Our Lord Endured It All

02-25-2024The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew

Dear Friend,

We need to possess an enduring love. Endurance: the power to withstand hardship or stress, to keep on going despite all setbacks.

I recently heard of a Catholic woman who, after having four children, started running and then entered marathons. This year, she is running the London Marathon, but before she does, she will run four other marathons each day before the London Marathon. So she will be running 26 miles every day for five days. It will take great endurance to complete, but on British TV she said she is committed to enduring all that she will have to face to complete the marathons set before her.

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Be NOT of This World

02-18-2024The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew

Dear Friend,

The Bible defines worldliness by centering morality where we intuitively know it should be. Worldliness is the lust of the flesh (a passion for sensual satisfaction), the lust of the eyes (an inordinate desire for the finer things of life), and the pride of life (self-satisfaction in who we are, what we have, and what we have done). Worldliness, then, is a preoccupation with ease and affluence. It elevates creature comfort to the point of idolatry; large salaries and comfortable lifestyles become necessities of life.

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God's Endless Blessings

02-11-2024The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew

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). A hope that can never be disappointed. (Hebrews 6:18, 19). A bounty that can never be withdrawn. (I Colossians 3:21-23).

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Give Up Worry For Lent: 40 Days to Finding Peace in Christ by Gary Zimak

02-04-2024Book Recommendations

Winner of a third-place award in the backlist beauty category from the Catholic Media Association. Catholic author and self-described “recovering worrier” Gary Zimak combines practical spirituality, daily scripture readings, and simple action steps to help you kick the worry habit as part of your Lenten renewal.

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Baptism

02-04-2024The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew

Dear Friend,

In the early days of the church Baptism was a declaration that the believer was definitely identifying with that group of people who were called Christians and were often despised and hated. To be a Christian meant taking a leap of Faith. To identify yourself with those who were called Christians meant persecution, maybe death; it meant being ostracized from your family and shunned by friends.

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Christian Civility

01-28-2024The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew

Dear Friend,

At a recent gathering of university professors, one teacher reported that at his school the most damaging charge one student can lodge against another is that the person is being "judgmental." He found this pattern very upsetting. "You can't get a good argument going in class anymore," he said. "As soon as somebody takes a stand on any important issue, someone else says that the person is being judgmental. And that's it. End of discussion. Everyone is intimidated!" Many of the other professors nodded knowingly.

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God Is So Good

01-21-2024The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew

Dear Friend,

A Catholic Magazine carried a story about four young men, Catholic College students, who were renting a house together. One Saturday morning someone knocked on their door. And when they opened it, there stood this bedraggled-looking old man. His eyes were kind of marbleized, and he had a silvery stub of whiskers on his face. His clothes were ragged and torn. His shoes did not match. In fact, they were both for the same foot. And he carried a wicker basket full of unappealing vegetables that he was trying to sell. The boys felt sorry for him and bought some of his vegetables just to help him out. Then he went on his way.

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Ten Commandments of Human Relations

01-14-2024The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew

Dear Friend,

A bishop friend of mine in Ireland recently sent this to me and I want to share it with you:

Ten Commandments of "Human Relations"

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The Gaze of Jesus - A Novel by Riccardo Bacchelli

01-07-2024Book Recommendations

"Let me be with you!" Homeless, living for years in a state of demonic insanity, Ithamar one day spots a mysterious man on the shore, runs to him, and finds himself wholly cured. But when he begs this healer to take him as a disciple, he is rejected and ordered to go home.

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Attitude Adjustment

01-07-2024The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew

Dear Friend,

As we begin a new calendar year let me offer some thoughts about making Christian Service a joy. An amusing story was told to me by the retired manager of a New York hotel which hosted many large Catholic functions. The great Paderewski occupied a suite there a number of years ago during one of his seasons at Carnegie Hall. It was his custom to practice for a couple of hours every morning on the magnificent instrument that he had brought with him.

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