𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 — 𝗦𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗬𝗼𝘂 & 𝗙𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹, 𝗩𝗕𝗦 & 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀
https://app.flocknote.com/note/21410050 OR https://bit.ly/HangingOutatOLM
News from PIT (Pastor in Training)
𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑱𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔
Oddly enough, one of the best parts of my two-week pilgrimage to France this month was returning to OLM and celebrating Sunday Mass with all of you. I felt more joy praying the Mass with the people whom I have come to know and love over the last three years than when I was visiting some of my favorite saints: St. Therese of Lisieux, St. John Vianney, and St. Bernadette of Lourdes to name a few. Maybe you find that hard to believe. Maybe that’s just the jet-lag speaking. True, saying Mass at the tombs of these heroes of our faith was a blessing I’ll never forget—I’d do it again in a heartbeat! But I think the Lord was telling me at 8am Mass last Sunday something along the lines of “there’s no place like home.”

People imagine that the priesthood is somehow extraordinarily demanding—that we must be so brave and selfless to give up a wife and children and money for the collar…but we’re not. I’m just as much a sinner in need of God’s grace as anyone else—slow to relinquish my preferences, slow to give God my heart, slow to trust that He’ll give me more than I give Him. I became a priest because God called me to, and what I found was the pearl of great price—what I pray all of you discover as well. That “whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matt 16:25)

The issue at hand is that we imagine that the opposite of the Gospel is true. We think, “Whoever preserves his life from the excessive demands of God will find it.” But to preserve oneself from God’s invitations, is to preserve oneself from love. Hence, “Whoever wishes to save his life will … (view the full posting at the links)
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