Fourth Sunday of Easter

Christ is the Good Shepherd, but this is not not just a 'nice' thing of Jesus to say of Himself. First, in Greek, He says ego eimi - I AM, that harkens to the Lord's revelation of His name to Moses. The word we have translated as 'good' is not just a humble little adjective, but with great impact and profound definition - the word means 'perfect, morally sound, and the one who provides the best model, beautiful because of purity of heart and purpose, noble, honorable'. The Lord is the perfect shepherd, the model for all! Christ is the Good Shepherd who cares for His flock, protects it from the wolves that prowl about the world seeking the destruction of souls. He lays down His life in love for the flock.

This Good Shepherd weekend, we also pray for vocations as the universal Church. May the Good Shepherd call many more to lay down their lives following the perfect model of Jesus Christ. May many more hear the voice of the Shepherd, calling them to this, especially as priests and religious!

Pontiff's Message for Vocation Prayer Day

As part of World Day of Prayer for Vocations, His Holiness has released a letter for the day. He has given the letter the name of Faith in the Divine Initiative – the Human Response. In this letter, he urges us to pray for vocations, and that those responding take part in the plan of love and salvation God has for everyone. He encourages prayers and efforts to strengthen families. In contemplating the Eucharist, he reiterates that we can see how our faith in what God has done can lead us to respond. Priests perpetuate this salvific mystery, and every Mass nourishes the faithful and priest to make a response in faith.

Fourth Sunday of Lent

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Perhaps the best known passage in Scripture (flashed at sports games by some rainbow haired men), this passage from today's Gospel tells us how much God loves us. The account of Nicodemus' encounter of Christ is the beginning of Jesus's proclamation of His purpose and ultimate message - salvation and God's love. Nicodemus came hidden in the darkness, but Jesus Christ, the light of the world, reveals the truth to him. God loves the world so much that He sent His Son, the second Person of the Trinity, to save it. But this salvation is not automatic - some may prefer the darkness of sins. Those who believe are not condemned, but their works have to show their belief, living the truth in the light, and our works done in God. There is a tender balance here - between the love of God and our human wills, and between presumption of salvation and forgiveness of sins. Just because God loves us does not mean we can sin with no consequences assuming God will simply save us.

God's love saves us, but we must respond to that love by living our vocations - that call of love in our lives.

Parents' Duty Website

The Catholic Culture site often provides great reviews of various Catholic (or so-called Catholic) websites. They recently reviewed a site called Parents' Duty. I perused the site briefly, and it looks like an excellent resource for parents to help them raise their children aware of a Vocation. Check it out at www.parentsduty.com

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings speak of The Prophet who is to come. The people of Israel did not want to hear the Lord speak to them any longer - they were fearful. They were (at least at the time) listening. In the Gospel, the demoniac cries out begging that the Lord is coming to destroy him. When we hear Christ, we hear God! No longer ought we cower, for He speaks to us in love. May we be willing to hear and respond.

The second reading contains St. Paul's teaching on Christians who are serious in our desire to serve the Lord to remain unmarried - aka celibate. Due to the anxiety and divided desires that having a spouse causes, it seems best to remain celibate. With those considering a vocation to the priesthood or religious life, we need to seek to serve the Lord with our whole hearts.

Seminarian Information

We have just posted our current information on our 9 Seminarians.

Note that one of our previous seminarians has discerned that the Lord is not calling him to the priesthood. While saddened to see him leave formation, I know that he pleases the Lord and will use the formation he has received for the good of society and the Church. Pray for him, our seminarians, and all others that the Lord is calling to the priesthood or religious life.

Baptism of the Lord

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is the formal close of the Christmas season, and perhaps no better feast to close it. These last weeks, we have taken the time to contemplate the face of Christ, born for our redemption. In the Baptism of the Lord, Jesus, now an adult, formally begins His ministry. As He begins to proclaim the Kingdom of God, He brings the saving message of forgiveness to all. As we celebrate this feast, we move from a wonder and awe of great feasts to the 'ordinary' time in our lives where we live that wonder and awe. We live out what we have celebrated. Further, just as Jesus begins to proclaim the kingdom, we recommit ourselves to proclaiming it.

This feast also begins National Vocations Awareness Week. We all have a vocation, a mission, that has been given by Christ to spread the Gospel message. National Vocation Awareness Week serves as a good reminder that all Christians are called to live out their baptismal commitment on a daily basis.

When John objects to Jesus' baptism (according to Matthew's account), Jesus responds that it must be done to "fulfill all righteousness." His willingness to be baptized begins the fulfillment of God the Father's plan for salvation. Jesus embraces the waters of the Jordan as God-made-man, undoing the sin in the Garden of Eden as Eve and Adam took the forbidden fruit in an effort to become like gods. Jesus, as the sinless Son of God born of Mary, had no sin and no need of repentance. He identifies himself with those who recognize their sins, faults, and failings; those who know that no human being on his or her own can ever find redemption. In his baptism Jesus identifies himself with the human race as more than merely than one who shares the human nature, but as one who is bringing true change. He accepts the baptism of John the Baptist and transforms it. In doing so, he inaugurates a new baptism, though not fully enacted until his death and resurrection.

Baptism begins a real transformation in us as we are given grace to respond to God's will. While we are given the grace to contend with the effects of original sin (death, sickness, concupiscence or disordered desire and darkened intellect), we are also given the ability to be transformed and to be in relationship with our creator. Baptism creates in us the ability to respond to the voice of God in a new way. We are given the opportunity not just to go back to the Garden, but to Heaven, into the very presence of the Holy Trinity.

Our life in God begins with baptism. Thus is the first sacrament of vocation. We all have a vocation, a particular role to play in God's plan of salvation. Some are called to sacraments of service, marriage and holy orders. Some are called to profess the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience and live as a priest, brother, sister, monk, or nun. But all are called!

This National Vocation Awareness Week we should call to mind the great gift of our baptism and pray that we would be able to cooperate with the grace that God gives us through it. For those who are parents with children still at home, take the time to talk to them about why you had them baptized, and also take time to pray with them and for them that they would be able to discern God's will for theirlives.

Let us pray for vocations, from our homes, our parishes, our Area Faith community, our Diocese. It is not out of a feeling of despair but of great hope: we need more priests, deacons, and religious! Yes, we need priests to feed and nourish us with the Sacraments. We need the witness of deacons, their ministry of presence in many areas. We need the witness of holiness and the various charisms in service to the Church. May all people responding to God's grace, to live God's call. May we encourage priestly, diaconal, and religious vocations, as well as support those already in the discernment process. To every young man: Consider the priesthood! To every young woman and man: Consider the religious life. We need you! The Church needs you. Christ loves you, and all of us, young and old, are called to service - may He be calling us to priesthood, deaconate, or religious life.

Marians of the Immaculate Conception

Yesterday, I had a funeral of a man whose nephew is a novice in the Marians of the Immaculate Conception. I am very much impressed with their charism and website, and especially wish to highlight their vocations pages. There is a particularly powerful quote:

Our Congregation's Renovator, Blessed George Matulaitis-Matulewicz, believed that a person could discern God's will by reflecting on the following:

"God draws us to Himself and guides
us to this or that way of life through
our holy desires, affections,
aspirations, propensities,
longings and so on ..."

Feast of the Holy Family

In the Readings for the Feast of the Holy Family, we hear again of God's Promises. God made a promise to Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, and God (eventually) kept that promise, though time had passed and Abraham attempted to take matters into his own hands.
In our Gospel, we hear of Simeon and Anna. Simeon had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would live to see the Messiah. While we can safely assume that he did not live another 30-plus years to see that fullness of salvation, he had seen the messiah, Jesus Christ. It was only a matter of time before the fulfillment. Anna, too, waited in fasting and prayer for the Messiah, and seeing Him, proclaimed Him to all who were also waiting. Can you imagine her joy? Can you imagine her words? "It is just a matter of time... He's here!"
God is the God of promises. He promised a savior, and He has sent Him.
Every year, the Church gives us the feast of the Holy Family to contemplate the face of Christ born to the Virgin Mary. The Holy Family is the school, as Pope John Paul II and Pope Paul VI proclaimed. May our families receive degrees from this school, and all priests and religious graduates of the School of Nazareth.

Messaggio Natale 2008

The Christmas message from the Congregation of the Clergy has been released. It is reproduced here for your reading and spiritual health:

To all the dear Priests, Deacons and Catechists of the Entire World


I extend my joyous and fraternal wishes for a holy and festive Christmas, and that the year 2009 be enlightened, grace filled a full of accomplishments in the service of Jesus Christ and of our brothers and sisters, especially those who are poor or suffering. Christmas does not confine us to a commemoration of an extraordinary event in the past, recalled with gratitude and love, but it is also an event which is actualised in the present day, in our midst.
Jesus Christ comes because he loves us and wants to save us from evil: from every evil, and even from death. He comes to welcome us, to make us experience his love, to transform us into his disciples, true sons of the heavenly Father, to invite us to proclaim in the entire world that God is Love, and that he loves us unconditionally, without measure. Jesus comes! He becomes our companion on the journey of life. Let us be gathered to him. Let us allow him to overcome us and to make his dwelling within us. He will eat with us in an unimaginable communion, in which he will have us experience the mysterious and efficacious depth of his friendship and his salvation. Enlightened and transformed by this encounter with Him we will be able to proclaim him to every man and woman of our time. Behold, such is Christmas!


Cláudio Cardinal Hummes
Archbishop Emeritus of São Paulo
Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy

Cardinal Arinze Presents "Letter to Young Priest"

A new book by Cardinal Arinze, "Letter to Young Priest", was announced by ZENIT news yesterday. The article seems to hit the highlights of the book. He addresses the priestly promises of celibacy, poverty, and obedience. It looks like an excellent book for a priest or seminarian in need of a little encouragement.

Resources

To those looking for a list of our current seminarians, see the list of resources to the right hand column of this page (about quarter of the way down), or click here, remember you can download directly to your computer by Right Clicking or pressing option and clicking your mouse at the same time. Note that all of our resources are pdf's, and will require either Adobe reader or some other pdf reader.

For our current prayer calendar of priests, Seminarians, and Pastoral Administrators, click here.

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, but to God what is God's? With these words, Jesus evades the trap that the Herodians and Pharisees try to lay for him. In doing so, Jesus calls them on their hypocrisy. They are opposite sides of the political spectrum, the first sign of trap, and the unsolicited compliments are another sign. They ask about the legality (not the politics but the morality) of paying taxes. The Roman empire required this tax of all subjects. The Pharisees saw that the Roman taxes were not legally obligated, though they most likely paid them, and the Herodians of course supported the taxes. If Jesus said no, the Herodians could have reported Him as a revolutionary. If Jesus said yes, He could have been accused of supporting the Roman regime inciting the people who hated the Roman rule. There is another level, here, too. Jesus invites them to show the coin that is used. The fact that they were able to produce the coin is a sign that they were asking a mute question. "Whose image is that..." The image of Tiberius Caesar was against Jewish sensibilities - it was a graven image of a human being, and as such would have been unlawful. Jesus continues "... and whose inscription?" The inscription would have read translated of course, "Tiberius Caesar, Son of Divine Augustus, Son of Augustus", and the back would have read "Pontificus maximus" - The High Priest. This would have been utter heresy - Tiberius' father Augustus proclaimed himself a god, and Tiberius called himself the son of a god, whose high priest he was. The onlookers answer that it is Caesar, and Jesus gives them the answer. In doing so, he is telling them to give to Caesar only what is duly his - the tax. But the glory, praise, honor, and worship belongs to God alone. Whose image, after all, is Tiberius himself in - it is the Image of God. He is not divine or the son of God. But Jesus Christ is, and He deserves the praise and honor due to such an truly August One (the quality, not the month).

Following our vocations, we give to God what is His. When we find the true balance in our vocation we find the balance of living our life for God, while living in the world (in, not of). We also take a more proper role in civic activities as God has called us as individuals.

Pope's response to the question of multiple-parish Pastors

In another Question/Answer session with His Holiness Pope Benedict on August 6, he was asked a particular question that is part of our Diocesan reality - priests with multiple parishes. The full session of the meeting in Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone can be found at this link. Here is the Question and response:

Fr Franz Pixner, dean at Kastelruth: Holy Father, I am Franz Pixner and I am the pastor of two large parishes. I myself, together with many of my confreres and lay persons, are concerned about the increasing burden of pastoral care caused by, for example, the pastoral units that are being created: the intense pressure of work, the lack of recognition, difficulties concerning the Magisterium, loneliness, the dwindling number of priests but also of communities of the faithful. Many people wonder what God is asking of us in this situation and how the Holy Spirit wishes to encourage us. In this context arise questions concerning, for example, the celibacy of priests, the ordination of viri probati to the priesthood, the involvement of charisms, particularly those of women, in pastoral care, making men and women collaborators trained in theology responsible for conferring Baptism and preaching homilies. The question is also asked how we priests, confronted by the new challenges, can help one another in a brotherly community, at the various levels of the diocese, diaconate and pastoral and parish unit. We ask you, Holy Father, to give us some good advice for all these questions. Thank you!

Pope Benedict XVI:

Dear dean, you have opened a whole series of questions that occupy and concern pastors and all of us in this age, and you certainly know that I cannot answer all of them here. I imagine that you will have repeated opportunities to consider them with your Bishop and we in turn we will speak of them at the Synod of Bishops. All of us, I believe stand in need of this dialogue with one another, of the dialogue of faith and responsibility, in order to find the straight narrow path in this era, full of difficult perspectives on faith and challenges for priests. No one has an instant recipe, we are all searching together.

With this reservation, I find myself together with all of you in the midst of this process of toil and interior struggle, I shall try to say a few words, precisely as part of a broader dialogue.

In my answer I would like to examine two fundamental aspects: on the one hand, the irreplaceableness of the priest, the meaning and the manner of the priestly ministry today; and on the other - and this is more obvious than it used to be - the multiplicity of charisms and the fact that all together they are Church, they build the Church and for this reason we must strive to reawaken charisms. We must foster this lively whole which in turn then also supports the priest. He supports others, others support him and only in this complex and variegated whole can the Church develop today and toward the future.

On the one hand, there will always be a need for the priest who is totally dedicated to the Lord and therefore totally dedicated to humanity. In the Old Testament there is the call to "sanctification" which more or less corresponds to what we mean today by "consecration", or even "priestly Ordination": something is delivered over to God and is therefore removed from the common sphere, it is given to him. Yet this means that it is now available for all. Since it has been taken and given to God, for this very reason it is now not isolated by being raised from the "for", to the "for all". I think that this can also be said of the Church's priesthood. It means on the one hand that we are consigned to the Lord, separated from ordinary life, but on the other, we are consigned to him because in this way we can belong to him totally and totally belong to others. I believe we must continuously seek to show this to young people - to those who are idealists, who want to do something for the whole - show them that precisely this "extraction from the common" means "consignment to the whole" and that this is an important way, the most important way, to serve our brethren. Part of this, moreover, is truly making oneself available to the Lord in the fullness of one's being and consequently, finding oneself totally available to men and women. I think celibacy is a fundamental expression of this totality and already, for this reason, an important reference in this world because it only has meaning if we truly believe in eternal life and if we believe that God involves us and that we can be for him.

Therefore, the priesthood is indispensable because in the Eucharist itself, originating in God, the Church is built; in the Sacrament of Penance purification is conferred; in the Sacrament, the priesthood is, precisely, an involvement in the "for" of Jesus Christ. However, I know well how difficult it is today - when a priest finds himself directing not only one easily managed parish but several parishes and pastoral units; when he must be available to give this or that advice, and so forth - how difficult it is to live such a life. I believe that in this situation it is important to have the courage to limit oneself and to be clear about deciding on priorities. A fundamental priority of priestly life is to be with the Lord and thus to have time for prayer. St Charles Borromeo always used to say: "You will not be able to care for the souls of others if you let your own perish. In the end you will no longer do anything even for others. You must always have time for being with God". I would therefore like to emphasize: whatever the demands that arise, it is a real priority to find every day, I would say, an hour to be in silence for the Lord and with the Lord, as the Church suggests we do with the breviary, with daily prayers, so as to continually enrich ourselves inwardly, to return - as I said in answering the first question - to within the reach of the Holy Spirit's breath. And to order priorities on this basis: I must learn to see what is truly essential, where my presence as a priest is indispensable and where I cannot delegate anyone else. And at the same time, I must humbly accept when there are many things I should do and where my presence is requested that I cannot manage because I know my limits. I think people understand this humility.

And I now must link the other aspect to this: knowing how to delegate, to get people to collaborate. I have the impression that people understand and also appreciate it when a priest is with God, when he is concerned with his office of being the person who prays for others: "we", they say, "cannot pray so much, you must do it for us: basically, it is your job, as it were, to be the one who prays for us". They want a priest who honestly endeavours to live with the Lord and then is available to men and women - the suffering, the dying, the sick, children, young people (I would say that they are the priorities) - but also who can distinguish between things that others do better than him, thereby making room for those gifts. I am thinking of Movements and of many other forms of collaboration in the parish. May all these things also be reflected upon in the diocese itself, new forms of collaboration should be created and interchanges encouraged. You rightly said that in this it is important to look beyond the parish to the diocesan community, indeed, to the community of the universal Church which in her turn must direct her gaze to see what is happening in the parish and what the consequences are for the individual priest.

You then touched on another point, very important in my eyes: priests, even if they live far apart are a true community of brothers who should support and help one another. In order not to drift into isolation, into loneliness with its sorrows, it is important for us to meet one another regularly. It will be the task of the diocese to establish how best to organize meetings for priests - today we have cars which make travelling easier - so that we can experience being together ever anew, learn from one another, mutually correct and help one another, cheer one another and comfort one another, so that in this communion of the presbyterate, together with the Bishop we can carry out our service to the local Church. Precisely: no priest is a priest on his own; we are a presbyterate and it is only in this communion with the Bishop that each one can carry out his service. Now, this beautiful communion recognized by all at the theological level, must also be expressed in practice in the ways identified by the local Church, and it must be extended because no Bishop is a Bishop on his own but only a Bishop in the College, in the great communion of Bishops. This is the communion we should always strive for. And I think that it is a particularly beautiful aspect of Catholicism: through the Primacy, which is not an absolute monarchy but a service of communion, that we may have the certainty of this unity. Thus in a large community with many voices, all together we make the great music of faith ring out in this world.

Let us pray the Lord to comfort us when we think we cannot manage any longer: let us support one another and then the Lord will help us to find the right paths together.

Twenty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Last week's Gospel include Peter's proclamation that Jesus is the Son of the Most high, the Messiah. This week, our Gospel includes Jesus telling them what He as the messiah most do to bring salvation. Peter holds strong to his perception, and finds a reprimand. No, the Messiah most suffer, die, and rise. Peter is think by worldly standards, not by God's. In the second reading this weekend, we hear Paul telling the Romans that they (and we) must be about the transformation of our minds and the sacrifice of our bodies, to discern the will of God.

Discernment, therefore, requires the offering of our bodies and allowing the transformation of our minds. We allow God to be God, and cooperate with His action in our lives.

New Resources

We are adding to our resources made available to download. Please See our rooster of seminarians, as well as the list of young women discerning religious life. Also available is the newest prayer folder to print off. This lists a priest or pastoral administrator as well as a seminarian for every day for the next 6 months. Note that it should be printed off on 8.5 x 14 Paper and folded in half. It can be folded again and fits well into your Liturgy of the Hours book (hint, hint).

Prayers for Butch Hendrickson

We are asking for your prayers for one of seminarians, Butch Hendrickson. He had an accident water tubing last week and broke his nose. In the surgery to correct it, they discovered that he has also fractured his skull onto his sinus cavity. He will need further surgery, and additional time to heal and recover.

Yet Another Seminarian

We are pleased to publicly announce that we have accepted another young man as candidates for the seminary. Samuel Wagner will be in pre-Theology at St. Paul Seminary. He is from Sleepy Eye. This brings our total seminarians to 10! May God bless us with more!

Summer 2008 Assignments

We are pleased to announce the assignments of our Seminarians. Matt Wiering will be returning Stateside from the North American College for some family time and for 6 weeks of parish assignment in the Wabasso/Wanda/Seaforth/Lucan Area Faith community of the Light of the World (where I am pastor). Aaron Johanneck will be staying in Europe to help with a pilgrimade and for language studies. Both Matt and Aaron wiill be returning to North American College in Rome for Theo. III and Theo. II, respectively. Zach Peterson: He is in a Clinical Pastoral Experience (CPE) at St. Mary's Hosptial in Duluth. Jacob Niemand is in a parish assignment in the Divine Mercy Area Faith Community in Sleepy Eye/Leavenworth/Comfrey. Both will be returning to St. Meinrad's, Zach in Theo. III and Jacob in Theo. II. Anthony Mielke: He is living in the Cities and working at St. Paul Seminary. He will return to the University of St. Thomas and St. John Vianney College Seminary for his Junior year. Paul Blaschko is working at the 10-week Summer Program offered through the Institute of Priestly Formation at Creighton University in Omaha NE. Butch Hendrickson is at home working in his carpentry shop.
Please keep them in prayers.

More Seminarians

We are pleased to publicly announce that we have accepted two more fine young men as candidates for the seminary, both for St. John Vianney Seminary on the campus of the University of St. Thomas. Garrett Ahlers is from Marshall, MN. Andrew Illikman is from New Ulm, MN. Both will be freshmen.

We are also in process with another applicant for another program.

Please keep these men in your prayers.

Those that are counting will realize that pending the acceptance of this third candidate, we will have ten in formation, with five starting with us since July last year. Yes, that means that we will double our numbers... now only if you can get 10 candidates next year...