Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I want to commend the many people who make being on time for Holy Mass a priority. To be clear: our Mass times are at Saturday 4:30pm English. There is the 8:30am, 10:30am English, and 12:30pm Spanish on Sunday. Our Mass times not 4:35pm, 8:35am, 10:35am, and 12:35pm. It is not fashionable to be late to Holy Mass—it’s disrespectful. There are occasions when something happens and therefore being on time is impossible. Once or twice is understandable – every week is wrong. It is most especially rude and disrespectful to leave Holy Mass early. Please avoid leaving early if at all possible. As the Holy Mass is the re-presentation of Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary, can you imagine Mary or the beloved disciple leaving early from the crucifixion to beat the crowd or to get a better lunch table or to make it to the game on time? It is shameful that with all our blessings that we cannot give God time.

Concerning the children, some without kids would love it if I called out parents for loud and unruly children, but it’s not going to happen. Children are made in God’s image and likeness; we are a pro-life parish; and we baptize children, initiating them as members of the Body of Christ--they have a right to be here.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Most post pubescent males can father a child. Fathering a child is vastly different from being a good father.  So what does it take to be a good father?  One this Fathers Day, I would like to address the vital role my father holds in my life and the important role of the father in the life of his family. 

Of the many lessons I received from my father, his willingness to be present to our family keeps our family rooted and focused on what is essential.  Running his own business could have easily consumed him and kept him away from our family. I cannot remember my dad ever missing dinner with the family. His presence wasn’t just at dinnertime. I also recall that our family was usually together on the weekends. Whether we were doing chores around the house, mowing the lawn or heading to the lake for some fun, it was dad, with mom at his side, leading the charge by being present. 

Dad brought order and from that came peace.  God, family, and everything else was the way dad prioritized things for our family. Dad made sure we never missed Mass. Every Sunday, Mom and Dad would corral the five children into the family station wagon and off we would go. It wasn’t even a discussion. It was just what we did…and still do. I have no doubt that my dad’s presence made all the difference in creating a solid way of life for his family.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It is hard to believe that it’s been eight years since our parish took a hard look at the General Instruction of the Roman Missal or how we celebrate Holy Mass.  In general, perpetual adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, the homilies and weekly bulletin articles have led many to a more reverent celebration of the Eucharist, the source and summit of our lives as Catholics, where we have the privilege of receiving Jesus’ Body and Blood to nourish us for our Christian journey. 

When we seek to grow in holiness, one great question to ask ourselves is: “How can we celebrate Holy Mass better?” That is, if we are going to be inspired by the depth of Catholic liturgy, then we need to remind ourselves over and over what an incredible gift we have been given in the Eucharist.  Secondly, how do we receive this wondrous gift of Our Lord in the Eucharist at Holy Mass?

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Church is blessed to celebrate this special Feast of Corpus Christi today.  So what are we celebrating? Today we celebrate the fact that Jesus is the Bread of Life. The Gospel reminds us that Christ feeds multitudes with bread.  In the Mass, our Lord feeds us with His own Body and Blood! Christ Himself gave us the Eucharist on the night of the Last Supper.  The Church has offered Holy Mass from then until now and the Church will offer Holy Mass until the very end of time. Why? She will do this simply because Jesus commanded us to “do this in remembrance of me”! 

What is “this” we do when our Lord says do “this?”  We attend Mass and we receive our Lord in Holy Communion.  That is what we are doing in remembrance of our Lord’s request.  In this Sacrament of Holy Communion, we receive our Lord’s Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity!  Mass is the time for every Catholic to “remember” our Eucharistic King in a miraculous way. When we receive our Lord in Holy Communion, we literally become more like Christ and move closer to the Kingdom.

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