Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The Holy Family, what a team!. Mary, the mother, was conceived without sin (Immaculate Conception), Joseph (a just and faith filled man) and Jesus, God in human flesh . . . it sounds like a household of Super Heroes. They’re certainly not like MY family.

Before we look at this saintly group, let’s look back a bit at the whole idea of “family”. That familiar picture we have: the house with the picket fence, the kids playing in the front yard; mom, in her apron getting dinner ready and dad, just back from work, calling out “Honey, I’m home!”    is really a fairly recent view of a middle class home.

To go back a thousand years or so, “family” was more like a “clan” or a tribe. That African saying, “It takes a village to raise a child” is evident in much of history. In primitive times, with dangers lurking in nature (lions!) and neighboring peoples (Those Hatfields!), an extended family was the best way to insure safety and a co operative way of getting things done.

We see evidence of this in Jesus’ childhood. When he was 12, his whole “extended family” in Nazareth traveled by caravan to Jerusalem. Jesus was gone from Mary and Joseph for a day or so with no apparent concern from his parents. “As they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it, thinking he was in the caravan (with the rest of the relatives)” Luke 2:43, 44. They returned to Jerusalem and “after three days (!) they found him in the temple.”

So what does “family” look like today? It comes in many shapes and sizes.

Blended families, single parent families, extended, adopted etc. What does your family look like? Mine has shrunk somewhat. Mom and dad are gone over 10 years so the Horan’s are 3 (Patty, Tim, and Maureen). This is what I mean when I say “I’m visiting family”.

How about your family? Big? Small? Just you? We look at photos of Christmas’s past and we smile . . . or tear up a bit. Over the years family changes, doesn’t it?

But something about belonging to a family never changes; it’s where we learn how to give and receive love. St. Pope John Paul called the family the “School of Love”. It’s where we learn to live for others and accept others kindness in turn. Family is where we help each other come to know the goodness of God. It’s been called the “Domestic Church”.

Now here’s the exciting part . . . real family, described above, can happen anywhere, with any group of people. Jesus himself pointed to this. Remember the story of Jesus preaching in a crowded house. “Someone told him, ‘your mother and brothers are standing outside wishing to speak with you.’” Jesus said in reply, ”who are my moth- er and brothers?” And stretching out his hand he said, “here is my (family). Whoever does the will of my Heavenly Father is mother, brother and sister to me.” Matthew 12: 48,49.

It’s a new kind of family. One that is intended and sustained by the will of God. The Family of Christ. The Church in the widest sense, people of good will, seeking to love God and neighbor as Jesus has instructed us.

And guess what? This family is thicker than blood or ethnicity. Its Father is our Heavenly Father; Mary is its mother. We all are God’s Children. Please help Holy Trinity Church be a part of Christ’s Family by the way we treat all who join us.

Welcome brother! Welcome sister!

Bless this Family.
Fr. Tim

Let’s get ready. There’s going to be a great celebration. Everyone in Webster and beyond is invited. Let’s celebrate Christmas here in our house at Holy Trinity. Let’s make it a total GIFT to everyone. We’re going to need everyone’s help to make this a proper celebration.

So how shall we get ready?

• Music? Clare are the choirs ready?
• Church decoration? Beautiful!
• Lectors, Eucharistic ministers, greeters, ushers . . .ready?
• Fr. Tim do you have something to say for the homily? (We hope!)

How about you? Are you ready to welcome all who come to the Christmas masses? This is your home. These are our welcomed and honored guests. Holy Trinity needs you to be ready to host this great event. What’s your role? You are the voice and smile and handshake of our parish. So some thoughts as to how “be our best”.

First off, what NOT to do:

• Glare at people who’s children are fussing and cranky. We’ve all been there.
• “You’re sitting in my pew.” Is not the way we want to welcome people.
• Make people climb over you so you can keep the aisle seat (No, move in! It’s a gracious way of saying “glad you are here.”)
• Roll your eyes when people’s talking bothers you.
• Feel superior when something happens that lets you know “these people never come to mass”. Give them a look that tells them “I’m here every week and you’re NOT!”
• Leave church right after you receive Holy Communion.
• Be in a hurry to get out of the parking lot. It’s Christmas! Take your time. Enjoy even the inconveniences of the day.

What to do:

• “Merry Christmas!” is totally appropriate before mass begins. Say it to everyone, not just your family.
• Expect total strangers to be sitting all around you. Think of them as your cousins whom you’ve not seen for a while. Let them know somehow how glad you are for their being there. Compliments before and after mass . . . “Oh your children look wonderful. What a nice family you have.” Or more general, “That hat! Christmas come early?” . . . you’ll think of something.
• If the numbers in church make seating scarce let someone take your seat . . . a Christmas gift to a total stranger. It’s what we do.
• Expect things to be a little different than a usual Sunday at Holy Trinity. More people (yea!), more congestion, more standing, more of everything. It’s Christmas!!
• As was said, be the face of Holy Trinity for those around you. Your smile, your handshake, your readiness to give up your pew, your singing, are all part of the gift this parish wants to be for those who join us that day. Who knows what your kindness might begin in them.
• We want people to experience Christ. Chances are it may be through you.

So ready, set, here we go.

God bless you very much this week.

Fr. Tim

Webster (the dictionary!) defines joy as “a very glad feeling.” Theologians, as usual, complicate things by splitting joy in two: sensible joy and intellectual (spiritual) joy.

Sensible joy is easy to describe. Think of finishing your favorite meal done just the way you like it. Or, hearing your favorite song by the original band; the smell of lilac on a sunny spring day.

Joy may be either the action itself (the tasting, seeing, feeling) or the pleasant state that accompanies the achieving of this good thing (. . . how’s that for over analyzing?!)

Spiritual joy is different. It may have similar feelings attached to it (gladness, cheeriness) but it goes deeper than something pleasing to the senses. It has its origin in an awareness of a “Good” that has been obtained through virtuous action.

For example, a swimmer exerts themselves for months to train for the big meet. They experience joy when they see their efforts have paid off with their best time ever. The joy is in the awareness.

OR, you stuck with someone who was going through a hard time. Everyone was down on this person and any- one who hung out with them (you). You resisted all urges to run away and you never wavered in your friendship. Suddenly you both realize that this is what friendship really means. This is a joy!

Spiritual joy usually comes with some effort of the will, some “doing the right thing.” With little effort there is little joy.

So what are your moments of joy? Of laugh out loud happiness? A sense of wonder at this world’s beauty so strong it makes you choke up? Here’s a few of mine. What are yours?

Moments of Joy:

• High School Senior year. Beating previously undefeated Gilmore Academy in triple overtime. I didn’t play one second of the game but the joy it brought on the bus ride home showed me God is real and present.
• 21 yrs. old. Standing on the 17 tee at Durand Eastman, suddenly knowing that Rochester is where I wanted to live my life.
• Handel’s Messiah. Pure joy. Also Samuel Barber’s “Adagio”. I can die in peace.
• A dream I had about God a long time ago. I can still feel what it was like.
• The change of seasons brings joy (and a sweet sadness sometimes which is a weird kind of joy too).
• Many memories of friends and their great kindnesses.
• The times (there have been many) of uncontrollable, fall on the ground, close to tears, laughter.
• Being a priest and seeing God touch people’s lives.
• Watching children be children.
• Knowing (because Christ said so) that it’s all going to turn out all right. Love wins. Darkness and hatred are on the losing team. Let’s spend this life doing the things He asked of us. This purpose in life brings joy.

Of course, all moments of joy are simply a foretaste of the joy, the Lord wanted us we were created to experience . . . the vision of the limitless beauty and goodness of God.

“Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it entered the mind what God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9.

Two weeks to go ……………… wait ……………. Pray.

Fr. Tim

Some years ago I was having coffee with a friend in a family restaurant in town. In the background was the oh so familiar tune of Jingle Bells playing slightly louder than was comfortable. “Oh what fun it is to ride . . . “ This was followed by that new classic of recent years, Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree. . .“Oh Rock’n around the Christmas tree at the Christmas Party Hop …”

Somehow my ”holiday spirit” sank pretty low. Why do they do that to us? Why do they start the Christmas music five weeks too early and play it at a volume that is at least as loud as “Are You Ready For Some Football?” on Monday nights?

We get hooked. It’s one of a kind music and fresh every year . . . for awhile.

Did you know the Church encourages us to avoid flagrant displays of Christmas prior to Christmas? Rather, she encourages us to enter into that beautiful and subtle season we know as Advent. (You remember “subtle”, right? Webster says it’s “keen, acute, discriminating. Not dense or heavy. Penetrating, delicately skillful.”) “Subtle” points to something coming but not here yet. It helps us to learn how to wait.

Advent is subtle. It gets us ready for Christmas. It builds expectation and longing. It makes us hungry for the feast day. It builds a tension that wants to celebrate what is to come. The world would rather have Christmas without the wait or the tension. Sort of like the fancy cake before the quiet potatoes. Ever get sick of Christmas before Christmas?

How can we keep the proper order? Advent first, then Christmas? Here are some suggestions . . . and I mean suggestions. Each family has to make their own decisions here but I think you’ll see my point:

• Christmas carols were written as prayers and statements of faith. Save the big ones (Joy to the World, Oh Come All Ye Faithful, Today our Savior is Born, Wish you a Merry Christmas, etc.) for Christmas.
• Decorate for Advent. The Advent Wreath, colors of Purple and Rose.
• Christmas Parties? Sure. But remember they’re only a warmup for the Feast.
• Keep Santa sightings to a minimum. And those Christmas Specials on TV . Do you really like those? They tend to be big and over the top as they encourage us to heights of joy none of us can achieve.
• If you hear the words “holly, jolly”, run away!
• It’s okay that   you don’t find the “perfect” gift and it probably won’t be “the best Christmas of all”. God comes to us in Jesus Christ; what more do we need?
• Advent is a season for Hope. Christmas is a season for Joy. Advent first . . . then Christmas.

Okay, here we go . . . let’s start waiting.

Bless you,
Fr. Tim

PS. Oh, by the way, Christmas is celebrated for three weeks!! All the more reason to not be sick of Christmas before Christmas. I hope these beautiful Advent Days help you to be ready to really celebrate the birth of our Savior.

I think I was 12 yrs. old when mom and dad took us on one of our rare family vacations. We went to Monmouth Cave in southern Kentucky. It is a magnificent cavern deep deep in the ground, filled with stalactites and stalagmites and beautiful crystalline gems flashing brilliant colors throughout the cathedral-like cavern.

There are many memories I have of this trip. One which sticks out the most, and one that still speaks to me fifty years later, is the sight of a school of brown trout swimming in an underground stream that flowed through the cave. Generations of these fish had lived on the floor of this darkened cave    dark, as in pitch black. Over time something very strange happened; with absolutely no light penetrating the cave these fish had lost their eyes. A thin round membrane covered what would have been the eye socket. It was natures way of saying “use ‘em or lose ‘em”.

So what’s this little Field and Stream article about? It’s about the light . . . and the dark. They are both at work in the world. Both would like to spread themselves as far as they can. Darkness is happiest when selfishness grows, anything that leads to fear and hopelessness is its friend.

Despair and ultimately death are its kingdom. You and I feel its pull. We’re tempted to cooperate with the darkness because it’s easy and comfortable. We whisper things to ourselves like, “Who will know?”, “Everyone is doing it.”, “Oh what difference does it make?”, “It feels good, what’s wrong with it?” “God doesn’t care.” And all this likes to hide behind things and in corners that are . . . dark.

Light on the other hand wants to have a party. It invites everyone, no skin or race excluded. It is filled with joy because it is bathed in the truth and goodness. It wants to see and be seen because what God has created is beautiful. It knows that the source of all that is . . is love. In this light we see and are seen, love and are loved. To walk in the light is why we were created.

Back to the fish for a minute. They too were created to see. But these fish had lived in darkness so long that they had lost their eyes. Darkness had blinded them permanently. Be careful. Darkness can rob our sight as well.

Likewise, we humans were made to see, not just with the eyes in our head but by the light of our intellect we see this world. Jesus tells us, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12).

But what if, like the fish, we chose to live in darkness? What if we give up on living in the light? Can we lose our ability “to see?” Scripture points to this possibility. “And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because of their deeds…..” (John 3:19).

Sooo? This Advent let’s choose the light. Where ever we go, whatever we are doing, the choice is always there be- tween light and darkness. Let’s walk in the light, drink in the light, be bathed in light, teach our children the light. This light is Jesus Christ. As always, He’s appearing daily in the Eucharist and in the people who long for His Kingdom.

Bless you.

Fr. Tim

It’s strange. Something that gives me comfort in the midst of all the serious issues we face in our current world is the realization that some things are just out of my control. I’m not off the hook by any means. I must do my part. But how this all turns out    that’s in God’s hands.

So what are those issues? You know them: our polarized society, Covid 19, a broken political system, climate change, racism, etc. Each one of these problems (and more) taunt us with their seeming insolvability.

So what are we to do? You may scoff at the answer to follow. It can seem so naïve and childlike. And it is childlike . . . it’s called Trust.

But trust in what? To people of Faith the answer is simple. We trust in God who revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. Jesus tells us, “In the world you will have trouble. But take courage. I have overcome the world.” John 16:33.

It’s that simple. We were created by God. We are privileged to bear God’s image and now we are God’s children (1 John 3). That means He will help us. This is the rock of Faith. This Sunday the Church proclaims Christ is King over all human history. Can you be a child and accept this?

It doesn’t mean the Lord will suddenly wipe away the damage we’ve done by our sinful behavior. God has chosen to accept our sinful choices and their consequences.

To heal the social wound requires a new desire within our own hearts. (God will not bring a healing of our wounds without our cooperation.) It requires (especially of Christians), Faith, good will, sacrifice, forgiveness and courage.

That’s it in a nutshell really. God’s plan for the world has already been secured. He has overcome the world by Christ’s death and Resurrection. There is no power on earth that can overcome the will of God to save the human race. Period.

There will be suffering along the way. Things may not fit the “happily ever after” we vision in fairy tales. (God’s way is not our way.) But for all we may have to go through, the future has been won. This is what the Resurrection reveals.

The final end of history will not happen without our imperfect cooperation. God wants us to share in the story He’s already completed. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.” Matthew 6:33, 34.

This is a real act of Faith isn’t it? To trust in a victory that’s already happened; but one I cannot yet see. This Faith brings about the second great virtue   Hope. (Read the beautiful passage of St. Paul in Romans 8:18-25) “And so we boast of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory . . . and this hope does not disappoint (in spite of life’s sorrows) for God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift to us.” Romans 5:5

We never give up hope. Never! Why? Because Christ has won the victory. Human history will complete itself in God’s good time. And when it does, you, who have longed for its coming, you scarred and wounded faithful, you will shout for joy.

Let us each do our part: trust in God and do good.

Fr. Tim

The thought came to me this week hearing St. Paul’s exhortation, “We no longer live for ourselves. While we live we are the Lord’s and when we die we are the Lord’s. Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” (Romans 14:8).

See what you think of this.

We seem to have developed a renewed love and fascination for dogs over the past few years. Certainly you’ve seen the television ads where the family dog sits with everybody on the couch watching TV. Or the adorable puppy that cuddles with its owner and plays with the children on the carpet. Our hearts are touched.

But did you know that millions of dogs run wild in this world? They gather in packs to raid livestock and threaten humans when approached. They’re called “feral” or wild dogs. There are no rules in their pack – – food and breeding are what drives a feral dog. You wouldn’t want one on your couch.

What makes them wild? They lack a master. Someone to teach them to live with humans. Someone to demand certain behaviors that make them loving pets for owner and children. And when trained, they experience a dogs life that is the envy of any wild dog.

Got the picture?

It’s a bit of a stretch I know, but the same thing applies to us humans. St. Paul says we have a master. It is the Lord. We were created by God unlike any other creature. We weren’t made to sit on His lap, or lick His face; no, ours is a far greater privilege – – we were made to be God’s children. To live in His Kingdom. To love and be loved as persons. Through Christ’s humanity we now actually share in God’s divinity.

But here’s the rub. We need a Master. Someone who knows more about us than we do. Someone who sets the rules for our well-being. Someone who becomes a rule for our life. Without that we become feral.

Many will say, “We have our science and technology to improve our life. We have our reason to solve problems. We have the rule of law to govern us. We are our own master.” Yes, but WHO created us with these powers? And is there no one to whom we are responsible for how we use them?

Our brilliance learned to split the atom. Yes, and now there is a source of unlimited power. But this same knowledge enabled us to make the atom bomb. Human genius invented the internet (Yay!) but now we have those dark places that are only two clicks away. Oh dear. We have unlocked the human genome and now we have the power to clone human life. Who is our master? No one. We become “intelligent animals”. Feral humans.

Please don’t think I disparage the amazing advancement science and civilization have made in human history. (Psalm 8 says it so beautifully; “What are humans that you care for them. . . . Yet, you have made them little less that a god. You have given them rule over the works of your hands. Put all things under their feet.” Psalms 8:5)

This is all great news about us humans – – – so long as we recognize God as our Master. And what kind of Master is our God? Some stern and joyless King? Some faceless power that set the laws of nature and now sits back to judge?

No. It is the Lord Jesus Christ. He died that we might know God’s love for us. And once we know the love of God…we can bend our knee and cry out. . . . “My Master!”

Bless you. Child of God.

Fr. Tim

Back in the early 1950’s we lived on Bloomfield, a pretty city street in Akron, Ohio. Dad took the bus to work downtown and mom cooked, cleaned, and fed the three Horan children. I remember a big staircase we were forbidden to slide down and a bedroom I had all to myself.

We rented the house for five years. Then one day, to surprise his wife, dad put $2,000 down on a little Cape Cod north of the city. Mom was furious in that she hadn’t been consulted; but with feelings repaired, the Horan’s moved into their first and only home. Dad was pretty proud. The American dream was coming true. (Mom had still to say goodbye to the dream of moving to Columbus to be near her large family.)

So we owned a home. That’s where I learned to ride a bike and Jimmy Farrell and I would explore the woods behind our street. Patty and Maureen did all the things girls do to grow up. 52 years mom and dad had that house.

I knew the day would come, but it totally shocked me to see the “For Sale” sign in our front yard when I drove back home to see mom (dad had been dead 3 years). “I have no home now”, was the feeling.

I’m sure many of you have a story to tell just like this. The point to be made is, something we all discover sooner or later, we have no lasting home. St. Paul tells us that all things in this world are passing away (1Corinthians 7:31). “Time is running out. From now on let those . . . who buy or own act as though they were not owning, those using the world as not using it fully.”

Why? Because we are renting this body, this space, this time, this home, this family, this parish . . . It’s all passing away. Nothing material is made to last forever. That means we’re here temporarily. We’re renting. We’re pilgrims on a journey.

St. Paul even calls Christians “strangers and aliens on earth.” (Hebrews 11:13) “Those who speak thus show they are seeking a homeland . . . a better homeland, a heavenly one.” vs. 16. This in no way lessens the beauty and wonder of the world and our responsibility to work for a better world here and now. “God so loved the world” ….(John 3:16). So do we.

Our “passing through” has huge implications for how we use the things of the earth. Not being “owners” we are “stewards” instead. St. Thomas Aquinas tells us, “We possess external things not as our own, but as common, so that we are ready to give to others in their need.” Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato Si reminds us that the goods of the earth (our water, air, forests, farmland) are given to each generation to be properly cared for so they might be passed on to the generations that follow.

When you think of it, everything we have has been given to us: our home (Mother Earth), our very lives, our family, our country, our skills to carve out our life’s story. And then……there will come a time when we have to leave it all behind. We will pass from this earth to enter (once again by God’s gift) Eternal Life.

No more renting; we’ll be home. In the meantime let’s use this time to make this a better world for those who will follow.

Bless your Autumn days..

Fr. Tim

The blind man: “Lord, I want to see.”

Mark Chapter 10

This little conversation in the gospel for Sunday challenges us to know what we really need in our life. The man is blind, so when asked what kind of help he needed, he was quick to respond . . . “I want to see!”

For us the answer is sometimes not so simple. Why? Because we want so many things! Particularly when we are younger.

What do young people want and long for? Let me guess . . . to be pretty or handsome. To be popular with many friends. To date the cutest girl or guy. To be recognized for some talent. To excel at sports. To be smart. (Then there are the “minor wants” like a trip to Disney, sleep overs, pizza!, Summer vacation, a drivers license.)

When we get older our wants get a little more sophisticated. Things like financial security, good health for ourselves and family, certain possessions (home, car, leisure) that add comfort to our life.

Let’s be clear, each of these things are good. Who wouldn’t want any or all of these? But this is not your everyday. Today you’re meeting Jesus Christ. He is our connection to God. He is the one asking you, “What do you want me to do for you?”

And your answer? “Lord, I want . . . . . . . . . “ What?

Not so easy is it. We have to dig deep to discover just what is the desire of our souls. Take some time with this one. Put yourself in the gospel story (Mark 10: 46-52). You are the blind person. You’ve been selling pencils on the corner for years. Jesus is here. You call out. He asks, “what do you want?”

It’s all very personal of course, but here are some thoughts as to what one might consider   

• Freedom from whatever keeps you chained to harmful habits and ways of treating people. Freedom from fear, resentment, greed, lust, anger. What keeps you in chains?
• An ability to love again in the face of past disappointments, betrayal, tragedy.
• A personal experience that will let me know that God loves me and I can give my life to His care.
• A powerful life changing help for someone I love. Something that lets them see the light and turn from the darkness.
• A personal Faith that doesn’t turn away from the problems of human history but one that never despairs of the final victory of God and the salvation of the human race.
• The children. The children. Protect them Lord.
• A grace to hold on to hope in the face of personal loss and sadness.
• That every single human being, born and unborn, go to heaven.

Okay. So we ask the Lord these things or something similar. Now what? Two things happen, I think. First, Jesus has shown you what you REALLY want. You experience your heart of hearts and that’s where God is!

Secondly, all those other “wants” take their proper, lesser order. We see them in a new perspective. They don’t have the control over us they once had; we’re in touch with something bigger and more important   what God wants in us.

Never give up.

Fr. Tim

PS. But can I still ask God . . . for you know . . . Go Bills? Of Course!!

In the beginning when God created us human beings, He wanted a creature that would be free to choose what to do and how to act. In fact, this is what defines us as “persons”. We have reason and free will. These two qualities enable us to do what God most wanted – – to love. God wanted Lovers.

Also in the beginning . . . our freedom and will wanted to do what God wanted. To do God’s will was our happiness. We longed to act in accord with God’s wish for us. It came naturally. No big deal.

But then it happened. You know the story. In the Book of Genesis we have the mythic story of man’s origins (the Garden, the fruit, and the Tempter). There was a command from God who loved us. God had warned us NOT to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil. In our limited vision however, “it seemed good and pleasing” and eating it would make us like the God we loved. We disobeyed God’s will.

Something changed in that moment; something that would follow us throughout history. What came so naturally for us, what was so clear and apparent to our minds, was now clouded by things we’d never experienced before. Fear and the distance of God, alienation between man and woman, the Cain and Abel tragedy.

These were the consequences of acting contrary to the will of God. Perhaps most harmful was the fear and mistrust we developed for God. Now that the nearness of God disappeared, our finite freedom and reason started to see the world as “just us”. We lost sight of God’s plan for us. In fact God’s will had somehow become a threat to what we want. God became “The Law”. We experienced His will as a scourge or an unpleasant burden.

What we forgot was the fact that “God’s Will” is His love for us. We lost the innocence of a child . . . the ability to trust in the love God has for us. (“Unless you become as little children, you shall not enter the Kingdom of God” Mt. 18:3)

We see this wherever we go these days. Cultural slogans abound that tell us our happiness lies in total freedom to do whatever we think will bring us happiness. We become “independent operators” deciding for ourselves what is true. What do we hear? “You find your truth, I’ll find mine.” “If it feels good, it is good”. “I have a right to be happy.” “Nobody tells me what to do.”

The wonderful thing about our desire for happiness is that God gave it to us! He wants our happiness. BUT . . . God knows what that is. We don’t.

What is our happiness? “God made me to know Him, love Him, serve Him in this life and to be happy with Him in the next.” Baltimore Catechism. God is our happiness. To be full of God.

Would you like a recipe for happiness? Jesus gave us that in the Beatitudes (Mt. 5: 3-10). Be careful however, true happiness, God’s love, will come to those who suffer for the sake of the Kingdom. “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” John 15:11.

Oh Lord, I don’t know what to want. I don’t know what you want for me. Give me your grace to see your plan and to want what your love wants for me. Amen.

Thy will be done.

Fr. Tim

One of the most debilitating things about sickness is the way it separates us from those around us. It may mean being confined to home or quarantined from those closest to us. It may mean being unable to participate in everyday activities that bring us together with others.

We have scheduled a Eucharistic Celebration with Anointing of the Sick on Saturday, October 16th at 10:00 am. This is the chance to bring your health concerns to the Lord in the context of mass and this faith community.

WHO SHOULD BE ANOINTED? The guidelines for the sacrament say, “any persistent and serious concern for one’s health…” is reason for someone to request the anointing. Health concerns such as depression, anxiety, addiction, spiritual doubt and chronic pain are all sufficient to receive the anointing. There will be no questions asked. Simply indicate your wish to be anointed.

Come and experience the healing and comforting Hand of God working through the Sacrament of the Sick and the care of this parish. We will observe all safe distancing, mask and sanitizing protocols.

However, if you are not ready to attend a Mass in person but wish to receive this sacrament, Fr. Tim will gladly come to your home to anoint you. Please call the Parish Office@ 265-1616 to make an appointment.

God bless you.