A Call To Renewed Vigilance

“The days are coming when I will fulfill the promise I made” - Jeremiah 33:14

The wonderful thing about the prophetic writings of inspired Scripture is that only God knows the true scope of the words His Spirit moved His prophet to say.

When Jeremiah said these words, he was speaking to a city under siege, the threat of the Babylonians breathing down Jerusalem’s neck. Although some of his audience may have hoped that these words would be fulfilled before the city was destroyed, Jeremiah knew that the prophesy’s fulfillment referred to something a bit more distant. The promised shoot from the royal house of David would not arise for another 500 years and those five centuries would be filled with destruction, exile, and being conquered and subjected to several empires. But the day did come and God’s promise was fulfilled, when the Lord, our justice, came to Judah to do what is right and just in the land. This royal Savior just came a little differently than expected and was born in the humblest conditions. Hurray Christmas. The End. Prophecy accomplished.

And yet, Jeremiah’s prophetic words remain just as prophetically important to us as they were to those people in Jerusalem, if not more so. The difference is: While they awaited the promised coming of a mysterious messiah, someone they knew just enough about in order to recognize Him when He came, we, on the other hand, await the promised return of the Christ we already know. Both involve a patient and eager waiting for the unknown time of arrival of someone great, but the Christian knows that Someone and can rightfully call Him “Brother” in addition to “Lord,” “Messiah,” “Savior,” and “King,” because, through Him, we have been made sons and daughters of His Father. Our Redemption has already come and won salvation for us through His Passion, Death, and Resurrection, but this mission’s completion is, to quote the Italians, gia ma non ancora, (“already, but still not yet”). This work is still unfinished in that our eternity (“our” meaning you, me, and everyone who hasn’t yet died and stood before the Judgment Throne) is as yet undetermined.

Advent is the Church’s yearly call to renewed vigilance, echoing Jesus’s warning: Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy […] and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. It is a call to take stock of my conduct: Am I blameless in holiness before my God or only so-so? Do I cooperate with God’s constant invitation so that He can make me increase and abound in love for one another and for all? Or am I sick and distracted by “carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life?” Advent is an all-too-helpful reminder to be vigilant so that, when the day comes when God’s promise is fulfilled and other people are dying of fright, we can stand tall and raise our heads because the Redemption at hand happens to be an old friend.

Fr. James

Thanksgiving

On Thursday we will be celebrating Thanksgiving. It officially was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 during the Civil War, even though it had been celebrated earlier than that. It is a day in which we give thanks for the many things that we have been given.

Sometimes we want to ask ourselves “What is there to give thanks for?” especially in this last year and a half, but even in these challenging times, there is much to give thanks for. As we are giving thanks for all of the gifts God has given us, we should also ask Him for strength for the challenges we have in our lives.

We spend a day with our families and have a feast, a feast to remember the many gifts God has given us. This is a day in which we usually over-indulge in food and drink, watch some football, or many other things; after all, we are celebrating. We can turn any event into a time to celebrate and over-indulge, which leads us to the evening and the next day… BLACK FRIDAY. I find it interesting, that on the day we give thanks we begin to line up at the malls trying to get ready to beat out our neighbor for the best deal of the season, or to make sure that we actually can get what we want with the “supply chain issues”.

I myself have only been out in the morning of “Black Friday” a few times and that was enough. The stores call it Black Friday because they are making a profit, going from red to black. I really think that it is called black because of the darkness. We hear of the many different places that people are being pepper sprayed, hurt, and/or killed over saving a few dollars. What a sad way to remind ourselves of our thankfulness than to trample over our neighbor so we can get a television for half price.

The word that we use for the Blessed Sacrament is Eucharist, this word is transliterated from the Greek word Eucharistia and the word translated means thanksgiving, so in essence we are celebrating a feast of thanksgiving every Sunday and every day when we celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The Mass is a celebration of giving thanks to God for the gifts that He has given us, as well as a remembrance of the sacrifice that He suffered. We are called to play a part in both of these elements of the Holy Mass, the sacrifice and the thanksgiving.

As we celebrate our Mass for the Thanksgiving holiday, remember to thank God for all of those things that we have been given. Just like in our celebration of Thanksgiving Day, we have choices on how we will participate. We can choose to not participate at all, we can eat and go on to the next thing, we can eat and sleep, or we can eat and participate with our Church, our earthly family, and our heavenly family. Remember also that as we begin our Advent preparations looking forward to the celebration of Christmas, that we should be mindful of those people around us, those who are in need as well as our own families.

Fr. Ken

Low Battery Warning?

Have you ever had the experience of looking down at your cell phone and seeing the low battery warning light on? You kind of get that sinking feeling. Most of the time it is not a big deal, you just put it on the charger and leave it there for a while so that the battery will get charged up. But there are other times in which you really need to use the phone and are not around a plug, or do not have your charger with you. Most of us now have multiple places that we can charge our electronic devices.

I find it funny watching people hovering around the plugins at the airport charging their phones. When you are not able to get to a charger and you are in the middle of something, you can feel panicked or worried that you will not be able to do that phone call or zoom meeting. This happens not only with our phone, but it can happen with our lives. We can feel that we are not charged up and are running on empty.

This last couple of years more than most, we have felt more and more stressed, whether it be the challenges that go along with being in a pandemic, the challenges with working at home, are we still going to have a job, or mandates. All of this takes a toll on us and it can lead us to a sense of dread or depression.

We know that keeping the phone charged is important, but what about our prayer life. Do we keep our prayer life charged? One of my priest friends reminds us to “keep that halo charged.” Our prayer life is just like a phone, if we do not take the time to charge it up, it may not be there when we really need it.

There are many ways in which we can get it charged up: the celebration of the Holy Eucharist is the primary one, but reading scripture, spending a few minutes each day just in conversation with God, praying the rosary, or another devotion are all good as well. I often remind people to attach ourselves to a particular (or multiple) saint(s); they can be an incredible source of strength and comfort.

There are so many times in our lives in which we don’t feel like we need prayer, but we always do. Most people now days, would never think of walking out of their room without their cell phone, let alone leaving home without it, but how about leaving home without spending some time with God.

There are so many different ways that we can pray. I often recommend turning off the radio in the car and praying. It could be something as simple as praying the rosary, or taking some time in conversation with God. Just as we make sure that we keep those electronic devices charged, remember to take some time to charge up your prayer life and to always make sure that you are taking God with you wherever you go.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

Remembering Those Who Have Died

During the month of November, we focus on remembering those who have died and gone before us. In many ways, while this can be a healing time, but it can also be difficult, especially if someone we care about has died in the last year. We have that “year of firsts” since they have gone, the first birthday, anniversary, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc without that person that we love, and that can be a challenge all in itself. This is especially difficult if we have some special traditions that we do for certain celebrations.

Within the United States, it is generally considered that we have six weeks to “get over” the death of someone, but we all know that we can never “get over” the death of someone that we really loved; we can get through it, but we will never get over it. One of the great things we can do is to keep the person in our prayers every day, and then one day, we will switch from praying for the person to praying with the person. God will often give us a sign that can guide us and show us when that time is. It is wonderful practice for us as Christians to join our prayers with others to help them, and then they can help us in our lives.

One of the things that I always remind people, is that as Christians, the goodbyes we say in the funeral rite, are not the forever kind, but the ones that really mean, “until we meet again in the kingdom of Heaven”. As a part of the funeral rite, there is a wonderful prayer in which we take comfort in the hope that one day we shall joyfully greet them again when the love of Christ conquers all things including death itself.

During the funeral one of the things that we need to be reminded of is that we emphasize God’s mercy for us and the one who has died. That is because mercy, which includes love, is the reason that Jesus Christ came down to be with us. It is something that we need to be continually reminded of each and every day. Mercy is something that God gives us to receive, but also something that He is calling us to use and share as well.

When we experience the loss of someone we love, the best thing we can do is to fall back on our faith, which is rooted in the love that God has for us and for the person who has died. Jesus tells us that He will not lose anything that has been given to Him and who is following Him, so we can trust in Him. Let us give those who have died over to the loving hands of God and trust in that continual mercy that he shows us so often.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

All Saints and All Souls

This Monday is the feast of All Saints Day, and Tuesday is the feast of All Souls day. On All Souls day, we remember those who have died this past year, and we are reminded to pray for all of our family members who have died.

A few years ago, a priest that I greatly respected and served with, Fr Bob Hoefler, died. While he was in the hospice center with the final stages of his cancer, I and some other people were visiting with him and he made a comment to all of us who were there. He said that at his funeral he did not want anyone to canonize him. He did not want people to constantly say that he was in heaven. Don’t get me or him wrong, he really wanted to go to heaven, but what he wanted was for people to pray for him, because if we always say that someone who has died is in heaven, there is no need for us to pray for them anymore, and they may still need our prayers.

The feasts of All Saints and All Souls are important feast days for us as Catholics. We celebrate these days in order to remember those who have gone before us to eternal life. While they are similar in the fact that we are celebrating those who have died, they are different in what we are praying for. For those that are in heaven (All Saints) we pray a prayer of thanksgiving, one that is also asking those saints to pray for our needs. For those who are not in heaven yet, those who are in purgatory (All Souls) we are praying for their needs, that God will speed the time of their purgation of sin and bring them lovingly into the kingdom of heaven.

At a funeral, I will always tell people that the person who has died is in the loving and merciful hands of God now. I will not say that they are in heaven, because I am praying that they will be there and I want them to receive the benefits of our prayers. We pray for them, not in the body that is on earth which is dead and buried, but for the soul which is eternal and is entrusted to God’s hands now.

On All Saints day, we celebrate all those who have served the Church in a special way, those who have fought the good fight of their lives and have been examples of holiness. Most of the people we celebrate are the countless examples of how to live holy lives. Only one of the saints in our history has been a perfect example, which is Mary the mother of Jesus, who was also perfect because He was God. Even though the saints are not perfect, they are still examples that can lead us to holiness.

In the month of November, we remember our loved ones who have died. Here at St. Luke’s, there is a book in the gathering space of church to write down the names of our loved ones, and you are welcome to write down the names of any of your loved ones who have passed away.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

Godparents

One of the wonderful things that I get to do here at St. Luke’s more often is to celebrate the sacrament of Baptism of children, since we have a few of them running around here. I really enjoy getting to celebrate this wonderful sacrament. It is a blessed and awesome thing to be able to welcome children into the home of the Church and into their second family, the family of faith.

Often times when discussing with couples that are preparing to have their children baptized, I get a question about godparents. This is always a delicate matter for me because the teaching of the Church says that only Catholics can be godparents for a very good reason; they make a promise to help to raise the child in the practice of the faith. If the godparents do not know the Catholic faith, how can they fulfill the promise to help to raise them in that faith?

I know that most of the time, godparents are chosen because they are siblings or good friends. In the past, the choice of godparents could really affect the life of the children, because they were the ones who would raise the child if something happened to the parents. While that is no longer the case, the godparents should still be a good example of the Christian life for the child.

In Hispanic cultures, the role of the godparents (padrinos) is still very important, especially for young girls. They are the ones who will help with the girls Quinceañera (15th birthday celebration) they are the ones that will also help out when the child is going to be married. It is a very special role.

Ideally, the role of a godparent should be who can and will be a good role model for the practice of the faith for the child. I know that we could all have more of those good examples of faith in our lives so that they can help us to live out our own baptismal promises of being that blessed child of God.

As an adult, I would encourage each of us to pray for our godparents, and if we are a godparent to make sure that we pray for our godchildren and for ourselves as well to be a wonderful example of faith for them. I have someone that I know that is the godparent of a lot of people now, he keeps in touch with all of them as much as possible and even sends them some little faith notes every-once-in-a-while, just to remind them of the faith. Being a godparent is a wonderful thing, but we do make a promise when we do it to help the parent raise the child in the practice of the faith.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

Who was St. Luke

This Monday, October 18th we celebrate the feast of St. Luke the Evangelist. One of the common symbols of St. Luke is the Ox, and this is why a few years ago we switched our parish festival to Oxtoberfest. Since we are celebrating the feast of our namesake, I thought that it would be good to write about him again. The ox comes from the prophet Ezekiel who has a vision about a creature with four faces: that of an ox, that of a man, that of an eagle, and that of a lion. The ox is a symbol because this was an animal that was used for sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins and St. Luke begins his Gospel with the sacrifice of Zachariah, while he served as a priest in the Temple.

First and foremost, we know St. Luke was the writer of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. We say writer and not author because the author of all of scripture is God, humans only write them with the inspiration of God. Another reason for the ox is that St. Luke’s Gospel has a heavy focus on the mercy and forgiveness of God. We have St. Luke to thank for the story of the Prodigal Son and the woman who washes the feet of Jesus with her tears.

We also know that St. Luke was highly educated, because he was a physician, and we know this from a couple of different sources, first from St. Paul who calls him the “the beloved physician” and second from Church historians like Eusebius, St. Jerome, St. Irenaeus who all refer to St. Luke as a physician. There is also a discussion about where St. Luke came from, most would claim the he was Greek and was a Gentile who became a disciple of Christ. There is evidence because he is not listed when Paul mentions in the Letter to the Colossians those who were “of the circumcision” which would mean the Jewish people, but he is mentioned later along with someone called Demas. There is also a theory that St. Luke was a slave. We also know that St. Luke joined St. Paul in many of his journeys but not always. St. Luke first met up with St. Paul in Troas and traveled with him for quite a while then were apart for about seven years when they traveled again through Caesarea and Jerusalem. He was most likely with St. Paul when he was arrested and thrown in prison in Rome, even though it does not seem that he was in prison with him.

St. Luke also is one that has a special connection with the Blessed Mother, because he was the only one who has the account of the Annunciation as well as the Magnificat prayer. He was also one who put the account of the Presentation in the temple, as well as the finding in the temple. He is also the one that we have to thank for the first part of the Hail Mary prayer which comes from the Annunciation and from the Visitation.

There are some conflicting stories of St. Luke’s death, but most say that he was martyred around the year 84, and his relics are in the Basilica di Santa Guistina in Padua, Italy.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

The Junk Drawer

Most of us have that one drawer in the house that is the junk drawer. That particular drawer that you put all of those things that you cannot seem to find a place for and we can never seem to find what we really need in it. That short piece of rope that you may need some time, the remote from that VCR that you haven’t used in ten years, the collection of paint can openers, miscellaneous batteries for something you may need again later, and the many other items that you may or may not use in the next few decades. It is the drawer that you do not ever want to clean and organize because you know what will happen, you will pull the items out of the drawer and then all of the stuff will just end up back in the drawer.

Have you ever thought the same thing about confession? The sacrament of Confession forces us to do something that we may not want to do, and that is to open up that drawer full of junk and empty it. To take the time and go through all of the junk we do not need and get rid of all of it, but then the trick is to not try and fill it up with junk again, but with stuff that will be useful and beneficial to us.

Sins in our lives are the things that we know we should not hold onto, but we do anyway. We keep collecting them until the drawer is just too full or we start putting them in other places and either we become hoarders of sin, or finally go through it and keep the stuff we need and get rid of the stuff we don’t.

Sometimes I hear that people say that they do not want to go to Confession because, like the emptying and refilling of the junk drawer, they will end up doing the same sins again and again. Even if that is the case, we still need to do it. I know in my own case, I tend to do the same sins, even after I go to celebrate the Sacrament. We get into the habit, even if we walk out of the confessional with the intention to not do it again, it can be challenging. One of my professors reminded us that it is better to do the same sins (unless they are very serious) than to go through the Commandments and decide which ones we are going to do this time.

I also know that it can be difficult to go to Confession because it forces us to look at the things that we have done wrong, but in the end, it is a wonderful way to unburden ourselves with the junk that we have been collecting over the many days, weeks, or years. Take that time and dump the junk into the accepting arms of God.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

Respect Life Month

October is Respect Life month in the Church. When we as a Church talk about being Pro-Life, that phrase has many different aspects to it. It is pretty common knowledge that the Catholic Church is a strong leader in the Pro-Life movement, which goes well beyond the work to end abortions.

Protection for the unborn is one of the primary missions of the Pro-Life group because it is the first stage of life, but not the only one. Each year, over 900,000 children are aborted in the U.S. alone, that is a staggering number and sadly in Washington DC, 38% of pregnancies end in abortion. It is estimated that one out of four women have had an abortion and we need to respond to them with forgiveness and love.

When we talk about being Pro-Life in our Church it is more than just being anti-abortion, it is about supporting life from conception to natural death. This means that we should strive for the dignity of life from the time that the child is conceived to the time that we naturally die. This means that we should also not support euthanasia, no matter what light it is cast in. It is sometimes called “dignity in death” because some would argue that it is better to die than to suffer and that the taking of a life over allowing them to suffer is better for the person or even the family. This also applies to the death penalty within the United States where we have an ability to keep those who have committed a major crime in prison. Capital punishment is not supported by the Church for multiple reason. First and foremost, there is a small chance that the person convicted is not guilty. It also does not allow for a conversion of heart by the person who is guilty. Finally, most of the time, capital punishment is retaliation and not justice.

We sometimes separate social justice and Pro-Life as two different and separate groups, but they are intertwined. If we profess to support life, we also need to help and provide support for those who are living. If we support social justice, then we need to have the first rule, which is life. Jesus calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves and then explained that all people are our neighbors, no matter what color, or where they are from: from the child conceived with a disability, to the child conceived on a hook-up, to the immigrant, to the prisoner on death row, to the elderly person in a nursing home, or those on their death beds.

Being Pro-Life in the Catholic Church also means providing for the needs of others in many varied ways, which is why the Church provides food and water, and other support to those in need. We as a parish are supporting this effort in so many different ways!

The Catholic Church feeds and clothes millions of people throughout the world as a part of our supporting life efforts. It also provides health care for millions. This is what it means to be Pro-Life. Pray for all of the Pro-Life ministries that we support throughout the world.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

All those things we thought we needed

One of the interesting things that I used to do when I was in Creston was to wander through the ReRun thrift shop that the parish ran, just to see the interesting things that happen to show up. I always wondered how many items we see and just have to have, because everybody needs multiple devices to slice eggs, strawberries, bananas, etc. when really, a single knife or a mandolin slicer will do it and take up much less space in the cabinets.

We fall into these advertising traps telling us what we have to have, and that having a little plastic gadget that can slice an entire banana in one flip will save us a huge amount of time, and just think of all of the things we can accomplish with that time that we save! Being a “techie” I can find myself falling into this trap. What is the newest gadget? Is it going to be so much faster? Are we going to save time or to add convenience? I realized that I have lots of different devices, including my watch, lights, and stereo that can connect to the internet. Do I need all of these things? Of course not! Do I need to be able to turn my kitchen lights on in the house from my phone? Of course not, but these things are kind of fun to have.

One of the things that I really like to do with technology is to pray with it. Since I almost always carry my cell phone, I can have prayer apps on it and set reminders about times to pray. When I look at the sheer volume of items that went through the thrift shop, I see how effective advertising really is. It has convinced us to get this stuff and when we realize that we really do not need it, off it goes to the thrift store!

How many items do all of us still have in our cabinets that we purchased on a whim and used once or twice and then put them away forever, put them in a garage sale, or ended up giving them away? We have lots of stuff. Stuff in the end is just stuff and we can get by with far less of it most of the time. The whole point of advertising is to tell us what we are lacking, but if we have our faith, in reality, we lack nothing.

As Jesus says, “be rich in the things that matter in heaven and not necessarily the things of the earth.” Then we will truly be happy with Him. The things of the world will pass away, but the riches in heaven will never pass away. Where do we look for treasure, that new item that will be old and worthless later, or God?

God bless,
Fr. Ken

The time we spend preparing

Football season has begun. Last weekend we had the “big game” for the state of Iowa with the University of Iowa playing Iowa State University. It is always fun to see the events leading up to the game, as well as the game itself. Before anyone asks, I am apolitical when it comes to this game. I usually say, that I want the team that is going to be the best at the end of the year to win, and I hope for no injuries during it.

Sports have become a huge deal in our country, in many ways it is a great way to relax and watch, and playing sports is also a good and enjoyable way to get some exercise. With football season started, I am reminded of the old adage “the best offense is a good defense.” In football this is definitely the case, the shorter time that the opponent’s offense is on the field, the less chance they have to score, and the more your offense is on the field, the more chances you have to score. How about using this in our spiritual life, the best offense in our lives is some good defensive prayer.

I know many different people who are in fantasy football leagues, I was even in a few myself in the past, and it is interesting how much time some people can spend researching the players and teams to put together a team of players. Some people spend weeks doing the research and preparing for the big draft. How about picking out a spiritual team of prayers? Find some saints that you can relate to and ask them each and every day to help you. I once heard a priest state “I wish we would be as prepared for Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as we will prepare for the big game.”

We so often spend hours a week practicing for a sport, on the internet, or watching television and then we turn around and say that we have a hard time finding 15 minutes to pray. I know in my own life, I sometimes find it hard to pray, or difficult to “find the time” when in reality, I have just chosen to do something different. As I went through some social media, as well as some news stories, I saw that people will spend hours getting ready for a game of their favorite team. I have friends that used to leave their houses at 4:00 am so that they could get to the stadium for a tailgate for a game that begins at 3:00 pm.

What if we spent just a fraction of that time preparing for something greater than just a game? What if instead of 11 hours before the game, we would spend 30 minutes going over the readings for the Mass each Sunday? How would that excitement and love of the Eucharist encourage our children or others around us?

In the end, no matter how big the game is, it is still a game. The Mass is a matter of life and death, life with Christ, or death without, and that is the reason, that we attach ourselves to the author of life itself in his Body and Blood.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

Are you ready for a Pop Quiz?

As we are at the beginning of the school year, I am reminded that the words “Pop Quiz” can bring panic in some students, and they maybe even bring a flash back to some of us who have been out of school for a while.

When I was in my last year of seminary, one of the professors took joy in walking past fourth year theology students and asking them to “recite the prayer of absolution.” His rational was it is a prayer that every priest must know immediately and always because you never know when someone will ask for a confession.

The reasoning behind the pop quiz is because there are some things that we just need to be prepared for at any time and any place. I myself have heard confessions in a car, a park, a hospital, on a sidewalk, in a parking lot, an airport, and in many other places. Many times, when I am running errands, while wearing my priest collar, I have had people come up to me and tell me that they haven’t been to church in a while, or that seeing me reminds them that they need to go to confession.

The police and military train for a lot of different situations that may or may not ever happen. Why? Because there is a possibility that they might happen and they want to be ready for them. The same should be true for our faith life, what if the pop quiz we run into is the end of our life? What if the pop quiz is to answer for the things we have done or not done in our lives? Would we be ready for the judgment of God today if something bad happens? This is something that we do not often want to think about, but so many times Jesus reminds us that we must be ready because at an unknown hour the Lord will come.

To make sure that we are ready for a pop quiz in school, we study and make sure that we know the information. To make sure that we are ready for a pop quiz in our work life, we learn our job and make sure that we are ready for the situations that we may run into at work. The big question is what are we doing to make sure that we are ready for the hour that we may not know about when the master of the house returns as Jesus tells us?

The good thing is that we can be ready for that pop quiz that will come to us at the end of our lives, and there are many different ways to make sure that we are ready. Some of these ways are to do a good daily examination of conscience in which we pray about the good and bad things we have done each and every day, to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation often, to pray each and every day, to be a part of the celebration of the Sunday Mass, and to be that follower of Christ that He calls us to be.

If the Lord comes for us today, will we be ready?

God bless,
Fr. Ken

Labor Day Weekend

This weekend, we will be celebrating Labor Day. It is often seen as the last hurrah of summer and the beginning of fall. The holiday is sometimes dubbed the “working man’s holiday” because it was begun by the labor movement in the 1880’s. One of the interesting facts is that in Iowa it is against the law to begin school until after Labor Day, unless you get a dispensation from the state. I think that almost every school district has a dispensation now.

Many people take the opportunity on this weekend to do the last vacation, or the last big cookout of the summer, although this year these may be less. Still others take this long weekend as an opportunity to do some work on the house or yard. Whatever we do on this long weekend I would encourage everyone to take a few minutes to thank God for the many gifts that we have received.

We could also take some time to pray for those who do those jobs that we do not want to do. Another thing that we can do is to take some time to pray for those who want to be working and either do not have a job or do not have a job that they would like to have. Especially in this time in which many people are out of work because of COVID. There is a great fear in many people these days, whether it be someone who is out of a job and is worried about their livelihoods, or those who are currently working and fear that they may catch the disease. There are many businesses that have also suffered and with them, the people who work there, or those who were laid off. There are also many businesses that are looking for people, depending on your skill set.

Saint Paul reminds us to do the work that we have to do without complaining and do it with joy. Each of us has a passion to do something in life, and one of the most satisfying things is to be able to work at something we love. I have heard the phrase, if you work at something that you love, you will never work a day in your life. I know in my own case, this is where God wants me to be at this time, here at St. Luke’s.

Being able to hear where God is calling us to be can make our labors joyful, even if they are hard work. I know that this is the case with many of our staff here at the parish and school as well. We work for less financial compensation than in the secular world, but the other benefits are out of this world. So as we are in this long weekend, remember that it is great to have some time off, but it is also great to be able to get paid doing something you love. Enjoy the long weekend and remember to pray each and every day.

Fr. Ken

Spending time

With the fair over, school starting, and next weekend being Labor Day, we see it now as the end of the summer. So how did it go? Was it busy? Did we get everything done that we wanted to? I know that I did not.

I still have a few summer things that I want to get done, but have not gotten to them yet. We sometimes begin something and we have the best of intentions to get them done, but then the other things come up and our plans get derailed.

Sometimes, the things that interrupt our plans are much more important, like the time that we get to spend with a friend who needs something, sometimes work schedule changes, or we have a sick family member, but other times we just end up wasting time watching crazy cat videos on the internet. While there is an entertainment value of watching stupid pet videos, they can sometimes distract us from doing what we really need to be doing. One of my downfalls is “just one more episode on a streaming service”, or just one more part of a movie, but I know that there may be something more important that I need to do.

One of the things that we should always make time for is time with God. When we pray, we give God the greatest and most valuable thing that we have, and that is time. Time is something that we cannot buy, get back, or create more of, it is simply gone. Even though prayer is an investment of this great treasure, it is something that we should make sure that we do.

Even God prayed. In the Gospels, Jesus often goes away to pray with the Father, and we should use His example for us to follow.

There are so many ways that we can do some simple prayer time, we could spend 5 minutes after we wake up to ask God what we need to be doing in the day, this is something that I do each day. I will often spend a couple of minutes in prayer while the coffee is brewing as well. Our prayer times do not need to be full Holy Hours, while it is wonderful if we could do a Holy Hour every day, we know that it does not always work out that way. It can be broken up to different times in the day.

What if we decided to do a Holy Five? Pick a time, or even multiple times, of the day and spend Five minutes each with God, and then let that time grow in our hearts. It is just like that time that we spend with our friends and family, even a short amount of time is better than none. Find some more creative ways to spend that time in prayer with our Creator and Redeemer.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

School and the mass

It is back to school time if you can believe that! This week the kids will start coming back to school, it is wonderful to see the excitement on their faces as they begin the school year. The first day is always challenging, trying to get the kids where they need to be, get them calmed down and ready to learn again, and all of the other things that go along with the start of school.

There is a nervousness that happens with kids at the beginning of school, most especially the younger ones. Sometimes we run into those children who just do not want to go back to school and would rather stay home, they have what I sometimes call the “I want mommy meltdown”, but parents tell them that school is good for them and that they have to go.

Sometimes, I also hear that parents do not bring their children to Mass because they don’t want to go either, they would rather stay at home and sleep or play games, so they let them. What is the difference, while school gives them an education to get through this life, the Mass gives them an education to get to eternal life. We bring our kids to school even if they do not want to go because we know that it is good for them, we should also do the same with Mass and their faith. We ourselves should be a joyous example for our children in the practice of the faith, even in these challenging times.

When our children ask us questions about the faith or why we go to Mass, we should help them to find the answer even if we do not know it. This is something that will help us with our own faith life. We want our children to be the best that they can be and with the help of God, they can be, but we need to help them to see that gift that God is for them, by showing them our own love for God.

Yes, these are challenging times and there is a fear for many around the coming together, whether it be for school or church, but we can also be reminded of the joys that are around being together, most especially to pray together the highest form of prayer that we have in the Church and that is the Holy Celebration of the Sacred Eucharist, in which we receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ into our bodies.

As we are entering into the new school year, take the time to pray with your kids and also bring them to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist so that we can all be drawn close to God. Also, on Thursday, Bishop Joensen will be celebrating the Holy Eucharist with us as well as blessing the new addition. All are welcome to join us for this wondrous occasion.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

Why we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

This weekend, we have a rare occurrence, that in which a Solemnity overrides a regular Sunday. This Sunday we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The idea of someone being assumed body and soul is not a Christian invention, two people in Scripture were assumed, Enoch and Elijah, so why not the mother of Jesus. Within the Church, this Solemnity is pretty young, officially in our Church calendar it is only about 70 years old, but it has been a tradition within the Catholic Faith since the early days of the Church. There was a celebration in the early Church called the “Memory of Mary” and it was only locally celebrated in the area of Palestine, but was later extended by the Emperor Constantine after his conversion.

There are really two different traditions that are held about the death of the Blessed Virgin Mary, one is called the Dormition, or the falling asleep of Mary. This tradition holds that Mary never actually died, but just at the point of her death, she fell asleep and was assumed body and soul into Heaven by the Father.

The second tradition holds that Mary died, and then was buried, but her body was saved from the decay that our bodies normally go through when we die. In the eighth century St. John Damascene was giving a sermon at the Tomb of Mary, (which is obviously empty) he states that “It was fitting that the body of her, who preserved her virginity unsullied in her motherhood, should be kept from corruption even after death. She who nursed her Creator as an infant at her breast, had a right to be in the divine tabernacles. The place of the bride whom the Father had espoused, was in the heavenly courts. It was fitting that she who saw her Son die on the cross, and received in her heart the sword of pain which she had not felt in childbirth, should gaze upon Him seated next to the Father.”

Either of these two theories are acceptable for us, as they both have merit, and there are no written accounts left after the destruction of Jerusalem by Hadrian around the year 135, but the Memory of Mary was known as being celebrated prior to that time, so it is in many ways a very old feast that we celebrate.

So why is it important? It is important because the one who was born without sin, the first and most blessed tabernacle that carried God himself in her womb is important. She is the vessel in which the Father chose to bring about the Savior of the World, and this is why we honor her so much.

Mary’s role is still the same, bring Jesus to us and us to Jesus, so use her intercession to help us to love and worship her son.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

You Cannot Serve God And Mammon

A while back, I was flipping through the channels on TV early in the morning, and ran across one of the prosperity gospel preachers. The theme with them is that if you are living your life well, God will reward you with wealth on this earth. This preacher was trying to reconcile the fact that Jesus states that we should not store up treasures on earth with the idea that you should be materially wealthy. He states that what Jesus meant was when we are in heaven, we don’t need any treasure, so when we do good works God stores up treasure for us from the good things that we do and then, He will give it to us on earth in the form of a good spouse, nice house, nice car, etc.

My reaction to that, is according to that logic, the Colombian drug lords must have been really good, because they have great treasure on earth, while all of those other people in developing countries must be horrible people, since their lives are a financial struggle. This idea basically states that God is the giant ATM in the sky who gives us money and houses and airplanes because we are good.

Umm … NO.

Jesus follows this up with the statement “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” and “You cannot serve God and mammon.” Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with being wealthy, money is only a tool, in so many ways, each of us are wealthy. In fact, most parishes benefit greatly from the wealthy, because they tend to have more disposable income to be able to donate to larger projects. So, yes, money is just like any other tool that we use. Instead of trading objects, we now use currency to be able to store our wealth easier.

Even the idea of being rich is a matter of perspective, depending on who you are, your needs, where you live, and many other factors. The median yearly income for the US is around $43,000 but, the worldly median income is $9,700, and in Liberia it is $781. Could you imagine trying to live on $781 a year? So, in the end, it is really not about wealth, it is about what we do with it.

I am always concerned when someone states that you can tell how morally good or bad someone is by how wealthy they are, because that is not the point of faith. The point is to bring us to the glory of heaven, where there is no need of anything else. God gives us many different tools in our lives to store up treasures in heaven. He gives us wealth and abilities so that we can share them with others. He also gives us other gifts so that we use those as well to show the kingdom of God to all we meet.

Fr. Ken

I clearly remember a day...

I clearly remember a day back in March of 2019 in which I was having coffee and a doughnut at St. Edward Parish in Afton, when my cell phone rang and the caller ID was the Chancery or offices of the Diocese. When I answered it, I heard the very distinctive voices of Bishop Pates and Fr. Michael. We talked for a while and then they asked me to come to St. Luke’s. Over the next few weeks we had a number of meetings in which Bishop Pates asked me to make sure that the building project happened.

This weekend we are finally able to show the building off, even though there are a few things that we need to finish, like moving in furniture. At this point we expect to receive our temporary occupancy certificate early this week and we are planning on beginning the moving process Wednesday the 4th at 9:00. We would like some help with that, so if you would like to join us to help, it would be great! We have some heavy tables to move in, desks, and other furniture that needs to go into the classrooms. I know that this has been a long process, with multiple pauses, cost increases, and other challenges, but it has finally happened, and Misty, the entire staff, and I are so thankful for all of the support that we have had in this process.

There are a couple of wonderful features of this new addition:

First, there are six very large new classrooms for kindergarten, first, and second grades for the school day, and we are hoping to get Catechesis of the Good Shepherd started up in two of the rooms soon, if we can get the volunteers together. The classrooms will also be utilized by the Religious Education group so it does not benefit the school only.

Second, we have four new storage rooms in which we store all of the things that we have here and stored in other places, including the rectory basement.

Third, we have a new flexible meeting space. This space has a movable wall in which we can have two small meetings or a medium size single meeting going on. It can also be used to have some funeral lunches if we need to have them. This meeting space is isolated from the school so that we can use it during the school day and still keep the security that we want for the school children and faculty.

While this has been a bit of a struggle, I would also like to thank Fr. Larry for getting the process started, Fr. Adam for continuing to work with it as well, getting it to a point to hand it off to me, all of the people on the building committee, and especially those who donated time and treasure to get us to this point. Yes, I have already been asked when we will begin the next, phase of building, but we will worry about that later!

Thank you again for all of the support everyone provided!

Fr. Ken

Take A Deep Breath

This weekend (July 24-25) is the expiration of the dispensation from the Sunday Obligation. Last week, we covered what a Catholic’s obligations actually are. As a refresher, the “indispensable minimum” to fulfill our yearly liturgical/sacramental requirements amounts to:

1. Attending the 58-ish obligated Masses (Sundays plus Holy Days of Obligation)

2. Going to the Sacrament of Confession at least once, preferably during Lent

3. Receiving the Eucharist at least once during the Easter Season
   *for a full list, from the source, go to Paragraphs 2041-2043 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church*

Why so many Masses? Because the Mass is where we directly encounter the Eucharist, our God. The Eucharist is the Source and Summit of the Christian life; It is what binds us to the God with Whom we hope to spend eternity and It is what nourishes us and keeps us alive on the way. Only going to Church twice a year is like thinking you only need to breath once every three minutes: there’s a slight chance you could survive like that briefly or in dire necessity without immediately suffering permanent damage or death, but it is not a thing you want to make a norm. The Mass and the Obligation are there to help make sure that we don’t drown in the cares of daily life. Sunday is the Lord’s Day so that no seven days go by without us having the chance to surface, take a deep breath, be restored in the Presence of our God, and remember that being with Him is the only thing that matters in the end. Otherwise, when a week turns into two, turns into twenty, it gets easier and easier to forget that we are made for something more than a 40-80+ hour/week grind until we retire or die. To reject the Mass is to reject the greatest gift we’ve been given as well as the God Who gave it. That’s why missing or skipping Mass just because I don’t feel like it, its inconvenient, or because I have other priorities always constitutes a grave sin.

One last thing to remember: our God doesn’t ask the impossible. These obligations hold for all who are capable of fulfilling them and are dispensed for those who are not. If you are sick (actually sick), you are a parent of a young child who is sick, you’re in a hospital or care facility, you’re not old enough or too old to drive and cannot find a ride to Church (and tried to), or you have been kidnapped and can’t manage to chew through your restraints to get to the 6:00pm Mass in time, you are not guilty of that deliberate rejection of God and His grace. Last year taught much of the Church what it was like to be incapable of going to Mass, but that didn’t mean we were cut off from God. It is not the same as being in person, but when there are no options, it is amazing what the Lord can provide when we offer to Him what little we have, even if it is just half an hour to pray through the Sunday’s Readings and make a prayer of Spiritual Communion.

The world will tell you there are a lot of other very important things you need to take care of, but let every Sunday and every Mass be your chance to say to the world, “You know what, you’re very important to me, but you’re going to have to excuse me for a bit; I’ve got something that I really can’t miss.”

God bless,
Fr. James

Sunday Obligation

Next weekend (July 24-25) is the expiration of the dispensation from the Sunday Obligation. This obligation was temporarily suspended by extraordinary dispensation by Bishop Joensen around mid-March of 2020. It was a time of a lot of unknowns. It has been a rather dicey 16 months for everyone, but hopefully whatever unsought graces came with those months found open hearts so that we haven’t strayed far from our God.

Before the Sunday Obligation it is good to remember what it is. This obligation and others are located in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 2041-2043, which covers the “Precepts of the Catholic Church”:

1) You shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of Obligation.
2) You shall confess your sins at least once a year.
3) You shall humbly receive your Creator in Holy Communion at least during Easter season.
4) You shall keep holy the holy days of obligation.
5) You shall observe the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence.
0) You have the duty of providing for the material needs of the Church according to your ability*
*This one isn’t numbered, but it is included at the end of the list

Some people look at this list and see a list of burdens; more stuff authorities say you have to do or else, like taxes. But Mass and practicing your Faith are not things that only take. Most of those same people wouldn’t consider it a burden if they won the lottery and were told they had to come in person to collect it, yet the Mass offers far more than Powerball ever could.

These precepts are not burdensome obligations; they “guarantee to the faithful the indispensable minimum” to keep a person within “the context of a moral life bound to and nourished by liturgical life.” The Christian life is not a life lived on one’s own or according to one’s own rules. It’s a life that binds us to God and to our fellow man. The things deemed worth requiring are the things that bring us closest to them both: the Sacraments, especially Confession and the Eucharist. Confession can restore both the relationships between us and our God and us and our neighbor, relationships we so often injure or destroy. With those bonds of love restored, we are in a good place to participate in the Mass, where the Body of Christ (us) comes together and is reunited with its Head in the celebration of the Body of Christ (the Eucharist).

Daily Masses are great, but the greater days have always been Sundays, a weekly renewal of our Resurrection-based Faith, and the Holy Days of Obligation: Mary Mother of God, Epiphany, Ascension, Corpus Christi, Assumption, All Saints, Immaculate Conception, Christmas. Some of these solemnities change date each year, some are fixed to a date, and some are permanently moved to it’s nearest Sunday (in which case your obligation double-dips). So, in order to fulfill their yearly obligations, a Catholic attends the 58-ish obligatory Masses (58-ish hours per year, depending on who’s preaching), goes to Confession at least once (preferably in Lent), and receives the Eucharist at least once in the Easter season. These are the particulars, but tune into next week’s bulletin for the real reasons why…

To Be Continued…