Happy Thirty-Second Sunday!

A big Thanksgiving to Faith Yassick, our lovely choir, and members of the MSU Chamber Orchestra for last Sunday’s beautiful Requiem Mass for the Commemoration of All Souls. What a wonderful way to enter into the month of November, as the Lord invites us this month to humbly reflect and pray on the sobering reality of human mortality. Death holds a treasure trove of wisdom, ready to be revealed to us. But this wisdom remains hidden from those who needlessly fear death or who practically live in denial of it.

We have an ancient tradition in Christianity from the 6th-century Benedictine religious order, which took this practice and “baptized it” from an even earlier tradition that was popular in Roman philosophy during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Among his discourses, the philosopher Epictetus wrote of a military custom in which Roman generals, after returning home victorious in battle, would ride in victory formation with a humble servant at their side. Amidst the cheers of adulation, he would whisper to them, “Memento mori,” which means, “Remember that you must die.” It was intended to keep them humble in the knowledge that death comes to their enemies, but death comes for us all eventually. Therefore, we must not be enamored by the passing glories of the world or distracted by human praise, lest we live wastefully.

St. Benedict, with faith in the Resurrection of Christ, would baptize this wisdom and have his religious brothers greet each other with the same phrase, “Memento mori.” Seeing our lives in the light of eternity, and especially in the light of God’s plan for our lives, helps us do battle for the salvation of our souls and keeps us from sinful choices that waste the precious time we’ve been given.

At the 10:30 AM Mass last Sunday, I prayed a litany during my homily for the Holy Souls of Purgatory, which I came across a year ago. I had never seen it before, but the litany hit close to home and really helped me reflect more personally on this truth: memento mori. I, too, like all of us, must someday die and stand before the tribunal of Christ Jesus to make a full account of every thought, word, and deed I’ve ever chosen. The litany names 100 various types of people who have died and still stand before Christ in need of purification. It provides me with specific examples of virtues I can grow in and vices I still need to fight against and repent from. At the request of several people, I’ve printed this list and sent it to our editor, Teresa, for publishing in the bulletin this month. May it be helpful to you in your own prayer.

Let us not waste the precious time we’ve each been given. God our Father has loved us into being and sustains us in existence. Jesus, His Son, has died to make us powerful over death and able to enjoy eternal life with Him. The Holy Spirit has been poured into us to make our souls already a dwelling place for God. What will you and I do with these gifts? We only have so many days left. Let us encourage each other and continually recommit to the life of faith in which all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.

Fr. Brian

Entry Three: God’s Faithfulness

One thing that I have been amazed by and incredibly grateful to God for is the Lord’s faithfulness to me. It is a weird sentiment to express audibly about the Lord’s faithfulness, because how can God be faithful? Are not we the ones who are called to be faithful? Yes, we are called to be faithful—to God, to his commands, and to one another—by our acts of love, self-denial, and sacrifice. But God is infinitely and perfectly faithful to us. Why? Why is God so faithful to his children—to the children who constantly rebel, who believe we can handle everything on our own, who believe that our ways are better than the One who created us? Because that is simply who God is. God is love. God is faithful. God is good. God desires us to be with Him.

This past month, I have certainly experienced God’s faithfulness in my life, especially in prayer. Every morning when I wake up, I know the first thing that I must do is pray. It is in those quiet moments before the sun rises that I place myself before the Lord and simply recognize his presence. I know that there is absolutely nothing I can do on my own. I know that on my own, I will never be able to do anything good on this day unless God empowers me. Unless I am guided by the Holy Spirit, I can do nothing good. How do I know this? Because I know myself. I know how much I like to do things that give me pleasure; I know that, given the option of doing the lazy thing or the hard thing, I always want to do the lazy thing. It is the reality in which we live—it is the reality of the effects of original sin from which we all suffer. But when I place myself before God’s presence, regardless of whether I subjectively experience God’s peaceful presence, I know he is there.

As a priest, I know there is nothing I can do unless God is the one doing it through me. Every time I celebrate the sacraments is a perfect example. I, myself, cannot change bread and wine into Jesus’ Body and Blood. Only God is capable of doing that. When I say the words of consecration, God shows up and does the work; I am simply a vessel. This is an example of God’s faithfulness to his children.

God uses his children and creation to bestow his grace and love upon us. He uses the priest to give of himself to those who desire to receive it. God wants us to participate in his saving mission. Could God have saved the nation of Israel from the Amalekites in our first reading this Sunday with a snap of his finger or a thought in his mind? Of course—but God desired Moses to participate in his saving work. This participation from us serves as a sign to others of God’s faithfulness. God wants us to know his presence and how he works in the world.

Our prayer with the Lord develops our relationship with Him. We come to know who God is, and we reveal to him who we truly are—not pretending to be accomplished or that our lives are perfect, but coming before the Almighty as we are. This is how an authentic relationship develops. Because God is faithful, if we approach him honestly, without hiding anything from him (not that we can possibly do that, because God is all-knowing—but you know what I mean), our prayer time starts to shape us and empower us.

We must always remain faithful to our prayer because God is faithful to us. He never abandons us, because we are his beloved children, and it is in prayer that we come to understand this.

We are in serious need of volunteers to work Bingo.  You would only need to work once per month or you can volunteer to be a substitute to fill in as needed.

Bingo is an important fund raiser for our parish.  Please consider helping out.

Please call the parish office at 810.639.7600 for more information or to volunteer.

Thank you!