 Calendar: Feb 19: classes K-9 & sophomores Feb 26: ASH WEDNESDAY Classes K-11 There is CCD even though there is no public school March 4: Classes K-9 & juniors March 8: 1st Communion students’ Commitment Mass; SA; 9:30a 6th graders help with ministries March 11: classes K-11 Mom, God's so neat, and heaven's supposed to be so great. Could me and Gloria go there Saturday for a sleep-over? Question:
Are near-death experiences real? Answer: There is a lot of curiosity and fascination with the idea of an afterlife and communicating with those who have died. In movies, television shows, and numerous books, people make claims about their ability to communicate with the dead or having had a near-death experience. There is no objective way to verify any of this. While details about people and events can be surprisingly accurate, it is just circumstantial evidence that might be explained in other ways. On the other hand, when people have unusual experiences, sometimes called near-death or out-of-body, it is real to them. They react with the emotions and thoughts that one would expect. At times, they report details they could not have known any other way, such as bits of conversation, or meeting people they had never known in this life. So certainly, to the person, they experience something. We believe in a life after death, we believe in the communion of saints. These things are not a contradiction to faith, but we should not base our faith on them, nor change our beliefs. They are unexplained and will likely remain so.
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Calendar: Feb 5: classes K-9 & Sophomores 1st Communion Parent Mtg; 6pm; IC 12: classes K-9 & juniors 19: classes K-9 & sophomores 26: ASH WEDNESDAY Classes K-11 There is CCD even though there is no public school Father of mercy and God of all consolation, graciously look upon me and impart to me the blessing which flows from this holy Sacrament. Overshadow me with Your loving kindness and let this divine Mystery bear fruit in me. ~St. Blaise  St. Blaise was the bishop and a doctor. In 316, the governor of Cappadocia arrested then-bishop Blaise for being a Christian. On their way to the jail, a woman set her only son, who was chocking to death on a fish bone, at his feet. Blaise cured the child, and though Agricola was amazed, he could not get Blaise to renounce his faith. Therefore, Agricola beat Blaise with a stick and tore at his flesh with iron combs before beheading him. In another tale, Blaise was being led to the prison in Sebastea, and on the way came across a poor old woman whose pig had been stolen by a wolf. Blaise commanded the wolf return the pig, which it did -alive and uninjured - to the amazement of all. When he reached Sebastea, the woman came to him and brought two fine wax candles in an attempt to dispel the gloom of his darkened cell.
Calendar:
Jan 22: classes K-9 & sophomores 29: classes K-9 & juniors 31: video after Mass -The Day My Life Changed Forever (16:44 min) Feb 5: classes K-9 & Sophomores 1st Communion Parent Mtg; 6pm; IC 12: classes K-9 & juniors Love the sinner and hate the sin. St. Augustine Windshield Wiper Sermon One rainy afternoon, a mother was driving along one of the main streets of town, taking those extra precautions necessary when the roads are wet and slick. Suddenly, her son Matthew spoke up from his relaxed position in the front seat. “Mom, I’m thinking of something.” This announcement usually meant he had been pondering some fact for a while and was now ready to expound all that his seven-year-old mind had discovered. She was eager to hear. “What are you thinking?” she asked. “The rain is like sin,” Matthew began. “And the windshield wipers are like God, wiping our sins away.” After the chill bumps raced up her arms, the mother was able to respond, “That's really good, Matthew.” Then my curiosity broke in. How far would this little boy take this revelation? So she asked, “Do you notice how the rain keeps on coming? What does that tell you?” Matthew didn’t hesitate one moment with his answer. “We keep on sinning and God just keeps on forgiving us.” Calendar:
Jan15: classes K-5/No evening classes 22: classes K-9 & sophomores 29: classes K-9 & juniors 31: video after Mass -The Day My Life Changed Forever (16:44 min) Feb 5: classes K-9 & Sophomores 1st Communion Parent Mtg; 6pm; IC It’s not easy being green. ~K. T. Frog Lessons from Baptizing a Frog I used to lead an RCIA session on baptism, where I would bring in my Kermit the Frog toy from when I was a child and pretend to baptize it. It was a session I especially made sure I led when we had children preparing for Easter sacraments. You would think Kermit would have become super holy having been baptized so many times, year after year. But, if he had been real, he would not have been any holier due to multiple baptisms than he was after the first baptism. He couldn’t be re-baptized. (Not to mention, of course, he is a FROG.) When Jesus came to John for baptism, he transformed the baptism of repentance that John was practicing into a baptism of redemption. And although we are called to repentance over and over in our life, redemption comes to us only once. We cannot get baptized again in the Jordan or Sea of Galilee because of romantic notions or come into the Catholic Church by a second baptism so we can start all over. Our baptism, whether we can remember it or not, is a one-time deal. But it is the real deal. Whether you feel it or not, you are sealed for Christ, and the stain of original sin has been washed away. Too many of us take that moment for granted. Yes, you may have been baptized as an infant. But much time has passed since then, and you can work to understand the impact that it had on your life. We sometimes look for a good time to begin living a stewardship way of life. However, that time already passed, and God has been waiting. We are called to reflect on our baptism and respond to the call it has placed on our lives. We can respond and be disciples, or we can be like Kermit the Frog, always searching for a new start that never comes. — Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS Calendar: Jan 8: classes K-11 12: mass ministries by 5th & 8th 15: classes K-5/No evening classes 22: classes K-9 & sophomores 29: classes K-9 & juniors Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right. ~ Oprah Winfrey   Blessed 4th Sunday of Advent!
Each Advent season, we prepare to welcome Jesus into the inns and stables of our hearts. But Jesus’ coming wasn’t welcomed by everyone with choirs of angels. For St. Joseph, the first coming of Jesus was a bit more complicated. “When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.” For Joseph, opening his heart (and home) to Jesus meant, at best, appearing to all the world like a man who had impregnated his wife out of wedlock. At worst, he appeared a cuckold, raising the child of another man. God doesn’t always appear the way we expect. For some of us, the birth of Christ is a bit relationally complicated. Perhaps over the past few months, a loved one has died. This Christmas, you’re taking it upon yourself to keep up the traditions and hold the family together. Welcoming Jesus means welcoming grief. Perhaps it’s a difficult relative (or two or three) and it’s all you can do to bite your tongue and swallow your pride while they’re under your roof. Welcoming Jesus means welcoming strife, discord, and tension. Yet “do not be afraid,” the angel says. Do not be afraid. Why? Because we celebrate the birth of “Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” Before Jesus’ earthly ministry would begin, Jesus would lose his father, Joseph. God is with us in our grief. Wherever Jesus went, he stirred up controversy and faced down challenging personalities. God is with us in our stress. The trick is, like Joseph, to allow supernatural grace to prevail. Joseph was a good man, filled with natural virtue in that he didn’t want to “expose [Mary] to shame.” Yet he was prepared to “divorce her quietly” all the same. Our natural abilities only take us so far. Where is receiving Jesus complicated this Christmas season? Are you relying on your own strength to get you through, or are you truly ready to accept the grace of Emmanuel, God with us.  Blessed 3rd Sunday of Advent to you all!
Who did you come to see? A version of this question is posed by Jesus many times in the Gospels. He asks it of Andrew and John when they begin to follow him. He asks it of Mary Magdalene in the garden of the resurrection. He asks it in today’s Gospel. “What did you go out to the desert to see?” There is something innately human about “seeing.” Animals have eyes — some with much more powerful vision than our own — but that’s not the kind of seeing Jesus is talking about. We could phrase the question several other ways. “What are you looking for?” “What are you longing for?” “Whom do you seek?” It is in seeing for ourselves that our suspicions or hypotheses are confirmed, that our desires discover their fulfillment, and that we can rest for a moment in certainty. John the Baptist sought certainty of Jesus’ identity. “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Jesus sends word to him based on the testimony of sight, observations of the mighty deeds Jesus has begun to work. “Go and tell John what you hear and see.” God recognizes our desire to see. In the Incarnation, the Word is made flesh. The invisible is made visible. The supernatural is made manifest in an infant who can do little more than the most natural of movements as he feeds, cries, sleeps. We don’t need to wait for Christmas to see God. The work of God is all around us. Those blinded by sin “regain their sight.” People overcome backgrounds of poverty and violence to make world-changing contributions. Addicts grow and heal. Truth is spoken, and people listen. Let’s pray for the grace to see God’s movement in our lives this week. How have you seen the work of God? ©LPi |
