……from your Pastor’s Desk What the Nine Lepers got Right This weekend we have the story of the ten lepers who asked Jesus for healing. Lots of times, when we hear this story, nine of the lepers are portrayed as ungrateful. A word or two on their behalf is in order. They all approached Jesus and called out to him “Jesus, Master,…

……from your Pastor’s Desk Learning from him “Lord, increase our faith,” said the apostles in today’s Gospel. Elsewhere they asked him, “Lord teach us how to pray” (Lk 11:1). In essence the two requests were the same. To pray is to focus our heart on God, to have faith in God’s concern for us. Every prayer renews our trust in God, and…

……from your Pastor’s Desk St. Francis and the Blessing of Animals Saturday, October 1st@ 11:00 am in our plaza As many of you already know, years ago, many Franciscan priests and brothers served in our Diocese. At one time they covered all of Lake County. And, as some of you also know, I, too, have a Franciscan background. There is still evidence…

……from your Pastor’s Desk “You cannot serve both God and mammon [money].” Jesus’ final words in today’s Gospel Reading—“You cannot serve both God and mammon”—are sometimes falsely interpreted. They’re taken to mean that you cannot have both God and money in your life. In other words, this false interpretation claims that there’s a competition in your life between God and money. They…

……from your Pastor’s Desk Today’s Gospel is the story of the Prodigal Son. We all know it. Maybe we’ve all been that child one time or another. I doubt any of us would want to be judged by one incident or one ‘part’ of our lives ruled by bad decisions. However, we must not gloss over or deny them either. We need…

……from your Pastor’s Desk Don’t be a Hater! The first words we hear from Jesus in this Sunday’s Gospel passage might startle us. They were spoken by the Lord to convey without the shadow of a doubt a very important message to his followers. The words of Jesus are these: “If any one comes to me without hating his father and mother,…

……from your Pastor’s Desk A Lesson in Humility The Litany of Humility is a prayer worth pondering. As it is a long litany the following are only excerpts: From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the desire of…

……from your Pastor’s Desk Heaven’s Gate Jesus tells two parables about someone asking a favor at a late hour. They teach us a lot. Maybe you remember the first one, which Jesus told two weeks ago. He said there was a man knocking on a friend’s door at midnight, wanting to borrow some bread. The friend yelled back; Do not bother me;…

……from your Pastor’s Desk The Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary Monday, August 15 “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb” – Luke 1:42 The feasts of Mary may be puzzling to the casual observer. And some are surprised at the brevity of the dogma of this specific feast in its entirety: “We pronounce, declare and…

……from your Pastor’s Desk “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much….” When Jesus says these words about us, two questions immediately arise. First, what has Jesus entrusted us with? Second, what therefore will be required of us? Each of us, naturally, has been given the gift of life. In our day and age, this is not a gift that…