Pastoral Messages from Fr. Rick 8/14/22
I just want to say (in LARGER PRINT) a big THANK YOU for your extraordinary generosity particularly regarding our monthly (and more) special collections. This is a very healthy PRO-LIFE response to the world.
Hospitality: Remember that we are a ‘Hospitality Parish’ with a major outreach to our many visitors. Please sign up to help host our Sunday morning Coffee and Muffin gathering. Sign up list is in the gathering space.
St. Christopher’s Library
Come on in and browse during our social hour after the Sunday Mass. Books are organized by category, plainly marked on the shelves. If your knowledge of an aspect of our faith is weak, we have books for just about every concept, including those that explain all the tenets under https://www.usccb.org/committees/evangelization-catechesis/stewardship”Basic Catholicism”. So please check it out! No library card needed!
“Do not let a day go by without some spiritual reading.”- St. John Bosco
Gospel Reflection: Lk. 12:49-53 “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” This division will come in perhaps the most painful way; within and among our families. This is often where we are most deeply entwined, enmeshed and entangled…from before our earliest memories. At the point we were knitted in the womb. Perhaps a close second to complicated family dynamics are our political and social dynamics. The US Bishops have warned us that we must be sure that our religion informs our political and social ideologies more than the other way around. To choose Christ over our biological entanglements and our political ideologies will likely be among our biggest ongoing challenges in life. This is why Jesus makes such radical statements as He has in today’s gospel. As He mentioned last week as well, “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” We could also mention that, “We reap what we sow.” We are at a very exciting and crucial point in human history as we reimagine what a genuinely Pro-Life culture looks like. Whether we lean right or left or anarchist, it’s now time to actually demonstrate our commitment to Truth and also Compassion for all people from womb to tomb, conception to natural death. This will likely require more spiritual depth than most of us have (including me), but we have only to look at the young people we have brought into the world to find the proper motivation for making the necessary changes. Please consider the links below to help shape our new vision. Visitors will have most of the same resources available in your home dioceses.
Gearing up for the ‘post Roe’ World. The Good News is that we know how to do it!! The bad news is that we know how to do it…….. and will be held accountable for our efforts.
Respect for Life Resources Diocese of Salt Lake City
https://www.dioslc.org/respect-for-life
Walking with Mothers in Need in Utah
https://www.dioslc.org/respect-for-life/walking-with-moms-in-need
Voting Genuinely Pro-Life
https://www.votervoice.net/USCCB/home
Real Pro-Life Intimacy
http://www.intermountainfertilitycare.com/
Genuinely Pro-Life Society – Stewardhip
https://www.usccb.org/committees/evangelization-catechesis/stewardship
Prayer from the Heart (Catechism of Catholic Church/CCC: 2562-2563)
Chastity (CCC 2337-2344) Google it. It comes right up.