Who Needs Magic?

07-30-2023The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew

Dear Friend,

Many people turn water into wine. It takes at least six weeks. But with Jesus it took no time at all. And it required no effort: he did it without even a word or a gesture or command; it just turned into wine in his presence, and he instructed the waiters to take it to the table. C.S. Lewis remarked that all the miracles worked by Jesus were in accord with the laws of nature, and not against them. There are no magical transformations, no weird metamorphoses. He did in a moment what nature does slowly. "Each miracle writes for us in small letters something that God has already written, or will write, in letters almost too large to be noticed, across the whole canvas of nature."

Water into wine is a wonderful transformation, but it is not magic. Who needs magic? When a hard man gets the courage to leave the door of his heart open, it is not magic. When a miser begins to practice the generosity of God, it is not magic. When a sinner turns into a saint, it is not magic. It is a miracle

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The Coronary and Ulcer Club

07-23-2023The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew

Dear Friend,

The "Coronary and Ulcer Club" lists the following rules for members:

  1. Your job comes first. Forget everything else.
  2. Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays are fine times to be working at the office. There will be nobody else there to bother you.
  3. Always have your briefcase with you when not at your desk. This provides an opportunity to review completely all the troubles and worries of the day.
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Interdependence

07-16-2023The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew

Dear Friend,

Healing takes time, patience and determination to persevere through the long process of healing. It’s not easy, but it is the reality of the healing process. A good friend recently told me his own experience with the healing process of his right knee. About two years ago he had a total right knee replacement. When his knee started acting up and hindering his walking he wanted his knee to be better right now -not tomorrow. He wanted a microwave healing. He wanted immediate results from his first surgery. He wanted it fixed now, because he had things to do and he was tired of waiting for it to heal! He did not want to have to walk with crutches for six weeks.

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Do What the Lord Has Written

07-09-2023The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew

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.

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Jesus cried for me

07-02-2023The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew R. Paratore, S.T.L., J.C.L.

Dear Friend,

Yvette, who is a young mother in Washington, D.C., recently told me her remarkable story, she wrote:

"It was the end. I knew it. I could no longer fight. I sat here emotionless. I was totally alone. Others had tried to help -- doctors, nurses, parents, husband, children. But they were gone. Hours earlier I had come into the hospital on an emergency basis. I had back pain so severe that at times, it dropped me to my knees. This was not my first hospital stay. I had been sick for a long time it seemed...

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Wolves in Sheep's Clothing

06-25-2023The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew

Dear Friend,

Do you remember the cartoon with Wiley Coyote and Ralph the sheep dog? I use to love that cartoon. Every morning Ralph and Wiley would meet at the time clock which was mounted on a tree. As they clocked in they would great each other and then they would go to their respective departments.

Ralph the sheep dog went to his post on the cliff and took his position as head of the sheep protection department. Wiley, true to his nature, would slink away in to the forest to plan his strategy as head of the sheep acquisition and consumption department.

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ALL We Have Comes From God

06-18-2023The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew

Dear Friend,

The great violinist, Niccolo Paganini willed his marvelous violin to city of Genoa on condition that it must never be played. The wood of such an instrument, while used and handled, wears only slightly, but set aside, it begins to decay. Paganini’s lovely violin has today become worm-eaten and useless except as a relic.

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Pray With Your Heart

06-11-2023The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew

Dear Friend,

Prayer belongs to everyone: to men and women of every religion, and probably also to those who profess none. Prayer arises in our innermost self, in that interior place that spiritual authors call “heart” (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2562-2563). Therefore, it is not something peripheral that prays within us, it is not some secondary and marginal ability that we have, but rather it is our most intimate mystery. It is this mystery that prays. Feelings pray, but one cannot say that prayer is only feeling. Intelligence prays, but praying is not simply an intellectual act. The body prays, but one can speak with God even having the most serious disability. Thus the entire man prays if he prays with his “heart”.

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Passing Judgment

06-04-2023The 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!"

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Pray Always and Never Lose Heart

05-28-2023The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew

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.

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Faith and Action

05-21-2023The Pastor's PenRev. Matthew R. Paratore, S.T.L, J.C.L

Dear Friend,

When a famous restaurateur died in early 2002, he left behind more than just thousands of restaurants. He also left a legacy of being a practical, hard-working man who was respected for his down-to-earth values. Among the pieces of good advice that have outlived the smiling entrepreneur is his view of what Catholics should be doing with their lives.

This very savvy businessman, who as a youngster was influenced for Christ by his grandmother, said that believers should be "roll-up-your-shirt sleeves" Catholics.

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Worldliness

05-14-2023The 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).

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Pray Always and Never Lose Heart

05-07-2023The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew

    Dear Friend,

    How would you like to spend 2 years making phone calls to people who aren't home? Sound absurd? According to one time management study, that's how much time the average person spends trying to return calls to people who never seem to be in. Not only that, we spend 6 months waiting for the traffic light to turn green, and another 8 months reading junk mail.

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