Grudges

10-30-2022The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew R. Paratore, S.T.L., J.C.L.

Dear Friend,

Once armies carried cannonballs with them, afraid they would meet the enemy somewhere and have nothing to shoot at it. In terms of specific gravity, grudges are about as heavy as cannonballs. But it makes little sense to carry them. Most likely, the "enemy" is unaware of your enmity, and surely would be surprised to learn that you've been stalking him with a cannonball in your pocket.

READ MORE

How Young People Learn

10-23-2022The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew R. Paratore, S.T.L., J.C.L.

Dear Friend,

Pope John Paul I stated that a problem with educating young people in the church stems from a failure to understand how young people learn. He claimed that adults learn in the following pattern: 1) acceptance of absolutes; 2) subordination of attitudes and actions to absolutes; 3) application of truth received to life experience. Knowing something as an adult is based primarily upon remembering information and intellectual learning.

READ MORE

Suffering

10-16-2022The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew R. Paratore, S.T.L., J.C.L.

Dear Friend,

As the mother of the Son of God, Mary participated in and revealed the mercy of God by sharing most intimately in her Son’s redeeming mission. And so, she experienced pain and suffering in her earthly life as the Mother of Sorrows, as Simeon had prophesied at the Presentation of the Lord in the temple. As the Sorrowful Mother who stood at the cross of her suffering son, Mary still stands by the members of her Son’s Body who in their own suffering bear the signs of his passion.

READ MORE

God's Blessings

10-09-2022The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew R. Paratore, S.T.L., J.C.L.

Dear Friend,

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen enumerated some of God's blessings:

An acceptance that can never be questioned. (Ephesians 1:6).

An inheritance that can never be lost (I Peter 1:3-5).

A deliverance that can never be excelled (2 Corinthians l:10).

A grace that can never be limited (2 Corinthians 12:9).

READ MORE

What the world needs now is...

10-02-2022The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew R. Paratore, S.T.L., J.C.L.

Dear Friend,

THE WORLD NEEDS WOMEN AND MEN...
who cannot be bought;
whose word is their bond;
who put character above wealth;
who possess opinions and a will;
READ MORE

Taters

09-25-2022The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew R. Paratore, S.T.L., J.C.L.

Here is a little simple meditation. It is about "Taters."

Some people are very bossy and like to tell others what to do, but don't want to soil their own hands. Too many chiefs and not enough Indians. They are called "Dick Taters".

Some people never seem motivated to participate, but are just content to watch while others do the work. They are called "Speck Taters".

READ MORE

Smile!

09-18-2022The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew R. Paratore, S.T.L., J.C.L.

Dear Friend,

I heard a story of a little girl who walked to and from school daily. The weather one morning was questionable and clouds were farming, yet she made her daily trek to the elementary school.

As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with thunder and lightning.

READ MORE

Follow God's Instructions

09-11-2022The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew R. Paratore, S.T.L., J.C.L.

Dear Friend,

Imagine, if you will, that you work for a company whose president found it necessary to travel out of the country and spend an extended period of time abroad.

So he says to you and the other trusted employees, "Look, I'm going to leave. And while I'm gone, I want you to pay close attention to the business. You manage things while I'm away. I will write you regularly. When I do, I will instruct you in what you should do from now until I return from this trip." Everyone agrees.

READ MORE

Look for Joy

09-04-2022The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew R. Paratore, S.T.L., J.C.L.

Dear Friend,

In Jerusalem there is a Holocaust Museum dedicated to the memory of the millions of Jews who were killed by the Nazis in World War II. Going through the museum is a very depressing experience because you see these horrible pictures and read the accounts of the ghettos and the concentration camps. But in the midst of all the dark tales of suffering, there is one amazing story of how God can transform horror into hope.

In one of the Nazi concentration camps there was a young lady named Rachel. She endured great hardship from being made to work in the snow with inadequate clothing. She watched in horror as many of her friends and family members were killed.

READ MORE

Hope

08-28-2022The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew R. Paratore, S.T.L., J.C.L.

Dear Friend,

What does hope in God do for humanity?


Hope shines brightest when the hour is darkest.
Hope motivates when discouragement comes.
Hope energizes when the body is tired.
Hope sweetens while bitterness bites.
Hope sings when all melodies are gone.

READ MORE

Caring and Healing

08-21-2022The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew R. Paratore, S.T.L., J.C.L.

Dear Friend,

Among the many books written by Henri Nouwen (1932-1996), one stands out as an enduring little classic, The Wounded Healer. For those who knew him, this book is especially powerful because, without expressly intending to do so, it describes very well the man himself. It was because of his own wounds that he was able to touch the lives of so many people.“By his wounds we have been healed,” St Peter wrote of Jesus (1 Peter 2:24).

READ MORE

Making Choices

08-14-2022The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew R. Paratore, S.T.L., J.C.L.

Dear Friend,

A man named Peter inherited a huge land grant, but the will provided that he could choose land in either Chile or Brazil. He chose Brazil. Unhappily, if he had chosen Chile, he would have received his inheritance in land on which they had recently discovered uranium, gold and silver. But he chose Brazil. When he arrived in Brazil he had to choose between receiving his inheritance in a coffee plantation or land with Brazil nut trees. He chose the nut trees, and immediately the bottom fell out of the nut market, but coffee futures went up two dollars a pound. The government took control of the nut farm for back taxes, and Peter was left destitute.

READ MORE

Keep your eyes on Christ

08-07-2022The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew R. Paratore, S.T.L., J.C.L.

Dear Friend,

During World War I, a British commander was preparing to lead his soldiers back to battle. They’d been on furlough, and it was a cold, rainy, muddy day. Their shoulders sagged because they knew what lay ahead of them: mud, blood, possible death. Nobody talked, nobody sang. It was a heavy time. As they marched along, the commander looked into a bombed-out church. Back in the church he saw the figure of Christ on the cross. At that moment, something happened to the commander. He remembered the One who suffered, died, and rose again.

READ MORE