A Letter from Fr. Paul - August 26, 2018

I am pleased to report that we have hired a principal for Wauwatosa Catholic. Her name is Lori Suarez, one of the assistant principals for the Waukesha Catholic School System. Her career has been in Catholic elementary education, both as a teacher and in administration, including being a principal. She received a positive recommendation from the search committee, a committee of teachers and staff, and the three priests of our parishes.
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Lori is excited to join our family, and I think she will be a good fit. More information will be shared with you soon.

Tuesday night the members of parish councils/ commissions/ committees will meet for a reflection on our common goal for this year: helping ourselves and others build a stronger personal relationship with God, so that we can more effectively bring His love to others. Please keep this reflection evening in your prayers.

In our first reading this weekend, the Israelites have settled in the Promised Land. Before he dies, Joshua, who had taken over for Moses, wants a definitive commitment from them to be faithful to the Covenant which had been made with God. He puts it to them bluntly: decide today whom you will serve.

With the Gospel, we conclude our five weeks about the Eucharist from John. Jesus had fed the multitude. People had followed Him, looking for more “giveaways.” Jesus had explained that we should be looking for the “bread” that leads to eternal life, finishing by making it clear multiple times that the “bread of life” is truly His Flesh “for the life of the world.” This was hard to take and many walked away from Jesus. In our reading today he challenges His disciples, as Joshua had challenged the Israelites, asking them: “do you also want to leave?”

That question is asked of each of us. I would phase it: will you live as Christ lived? Or do you want to leave? We made a basic commitment at baptism and reaffirmed it at confirmation, but the situations of life challenge us over and over each day to say “yes,” and to live and react as Christ would.

​Familiarity with the Gospels helps us know Jesus and how he would act. The Eucharist is the food from heaven that actually helps us live as we know we should. I invite us to receive as often as we can, and every time we say “AMEN” to the Body and the Blood, let us recommit ourselves, saying "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” And let us support each other in prayer.

-- Paul James Portland, SDS