Fr. Rick’s Pastoral Messages 4/17/22

A SPECIAL WELCOME AND HAPPY EASTER TO ALL OUR VISITORS!  We hope your travels in Southern Utah are safe and pleasant and that you are inspired by the beauty of God’s creation. AND come back!!

Easter Season is seven weeks long and continues up to Pentecost Sunday.  The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important event in human history.  Jesus’ victory over sin made it possible for us to live life on a transcended level even while on earth.  As we will see in the many Scriptural readings of Easter Time, it took a while for the disciples to actually recognize that Jesus was really back among them.  How did the resurrection actually affect their lives and then… NOW WHAT?!  We are faced with the same challenge.  Every year we are hopefully creeping more fully into the new life that God intends for us.  How do we share with others the saving grace of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ?  As we can see from the Scriptures this is how the Good New gets into the world:  People talking and sharing with other people.  The world needs this message as much as ever.  HAPPY EASTER SEASON!!

Parish Social Ministry is one of three inseparable elements of being Catholic (cf. Pope Benedict) along with celebrating the sacraments and proclaiming the word of God. Like Sacramental preparation and the Liturgy Ministry, Parish Social Ministry moves from being the responsibility of a few to shining a light on our faith for the entire parish.  Please check out the many resources for social awareness and ministry on the Salt Lake Diocese website:  https://www.dioslc.org/offices/life-justice-and-peace/parish-social-ministry 

Prayer and Action Network:  Stay up to date on how the Diocese of Salt Lake City is helping us address social issues at the state, national and global levels.  Receive weekly updates:  https://www.dioslc.org/offices/life-justice-and-peace/prayer-and-action-network  

From Just a Little Yeast

“Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough?  Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened.”  1 Cor. 5:7

Throughout our country and throughout the world the Catholic Church is always in an ongoing state of renewal and not always in the same way or at the same pace.  Parishes are closing down, merging and starting up anew in many areas.  Here in Utah as a whole the state is growing and many of the parishes are growing.  What was once called ‘rural Utah’ is changing shape quickly and with no sure outcomes for the long term.  Here in Kanab the Catholic community is tiny but is able to serve a national and global community with our regular outreach to our many visitors.

We can gain much inspiration from the Easter story and the tiny group of bewildered and often terrified disciples that Jesus has sent to ‘teach the nations.’  The old ways of understanding life and doing things were fading away quickly to prepare for a future that was inconceivable to them in c. 30 AD.  The same grace and personal guidance are just as available today as it was two thousand years ago (we also have better dental care and communication systems!).  To those with a missionary and pioneer spirit, this should be a very challenging but exciting time.  The Resurrected Christ will be working through us as much as we are open to it.  With just a little yeast!