First Day of Summer

Just like the first day of Winter this first day of summer is an important day to reflect, one with the longest day the other with the longest night. Our reflections on the winter solstice shortly turn to our Christmas celebration and the return of the son (sun). The first day of summer shortly turns to our celebration of the Birth of John the Baptist (June 24th) and the one who prepares the way. In many countries around the summer solstice there are traditions of bonfires, called St. John's Fires, to mark the nights around the solstice. It is again a preparing for the son (sun). Six months apart, these two nativity feasts have much in common and a lot to reflect on. We look back in history to the Birth of the Savior at Christmas. With these St. John Fires we are challenged to look forward to Christ's coming again, and are asked if we are preparing the way, as John did? Are we working to build the Kingdom of God here on earth in preparation for the coming again of Christ? We pray the Lord's prayer over and over, asking that "thy Kingdom come," but do we do anything about it?
Good summer reading should probably include the three chapters of Matthew's Gospel that outline Christ's ministry, Chapters 5, 6, 7. This begins with the Beatitudes and moves on through the Sermon on the Mount. If we are to celebrate with John the Baptist and await the coming of Christ we should be preparing the way.

Hottest Homilies!

Best homily I ever heard on a hot day:
God loves you.
He wants you to share his love with others.
On your way home today buy a quart of ice cream.
Invite your neighbors over to share it.
God loves you!
(In a hot unairconditioned church it was always appreciated.)
Airconditioned or not, enjoy it.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

I woke up and the sun is shining! I did not know what to do. It’s a miracle. How many days of rain? Yet, the weather man is telling me it will rain later today. Surprise, surprise. I started planting my garden early this year during those nice days in April. With all the cold weather and rain not much has grown (weeds). During those fifty days of Easter celebrations did we grow? More questions.
I know this will be the start of the summer season, with Memorial Day weekend coming up. Where does everyone go during that time? There is a definite drop off in attendance during our Sunday masses. I encourage you to come to church and pray with us during the summer too. The schedule remains the same, we will be there waiting for you. And God, well God is with us always, even in the rain!
Sunday, June 1, 3-5 pm we will have our "picnic on the lawn" in front of the rectory--you are welcome to come and share the sun, the music and the fun.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, I want to share this with you from our trip to Peru:

Chimbote, Peru Visit

I am leaving Tuesday, April 22 to visit SanLuis Gonzaga Parish in Chimbote, Peru. My stomach has been in knots for days now and I keep trying to ready myself by studying more Spanish and looking through old books and notes to prepare me for the language and the culture shock. Just the language itself can exhaust me. But I look forward with great delight to be with some of my friends that I became very close to in a very short period of time.

There are three people from the parish going with me, Maureen, Judy and Patty. We are focusing on it being a missionary trip; to see what is going on and how we might better be able to respond to the needs of the parishes we visit, and how God is involved in this whole thing. We will visit Villa El Salvador near Lima for the first few days before traveling the six hours north to Chimbote. In Chimbote I do not know what to expect. There have been many changes since I was down there last. I will be staying in a different parish, Cristo Rey, that is very close to San Luis and La Maternidad de Maria. I will try to update you from Peru when I get the chance.

Keep us in your prayers.

Old Parable

An old parable concerns two friends: a mud pie and a dry leaf.
One day, they decide to pilgrimage to the holy city.
Knowing the wind and the rain
will be their enemies on the pilgrimage, they devise a plan for protection.
When the wind blows,
the mud pie will sit on the dry leaf, and when the rain pours, the leaf will sit on the mud pie to keep it dry. The plan worked fine, until one day the wind blew and the rain poured at the same time. The result?
The leaf blew away and
the mud pie dissolved into nothingness.
To be "poor in spirit" means to realize that we cannot go through life alone. There will be times when even our friend can't help us. We will need God.

The Faith of Thomas

It is one of the great ironies of Christianity that the apostle, Thomas, has become known as “doubting Thomas.” Thomas makes possibly the most perfect and complete acts of faith in the New Testament. “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28)

Thomas re­mains forever a symbol of the power of doubting. He is a model of how doubt can sometimes lead one to the truth much more effectively than blind faith can.

His most important single step is to be willing to confront the possible truth. If Thomas had not been willing to come face-to-face with Jesus, he would never have known that Christ had risen. When facing Jesus, if he had refused to engage in a confront­ing dialogue, he may never have known that this was really the same person with whom he had walked the streets of Jerusalem.

In the best sense, I encourage everyone to be a "doubting Thomas." But we must be willing to carry out our doubts as did Thomas. Doubt that seeks to confront has far more power to lead one to truth than dull acceptance which seeks not to be bothered.