Strive to enter by the narrow gate.

08-25-2013Pastor's LetterFr. Don Kline

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

A man asks Jesus, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" His question is not something new. Many people wonder if only a few people get to heaven or will almost everyone make it? Our Lord answers this question of our salvation. Today Our Lord speaks about people coming "from east and west, north and south" to "recline at the table in the kingdom of God." Some people hear verses like that and conclude that it is fairly easy to get into heaven, that a person would have to sin "big time" in order to wind up in hell. That is a comforting view.

Before we get too comfortable with this conclusion, listen to what else Jesus says to us. He says, "Strive to enter by the narrow gate." And he speaks about people who thought they had it made are actually locked out. Our Lord wants you and me to consider the possibility that we might not be saved. Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar - who was one of the gentlest of all theologians - put it this way: "It is indispensable that every individual Christian be confronted, in the greatest seriousness, with the possibility of his becoming lost."

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Light a Fire

08-18-2013Pastor's LetterFr. Don Kline

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Our Lord says, "I did not come to establish peace, but I have come to establish division." What? Did the Prince of Peace just say that? Did Jesus really come to establish division? Many people wrongly believe that Our Lord came or peace for good reason. The Sacred Scripture refer to Jesus and peace often. How can we make sense of this apparent contradiction?

Our Lord is speaking about what can cause division in people's lives. Our Lord is telling us that Truth can cause division in families' lives. For example, a member of a family may have discovered the truth about the Catholic Church. Most of his life, he has been told lies about the Church. Now, he comes to realize the truth. So he enters the Church. The problem is that the rest of the family doesn't see the truth as he sees it. They think he's out of his mind. The result is that the family is divided because of his decision to follow Our Lord. Truth causes division!

Another example would be a daughter who is pregnant wants to have an abortion. But her mother knows the truth. Her mother knows that this is another human being in the womb. So the mother does her best to save the child and the daughter does her best to get an abortion. In the process the two are divided which brings the entire family to be divided as well. Truth causes division!

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Be prepared. Be vigilant.

08-11-2013Pastor's LetterFr. Don Kline

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Today Our Lord reminds us to be vigilant, watchful, and on your guard. Sadly, many people are vigilant and watchful and on guard about things that in the end really don't matter. Our Lord invites us to watch for Him and the things of Heaven and to avoid sin and the devil.

Maybe you have heard the story about a demon assigned to tempt a young man. It was his first assignment so the "junior devil" discussed his strategy with a senior devil. "I know how to bring this young man down," he said, "I will convince him there is no God." The senior devil said, "That's fine for some, but it will not work for this young man. All he has to do is look at the night sky and he will realize that God exists." The junior tempter said, "Well, then I will convince him there is no devil." The senior tempter said, "That approach has more promise, but if he looks around his neighborhood, he will realize the devil exists." Then the senior tempter said, "Here's the best plan. Don't try to convince him that there is no God or that there is no devil. Just tell him there is no hurry."

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Catholic Academy for Life Leadership (C.A.L.L.)

08-04-2013Pastor's LetterBishop Thomas J. Olmsted

Dear Parents and Teens,

How blessed we are to be Catholic! With the constant assault on our youth from the current culture, it is difficult to hear the consistent and positive message of our Catholic faith when it teaches about life, love, and the value and dignity of each person. We need only look at the confusion regarding sexual behavior and its devastating effects on our teens, on marriages, on families, and on society to know we are in a battle. We want our teens to make it through their youth without stepping on a mine in this cultural minefield and especially to make it through their college years and into their future vocations with a thriving and growing faith.

Parents, as the first teachers of their children, now have the Catholic Academy for Life Leadership to help them in guiding their teens through these years and into a happy, healthy, and holy future. The Catholic Academy for Life Leadership (C.A.L.L.) is a three-year program that will meet just four times a year to offer high school students service and leadership opportunities, as well as formation in topics of life and love such as the Theology of the Body, relationships, marriage, the beauty of human biology, and bioethics. When they get these topics of life and love right, our youth will be better prepared for marriage, or the call to the priesthood or religious life. They will be presented with a Catholic worldview and furthered in their journey of understanding our faith, which is based on the knowledge that we are made to love and be loved in the image and likeness of God.

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