St. Francis and the Blessing of Animals Saturday, September 30th@ 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 of our Franciscan roots…

from your Pastor’s Desk… Love and Forgiveness In the Gospel reading, Peter wants to know how many times he has to forgive someone who sins against him. What is the number of times, Peter wants to know, that he has to forgive that sinner? But this question is confused. There is no such number as the one Peter is looking for. There…

from your Pastor’s Desk… If somebody does you wrong – do you wrong them right back, or even greater? Well, maybe you do – but the Gospel today shows us how, in great detail, we are to do otherwise, especially those within our own community, be it faith or family. This includes slander, public shame, taking what is rightfully yours, and all…

from your Pastor’s Desk… “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” To understand today’s Gospel we must look back to a time in our lives when, in retrospect, we see that something, or someone we wanted, and didn’t get – turned out to be the very best in the long run. Garth Brooks…

…from your Pastor’s Desk “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” “He’s a man, he’s just a man,” sang Mary Magdalene in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. It is one answer to the question, Who is Jesus Christ? “We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first, rock ’n’ roll or Christianity,” said John Lennon…

Food for Dogs? Sunday’s Gospel can give a headache both to preachers and to people in the pews. Jesus refuses to hear a woman because she is, in his metaphor, one of the “dogs.” OUCH. You know the story. The Canaanite woman cries out for help and Jesus at first will not even talk to her. The disciples demand that he send…

…from your Pastor’s Desk Where do you find God? Only in church? Only while praying? Only in times of need or distress? Only in those we expect to be holy or pious people? Too often we look to great people and to the events in our lives to find God, as if our encounters with God have to meet certain standards and…

…from your Pastor’s Desk Transfiguration This week we have the wonderful gospel of the Transfiguration of Jesus. For one brief moment, his disciples are allowed to see what lies ahead for all who follow his way. We begin our own ‘transfiguration’ while still on earth, not so much achieving a ‘glorified body’, but transforming our heart, our spirit, our soul into the…

…from your Pastor’s Desk Jesus said to his disciples:“The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,which a person finds and hides again,and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchantsearching for fine pearls.When he finds a pearl of great price,he goes and sells all…

…from your Pastor’s Desk We are a storytelling people and we come from a storytelling faith, and we get it from the Man Himself. We know that Jesus was the Master storyteller, and He often used a form called a “parable,” in which a truth is compared to something very familiar. Last Sunday we had the sower and the seeds. Today, Jesus…