July 4 – Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today, with parades, fireworks and barbecues we celebrate our Independence – an Independence which was won and is maintained by the sacrifice of many lives.  However, our independence is not absolute.  Our nation was founded on belief in God.  Our Independence is DEPENDENT on God.  This dependence on God is clearly stated in our Declaration of Independence.  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their creator with inalienable rights….And it ends “with a firm reliance on Divine Providence we pledge our lives, our fortunes and our honor…..”  As a nation founded on belief in God, our President takes the oath of office by placing his/her hand on the Bible, the Word of God, and ends with, “So help me God..”  In our pledge of allegiance we say, “One nation under God.”  Engraved on our money is “In God we trust.”  Our Congress has a chaplain, begins each session with a prayer and provides for chaplains for the Military.

Our Founding Fathers may have opted for a separation of Church and State but not for a separation of God and State.  There is no brotherhood of man without the Fatherhood of God.  The division of life into the sacred and the secular is a false dichotomy.  There is not now, there never was and there never will be the purely secular, that is, anyone or anything which is not dependent on God.  Atheistic capitalism would suffer the same fate as atheistic communism.

What the Constitution guarantees is not freedom FROM religion but freedom OF religion, freedom to practice religion.  Thankfully, we can choose to let the values of the kingdom of God have an influence on the values of our nation.  We can choose to accept the peace and healing of Christ that they bring peace and healing to our country.  We can receive the body and blood of the Lord so that all the children at God’s table will be fed and receive their due in life.  As we come together to celebrate the Eucharist, we become Christ’s body, to be in the world and serve it, but not to be totally of it.  We are thankful for our country and our independence, but as Christians, we must remember our ultimate home, now and forever, is elsewhere.  While we may be citizens of the United States, our ultimate citizenship is in heaven!

I wish to express my thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers at the time of my surgery on June 10.  The surgery to remove my cancerous thyroid went well.  I will in the near future need to have the radioactive iodine treatment, and then the process of getting the right dosage of thyroid replacement medication determined.  Thanks as well to those who sent cards and prayer enrollments.  I appreciate your concern!

Happy Independence Day!

Father Don

 

June 27 – Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

At this time of the year, parishes throughout the Diocese often experience a change in staff.  OLM is no exception.  It is with mixed feelings that I announce that Jean Rehmer who has worked as secretary in our Religious Education office for the past 18 years is retiring at the end of June.  I say mixed feelings because retirement is a happy thing to look forward to, but Jean will be sorely missed!  Jean has been a huge behind the scenes support to our staff, catechists, and leaders in the Junior High (EDGE) and High School (LIGHT) religious education programs for our parish youth and teens.  Taking care of all the details for Confirmation and many other celebrations and programs, Jean has been the one to answer all your calls and questions.  She has especially enjoyed meeting and working with our parish youth and teens, always offering support and encouragement to them.  Jean has also worked with and coordinated the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) for the past 15 years.  She has also covered the parish office reception desk and answered phones when needed.  Jean has always been gracious and willing to perform any needed tasks.

Jean and her husband Deacon Phil (who retired a few months ago) have also been great witnesses to their faith.  Members of OLM for 28 years, both volunteered in baptismal preparation ministry for many years.  Jean also was a catechist for several years prior to employment at OLM.  Both Jean and Deacon Phil have been powerful witnesses to justice and peace ministry with their commitment to Hesed House and PADS.  They will continue to coordinate our Hesed House/PADS ministry at OLM during their retirement.

So, Jean, we thank you for all you have done for us at OLM and wish you all the best in your retirement!

God Bless Jean Rehmer!

Have a blessed week!

Father Don

 

June 26 – Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

At this time of the year, parishes throughout the Diocese often experience a change in staff. OLM is no exception. It is with mixed feelings that I announce that Jean Rehmer who has worked as a secretary in our Religious Education office for the past 18 years is retiring at the end of June. I say mixed feelings because retirement is a happy thing to look forward to, but Jean will be sorely missed! Jean has been a huge behind the scenes support to our staff, catechists, and leaders in the Junior High (EDGE) and High School (LIGHT) religious education programs for our parish youth and teens. Taking care of all the details for Confirmation and many other celebrations and programs, Jean has been the one to answer all your calls and questions. She has especially enjoyed meeting and working with our parish youth and teens, always offering support and encouragement to them. Jean has also worked with and coordinated RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) for the past 15 years. She has also covered the parish office reception desk and answered phones when needed. Jean has always been gracious and willing to perform any needed tasks.

Jean and her husband Deacon Phil (who retired a few months ago) have also been great witnesses to their faith. Members of OLM for 28 years, both volunteered in baptismal preparation ministry for many years. Jean also was a catechist for several years prior to employment at OLM. Both Jean and Deacon Phil have been powerful witnesses to justice and peace ministry with their commitment to Hesed House and PADS. They will continue to coordinate our Hesed House/PADS ministry at OLM during their retirement.

So, Jean, we thank you for all you have done for us at OLM and wish you all the best in your retirement!

God Bless Jean Rehmer!

Have a blessed week!

Father Don

June 20 – Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

This being Father’s Day, we extend a special greeting of gratitude not only to our dads, but also to our Spiritual Father, Fr. James Guarascio.  Today is Fr. James’ first anniversary of ordination to the priesthood.  From his “spiritual grandfather” I want to tell him what a delight it has been to have him minister with me here at Our Lady of Mercy.  His humor, enthusiasm for the priesthood and love for the Church has truly been an inspiration for me.  He will be a great pastor…..probably within the next three years!!

We also extend this blessing to all our Father’s…….

Blessed are You, Lord and Father of All life, who has given to us the gift of the father of our family.  Today we honor him, and we thank You for the numerous good things that are ours because of him.

His love for us has been a sign of Your divine affection and a sharing in Your holy love.  His continuous concern for our needs and welfare is a mirror of Your holy providence.  And so, as we honor him, we praise You, Father of All Peoples.

Bless him this day with Your strength and holy power that he may continue to be a sign of You, our God, and a priestly parent to our family.  May we who have the honor of bearing his family name do so with great pride.

May we, the members of his family, assist him in his holy duties as a parent with our respect, our obedience and our deep affection.

Bless him, Lord, with happiness and good health, with peace and with good fortune, so that he who has shared of his very life may live forever with You, his God and heavenly Father.

This blessing and all graces, we pray, descend upon the father of our family: in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  +Amen.

(Blessing Prayer reprinted with permission:  “Prayers for the Domestic Church” by Edward Hays”  Forest of Peace Publishing, Leavenworth, KS)

Happy Father’s Day!

Father Don

 

June 13 – Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time

In today’s Gospel Jesus speaks in parables.  Parables were Jesus’ favorite way of teaching.  He used parables because parables force you to think.  You have to pause and use your imagination to consider how the kingdom of God is like two sons, or ten virgins, or a treasure found in a field.  Today Jesus tells us that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.  What is he trying to say?  Parables always have multiple meanings.  I suggest to you one possible meaning of this parable today of the mustard seed is that Jesus is telling us that small things matter.

The parable is very clear on this.  The mustard seed is the smallest possible seed.  Yet, once it is planted, it grows into a sizeable plant that can give shade to birds.  The mustard seed is very small, just a speck.  It would be so easy to lose it or to ignore it or to discard it.  But doing any of those things, we would miss the opportunity to see how it would grow and what it would become.  The lesson of the mustard seed is important, because we live in a culture that values what is big and impressive.  We get excited about a new car or better clothes or the most recent laptop or smart phone that at times we overlook what seems to be less.  That is unfortunate, because small things matter.  They matter because God uses them, and they matter in two different ways.  They matter in the actions that we do, and they matter in the things we receive.

As we live any day of our life, we should never discount the small things we can do: a word of love or support to our spouse, a few moments to affirm a son or daughter about something they are good at or something that they have achieved, a phone call to a friend who is grieving the death of a loved one, or even a thankful smile instead of a vacant stare as we approach the cashier in the supermarket.  These are small things, tiny; things, things that could seem to have no significance.  Yet they can be important because God can choose to use them to build up some person in our lives and to increase the goodness around us.  We should never discount doing small things in the course of every day!

But neither should we overlook the importance of receiving small things each day.  For each day there are people in our lives who give us signs of love and support.  How much richer our lives would be if we were open to accept those signs and take them in….the smile of a 3-year old child, the person who breaks to let us into traffic, a friend who says to us “How are you? How are you really?”  All of these are signs that God is using to show us that we are loved and that there are reasons for hope.

Big and flashy things always seem important.  But small things matter.  Things a little as a mustard seed can shape our lives.  We can be the farmer who plants the mustard seed or the soil that receives it – the giver or the receiver.  In both cases, small things like a mustard seed can make a difference.  God uses the small things in our lives to build the kingdom of God.  SMALL THINGS MATTER!

Have a blessed week!

Father Don