Pastoral Messages from Fr. Rick 6/4/23
Congratulations to Nicholas and Erin Kean whose marriage was celebrated on Saturday here at St. Christopher’s.
Genuinely Pro-Life Resources You can one-click on these resources at kanabcatholicchurch.org and Pastoral Messages. It easy and fun for the whole family!
Theology of the Body for Teens
https://www.tobpatron.com/tob-for-teens
Family Prayers from Birth to Death | USCCB
●The Truth About Abortion & Women’s Health
This one-page resource from the USCCB dispels many myths claiming restrictions on abortion will limit women’s access to life-saving care. https://www.usccb.org/resources/truth-about-abortion-and-womens-health
●Samaritanus bonus
In 2020, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published the letter Samaritanus bonus (“on the care of persons in the critical and terminal phases of life”). Find this, and other end of life resources here:
https://www.dioslc.org/respect-for-life/end-of-life-concerns
To support the National Eucharistic Revival Bishop Barron and ‘Word on Fire’ productions have made their film series on the Mass available for free. Walk through the Mass and be transformed through insights on this most privileged and intimate encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ.
See how the Mass brings us out of the fallen world and into the heavenly realm; how it revolves around a call from God and a response from his people, the Church; and most importantly, how we are intimately joined with the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus through the Holy Eucharist.
Click on the website below to start watching: (the online version of ‘Pastoral Messages’ on kanabcatholicchurch.org provides this one-click access): https://videos.wordonfire.org/themassepisode1
June is ‘PRIDE MONTH’
Pope Francis, other Catholic Bishops and leaders have directed Catholics to reach out and ‘welcome’ people with a variety of different attraction proclivities, a.k.a., LGBTQ+…s. Clearly, we need help learning how to do this while staying faithful to the Church’s Magisterium. Consider the following website which could be very helpful: https://www.edeninvitation.com.
Mission Failure??
As of month-end May, the totals for the annual Diocesan Development Drive (DDD) indicate that only 6.6% of total Diocesan registered households have made a contribution to the fund. Approximately 22% of St. Christopher’s Parish have donated. (Yea US!!!) Although we still have 7 months more to go in this year’s drive, these low numbers are troubling for a number of reasons. One problem might be the quality of preaching and teaching in the Diocese. We must not be getting across the true scope of our mission. The last two Sundays the Mass scriptures have emphasized our collective mission to go forth and teach the NATIONS. Waaaay beyond parish boundaries. Each parish could never be effective on our own. We need the collective support of each other and the many administrative and pastoral supports from the Diocese to be mission effective; that is, at making our grandchildren’s world look more like heaven than hell. What would possibly motivate us if not the mission that Jesus gave us and/or the condition of the world we are passing along to the grandkids? If you have not yet made a donation, please consider making one today, even $5 would be appreciated. Thank you so much to all who have already donated.
Homily Reflections –
Since we are made in the image and likeness of a relationship (the Trinity), with which group of people do we most reflect God’s presence in our daily lives? What are the traits or attributes of this relational presence?
When have you been most ‘stiff necked’ (Exodus 34:9) in your life and how did it affect your relationship with God and other people? How might you have experienced God’s mercy as your neck began to ‘loosen’?
What on earth could it mean to greet someone with a ‘holy kiss’? (2 Cor. 13:12) If you tried that, what was their reaction?