Pastor’s Corner — May 19th, 2024
Special Pentecost Vigil Mass (Saturday at 5pm)
As we do each year, this Saturday we will be having an extended Pentecost Vigil Mass in which we will be welcoming six people into full communion with the Catholic Church and three additional parishioners will be completing their sacraments of initiation. Please join me in praying for and congratulating all who will be confirmed here this weekend:
Taylor Barrett
Bridget Bogoski
Christopher Combs
Logan Gores
Guadalupe Herrera
Tracy Lillemoen
Jordan Okdie
Ari Vera
Keri Warren
As a parish family we rejoice with them and celebrate each of the 28 who have entered into the Catholic Church at St Pat’s this year!
Outpouring Pentecost Prayer Service: Receiving Holy Spirit Well (Sunday, May 19)
In preparation for Sunday’s Outpouring event, Fr. Miguel gave an outstanding homily last weekend on how to receive the Holy Spirit well. God doesn’t force his grace upon us nor is his grace in our lives automatic. We must come to him with open hearts. As a priest I find that those who dispose themselves the best to the love of God see the fruit of his love in their lives the most. This shouldn’t surprise us; at the heart of the life of grace is a relationship of love. What’s needed most of all to grow in receiving his love is faith: believing in his love for us, which helps us repent of our sins and forgive others and receive his love. It’s all about his love. People who believe in his love and keep asking for more of it, receive the most. Being properly disposed is to pray expectantly to the God who loves us and to receive with faith the love he brings.
This Sunday at Outpouring we are praying for a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We do this event twice a year (Solemnity of Christ the King and Solemnity of Pentecost). The goal of this event is to pray for the grace of baptism of the Holy Spirit for those who want to more fully receive the grace of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Even if we’ve received this grace before, there is always more of God. Along with preaching and beautiful praise music, we usually have a testimony or two of parishioners who have experienced God’s love powerfully in past parish events. I hope to see you there!
Fighting Anti-Semitism: What We Can Do
In a disturbing way, anti-semitism is on the rise again. But the problem is deeper than politics. There’s been a lot written on this topic from a political perspective, especially in light of the terrorist attacks of October 7 and Israel’s response. But since it’s our responsibility to see and understand what’s happening from a Christian perspective, I want offer one of the best articles I’ve read recently on the topic: “Christians Have an Obligation –And a Way –to Stop Anti-Semitism” by Maggie Philips (Word on Fire). Just to give you a taste of balance and thoughtfulness of the article here is a paragraph from the beginning.
“As Catholics, we have a special responsibility to recognize and to speak out against antisemitism. But what do we say? So much of what we see on the news and in our social media is political, untrustworthy, confusing, or lacking context. Since the most high-profile antisemitism right now relates to the war in Gaza, it is understandable that Catholics don’t want to be perceived as minimizing the suffering of the innocent people there, especially since it can feel like you need a PhD in Middle Eastern history to weigh in at all. But let me offer a few humble suggestions…”
The article is short and good. At times it can be difficult to find Christian commentary on topics around politics that isn’t overly political itself. We need to be very discerning for sure as to whether or not we’re allowing ourselves to see the world through the lens of our politics more than through the lens of our Catholic faith. But as I’ve seen before I think Word on Fire does such a great job of helping us see things through the lens of Catholic faith. This article is no exception to the solid journalism I find there.
Healing the Whole Person Retreat in Brighton (May 31-Jun 2)
We all know intuitively that the following saying is true: “hurting people hurt people.” We also know that unhealed wounds cause misery in our lives and can prevent us from following the Lord and play a key role in the sin in our lives. If all of this is true, then seeking healing has to be one of the top priorities of our spiritual lives. Many parishioners who engaged the Lord in these retreats would testify how powerful they are in their own lives. Why? Because on these retreats people open their hearts to the healing love of Jesus who heals significant areas of pain. As a result, people live in greater freedom.
The good news is that God can bring restoration to those areas of your heart where you feel helpless or hopeless, and even those areas of your heart that you’d rather just forget about. If you’re unsure about going, if you’re not sure it’s worth your time or if you’re skeptical I invite you to read Be Healed: A Guide to Encountering the Powerful Love of Jesus in Your Life (2014) by Bob Schuchts. If I had only three books I could have the parish read, this would be one of them. More information about the retreat is on page 5 of the bulletin.
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias