Sunday, November 11, 2012

Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

The widow, with so little means, gives freely of her want. She gives as an act of love of God, and does not do so for show our out of pride. Whatever we give, whether our time, talent, or treasure, we should give out of love of God ourselves. We should not look for accolades or any other reason.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Spiritual Discernment Retreat

Fr. Todd Petersen and Margaret McHugh are offering a retreat on Spiritual Discernment for lay people, looking at St. Ignatius of Loyola's great contribution to the Church - the Rules of Discernment. It will be half at the Retreat center of Schoenstatt on the Lake, Sleepy Eye, November 23 through November 25th, with daily Masses, meals, and overnight accommodations. To reserve your place, contact Margaret (507 359-2966 or mmchugh@dnu.org) or Fr. Todd (frtodd@me.com) by Tuesday, November 20.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

The love of God is always first, and requires all of us, but once we love God above all else, we inevitably learn to love our neighbor with a pure and holy love, a love that seeks their true good, always tempered by morality. Love of neighbor is meaningless without love of God, just as love of God with love of neighbor is vain. Let us love God first and foremost, and with that love, serve our fellowman.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Bartimaeus, a man born blind, has the courage to call out to Jesus for help, calling him the son of David. Despite his blindness, he sees more clearly than the rest. Jesus calls him, and asks him what he wants. Bartimaeus answers immediately - I want to see. May we be as ready to ask Jesus we want to see our vocations as this man.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

The readings this weekend help us to reflect on the reality of marriage. Marriage is a natural institution created by God in the very beginning. He created humanity as male and female, and the complementarity of the sexes is for the continuation of the human race. The institution of marriage is given to assure the raising of children in an ideal environment. In the Gospel, Jesus is questioned about the nature of divorce, and He responds that the Law allows divorce because of the hardness of heart - because of sin. But Jesus reminds them that this is not the way it was meant to be. Throughout the Gospel, Jesus raises the institution of marriage to a sacrament. Marriage is to have five traits, and as a sacrament, those traits are strengthened by grace: Free, total, Fruitful, faithful, and permanent. The fact that we have to add that Marriage is between one man, one woman, is proof that we have fallen further away from God and His will. May we have the strength and courage to proclaim the beauty of marriage as a reflection of original justice and God's plan for the propagation and education of children.

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

St. John asks about what to do about those that do not follow Christ and the Apostles ("us"). Jesus instructs that they are not to prevent the man, as he what he is doing is proof of his support of Jesus, at least implicitly. We can act with jealousy, too, and when we respond to Christ, we must see that we are to work together. That is the beauty of our Church and her vocations: We are not all ordained, or religious, or married, yet we are all to work together.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

To enter the Kingdom of God, we must become like children. As children, we would need to admit our dependance on God, our own limitations, and our need. We come to Christ on His terms, not on our own.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus Christ is the savior of the world, but in order to save us, He had to die on the cross. A savior without the cross leads to a world without redemption! Sacrifice is a necessary element of Christ's saving work, and so it must be for us as we accept the salvation He has won. We sacrifice, and work with humility and faith, to know more fully who Jesus Christ truly is.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Be Strong! Fear Not! Be Opened! The Lord opens the ears of the deaf, the eyes of the blind, and strengthens the legs of the cripples. If He can do that, can He not cast away every shadow of fear, wipe away every stain of sin, calm every sting of death? We come to worship Him, because He does all things well. But do we allow Him to do it in our lives?

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Be doers of the word, not just hearers. Jesus takes the scribes and Pharisees to task for setting aside the law for traditions, failing to worship the Lord, but holding fast to temporal things. We, too, might find it easier to hold to temporal things, instead of listening to the Lord who speaks to us in the silence of our hearts. We must be willing to listen and to obey Him, allowing Him to purify us and our hearts.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

"Are you, too, going to leave?" There is a sadness in the question of Jesus.
Peter responds, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life?” You speak the truth to us, and we long to hear it.
Jesus has just completed the Bread of Life discourse, in which He declares that to have eternal life, they must eat His flesh, and drink His blood, and that it is true food and drink.
The Jews are repulsed, and perhaps rightfully so. After all, there is a law against eating blood, much less human blood and flesh… But Jesus does not back down, in fact, each time they balk at His teaching, He gets stronger.
So they just walk away. And Jesus allows them. He does not back down, explain it away, or compromise.
He gives us the same choice.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the Eucharist, Jesus gives us his very body and blood, which we must eat to have eternal life. The Jews quarreled about what this meant, but Jesus is clear - We must eat His Flesh and Drink His Blood to have eternal life. We receive His Body and Blood in the Eucharist, through the ministry of the priest, which enable us to live in Christ.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life that has come from the Father, and He gives life to the world. But the crowds take offense at Him. They think that they know Him, because they know His human history. They cannot see that Jesus is God, and that He is providing for their needs.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Give us this bread always! The crowds cry to Jesus, but it seems that they are only interested in their own stomachs than in the food that Jesus is going to provide. He tells them that He is the "Bread of Life". He is the food that meets more than a biological need - it meets the need for a higher way of living. Jesus is the bread that gives it. In the next weeks, we will continue to hear this message - and Jesus gets stronger. For now, we must ask ourselves, "Are we willing to accept as a gift what the Lord has provided for us, or are we going to grumble, ignoring aha the Lord is truly doing in our lives to lead us to true and lasting freedom?"