A Letter from Fr. Paul - January 14, 2018

Ministry Opportunity of the week: invite family members or friends to use the Post Game Review. 

As of January 6, our pledges are 79% of our goal of $425,000. If you have not yet pledged, please do so, as we are entering the budgeting process and the closer we can estimate our income, the better it is. Thank you.

Next weekend I will be at Siena Center in Racine with the Salvatorian candidates. (Candidates are those checking out religious life, and I am the Candidate Director for the Salvatorians. Fr. Peter Schuessler, SDS, will celebrate with you. Once a month, now through April, we meet with directors and candidates of other religious communities of women and men. Please keep us in your prayers.

Liturgically, the Christmas season ended last Monday with the celebration of the Baptism of Jesus and we are now in a short stretch of Ordinary Time until Lent begins on February 14. The emphasis in this time is on the continuing “epiphanies” or revelations about this man Jesus. In the celebration of the Epiphany, we learned that He came for all people, not just the Jews. In the voice that was heard as His baptism by John in the Jordan, we learned that He is the Son of God.

In our first reading today, God calls to Samuel three times before he recognizes that it is the Lord calling to him, not Eli, the master he was serving. In the Gospel, the epiphanies continue as John the Baptist introduces Jesus to Andrew and his companion, and then Andrew brings Simon Peter to Him. When John the Baptist introduces Jesus to Andrew and his companion, they don’t know what is going on. Jesus invites them, “Come, and you will see.” And it is through their time together with Him that already, the next day, Andrew can say to Simon Peter, “We have found the Messiah.”

So with both Samuel and Andrew, it is a process of coming to recognize the Lord. That is why it is so important for us to get in the habit of spending time each day with the Lord: our eyes are opened and we can see in a different way! Last week we handed out the Post Game Review, an evening examination that helps us grow in our relationship with the Lord. If you did not get a copy, please pick one up in the back of church or the parish office and use it for a while. Hopefully, you will get in the habit of using this wonderful method of making sure we are growing in our spiritual life, not just coasting on cruise control. The Post Game Review can also be found on our web page. And let us support each other in prayer.

-- Paul James Portland, SDS