This weekend our parish will celebrate two important events…first it will be “Priesthood Sunday” where we will ask all who are attending Mass to give a prayer of blessing to your parish priests. The second is the universal Church, that is Catholics all over the world, are praying for migrants and refugees as we celebrate the 105th anniversary of “World Day of Migrants and Refugees”. As you can see this area of concern has been with us for many years and we know that even before the official recognition the pain and suffering of refugees and migrants has been a tragic story throughout history. Pope Francis in his letter to us this year writes, “In a word, it is not only the cause of migrants that is at stake; it is not just about them, but about all of us, and about the present and future of the human family. Migrants, especially those who are most vulnerable, help us to read the “signs of the times”. Through them, the Lord is calling us to conversion, to be set free from exclusivity, indifference and the throw-away culture. Through them, the Lord invites us to embrace fully our Christian life and to contribute, each according to his or her proper vocation, to the building up of a world that is more and more in accord with God’s plan.” (Pope Francis, Letter on World Day of Migrants and Refugees)
Pope Francis calls each of us to witness in hope for the safety of all our brothers and sisters recognizing the blessing of peace and security that is the desire of all.
And with that we return to priesthood Sunday. I remember clearly the first year, 2005, when I received this blessing from the parishioners of St. Martin of Tours Parish. I had been ordained barely four months and had not expected much other than “just another blessing” and boy was I wrong. I don’t want to say I cried, but I may have as the grace and blessing of God was spoken in the voices of the prayers of the faithful people asking God’s love to flow into my life and service of His Church as His priest. It caught me off guard at the first Mass of the weekend but each additional Mass that was celebrated deepened the blessing and my call to follow Jesus Christ.
I know that we are in the midst of two important prayer ministries at St. Lucy, “Creating a Culture of Vocations” and the prayer book “A Parent Who Prays” and I only remind us of these to actions because just as my life as a man, a disciple and a priest is deepened and strengthened by your prayers for me and all priests so too is the life of the family and especially when we pray directly for our children asking God’s blessing to surround them in love. Prayer is the gift of deepening and strengthening an unseen but powerful bond of grace which can never be broken. It is desiring in the purity of heart (see the first virtue of prayer from “A Parent Who Prays”) where the greatest hope we have for another is their growth in holiness and life. “Creating a Culture of Vocations” in the family isn’t simply about vocations to the priesthood but rather it is the sanctification of the family through following Jesus Christ…if that happens then our children’s call to their proper vocation whether it be Holy Matrimony, Priesthood, the Consecrated Life or the Single Life will naturally flow from the all families as God calls each of us by name.
Please pray for me and all of your parish priest.
God bless
Fr. Mark

“Faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God. At the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed. As personal adherence to God and assent to his truth, Christian faith differs from our faith in any human person. It is right and just to entrust oneself wholly to God and to believe absolutely what he says. It would be futile and false to place such faith in a creature.” (CCC #150)

The gift of faith, the life of faith, the blessing of faith is a slippery thing to describe because it is so personal and intimate to each person. As noted in the quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) it is an assent to a truth greater than we are, it is looking into the infinite and entrusting all we are to the moment of grace and blessing.
When we pray for the gift of faith for ourselves and others it is to hand ourselves and the other completely into the will of God. This is where we become more intimate with God and each other. For example, in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, we talk about the unity of husband and wife as “the two shall become one” (Gen 2:24, Mk 10:8) as the entrusting of the life of each spouse into the life of the sacrament and it is the life of the sacrament where the encounter of God’s fruitfulness, graciousness, mercy and healing (to name only a few) helping the man and the woman joined in sacramental grace to live a life of purpose and unity. The faith the man and woman are called to share is the grace of the many gifts of something greater than who they are separately and how they can choose to live in love.
“Charity is the soul of faith, makes it alive; without love, faith dies.” (St. Anthony of Padua)
St. Anthony reminds us how faith must be unity with love (charity) to be true faith. We often say quite easily “God is love.” (1 Jn 4:7-21) without necessarily realizing how this universal love reaches into all parts of our lives. When we speak those words “God is love” then, “It is right and just to entrust oneself wholly to God” (CCC #150) becomes a necessary assent to faith. On an experiential aspect I can remember when I was in the Marine Corps and one of the phrases we called out many times, “for God, country and Corps” slipped easily from our lips. But on a deeper dive we see how having become, as a member of the USMC, part of something greater we assented to something even greater “country” and ultimately to the greatest “God” in ordering our service. It is an ordering of faith in many ways where once more using the example of husband and wife in sacramental marriage, we place God as the central focus of the marriage seeing our spouse through God and in that way living the life of grace.
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen put it this way, “If you do not live what you believe, you will end up believing what you live.” The more we seek to give our lives in faith, the greater our faith grows. Or as Jesus puts it, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain.”(Mt 17:20) In other words, if our faith is small it is able to grow through sharing and giving in faith with the other in our life. First and foremost with God but as we entrust our lives to our nuclear family our faith then allows us to give ourselves fully to another, using the Holy Matrimony example, the man and woman not simply seek to survive the marriage but thrive in moving the mountains of hurt and sin which will enter into our relationships and all our beloved to be seen in the image and likeness of God.
Place your mind before the mirror of eternity! Place your soul in the brilliance of glory! And transform your entire being into the image of the Godhead Itself through contemplation. (St. Clare of Assisi) In this beautiful quote from St. Clare, we can see how simply being with God can grow our faith and especially as an example for our children to see the radiance of love come through contemplation of something more beautiful than the greatest vista in nature. It is the image of love where the parent holds and contemplates the simple beauty of the child in their arms but carries through life, for example: after my heart attack I remember catching my mother looking at me with such care that my heart was filled with peace so profound it still brings tears to my eyes.
How do you explain faith…it is always the search and discovery of a truth much greater than we can ever imagine. “My longing for truth was a single prayer.” (St. Theresa Bendicta of the Cross: Edith Stein)

God bless
Fr. Mark

Faith: Throughout the Bible the word faith is prevalent. What is faith? It is not a feeling but rather it is a knowing deeply of someone. The only way we can have faith in God is talk with him, listen to him and to be with him. Faith, in the Catholic sense, is a reasonable and generous response to knowing we are loved by something greater.
Bringing the Intention into your family/relationships
How do we show our faith in God? Family prayer with the inclusion of special intentions help us to bring God into all aspects of our life. As we pray for the gift of faith in our children and in our lives, praying for others expands how we know faith in God.
Discussion starter:
Share a story of when your faith was tested…
Learn about the co-patroness of our Diocese St. Clare and her gift of faith.
Brainstorm about how faith can help you be a better person…
Spiritual Bouquet:
Share your prayers for each other about the gift of faith for your children/parents/friends

Let us pray for purity.
Purity is a complicated word in the modern lexicon. Many people dive directly into that small three letter work, “SEX” as soon as they hear purity but the Catholic Church has a deeper and fuller understanding of why purity and more directly being pure in heart is a pathway of understanding and living the will of God more fully and completely in our day to day relationships.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God.” (Mt 5:8)
Purity in Heart, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (#2345, 2520) reminds us that this gift is given through the grace of baptism. It is as always the understanding where when we struggle for purity in heart we are choosing to seek the face of God in those around us.
What does it look like when we begin to pray for purity in heart for those we love, those we know and even ourselves?
Well, if you are like me, the first thing that occurs whenever I begin to pray for another person, whatever the reason, a big mirror forms in front of my minds eyes. It always has the same question on it: And how are you doing? This moment draws me into some deeper self reflection as I pray for others about the aspect of life for which I am praying. An example might be when I pray, as I often do, for generosity of others in stewardship of time, talent and treasure, which in turn begins to offer reflections into my own life of stewardship. Is my tithing truly sacrificial or done out of fear? Have I spent my time well in ministry and prayer? How have I helped our community grow using the gifts God has shared with me? If I can begin to answer those questions in my own heart, mind and soul then I am better able to see others in and their stewardship in the light of Jesus Christ rather than as a utilitarian desire for more.
This is where purity in heart becomes a fulcrum of looking at all our relationships both personal and in general. When we pray for purity we seek to see the face of Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit in the people we encounter and in the world we live in. In this way we pray that those for who we pray for will see in us the purity of intention and the grace of blessing in our actions and relationships with others. If we are at work or school we may ask: Is what we do done in service of others or just for pay? When I help another in my daily life we may ponder: Is our service done for selfless motives or to be noticed by others?
And certainly in our life of faith: Is our ministry and prayer in family and Church done for Jesus Christ or for prestige? The motives of purity begin to surface very quickly.
When we choose to live “pure in heart” then we “shall see God”! What a promise to receive and experience in our lives. This is not a sentimental idea but a powerfully transforming reality where the presence of God in the Most Holy Trinity begins to infuse each and every part of our lives, from suffering to joy, for celebration to sadness, from despair to hope with grace filled blessings of life and love. It is training our hearts to know where the poor and dying on the streets of Calcutta are transformed into figures of Jesus Christ as St. Mother Theresa knew and held lovingly day after day. It is with eyes trained for beauty, where looking out into the awesome beauty of the Yosemite Valley, we like Ansel Adams, see the moment and location, perfect in creation, where he focussed and took one more picture capturing God’s creative glory and our hearts are captured by God. It is where we have trained our ears to hear as we sit around the dinner table with family/friends and in listening to their words we have learned to be attentive to God’s words that flow from their mouths in moments of true grace transforming the simple meal into a Eucharistic celebration.
Let us pray for purity as we place our trust in God and in the hope that all people will seek to be as Jesus Christ calls…”Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
God Bless
Fr. Mark

For “A parent Who Prays” by Katie Warner

Purity: We can think of purity for ourselves and children in three ways: Purity of mind, Purity of body and Purity of soul. Purity of mind is to place our thoughts always directed towards the betterment of the others in our lives. Purity of body is the gift of modesty in action and in dress. Purity of soul is to act with the intention of doing good and helping others to do good in their lives
Bringing the Intention into your family/relationships
We will hear this many times in our lives: Am I living as I am praying? Will my children/parents or friends no my purity of mind, body and soul by my actions daily? Share a story of how difficult it is to live life in a pure and holy way.
Discussion starter:
When I hear the word purity, I think…..
One way I will practice and pray for purity is…
Who is St. Maria Goretti???
Spiritual Bouquet:
Share your prayers for each other for purity of mind, body and soul for your children/parents/friends

This will be a short letter because I am away on vacation this week. You are all in my prayers. I have been talking about prayer for the last several months following a set of talks by Pope Benedict XVI. This was not done on accident but with a purpose for St. Lucy Parish. The last few weeks at each Mass we have sent a family home with a cross and prayer binder for our ministry “Creating a Culture of Vocations” in focussing on family and God’s call to our proper vocation in life.
Prayer and especially prayer as a family is a powerful and fruitful weapon binding the family together and helping all members to resist the temptations that surround us in our daily life. In the coming weeks we will continue to invite all families in the parish to a deeper and greater ministry of prayer within the family. Prayer in the family is a ministry because it is the work of bringing people closer to God and into a more intimate relationship with all members of the family. It’s not as if prayer will solve each and every problem, but it does help in opening our hearts to the moment of conversion that allows the power of the Holy Spirit to transform our lives.
Venerable Patrick Peyton who popularized the phrase, “a family that prays together stays together” in his promotion of praying the Holy Rosary but there was a second phrase that is just as important where Fr. Patrick Peyton repeated again and again, “a world at prayer is a world at peace.” Both of these powerful phrases have deep meaning for us and we should pay attention.
We know how the example of the parents have deep and lasting influences on children. Children from the very beginning watch and learn how to be “people” by watching those who are in their lives, especially their parents as they grow. When children see dad and mom taking time in prayer together, using words of blessing towards each other and how they prioritize God in their lives they will be more likely to have a greater relationship with God and not leave the faith and religious practice behind. In my own experience, my family’s practice of prayer before meals, praying the rosary often as a family and Sunday Mass were foundational in my faith experience and certainly my parents practice of the faith lived daily was always an inspiration. It is also important to remember that we are not called to do all these things perfectly but rather with devotion towards God that shows that even in failing we still strive for goodness.
The second phrase of Fr. Peyton is even more important in the world today with so much breakdown in societal structures, acts of violence, drug use and human debasement that occur daily. A world where the many conflicts of war, persecution and government violence against its own citizenry has become so common we don’t even seem notice it any longer. As have written over and over again, when we unite ourself to God in prayer there will be fruitfulness because we change and are made greater and through this we then encourage the same change in our spouse, children, parents, neighbors and all whom we meet.
In a few weeks we will be asking all families in the parish to begin to go deeper in prayer for our children and for everyone when we journey with “A Parent Who Prays” written by Katie Warner. .
God Bless
Fr. Mark

This weekend, with Labor Day being celebrated, we traditionally end summer and begin our journey towards winter with the fall months upon us. It is a time where we wrap up the last things of summer and look back to see if we have “accomplished” all we wished to do during this time a slowing down, vacationing and warm weather. One of the traditional practices of summer was to read a book, especially for vacation. I remember hearing and reading about what are the best summer reads, those books for the days at the beach or just lazing around the pool. Normally these books weren’t heavy reading but were rather light or exciting and certainly the description of “it’s a page turner” was important.
As we have been covering Pope Benedict’s Wednesday Audiences from the May to August of 2011where he has been discussing prayer, today we look at the final talks where, as he is on vacation at Castel Gandolfo, we see the fruits of the journey of prayer. Pope Benedict tells us “I would therefore like to make a suggestion: why not discover some of the books of the Bible which are not commonly well known? Or those from which we heard certain passages in the liturgy but which we never read in their entirety?” (from General Audience, 3 August 2011)
Two quick examples…When I was a sixth grade teacher our religion curriculum call for us to study the Old Testament because as we study ancient civilizations in Social Studies this was a wonderful way to support this academic learning. During the course of my teaching I discovered the Book of Tobit. I had heard of the book and had read some short snippets or heard them in Mass from time to time but never the whole book. And much to the joy of my sixth grade students, especially the boys, the story of bird droppings falling into Tobit’s eyes that blinded him and leads to the rest of the story of depending upon God was a great hit. (Tobit 2:9-14) Taking time with the students to not just read the famous parts but also the whole book gave each of us a greater appreciation for the story of God’s goodness and love.
Secondly, a few years ago on my yearly priest retreat the retreat master suggested we read the Gospel of Mark from beginning to end as a form of prayer meditation, It had been years since I looked at the Gospel as one complete word proclaimed by Jesus to us. The connections missed in hearing only the snippets at Mass and the readings done out of sequence began to be filled in as I slowly read and then reread the Gospel several times.
Whether it is a book of the Bible that we are unfamiliar with like the Book of Tobit or another we have heard many times, such as The Gospel of Mark, the fruitfulness of this adventure will be bountiful as we pray with the word of God.
Try not to over analyze as you read and pray Sacred Scripture. There is a time and place for that but in reading and praying truly allow the breath of the Holy Spirit to fill your hearts and minds. You may also want to read the book of the Bible aloud as a family, sharing the good news together that can prompt discussions. Most of the books are short and easy to read in one sitting, for those longer books, set a timer and when it buzzes finish the part where you are at and then pick it up again the next time and continue.
Lastly, if you are interested in the commentary and explanations of Sacred Scripture simply buy a Catholic Study Bible which will give those nuggets of information that often help us to understand the fullness of God’s message to his people.
May you all be blessed with a peaceful and holy Labor Day weekend.
God bless
Fr. Mark.