just completed her first year in the program. During this year she and her classmates have met one weekend (Friday evening until Saturday afternoon) per month for seminars on such topics as Old and New Testament Scriptures.

Morgan Monte has recently been accepted into the program and will begin her first year in the program later this month.

All three of these women, Mary, Gerri, and Morgan, need and deserve our prayers and encouragement as they enter the new phases of their spiritual journeys.

If you think you may be interested in entering this course of study to become a Commissioned Lay Minister for the Diocese of Saginaw, contact Deacon Mike for details.

Father Robert Barron was mentioned last week in this column and I was told by Father Fred that Father Barron was recently appointed by Pope Francis to be ordained as an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, California. As the new Auxiliary Bishop he will be responsible for the counties of Ventura and Santa Barbara; his ordination took place on Tuesday, September 8, 2015.

In Today’s Gospel selection Peter expresses his belief in Jesus as the Messiah — the Son of God. However, he is unable to accept the whole mission of Jesus, which is to suffer and die and finally, to rise from the dead. Jesus knew that human life is filled with a lot of “ups and down”, joys and sorrows, pain and suffering. We, too must be aware of these “facts of life” and be ready, to get through all the good times and the bad times with the help of Christ.

I hope you have a Christ-filled week!

St. Vincent de Paul, pray for us!

May the Holy Spirit always be with you.

Deacon Mike

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Faith:

Father Robert Barron marvels at Mark’s story of Jesus healing the deaf man with a speech impedi-
ment in today’s Gospel account as a masterfully crafted icon of evangelization. The man in question is from the Decapolis, the region of the ten cities outside the realm of Israel. The inhabitants of this area would be somewhat unfamiliar with the Word of God—deaf to it. Never having heard the Word of God, they would be unable to articulate it. Therefore the man from the ten cities, insufficient in both hearing and speech, is a good symbol of the unevangelized person of any age of history.

When Jesus puts his fingers into the man’s ears and groans, “Be opened!” it is as if the Word made flesh plugged himself into the man and established a sort of electric current which carried the Word to his mind and heart. This is the process of evangelization whereby a personal connection to Jesus is established and a soul becomes opened to the truth. Once a person hears the Word of God clearly, he is able to speak it to others with clarity and conviction.

Benedictine Father Matthew Luft directs our attention more on the crowd than on Jesus. We notice the actions of the crowd—they brought the man to Jesus; when Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone, the more they proclaimed Jesus’ wonderful works. This crowd models for us true discipleship as they invite us to bring to Jesus those we know who are hurting, suffering, or in need of any kind. We are not afraid to bring people to sporting events or movies. We are not afraid to introduce someone to new foods, new ideas, and new adventures. So why are we sometimes afraid to introduce someone to the Faith? The crowd in the Gospel challenges us to bring people to Jesus for healing.

The call to us today is to move, as Jesus did, into the Decapolis, into the region of those who haven’t heard the Word and so cannot speak it. To the citizens of that realm, we need to shout “Ephphatha!”

I hope you have a Christ-filled week!

St. Vincent de Paul, pray for us!

May the Holy Spirit always be with you.

Deacon Mike