We rejoice in the Easter season for a total of 50 days.  So, after a long season of Lent, it’s the time to rejoice…

Jesus Christ is risen! Alleluia, alleluia!

During the three days of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter, we worship with meaningful, spirit-filled liturgies. We walk with Jesus through the great paschal mystery, which is the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus, whereby “dying he destroyed our death, rising he restored our life.”  (CCC 1067)

The below image is from Holy Cross Parish in Kaukauna. It is a reminder that the wood of the cross holds a special place in salvation history.  The base of the cross is connected to the trunk of a tree that is rooted in a garden.  It reminds us of the ‘tree of life’ in the Garden of Eden.  (Genesis 3:24)

The two deer that are drinking from the stream remind us of the opening words of Psalm 42, “Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God.”

When God sent Adam and Eve out of the garden because of their sin, he stationed a mighty angel and a ‘fiery revolving sword’, to guard the way to the ‘tree of life’.  Through his death on the cross, Jesus transformed a Roman symbol of torture into the holy wood of the cross.  Jesus restored our access to paradise!

We walk as ‘disciples on the way’ with the risen Lord.  I invite you to make time each day to read, reflect, and meditate on the daily scripture readings. The daily readings can be found at www.usccb.org

As you meditate on these readings, imagine yourself as one of the disciples nearly 2,000 years ago.  Consider how your life changed because of this man named Jesus who suffered and died for you.  Imagine encountering the risen Lord, and then being filled with his Holy Spirit.  Think about being filled with the grace and the courage to boldly proclaim Christ to all who will listen.  That’s what the early disciples did, and that’s what we’re called to do too!

 

“From ancient times the Church has had the custom of celebrating each day the liturgy of the hours.  In this way the Church fulfills the Lord’s precept to pray without ceasing, at once offering its praise to God the Father and interceding for the salvation of the world.”

These words are the beginning of a decree from the Office of the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship which is part of the Roman Curia at the Vatican in Rome.  Part of this decree (made on April 11, 1971) includes a mandate that the Liturgy of the Hours are prayed each day by bishops and priests.  When nine of us were ordained as a Permanent Deacons in May 2013, we made a promise to our Bishop that we would faithfully pray morning and evening prayer for the rest of our lives.

The Divine Office, as it’s also called, includes praying three of the 150 psalms during morning prayer and evening prayer as designated by the Church.  Since the Liturgy of the Hours is prayed across the world, I find it fascinating (and comforting) to know that at any given time, someone, somewhere is praying for the salvation of the world!  We are living out what Jesus taught us… “pray always.”  (Luke 18:1)

For me, evening prayer in the coming week is something I look forward to all year! For seven days, beginning December 17, the antiphon before and after praying the Canticle of Mary, begins with “O”; hence, they are called the “O Antiphons.”  I’m sure you’ll recognize most of them since they are part of the song, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”.  Here are the first few words of each of the seven “O Antiphons.”

Dec 17 – O Wisdom, O holy Word of God…

Dec 18 – O Sacred Lord of ancient Israel…

Dec 19 – O Flower of Jesse’s stem…

Dec 20 – O Key of David, O Royal Power of Israel…

Dec 21 – O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light…

Dec 22 – O King of all the nations…  O Keystone of the mighty arch of man…

Dec 23 – O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver…

These seven days of evening prayer are followed by evening prayer on December 24, which marks the end of Advent and the beginning of the Christmas season.

The whole church is invited and encouraged to pray the liturgy of the hours.  If you’d like to try it, you can find the prayers on-line at www.ibreviary.org/en/ or you could visit Cathedral Book & Gift in downtown Green Bay and purchase the book “Christian Prayer: The Liturgy of the Hours.”

As I pray the “O Antiphons” in the coming week, I will be keeping all of you in my prayers.

During November we remember the communion of saints starting on the first of the month when we celebrated the Solemnity of All Saints.  This communion of saints is always with us, so we should challenge ourselves to stay connected with them all year round!

As you get to know individual saints, you will come to find that virtually all of them were common, ordinary people, who went on to live extraordinary lives and witness to their faith in amazing ways.  My ‘go to’ prayer guide is the Magnificat, which includes our daily scripture readings, reflections, and lives of the saints.  The daily feature on a saint may be about someone who I am familiar with, and often times it’s about a saint that I’ve never heard of.

November 11, Veterans Day, is the Memorial of St. Martin of Tours, Bishop.  St. Martin is the patron saint of soldiers, and I really enjoyed reading about the “God moment” that changed his heart.  Here’s what the Magnificat had to say about St. Martin on his feast day…

Martin was born in Pannonia (modern Hungary) and became a catechumen at the age of ten.  While serving in the Roman Army, he met a poor, half-clothed man outside the city gate of Amiens.  Martin drew his sword and divided his own cloak in two, giving half to the naked man.  That night, he saw Jesus in a vision. “Martin, who is still a catechumen, gave me this robe”, our Lord told the angels.  After this, Martin “flew to be baptized.” After he resigned from the army, he founded a monastic community in Gaul (modern France).  In 372 he was elected Bishop of Tours, where he served his flock with great care until his death in 397.

What a neat story!  Can you imagine having a dream where Jesus is sharing a story with the angels about a kind deed that you did?  Those kind of “God moments” are often life-changing.  By our baptism, we are all called to be saints.  A great way to nourish our souls is to read about and reflect upon the lives of the saints.  I know you will be amazed at what you’ll discover!

Here’s an easy way to stay connected to the communion of saints all year round… Simply, go to www.Franciscanmedia.com and click on the “Saint of the Day” tab.  There is an option to enter your email address to subscribe, at no cost.  Then, Franciscan media will send you an email each day that provides more information about the life of that saint along with a brief reflection.  It’s a great way to help feed your soul all year round!

God bless you and your family.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As Lynn & I were nearing the end of our pilgrimage in Ireland earlier this month, we were talking with another couple, and I asked them what they thought of this journey.  The response was, “We sure prayed a lot!”  Yes, we did!  In addition to individual time for prayer and reflection, for each of the ten days, we attended Mass with Bishop Ricken, we prayed Morning Prayer, the Angelus, either the Rosary or the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and Evening Prayer.  A pilgrimage is a wonderful time to “pray without ceasing” as St. Paul wrote in his first letter to the Thessalonians. (5:17)

Before we left for this pilgrimage, I invited others to send their prayer petitions with me.  I knew that we would be visiting many holy sites, and it would be a great opportunity to lift up those prayers, in addition to my own.  Like each of you, I have my own list of prayer intentions and specific people to pray for.  My list includes prayers for our parish, all of our parishioners, and for your intentions.

We were blessed to be able to pray at many amazing places in Ireland including… the tomb of Saints Patrick, Bridget, and Columba, in front of the relics of St. Oliver Plunket and St. Valentine, the Marian Shrine of Knock, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Galway Cathedral, the Cathedral of Armagh, the 6^th century monastic ruins of Glendalough, on the mountain of Croagh Patrick, St. Mary’s Church in Killarney, St. Mary’s Pro Cathedral in Dublin… Just to name a few!

There is a contemporary song called “We Are One Body” written by Dana Scallon from Derry, Ireland.  The lyrics include the phrase, “We are one body, one body in Christ . . . and we do not stand alone!”  One of ways that we can stand together and to be ‘one body’ is to pray for one another.

As most of you know, we have a parish book of prayer intentions located just outside the south chapel dedicated to the North American Saints.  This book is simply known as the ‘Prayer Tree’.  The prayer intentions in this book are hand-written by our parishioners or anyone else who visits our parish.  We lift up these prayers at Mass, and I know that many people include these intentions in their personal prayers.

I encourage everyone to use the Prayer Tree for your personal intentions, and I also encourage everyone to remember to pray for these intentions in your daily prayers.  Remember . . . “We are one body, one body in Christ . . . and we do not stand alone!”

Finally, when you or your family happen to travel to other parishes and other holy sites, wherever they may be, please remember to pray for our parish, and for the intentions of your fellow parishioners.

May God bless you and your family.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

One of the major benefits of living in Wisconsin is the change of seasons.  There was a time when autumn was my favorite season, but as time marches on, I’ve come to appreciate the beauty of all the seasons!

The more I observe nature, both from afar and up close, the more I continue to be utterly amazed at the beauty of God’s creation.  From the vast multitude of stars in the night sky to the tiniest plants and insects, we are surrounded by beauty and mystery that shouts out God’s presence… when we take time to observe and encounter it!

We’re all familiar with maple trees, but in the weeks leading up to the big fall ‘colorama’ there’s a lot more going on than just leaves turning colors and falling to the ground. When we take a closer look, we see that tiny, compact buds have appeared.  These are the buds of new life that will transform into leaves next spring.  As part of this process, the branch begins to ‘seal off’ the base of the maple leaf.  After the leaf has nothing left to hang on to, gravity takes over and the leaf begins its final journey to the ground.

Jesus often referred to nature in his parables.  He spoke of grape vines, mustard seeds, and grains of wheat.  It seems to me that there is a parable buried within the bud on the branch of a maple tree.  We could think about the newly appearing bud as our personal growth in virtue.  As goodness grows within us, God helps us to ‘seal off’ the roots of bad habits and poor decisions.  Eventually, these vices have nothing left to hang on to in our lives, and they gently drift away like a leaf falling from a tree.

“Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and what fills it resound; let the plains be joyful and all that is in them. Then let all the trees of the forest rejoice.”  ~Psalm 96:11-12

Take some time to enjoy this beautiful season of autumn. May God bless you and your family.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This is a great time of the year to take a road trip.  In addition to clever bumper stickers, I enjoy seeing the many variations of ‘family stickers’ on the back windows of vehicles. They range from stick people, to Star Wars characters, to dressed up animals. The stickers on the outside are as unique as the families inside!

Recently, I drove to Minneapolis to visit some college friends.  One of my routines on long trips includes catching up on my backlog from the “CD of the Month Club” from Lighthouse Catholic Media.  (Feel free to pick one up from our parish office library for your next trip!)

One of the CDs included highlights from the 2015 World Meeting of Families conference in Philadelphia.  In a beautiful sign of ecumenism, Pastor Rick Warren was invited to give the final keynote address, the day before Pope Francis arrived.

The theme of the conference, “Love Is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive,” emphasized the positive impact of the love and life of families on society. Pastor Warren is passionate about the importance of the family, and he put together a concise and thought-provoking summary of the problems that families face along with some solutions.  It caught my attention and I listened to it several times.  Here’s what he said:

“In today’s society, materialism is idolized, immorality is glamorized, truth is minimized, sin is normalized, divorce is rationalized, and abortion is legalized.  In TV and movies, crime is legitimized, drug use is minimized, comedy is vulgarized, and sex is trivialized. In movies, the Bible is fictionalized, churches are satirized, God is marginalized, and Christians are demonized. The elderly are dehumanized, the sick are euthanized, the poor are victimized, the mentally ill are ostracized, immigrants are stigmatized, and children are tranquilized.  In families around the world, our manners are uncivilized, speech is vulgarized, faith is secularized, and everything is commercialized. Christians are often disorganized and demoralized, and their faith is compartmentalized, and witness compromised.

 So, what do we need? We need to revitalize our worship, minimize our differences, mobilize our members, and evangelize the lost, and we need to re-energize our families.”

Strong families form the foundation of strong communities.  I invite you to take time this week to lift up your family and all families in prayer.  How about if we all form a new habit?… Every time we see one of those clever ‘sticker families’ on the vehicle in front of us, take a moment to say a prayer for the people inside.     🙂

May God bless you and your family.

 

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Although almost 2,000 years have gone by, St. Paul’s words to the Romans still ring true for many of us today…

“The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought…”

After many years of listening to Relevant Radio, journeying with RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) candidates, and talking with fellow parishioners, there always seem to be questions and concerns about the right way to pray.  When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, he responded with the simple, beautiful, intimate, heartfelt words of what we now call the Lord’s Prayer … the Our Father.  One thing we can learn from the Our Father is that prayer is about dialogue, a conversation with God … our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier.

A helpful way to think about prayer is to begin our conversation with God using simple words … please, thank you, I love you, I’m sorry.

… God, please show me the path you want me to follow today.  Guide my words, my thoughts, and my actions.

… God, thank you for the many gifts of your creation. The beautiful sunset, the peaceful water, and the birds in the air.

… Jesus, I love you and I trust in you.  May your love that dwells in me radiate to everyone who I encounter today.

… Jesus, I’m sorry for the times that I let you down today.  Forgive me and help me to do better tomorrow.

God is always with us, He created us, He loves us, and He longs to grow in relationship with us.  Jesus is our best friend.  We grow closer to Him when we spend some quiet time with Him and when we converse with Him throughout our day.  We greet Him when we wake up, we talk with Him as we move through the day, and share our thoughts with Him when we go to bed.  This conversation is called prayer.  When we struggle to find the right words, recall the words of St. Paul, “the Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness.”

May God bless you and your family.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Oh, the power of just a few simple words . . . “Receive the Holy Spirit!”

The doors were locked and the disciples were filled with fear, but when Jesus spoke these words, everything changed.  The disciples were emboldened with the seven-fold gifts of the Holy Spirit . . . wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.  From that point on, they boldly proclaimed the Good News.  Here we are, 2,000 or so years later with over two billion people who are Christians . . .followers of Christ.  Oh, the power of a few simple words!

Many readings from the Acts of the Apostles provide us with a glimpse of the early Church and the workings of the Holy Spirit.  And, the spirit is still alive and well today.

On May 17, 2017, we had 32 high-school students from our parish stand up as their names were called.  Each of them boldly proclaimed, “I wish to be confirmed!”  Their witness was inspiring!  After calling down the Holy Spirit, Bishop Ricken sealed them on the forehead with the oil of Sacred Chrism.

Also during the month of May, I was blessed to attend two ordination Masses.  “Will those called to the Order of Deacon please stand.”  When each name was called, the candidate rose, stepped forward, and boldly responded with one simple word…“Present!”

Five men from our diocese became permanent deacons on May 13, 2017.  Then, on Sunday May 21, 2017, Kyle Sladek (who grew up in our parish) and José López Vargas were ordained as transitional deacons.  God willing, Kyle will be ordained as a priest in our diocese next year.

Oh, the power of just a few simple words!

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.

May God bless you and your family.