The life of the priest is not for wimps

This Friday, God willing, we will have Deacon Luis Cabrera and Deacon Mike Mahoney ordained to the priesthood for our diocese. This is a wonderful thing, as we have been pretty blessed to have ten men in the last four years. The calling to the priesthood is not for every man, it is something that must be discerned by both the man, as well as the seminary, bishop, and Church as a whole. In seminary, I remember quite a few guys who dropped out of seminary, that I felt would make wonderful priests, but they, or their formation team and diocese felt otherwise. Some of these guys I keep in touch with and they are making wonderful husbands and fathers because of their time that they spent really praying and discerning their true vocation in life. Through that discernment, they decided that their calling was not the priesthood. There were also a few of the guys that went through, and some that got ordained, that I personally wondered about, but in the end, it is not my call, but God’s.

To be honest, the life of a priest is not always easy, one must be someone who can first and foremost be a man of prayer, while also being someone who can talk in front of a group, run a multi-million-dollar corporation, be a counselor, a spiritual guide, a maintenance guy, critter patrol, and so many other “duties as needed.” A professor in seminary once said, “The life of the priest is not for wimps.” In this he was very true. The priesthood is so much more than a job, it is a vocation and a life. As a priest, you will be with people in times of great sorrow, maybe even be with someone during the worst day of their lives, but you will also be able to be with people in their greatest joys and even in some cases, the happiest days of their lives.

So, I would like to remind each and every one of us to pray for vocations and I would like to ask everyone to encourage someone to consider the religious life. To those young men considering the priesthood I would give this advice. If you want an easy job, do not become a priest. If you want a job with a lot of free time or a lot of material wealth, do not become a priest. If you want something that is more than a job, something that is challenging, something to help people in their life’s struggles and their great joys, consider the priesthood. If you want something that the blessings outweigh the difficulties, consider the priesthood. The priesthood is a wonderful calling. We priests and bishops are far from perfect people, we have many and similar faults just like everyone else, but that is why we rely on God for strength. I ask for a favor from you and that is to keep us in your prayers and help to encourage those young men to consider the calling.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

Growing Pains

As you have probably heard, we are in the process of hiring someone to fill the position of Faith Formation Director. It would be a good time to provide for some updates about the future of our programs as well. We continue to have a large number of children in the parish and that is not slowing down. The religious education program is continuing to hold steady with the number of students in it staying around 375 kids, and we are still looking for some more volunteers to help out as catechists for next year as well as other helpers. This coming year we are going to be bringing back the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program as well. I wanted to thank the volunteers that are making this happen again. Since we only have one staff member for all of our programs, we rely heavily on the large number of volunteers to keep these programs running. We are also looking at hiring a part time assistant, but we are currently limited by budget and also physical space for another person. Currently in the offices, Fr Ryan and I share an office, Principal Hade and Vice-Principal Hazel share an office (along with other programs), and Nick and Jeremy share an office. There is an office space expansion that will be included with the Phase III construction, and will be expanded further in Phase IV, but these are a few years out. One of the challenges with the limited staff is that a good number of our other programs are led by volunteers and ideally, in the future, we will have more staff to continue to grow those programs. We are always open to people volunteering their time to help us to grow our programs and opportunities for the people of the parish. I am very grateful for the many people who step up and do this for our families. This fall we will take a look at where we are with the budget and then look at adding more Faith Formation staff if we can. I know that it is a priority and I hope that we will be in the position to hire an additional person soon.

The day school continues to grow and we are getting close to being completely full; we will be in the area of 385 plus kids for the 24-25 school year. It is incredible to see where we are now. My first school year here we had grown to 176 from 153, and we are over double that number now. It is incredible to see the continued growth that we have had over the years, but that will slow down until we get to the later phases of construction to make us a three-section school in the next couple of decades.

Our adult faith programs continue to grow as well, with the women’s bible study, the other bible study, faith with Deacon Fred, book groups, OCIA (formerly RCIA) and others. We are such a good and vibrant parish, and I hope that continues. Yes, we still plan on continuing to grow our staff, but in the meantime, thank you for all of the people who help and volunteer their time to help.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

Where are the cup holders?

Whenever you have a group of non-Catholics come to Mass, and it is often when we have a baptism, wedding, funeral, or other special event during the Mass, you sometime have questions like, “why does the church not have cup-holders?” or “how do you know when and why to stand, kneel, and sit?” or, “why do you stand, sit, and kneel?”. We sometimes don’t really know why we do these different things.  We do it because that is the way we were taught, but there is a reason for our postures during Mass.

As for the cup holders, we should be reminded that the Mass is not a form of entertainment, or a show, but it is a time of worship to God and not just another place to have our dessert, coffee, or soda, and yes, we still have the hour fast of anything other than water before we receive Communion.

As for the posture, each part of the Mass has a different posture and a reason for that posture. Standing is a posture that tells us we are ready to do something, to come or go. It is also a posture of honor and respect. We stand at the beginning and end of Mass because we are coming or going. We stand during the Gospel as a sign of respect for the words of Christ; the Gospels hold a higher place among the rest of the word of God because they are directly related to Christ’s bodily time on this earth. During the time of Christ, the teacher or master was the one that sat down and the students would stand around them. Sitting is a posture of relaxing as well as listening and meditation; we sit during the readings and the preparation of the gifts because we are being attentive to what is going on. This is the way that students now listen, sitting so that they can be focused. Pews were a later addition in the Catholic Church; we have only had them for about 500 years. Kneeling is a sign of humility and penitence. Within the United States, we kneel during the Eucharistic Prayer and at Communion time as a reminder of our humility and reverence for Christ in the Eucharistic species. To go along with this is the genuflection. This also is a reminder of our humility to Christ’s presence in the Eucharist, which is why we genuflect to the tabernacle as we enter and leave the church. We genuflect not to the box of the tabernacle, but to Jesus who is in the tabernacle, which is why we should not genuflect to the tabernacle while the Blessed Sacrament is on the Altar.

Sometimes the different postures we do at Mass are jokingly called Catholic Calisthenics but they actually do mean something and not just to get us moving so we do not fall asleep at the long sermons. So, as you stand, sit, and kneel at Mass, remember that each action helps us to give witness that we give witness to Christ in these actions. These actions should help us to be witnesses to Christ.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

Sorry, I am not here. Please leave a message.

This week I will be on a retreat in Missouri. Retreats are wonderful ways of refocusing yourself back to God. It is a requirement that all priests should take a retreat at least once a year to force ourselves to slow down and spend some extra time away from the office in more focused prayer. In the past few years, I have done some different retreats, but I have not done the retreat with the priests of the Des Moines Diocese for a number of years and I thought that it would be time to do it again. This retreat tends to be part retreat and prayer, and part getting the priests together to socialize.

While this retreat will be quiet in some ways, it will not be a silent one. I do enjoy the silent retreats sometimes. What this means, is that during the time that retreat is going on, it will be completely silent with the exception of Mass and communal prayer times. I have done a couple of them, and they can be a challenge, especially at the beginning as you take that time to calm yourself. When I mean that the retreat is silent, it also means severely limiting other outside distractions as well. This means to refrain from not only talking, but also not checking emails, social media, and text messages, no surfing the web, checking out news sites, online shopping, etc. In a silent retreat, we want to try and cut ourselves off from the outside world as much as possible and focus on prayer times and spiritual reading. Like I said, it can be a challenge, especially in a world that is so noisy.

A book that I read in the past that has really helped me at times with the quiet is one from Cardinal Sarah, called “The power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise.” I love the subtitle of it! It is a reminder to me that sometimes we need to take that time to enter into silence to really be able to listen to God. Remember when the prophet Elijah was looking for God, he was not in the earthquake, or the wind, or in the fire, but was in the tiny whisper. For us to be able to hear that whisper, we need to eliminate some of the extra noise, and while that can be a challenge, it can also be a blessing. During this retreat though, there will be some quiet time, but it will not be silent. The good thing is that I know the area so I can get to some good walking trails while down there.

Since Fr Ryan will also be gone, I will have my phone on, but I will not be answering it. If there is an emergency, call the office and get to my extension, leave a message, and I will get back to you as soon as I am able. I also ask that you will keep me in your prayers, especially that I will receive what God wants me to get out of this retreat. I will keep you all in my prayers as well.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

A Eucharistic Procession

May is such a crazy month! This weekend is Memorial Day, the official kickoff to the summer, while it is often considered a day of grilling and parties, we also need to remember that it is first and foremost a day to remember all of those who have given their lives in service of their country. It is a day in which we pray for those who have gone before us as well. Friday was also the last day of school, so it will be a bit quieter in the office area. We have had some very busy weekends with Confirmations, and First Communions this month as well. It is a very busy time, but even with that, there are so many blessings that go along with it. As we think about the other sacraments that are attached to the celebration of the Eucharist, we are reminded of how important the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is to us.

In a couple of weeks, on June 2nd we celebrate the great feast of Corpus Christi, which is the celebration of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. In many parishes this feast is marked by a special Mass and a procession. Since this year is the year of the Parish in the years of the Eucharistic Revival, here at St. Luke’s we will be doing a Eucharistic Procession around the building, outside if weather permits, but if needed we will have it inside. How it will work is that, at the end of the 10:30 Mass, we will bring out the Monstrance, and then walk (process) with the Blessed Sacrament out the doors of the church, then outside where we will have a small altar set up. We will say some prayers, then we will continue to process to the West side of the building, where there will be another small altar set up. During the time of walking, we will be praying a couple of different litanies. We will process to the North side of the building and by the entrance doors of the meeting room, we will have a third altar set up and again stop there. We will then continue around to the East side of the church where we will have another altar set up and a stop. We will then continue back around to the South doors and back into the church where we will have Benediction and put the Blessed Sacrament back into the tabernacle. We will then have some light snacks and drinks available.

We are hoping that this will turn into an annual event, and possibly in the future extend the route. As we do the procession, we hope that all who attend will be blessed in the celebration of our Eucharistic heritage, and then later this summer, there will be the national Eucharistic processions that will be going on through the United States, one of them will be passing though the Southwest corner of Iowa between June 23rd and 25th. I am praying that some will also be a part of the larger procession. I pray that we will continue to feel the blessings of God in our celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

Pentecost and Confirmation

This weekend we are wrapping up our Sacrament season with the Confirmation. We have had three Masses in which we have gotten to see our second graders receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ for the first time in the last few weeks, and that is a wonderful thing to see.

We also get to celebrate another great sacrament on Sunday afternoon, as we welcome Bishop Joensen to celebrate the sacrament of Confirmation. Confirmation is beautiful because these young adults confirm their faith in Jesus Christ and His Church. Sometimes Confirmation is referred to as becoming an adult in the Church, and in some ways that is true, but in other ways it is not. It is being an adult because they will be taking the responsibility of their faith upon themselves but it is not because Confirmation is simply the confirming of their Baptismal promises. One of the wonderful things is that we see the next step in the faith journey for these young people. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states “By the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence, they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed.” This weekend we pray that these young people will accept the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are being called upon them.

One of the great things is that we get to celebrate this Sacrament on a wonderful feast day, Pentecost. This is the day in which we remember the Holy Spirit descending upon the Apostles to give them the strength and courage to go out into the world to preach the Gospel and to Baptize. After Jesus ascends, the angels ask the Apostles “why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” In other words, move along, there is nothing else to see here, go and do what He told you to. Go out into the world and spread the good news.

But even though we are being lead and told to do something, we do not always follow, because we need some help. Before Pentecost, the Apostles were hiding in the upper room, worried that they would be arrested and thrown into prison or worse executed. But after Pentecost, they had the courage to go and preach, converting 5,000 people on that day. What a wonderful reminder of that gift of the Holy Spirit that will descend upon these young people receiving this gift of Confirmation. We pray that God will continue to guide them and that we ourselves will continue to allow ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit, so we can spread and defend the faith by our words and deeds.

The prayer that will be said to them kind of sums up what they are to receive. “All-powerful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, by water and the Holy Spirit you freed your sons and daughters from sin and gave them new life. Send your Holy Spirit upon them to be their helper and guide. Give them the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence. Fill them with the spirit of wonder and awe in your presence.”

God bless,
Fr. Ken

Happy Mother’s Day!

This weekend we will be celebrating Mother’s Day! It is a holiday that we have only been celebrating for about a hundred years. Most of us have a very fond memory of our mothers. We love them and care about them. A mother’s love is a very special one, even in Sacred Scriptures it is mentioned. In the Gospel of John, it talks about when a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. Even Jesus himself listened to his mother at the wedding feast of Cana and after the finding in the temple Jesus went down with Mary and Joseph and was obedient to them. While on the Cross, Jesus still wanted to know that his mother was going to be taken care of, so he entrusted her to the disciple whom he loved.

God himself knows about the special love of a mother, and wants us to know that as well. Even though we may not be able to be with our mothers in this time we can still pray for them. If our mother has passed away, pray for her that she will be in the loving arms of God.  If we are estranged from her, pray that God will bring healing in her and your hearts.  If we are physically far away from her, call her. The respect for parents is so strong that God even gave us a commandment to honor them. I know that everyone does not always have a good relationship with their parents, but we can continue to pray for healing and to remember that we have the perfect mother in the kingdom of heaven that is always interceding for us in the Blessed Virgin Mother. For most, though we do have a good relationship and we can remember those wonderful times (and still remember our perfect mother in heaven.)

The Knights of Columbus are doing a breakfast Sunday morning and are giving out flowers to all women of the parish because, along with helping those with intellectual differences they also have a mission to help the unborn, this mission not only helps the children, but their mothers in their calling to raise their child. As a Knight, men are called to come together in their vocation of life to help others, and the mission of helping children and mothers is a good one.

During Mother’s Day we often think of what we should get our mothers, but sometimes the greatest gift is to be with them. I think that it is fun to hear stories about different traditions within families about different holidays, or events. A friend of mine who has a couple of her kids that do not go to Mass every Sunday and others that go to different parishes, asks her kids for the gift of coming to Mass with her on Mother’s Day and then doing something afterward. As we celebrate this Mother’s Day in the best way that we can, let us always remember to ask our heavenly mother to pray for our mothers. Happy Mother’s Day!

God bless,
Fr. Ken

Keep your halo charged

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 can feel more and more stressed, from pandemics, wars, strife, politics, and so many other things. 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, especially when there is bad weather or we are traveling, 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 is another, praying the rosary, or another devotion is 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 or even want to pray, but we always need to attach ourselves to Christ. 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 during the time we are driving, 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

Is it still special for you?

Happy Easter!

We are continuing to celebrate the Easter Season! This weekend is a big one for some of the second graders of our parish. This is the first group of kids that are receiving Holy Communion for the first time! This year we again are breaking them up into smaller groups, so we are having three First Communion Masses since we have over 70 kids that will be receiving this great Sacrament for the first time. For a while, they have been preparing themselves to receive Jesus into their bodies in a very special way, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. This is what we receive each and every time that we receive Holy Communion.

As we are reminded of how special this day is, we can also remind ourselves to ask the question, how do we think of it when we are receiving it? Are we reminded how special of a thing it is to be able to receive Christ and let His body and His blood feed us, both bodily and spiritually? Yes, this is an important day in the children’s lives as well as their families. We sometimes get caught up in the children dressing in a special way, the boys with their nice clothes and ties, the girls in their pretty white dresses. It is a special day. It is a very special and holy event. It should be an incredible experience for them because of who they are receiving. But, as important as the first reception of the Eucharist is, the 2nd, the 10th, the 323rd, etc. is not less special or important for any of us.

We sometimes forget how much of a gift it is to be able to receive the Blessed Sacrament on a regular basis, as the old saying goes, what we do daily, sometimes we do dully or another phrase that I like better, practice makes permanent. I invite each and every one of you to remember your own First Communion (I received mine from Fr. Pat Bacon). Remember how special that day was and what it meant to you. Is receiving Jesus today, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity less special today since it is not the first time? The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the source and the summit of our faith. It is an incredible gift that Jesus gave to us to continue to draw us closer and closer to Him!

A few years ago was a stark reminder to me when we were not able to celebrate Holy Week and Easter together and should have reminded us of what we were really missing. Still even now, there are many people that still cannot come together to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and thus are not able to receive Him in the Eucharist. We should take time again and again to remind ourselves how special it is and to receive Him each and every time we come to Mass. The first time is special, but so are all the rest!

God bless,
Fr. Ken

How special is it to you?

Happy Easter!

We are continuing to celebrate the Easter Season! This weekend is a big one for some of the second graders of our parish. This is the first group of kids that are receiving Holy Communion for the first time! This year we again are breaking them up into smaller groups, so we are having three First Communion Masses since we have over 70 kids that will be receiving this great Sacrament for the first time. For a while, they have been preparing themselves to receive Jesus into their bodies in a very special way, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. This is what we receive each and every time that we receive Holy Communion.

As we are reminded of how special this day is, we can also remind ourselves to ask the question, how do we think of it when we are receiving it? Are we reminded how special of a thing it is to be able to receive Christ and let His body and His blood feed us, both bodily and spiritually? Yes, this is an important day in the children’s lives as well as their families. We sometimes get caught up in the children dressing in a special way, the boys with their nice clothes and ties, the girls in their pretty white dresses. It is a special day. It is a very special and holy event. It should be an incredible experience for them because of who they are receiving. But, as important as the first reception of the Eucharist is, the 2nd, the 10th, the 323rd, etc. is not less special or important for any of us.

We sometimes forget how much of a gift it is to be able to receive the Blessed Sacrament on a regular basis, as the old saying goes, what we do daily, sometimes we do dully or another phrase that I like better, practice makes permanent. I invite each and every one of you to remember your own First Communion (I received mine from Fr. Pat Bacon). Remember how special that day was and what it meant to you. Is receiving Jesus today, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity less special today since it is not the first time? The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the source and the summit of our faith. It is an incredible gift that Jesus gave to us to continue to draw us closer and closer to Him!

A few years ago was a stark reminder to me when we were not able to celebrate Holy Week and Easter together and should have reminded us of what we were really missing. Still even now, there are many people that still cannot come together to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and thus are not able to receive Him in the Eucharist. We should take time again and again to remind ourselves how special it is and to receive Him each and every time we come to Mass. The first time is special, but so are all the rest!

God bless,
Fr. Ken

Easter Season Readings

I have a question, have you noticed what is different about the readings for the Sunday Masses during the Easter season? If you want to look at the missalette and see if you can figure it out, you can stop reading this for a few minutes and see if you can, I’ll wait… There is something a bit different in those readings, and that is where the first reading comes from. During all of the other seasons of the liturgical year, the first reading comes from the Old Testament somewhere then we have the Psalm reading, and the second reading always comes from the New Testament, and then finally, the reading from one of the four Gospels.

But during the Easter season, we have the first reading coming from the Acts of the Apostles instead of the Old Testament. This is because the Church wants us to be more specifically focused on what happened to the Apostles and other Disciples after the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus. It was their mission to go out into the world and preach the Gospel (Good News) to the world and to share what happened. They started their ministry in Jerusalem and the surrounding region at first, but then moved out into the rest of the known world pretty quickly.

Reading the Acts of the Apostles is a wonderful thing to do, because it showed what the Apostles had to go through to get the message out. They were arrested by the leaders of the Jewish people, they were put in prison, they were beaten, threatened and persecuted so that they would stop talking about Jesus. It is one of the things that is often quoted about why we believe our faith was real, as some people talk about the life and death of Jesus, we have to ask the question about whether or not the Resurrection actually happened. The guards were given a large sum of money and were instructed to tell people that the Disciples came at night and stole the body of Jesus. So, some people believed that story.

But, if you think about what the Disciples did and had to go through this begs another question, how far would you go for a lie? Me, I know if it was something that I really did not believe, or I knew was not true, I would not be willing to be beaten, jailed, or even executed for the lie. However, I would be willing to go through those persecutions if I knew that the Resurrection was the truth and that it would lead to eternal life. That is what the Apostles and Disciples did, and the Acts of the Apostles is an account of some of the things that they went through for their faith. While it is hard to say what the most important books of the Bible are, I would argue that the four Gospels and Acts of the Apostles are right up there, because they are the words and actions of our Lord and Savior, and then the mission that he, himself gave to his followers to do. So, as we continue this Easter Season, let us use the example of the Apostles to lead us in our mission.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

Many Thanks!

Rejoice, Christ is Risen! Alleluia, Alleluia.

We have made it through Lent, Holy Week, as well as the wonderful Octave of Easter, concluding with Divine Mercy Sunday. We now are continuing our Easter journey with this entire 50 days of the Easter season. The weeks leading up to and including Easter are very busy around the parish, and they take a lot of work to get things ready and looking right. I wanted to take the time to thank the many volunteers who helped to do the different color changes in the church going from violet, to red, back to violet, to white, back to red, and finally to white for our Easter season. There was also a significant amount of time moving plants and placing flowers. We had to set up chairs and the altar area for the second Mass in the gym as well. These are only the visible things that we see as we have celebrated Holy Week and Easter. There were numerous choir practices, practicing for servers and clergy, as well as for the RCIA people, as well as other planning for the liturgies. This all takes people to step up and do it. I wanted to thank everyone who helped, I know if I start naming names, I will forget some and I do not want to do that, but I wanted everyone to know just how much work goes into this season and I wanted to wholeheartedly thank all of the people who helped. It is easy to thank myself or Fr Ryan for the beautiful liturgies, but without the many, many hours that were put in by a significant number of other people, it would not happen. With that being said, we can always use people to help out.

Just like in most places, the same few people are doing most of the events or ministries. Almost every week we have multiple open spots on our ministry schedule for Extra Ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, or lectors, or hospitality ministers, etc. It is not often seen because we usually are grabbing people as they walk in and asking them last minute. It takes 11-12 people helping at each of the Masses that we have, and sometimes we only have 5-6 available and we have to find the others. Something that would be pretty easy to do as a family is to do hospitality ministry, which involves greeting people, handing out music books, and passing the collection baskets, the kids usually love to help with this. I know that we all have very busy lives and we are not always sure which Mass we are going to attend, or other event we are going to be at, but as a parish, we really need the help in these things. Here at St. Luke’s, we have around 1,500 registered adults and if even half of us volunteer an hour a month, we would be fine.

Again, I wanted to thank the staff and volunteers that help to serve in the liturgies, as well as all of the other things that happen around here. Thank you all so much!

God bless,
Fr. Ken

Jesus, I trust in You.

This weekend we finish the Octave of Easter, or the eight days, the first week of the Easter Season. Our celebration of Easter, along with Christmas, is so important that the Church continues to celebrate it not just one day, but for an entire week. This whole week is a continual celebration of the greatest events of human history. Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God has risen from the grave and conquered even death itself for our sake.

This wonderful week concludes with another celebration, that of Divine Mercy Sunday. This is a relatively new feast day. It was instituted by Pope St John Paul II and focuses on the incredible mercy that God offers us. In Holy Scripture, Jesus is the one that talks about the judgement of God more than anyone, but he is also the one who talks about the mercy of God more than anyone, and they are always tied together. This feast day is based on the writing of St Faustina Kowalska and her vision of Jesus who came to her. This is what she wrote in her diary: "In the evening, when I was in my cell, I became aware of the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand was raised in blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast. From the opening of the garment at the breast there came forth two large rays, one red and the other pale. In silence I gazed intently at the Lord; my soul was overwhelmed with fear, but also with great joy. After a while Jesus said to me, 'paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the inscription: Jesus, I trust in You.'" This image that came to St Faustina is one that she painted and is now known all over the world with the red and the white representing the blood and the water that came from His side.

Last year, we started to do one celebration with OLIH here and this year we will be celebrating the Divine Mercy of God with Adoration and Confessions starting at 1:00 PM at Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart Church, and lasting until just before 3:00 in which we will pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy followed by Benediction and Reposition of the Blessed Sacrament. So, we will not be celebrating it here this year, but at OLIH and there will be a number of priests available for the sacrament of Reconciliation, including myself.

This is a wonderful time to just sit and reflect in front of the Blessed Sacrament and give the greatest sacrifice that we can offer to God: our time with Him. His mercy is far greater than anything that we can imagine and Jesus wants us to leave our sins with Him. He reminds us the same things that he tells the woman caught in adultery: ‘I do not condemn you of your sins, but go and sin no more.’ I would invite everyone to spend some time this Sunday, with our Lord and Savior reflecting on His Divine Mercy.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

The Lord is Risen!

Rejoice, Christ is Risen! Alleluia, Alleluia.

We have again made it to the most wondrous season of Easter. I always marvel at the fact, that on Ash Wednesday, I think how far Easter is away, and when I get to Easter, I think, how fast the Lenten season goes. It is a busy time around the parish and school. We have lots of extra Confession times during Lent, and usually we have other events going on as well. So, how did the Lenten fasting go? Hopefully, it went well and it helped us to refocus ourselves, and maybe we have created a new good habit. I would recommend keeping some extra prayer times going.

For the last six weeks during the Lenten season, we have also fasted from using the word Alleluia. It is a word of rejoicing and praise and it is one of the few words that we do not translate. If it were translated it would roughly mean, “All hail to him who is.” Easter is the season of rejoicing; we have come from a season of fasting and penance to the season of joy. It is joyful because Jesus Christ who once was dead, is now alive, He has Risen. In fact, that was one of the greetings that ancient Christians gave to each other. They would say, “The Lord is risen” and the reply would be “He has risen indeed.”

It is no accident that Easter is in the spring, a season of new life, the grass is starting to get green, the livestock is being born, the songbirds are returning, the flowers are starting to come up, you get the picture. It is a season of new life and the symbols that we use in Church are symbols of new life. Just look at the symbols that we use. We use Lilies because they resemble trumpets that are blaring out the news Christ is risen and they also are reported to have bloomed on the tomb. Rabbits are a very prolific animal and they have been symbols of life for many different cultures, which is why rabbits are often associated with Easter and the new life of it. The symbol of eggs and chicks is an obvious one, since the chickens hatch out of the eggs and are the beginning of their life. We, in this Easter season, celebrate not just the beginning of life; we celebrate the beginning of a new and eternal life. Jesus really did die on the cross, but he also raised himself from the tomb, and that is that incredible event that we celebrate today. Easter, like Christmas, is not just a single day that we celebrate; we celebrate for an entire week, called the octave. It is a week of great praise and rejoicing, enjoy it. We celebrate the wonderful gift that God has given us and that is the path that he shows us to eternal life with him.

In this Easter week, take some time to reread the passion, death, and resurrection story of our Lord and savior and then say a prayer in thanksgiving for the wonderful gift that God has given us. He sent His own Son into the world to live our life and to die our death so that we can be shown the path back to the Father.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

Hosanna to the Son of David…

Hosanna to the Son of David…

This weekend we begin the holiest and most incredible week of the Church Year. We celebrate the memory of Christ triumphal entering into the holy city of Jerusalem. The people were praising him and rejoicing that he was coming. They were laying down their cloaks and putting palms over the road for him to ride in on. Just imagine what it was like, the joy and the revelry, the cheering and screaming like we would with our favorite sports team coming in to an area. Imagine the pure excitement at the new King, the Son of David coming into his city…but then it changes. Everything changes within the span of just a few days.

Change is nothing new and even having major shifts in our lives like what is happening right now, has happened in the past and is a part of change, some of it we can control, most of it we cannot. I remember a sporting event that I was at, and many of you may have watched an event like this, where the crowd is really loud at a play or other event, and then everyone goes silent. Someone was hurt and bad. Even if it is a player from the other team, we go quiet and are shocked. Just imagine this Holy Week that shock that the people felt. On Palm Sunday. it goes from the joy and excitement of Jesus entering into the city of Jerusalem like a king, mounted on a donkey, to the silence of an extreme low where he is betrayed by a friend, he is arrested, imprisoned, condemned, walks the Way of the Cross, to suffer his death in a most horrendous way. However, there is rejoicing again by Jesus’ followers when they hear of his resurrection. It is such a beautiful and solemn week; it is a week that we witness how far Jesus was willing to go for the redemption of our sins.

So…how are we planning to celebrate this greatest week of the year? In the early Church, we only celebrated Easter, because it was the day that Christ rose from the dead. This week, we will again celebrate that incredible sacrifice that Christ gave to us, his own life among us, his death, and resurrection. Are we planning on it being just another week of the year, or are we planning on doing something special? I would recommend being a part of the extra liturgies that we have this week with Holy Thursday and Good Friday being wonderful reminders of the sacrifice that Christ made for us.

Next Saturday evening at the Easter Vigil, we will be welcoming in our new members into the Church. As we prepare for our celebration of the passion, death, and resurrection of our Savior, let us be mindful of that great gift He has given us and celebrate it with the wonder, awe, and joy that it is. Our Lenten journey is quickly coming to a close, and next week we will rejoice that the Son of God has returned from death to overcome the power of death to lead us into the eternal joys of heaven. So have a blessed Triduum and Easter, and know that all of you are in my prayers, as we pray and hope for our own resurrection into the kingdom of heaven as we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

Passion for the Saints

One of the topics in the Church I like to discuss is the Saints. I will often times mention to someone in the confessional that they should find a saint that they are passionate about.

The saints are wonderful examples for us to follow. Some of them lived very holy and beautiful lives all the way through, like St. Therese of Lisieux. From childhood, she was a wonderful example of a life completely devoted to God in such a wonderful and simple way. Another great example of this is St. Maria Goretti, even though she was killed at a young age, she had that great love for God and her neighbor even as she was being killed.

Then there are many other examples of lives that were a little more challenging and then they had a major conversion in their lives. One of the very famous examples of this is St. Augustine. Even though his mother, St. Monica, was a very prayerful woman and prayed fervently for the conversion of her husband and sons and even chased them around the world, St. Augustine very solidly followed Manichaeism, a religion based on a constant struggle between good and evil. Finally, after many years of not living a very good life, by the continual prayer of his mother and many long discussions with St. Ambrose, St. Augustine finally was baptized into the faith and became one of the most famous theologians. Another saint that is a bit more obscure is known as St. Moses the Ethiopian. He was the leader of a gang of bandits, and after having been thwarted in the effort to rob and kill someone, hid out in a community of monks, to which he ended up joining the community, and while he was there, he was attacked by a group of robbers, and he captured them and dragged them to the chapel and asked the brother monks what to do with them. The robbers repented and ended up joining the monastery as well.

We have saints that were soldiers like Ignatius of Loyola that had a major conversion when he was healing from a broken leg that was hit by a cannonball and during that time began to himself read the lives of the saints and was so inspired that he gave his life to God. St. Sebastian was also a soldier who was killed for his faith and is now the patron saint of athletes. St. Cecilia is the patron saint of music because she heard heavenly music when she got married. St. Lawrence is the patron saint of cooks and comedians because he was grilled to death and reportedly said “turn me over, I am done on this side”

Sometimes we have some misconceptions about certain saints, like where they are from. For example, much to the chagrin of Italians, St. Anthony was not from Italy, he was Portuguese and ended up in a monastery there. St. Patrick was not Irish; he was either Welsh or English and ministered to the people of Ireland. St. Boniface was not German; he was Roman and only served the people in Germany. I recommend to find something that you are passionate about or something that you need and find a saint related to it and ask their intercessions, because they are great resources for us.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

Checking Sources

Have you ever been online and saw a post that you just wanted to say “What the heck?!?” and then look at where it is from. There are a few really good satire or mock-news websites out there- one called the Onion, another called The Eye of the Tiber, and another one called Babylon Bee. The first one takes current events and makes up wild stories about them. For example, “Sugar industry shaped public opinion for decades” and then it makes up a story that only a true conspiracy theorist could believe. The second site is in the same vein but Catholic based, one of the people they talk about is “pope” Michael who is a mailman from Oklahoma City was elected “pope” in 1990 by six people including himself and his parents. The third one is an ecumenical Christian website that did an article about how a new version of “Operation” game is just figuring out which essential oils to use. All of these websites take things that some people would like to hear that then take it to the extreme of making it seem almost real. Sometimes when I read some of the articles they publish, I think that our real news agencies are really satire sites as well.

In the past, I have had some people contact me about things that they have seen on one of these websites and ask if it is true… no they are not! Where we get our information, and is there an agenda behind it, is something we should always ask about especially when it comes to information about the Church. Sometimes I hear things like “the pope is trying to change this or that” and then I go to the original statements or documents and I see that there was a comment made one way that was taken out of context or twisted to fit the narrative that they want to put across.

There are so many people out there trying to get your attention, especially during this political season. Politicians on both sides of the aisle are trying to get your vote and are willing to put out partial information to try to convince you. Politicians and Lobbyists are very poor places to get Church teaching because they usually seem to be more in line with their political party or agenda than the actual teachings of the Church. I am always amazed when I hear a politician state some Catholic teaching and then twist it for their own sake.

There are a few good places we can check the facts to make sure something is really a Catholic teaching; the Catechism of the Catholic Church is the place that I would recommend to start. So if something does not seem to make sense when you hear it, it most likely is not from a good and reliable source. I have a couple of good resources and trustworthy websites that I visit to make sure things that I have heard are the correct teachings. We cannot know everything, but if we know where to look to find the truth, we can learn anything.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

Stations of the Cross

One of my pet peeves is using the imagery or language of a desert for Lent. When I think of a desert, I think of emptiness, dryness, and nothingness. The season of Lent is nothing like that! It is NOT a time of dryness or emptiness; it is a season of renewal and preparation. It is a season of remembrance of what our God and Savior was willing to endure for the love of us!

When we pray the Stations of the Cross, we are strikingly reminded of that journey that Jesus was willing to do. We walk the path that Jesus himself walked. We honor the time in which Pilot condemned Jesus to death, when he picked up His Cross and began His journey to His death. I find this a moving experience, how we solemnly pray as we meditate on these stations. It is quiet, peaceful, painful, prayerful, and moving.

I have had the blessing to be able to have celebrated the Via Dolorosa (way of pain) in Jerusalem, roughly where they happened the first time a number of different times. I remember the first time we prayed it we started at about 4:00 am and it was quiet, peaceful, and prayerful. It was what I expected. I also remember another time that I and a couple of my seminarian friends decided to do the Stations at 3:00 in the afternoon. As we moved along the Via Dolorosa, we went through the old city itself. The shops were open, and the shopkeepers were doing their best to part us from our money, to buy souvenirs. It was crowded and noisy; it was not very prayerful as we were pushing our way through the crowds of people on the streets. I was beginning to get upset because I was trying to pray and I was getting interrupted. Then it hit me… this is exactly what it would have been like the first time it happened. Jesus being pushed through the crowd, people selling things, people yelling and screaming, it would not have been quiet. This is a stark reminder of what Jesus really went through.

I remember a number of years ago at another parish, we had a kindergartner named Jack who went to the Stations a few times, but I will never forget his first experience with them. He was crying and after we were done with them, I was talking to him about it and Jack said that he was crying because the people were so mean to Jesus. Jack understood what the basics of what the Stations of the Cross were about, he understood the pain and suffering that Jesus was willing to go through, he did not yet have the why. The why is love, the love that he had for us and even the people who were mean to him, and when I explained that to Jack, it made him smile.

We often pray the Stations of the Cross in the Lenten season not because they are empty, but because they are full of love. The only emptiness of the Lenten season is the self-emptying of sacrifice that we do, because it is only when we empty ourselves of the sin that we do, that it can be refilled with the goodness and the love that God has that helped him to endure the sacrifice for us. So let us empty ourselves of sin this Lenten season so that we can be filled with God’s goodness in the Easter season.

God bless,
Fr. Ken

The Good Friday's Of Our Lives

Have you had an experience in life where there was a heavy dose of suffering, confusion, or desolation?

What was (is) your reaction? Saint Ignatius of Loyola, a 16th century saint and spiritual master had a way of approaching those moments or stretches in our lives of suffering and desolation. He said that “let him who is in desolation labor to be in patience…and let him think that he will soon be consoled.” (Portion of St. Ignatius’ 8th Rule).

It is hard to imagine what the Apostles must have felt after Jesus’ brutal death by crucifixion on Good Friday. “What about all the miracles I saw him perform?" How could he have so much Wisdom and yet not be who he said he was? I must have been taken for a fool to believe he was the Messiah. Surely, my life and family are now at risk. Where do I go from here?”

As we inch closer to that tragic, yet Good Friday, we have the grace of being able to see things from the other side of Jesus’ Resurrection and Glory. The Apostles didn’t. After Jesus’ death on the Cross, surely Peter, James and John must have thought about their experience on the mountain of Transfiguration and wondered how this could have happened to the Son of Man, wrapped in Heavenly Glory and appearing in a Theophany of Heavenly Glory with His Father and the Holy Spirit!

Yet, the same three Apostles must have also remembered seeing Jesus in excruciating agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, sweating blood. The mystery the Apostles encountered in Jesus’ earthly ministry is the same mystery we encounter on this 2nd Sunday in Lent, 2024 years after Jesus’ birth: The Son of God, the Only-Begotten Son of the Heavenly Father became one of His own creatures, to love, serve, save what was lost, namely every human soul ever created.

Like Peter, James, and John, we have times of real suffering. Let’s follow St. Ignatius’ lead and advice to trust in the consolation of Jesus’ redeeming love and Resurrection, knowing that in the Good Friday’s of our lives, Jesus is truly there with us to console us, and will give us the joy, peace, and happiness of His Resurrection and Heavenly Glory.

Fr. Ryan

Repent!

Rrrrrrrreeeeeepppppeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnttt!!!

This was the homily (the whole homily) of a priest given a few decades back during the season of Lent and is still remembered to this day. Makes a priest think about their strategy of homily preparation. But I digress.

There is something to be said about the meaning of the word “repent” or “repentance”. To repent basically means turning completely away from sin so that you are completely turned towards God in holiness and living a holy life.

Lent is arguably the most recognizable season of the Church’s liturgical calendar for focusing on “repentance” or, in other words, conversion of one’s heart and life more fully to Jesus Christ. The goal of the season of Lent isn’t merely to give up something we like to see if we have the will-power to follow through. Nor is it simply a resolution for bodily health and wellness (though that can be a good, if not needed by-product). Lent is about growing in the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. It is about being more deeply united to Christ as His disciple, imitating Him and allowing Him to work more efficaciously in us through the vehicle of our Lenten observances of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Finally, it is about growing in deeper love of our neighbor, that is, our spouse, our kids, our parents, our fellow parishioners, our colleagues at work, our community, and yes, even our enemies.

The sacrifices, prayers, fasting and almsgiving that we offer during these 40 days are meant to be spiritual weapons that the Holy Spirit uses to work His divine love in us and that makes us depend on Jesus more and more so that “I may decrease and He may increase” within me. That when people see me they see more of Jesus and less of me.

As we begin this Lenten Journey of 40 days with Jesus in the desert, let us ask for the Blessed Virgin Mary’s intercession that we may draw ever closer to her Son through deeper conversion of heart and like Mary, say “let it be done unto me according to your word” during this purifying sojourn in the desert with Jesus.

Fr. Ryan