Feast of the Ascension

Feast of the Ascension

“…he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for ‘the promise of the Father’” (Acts) “And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you clothed with power from on high.” (Luke)

Stay in the city, wait. The Lord makes it clear as he ascends that the apostles must wait. Why? Because he knows in the enthusiasm of the moment they will be tempted to run out and begin preaching Jesus Christ, this Jesus Christ whom they just saw ascend to Heaven. But they will be doing it by their own power, their own resources, their own energy. And he knows that soon that energy will flag, soon the sufferings that are sure to accompany anyone who witnesses to Jesus will be upon them. Without his power they will falter and fall. Wait. Pray. Wait for the promise of the Father.

And so we know that they waited and prayed for nine days from the day after Ascension Thursday to the day when the Holy Spirit came down upon them, on Pentecost. They waited and prayed for nine days. This was the first Novena of the Church. Probably many of you have prayed a Novena – a nine day prayer – before, this is where it began, for nine days that Apostles prayed and on the tenth the Holy Spirit, the Promise of the Father, was given to them.

At the Ascension God wanted more for them than what they had, and he knew that they would be content with all of the happenings of the last forty days, and they wouldn’t seek any more unless he told them: wait, stay in the city.

The Christian author C.S. Lewis once wrote that the problem with us is not that we desire too much for God, it is that we do not desire enough. We are all too easily satisfied.
God wants a life of joy and freedom in the Holy Spirit for us and we’re content with avoiding suffering and seeking pleasure. He wants this wondrous life for us but we will be content in this life if we minimize sufferings and maximize pleasures.

He wants a life of deep love and union for us, in our families, in our relationships, in our relationship with Him, but we are all too content with lust, with the advantage of using someone. He wants much more than what we find ourselves content to settle for.
He wants a life of glory and power for us and we’re content with American Idol and Dancing with the Stars.

God wants to set the world ablaze through us. Look around at these stained-glass windows. Men and women just like us with their own shortcomings and faults but the difference was they were not content with life. They sought more, they sought the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives and they waited and prayed, waited and prayed for the Spirit.

We must wait for the Spirit and we must pray for the Spirit. And in our prayer we must be sincere. This has been a theme of Pope Benedict lately, that we must be people of sincerity in our prayer. Sincerity is one of those neat words in which if we look at the Latin we can see what the word means. Sincerity – sin / cerity or cereus

Sin in Latin means “without,” cereus means “wax” – “without wax.” And what this refers too is that in early times, when merchants were selling marble, the more crooked ones would, if they were selling a piece that was chipped would melt a candle into the divot and then sell it as an unblemished piece of marble. The buyer wouldn’t find out until after a few temperature changes the wax fell out and there was a chipped piece of marble. To be sincere in our prayer, in our relationship with God, is to be before the Lord without any wax. That is coming before Him honestly and completely – admitting our sinfulness, our lack of faith, our lack of love for Him, not trying to brush over our feelings – but being completely honest in our prayer with Him. This is humility and the Holy Spirit cannot resist humility. We need only thing of our Blessed Mother. Who more than she was the humblest creature ever to live? And who more than she was filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit cannot resist humility, humility, sincerity is like a sponge to the Holy Spirit. If we humble ourselves, if we be honest in our prayer, bring our failings to the Lord in the Confessional, not try to put on a “happy Catholic face” the Holy Spirit will be able to come into us.

We must remember this too in our relationships with one another. Too often we try to put on a show, a cover, we think that to be Catholic we have to appear to have it all together. No, that’s not the lives of the saints, the lives of the saints are the lives of people completely honest about themselves and about their faults, and yet they were constantly striving to grow in holiness. As the saying goes: the Church is not a hotel for saints but a hospital for sinners. The Church is not a hotel for saints but a hospital for sinners.

During this homily I also wanted to talk about some parish structure changes that we are going to be making. This too is a result of sincerity, of a sincere look at our parish as it currently is. Parish Council and I have come to the conclusion that some things are not working and we need to admit that. In some areas of the parish, the Spirit is no longer there and we need to clip those. Pope John Paul II prophesied a new Springtime for the Church and in that springtime he said the Church must begin admitting where the Holy Spirit is not, and prune those branches off of the Church, all the while, looking for where the “Promise of the Father” is in the Church, and nourishing those movements.

In our own parish our commission system is not working. The way we have been organized, if you didn’t know, is that all of the parish organizations fall under five commissions. Commissions meet once each month, and a person belonging to these organizations is supposed to commit to a three year term, and several other commitments. We feel the Lord is leading us to end this system and simply have each organization focus only on what that organization is for, with no term commitments or additional meetings other than what is needed to fulfill the mission of that individual organization. It is recognized that the Holy Spirit often stirs up one specific desire in a person’s heart, a desire to do one specific task, or promote one specific devotion. It is hoped and expected that with the new set-up people will be more free to follow that desire without having to incur a bunch of additional tasks and commitments. You can read more about the details of this in my column in the bulletin.

The second change is to the mission of parish council. In the past the council has been primarily about management and we intend to move it more towards leadership or vision. That is, in management the focus is on “are we doing things right?” The focus in leadership is: “are we doing the right things?” Thus parish council will be more about praying and discerning what the Holy Spirit is doing in the parish – what things need pruned, what things need nourished, and so on. We will also have a different way of electing members. You’ll see at the entrance of the church, brochures about Council with a place where you can put your name or the name of someone whom you think would be good on Council. Drop that in the offertory and then the week before June 10, we’ll call to confirm that the people named would be willing to serve if so asked. Then on June 10, all of the names will be placed in a hat, we’ll say a prayer, and like the Apostles choosing the replacement for Judas, we will trust that the Spirit guides the process, and we’ll pull out two names. These will become the new members to Council.

The idea in all of this is that the Holy Spirit is the gift of the Father to the Church. And we must be waiting, praying, and expecting Him to work in the Church. Pope John Paul II has prophesied a New Springtime, we must do our part to make that a reality, by sincerely praying, seeking His will, and following it wherever it leads – as individuals, as a parish, and as a Church.

Sixth Sunday of Easter - Mother's Day

Sixth Sunday of Easter - Mother's Day

“Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.”

Who more than our Blessed Mother Mary fulfills this saying of Jesus’? We are told she pondered over God’s word, that she kept His word in her heart, and always said “Yes” to the will of the Father. God came and made His dwelling in her, in a greater sense than in anyone else. Not only did He dwell in her spiritually but even physically for the first nine months of His earthly life. Mary and God were in union during her pregnancy and of course, like all mothers and their children, Mary and Jesus stayed in a deep union throughout His entire earthly life. Unity, it is a gift of mothers, it is a gift women are uniquely blessed with – the virtue, the ideal, the desire for unity is deep within them. They bring unity to the home, to the family, to the community.

I remember when growing up that anytime my brothers and I got into a fight it was mom who would intervene, who would mediate between us. She would come to us and tell us “he didn’t really mean that” “go say you’re sorry” and so on. She was always working to restore unity among her children. I can remember too, whenever my dad would get in arguments with my uncles or aunts, it would be my grandmother who would stop in and pay a visit. She too urging him to call the one he had argued with, or she would try to soothe over the wounds, and bring her children back to unity. So often when the mother of a family is absent or passes away, the family begins to fragment, to split in different directions, as no longer is the mother there with her natural tendency towards bringing about unity. Mother is so important to the unity of the family.

Mary as Mother of Jesus and our mother is no different. Think of her role in three crucial aspects of the life of Jesus and the early Church.

The first: the beginning of Jesus’ public life. It is not Jesus who is keenly watching the events of the wedding of Cana. It is his mother, Mary. She is the first to notice that the wine is running dry, and she knows that once the wine is gone, the party, the community celebration is over, and people will split and go back to their own homes. So she tells Jesus. Jesus, who apparently wasn’t watching the situation nor was very concerned with it, responds, “Woman, what is it to me?” Mary, in her Jewish motherly way, doesn’t tell him directly what to do, but indirectly, by telling the stewards, “Do whatever He tells you.” The ball is back in Jesus’ court and He goes on to work His first public miracle, which will begin His work of our salvation. It is a mother’s concern for unity that begins this path.

Then, the end of Jesus’ public life. At the Cross. We are told, standing at the foot of the cross was Mary, and gathered around her were the remnant faithful, a few other women and John, all else had fled. Mary stands gathering the few faithful around her. Jesus, looking down from the Cross says to her “Woman, behold you son,” indicating the “beloved disciple.” The beloved disciple, John the evangelist, refers to himself as “the beloved disciple” so that all of us who call ourselves Jesus’ disciples could see ourselves in his stead. Jesus nods to us and tells his mother, “behold your son, behold your daughter.” He then turns to the beloved disciple, to each of us, and says “Son, daughter, behold your mother.” He gives us Mary as our Mother. Mary’s new role will be keeping in unity the brothers and sisters of Jesus; the sons and daughters of God, and now of Mary.

This new role is played out in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles when we are told that there gathered with Mary were the Apostles and together they prayed for the coming of the Holy Spirit. There is Mary with her new sons and daughters gathered around her praying for the coming of the promised Holy Spirit. The Mother’s knack for unity.

The same is true of Mother Church. We call the Church, “mother Church” because we are born through her at the womb of the Baptismal fount, and she works untiringly for unity among her children. Truth and unity.

We see this concern for unity in the early Church in today’s reading: “Because there arose no little dissension and debate” – the disciples went to the Apostles for clarity. These disciples saw that the issue they were struggling with was pulling the unity of the Church apart. They realized that some things are too important to just agree to disagree – some issues in the family must be confronted directly if the family is to stay together. And so they go to Mother Church, to the Apostles, the first pope and bishops, and they ask for a decision. The disciples remember that as spoken in today’s Gospel, Jesus would give them the Holy Spirit to recall all things, to make sure they always taught the Truth. We are told that the council of Apostles declared, “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us.” Think of that statement: “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us.” It is apparent that the Apostles are well aware that when they speak on these issues it is not them alone, but God Himself speaking through them. Truth has been discerned, the fragmentation must end – unity is restored. Without a mother church we can all too painfully see what will happen. We need only look to our Protestant brethren, who after rejecting Mother Church in the 16th century began fragmenting, fragmenting, and continue to fragment to this day into thousands and thousands of denominations. Mom is necessary for unity. And He prayed that we all be one.

Today as we celebrate Mother’s Day, we celebrate the gift of the Church, our Mother; the gift of Mary, our Mother; and the gift of our earthly mothers. We ask the Lord to help us make a reality the unity they all strive to bring into our lives.

First Communion Homily

NOTE: This homily is the homily from both First Communion at St. Peter's and for the most part First Communion at St. Mary's-Waverly.


(to the First Communicants) How many of you know who St. Thomas is?
(no hands)

St. Thomas was one of the greatest geniuses in the Church. One of the greatest geniuses in the history of the world. He used to have four secretaries taking his notes, because his mind was so fast, he would be covering several subjects at once. He also had a great love for the Eucharist, for Our Lord’s Presence in Holy Communion. He wrote a song called Tantum Ergo, a song we sing every Thursday evening after the day spent in Adoration of Jesus in the Eucharist. In this song there is a line that goes like this: “what the senses fail to fathom, let us grasp by faith’s consent.” So what does that mean Fr. Hahn? How many senses do we have (“5”). Yes five senses, but are they able to fathom, to recognize what the host is? Do our senses tell us this is Jesus? (“no”). Let us grasp by faith’s consent. Let us know it is Jesus by our faith, our faith in Jesus’ words ‘This is my Body, this is my Blood.’

What are some of the senses?
(“sight”) – Does the host look like the Body of Jesus? Like how we picture him in the Gospels? “no” - ok, so they fail there, it looks like bread.

What’s another?
“smell” – If we smell the host, does it smell like a human body? “no” ok so our senses fail there again. Smells like bread.

“taste” – If we taste the host, does it taste like human flesh? “NO!” – no, I don’t think we would be so eager to receive if it did, so no, our senses fail again, they say it tastes like bread.

“ touch” – If you touch the host, does it feel like human flesh in your hands or on your tongue? – “no” – no it feels like bread doesn’t it.

“hearing” – If we put the host up to our ear, can we hear Jesus speaking to us? “No!” – no, it sounds like bread, no noise at all.

So all of our senses fail. Only our Faith tells us that this is Jesus. Now I’m going to tell you about a rock I once had, and I hope it will help you understand the Eucharist more.

This was like any ordinary rock but there was something special about it, because do you know what it felt like if you picked it up?

It felt like…….a rock. It was kind of heavy like a rock. But if you were to taste it, do you know what it tasted like?

It tasted like….a rock. Ever wrecked your bikes on gravel? Yeah, you know what rocks taste like – well that is what it tasted like. However, if you were to take this rock and listen to it, do you know what it sounded like?

It sounded like….a rock. It was quiet, it didn’t make any noise. However, if you smelled it, do you know what it smelled like?

Like a rock. Nothing different. And if you were to look closely at it, do you know what it looked like?

Yep, like a rock. But….it was not a rock at all. It was where I kept my key. It was a secret key holder. But the only way you would have known it was if I told you. You could have picked up – smelled it, touched it, tasted it, looked at it, and put it next to your ear – and you would have thought it a rock. You would have had to trust my word, that no this wasn’t a rock, your senses were failing you, it was really a keyholder.

Now, I’m usually pretty honest, I don’t tell too many lies, maybe a few lies about the size of a fish or two that I catch, but Jesus doesn’t even lie about that. Jesus tells the truth always. And Jesus tells us “This is my Body” and “This is my Blood.” It is the Word of God that tell us what the Eucharist is.

So the next question is: why? Why would Jesus become food?
Now if I stand over here and wave at you, it means I probably know you and I am friendly. Now if I walk over here, and shake your hand – it means I probably know you more, I am placing my hand in yours. But what do you do if you haven’t seen your Grandpa or Grandma in a long time, and they come to visit? “Hug them!” Yes, you run and you embrace them and hug them – you want to be even closer to them. This is what Jesus is doing – he wants to be so close to us – to hug us so closely that He enters into us, we become one with Him, and so He makes himself food that this might happen.

How many of you like pizza?
Me too. And where is the pizza after you eat it? Yes, it is in you, it has become part of you. Calories and all, for better or for worse, you and that pizza have become one. Food unites us. Jesus, God Himself becomes food so that we can become One with Him. Amazing isn’t it! The God who created everything around us, everything we see, can touch, can hear, everything – makes himself a little piece of food so that we can become One with Him.

Therefore we must approach Him with wonder and awe. God Himself is our Food. That is why when we come forward we make a bow in reverence and then we either open our mouths and place out our tongues so that the priest or minister can place the host there, or we form a throne with our hands in which to receive our King.

My prayer for you today is that you keep your zeal and your joy for receiving Jesus, and that by your own witness you help all of us remember what an incredible gift we receive when we receive Jesus in Holy Communion.

Fifth Sunday of Easter - Homily for the Boy Scout Centenary Celebration

Fifth Sunday of Easter

NOTE: This was a homily given to the Boy Scouts at the Centenary Celebration hosted by the Simon Kenton Council at the Ross County fairgrounds. The camporee had over 4000 scouts there. It was my honor to celebrate Mass for about 400 Catholic scouts.

I have a few questions for you:

How many of you visited the US Army display? (most hands go up)
How many of you fired the virtual semi-automatic rifle? (a number of hands go up)
How many of you visited the US Marines display? (most hands go up)
How many of you learned some judo from them? (a number of hands go up)
How many of you threw tomahawks today? (most hands go up)
How many of you fired guns today? (a good number of hands go up)

How many of you think if Jesus were here, he would have gone to any of those events?
(laughter, and just a few hands up)

I do. I think he would probably have went to all of them. Do you know why I think Jesus would have gone to those events? Because he is a guy. And guys love anything that has to do with battle. It’s deep within us. In fact I would go further and I would bet that every guy here has a desire for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue.

It’s been in us from all time. Think of the ageless stories and myths of the damsel in distress, and the knight who must fight the evil sorcerer to rescue the beauty. Or the valiant knight who must fight and slay the dragon in order to rescue the town, the people whom he loves.

Why is this in every one of us?
Because we are made in the image and likeness of our Father. This is the story of God and His People.

It all begins back in a Garden. In the book of Genesis we are told that God created Adam and said “It is good.” Then God created Eve along with Adam, and said “It is very good.” Adam and Eve, the first of His People, here was His beauty, here were the ones He loved greatly. And then enters the serpent, Satan seduces and leads God’s beauty away from Him, entraps His Bride…and the rest of salvation history is about a God so fiercely in love with His Beauty, His Bride, His People, that He will fight for them, He will fight for them unto His own death on a Cross.

We just heard from the Book of Revelation about His People, His Church, coming down out of Heaven, adorned as a Beautiful Bride for her husband. The Beauty of the Story. But that is chapter 21 of Revelation. Do you know what the first 20 chapters are about?

Battle, fierce battle, probably the most violent, bloody book of the Bible. It is the account of the war that is being waged between God and Satan, between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. It is about the battle for the salvation of the Beauty.

So what can we learn from this?

First, God fights for you. God is fighting for you right now and God will fight for you unto His death. He will not give up the battle for you in this earthly life.

Secondly, you are His sons and daughters (as there were some female explorer scouts there). You were made in His image. You were made for this, and especially the guys, you were created for battle – this is the truth of your heart. It is created in the image of God’s own heart. You were made to do the same.

Christianity is not about being nice and just coasting into Heaven. If we think that, we’ve missed the whole point – go back and read the Scriptures, listen to the Faith of the Church. The message of Christianity is that a battle is raging. A battle for our souls. A battle between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darknesss.

What happens if you take a soldier and send him out into a field but neglect to tell him that there is a battle going on? (from the crowd: “he’s history”)

Exactly. He’s dead. It’s over. And the same is true in this spiritual battle. If we don’t realize that there is a battle raging, that Satan is out to get us and every one of God’s People, we’re going to lose. We’re going to be killed in this battle.

That passage from the Acts of the Apostles also reminds us how a good army works. There is Paul and Barnabas travelling around strengthening the others. Encouraging them. “There will be many hardships, hang in there. We’re fighting together” Encouragement. We need to be encouraging one another in this battle.

The Battle ultimately is for that beautiful bride we just heard about - The Church, God’s People. Now some of you will go on to get married. Your battle for the beauty will also include a battle for your wife and for your family. You were created to fight for them, to fight for them that they might be safe in the kingdom of God. This is what you were created for.

But I want to conclude by talking about the priesthood. This is where you enter into the very role of Christ the Bridegroom and you are called to pour out your life for His Bride the Church. I ask you to pray and ask God if He might be calling you to this. Not all of you will be called. Maybe a few of you…..will be called to married life. OK, maybe a few will be called to priesthood, whatever the case, be praying and asking God to show you. Because in the priesthood you will spend your days, nearly every day, on the frontline of this battle. You will know that a spiritual war is raging. And you will know the high stakes of this war.

Everyday you will be able to offer, if we might call it this, the nuclear weapon of the Church’s arsenal, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass – where Christ’s blood is poured out, where His sacrifice is made present – where His victory is planted in time.

You will be able to offer the sacrament of Confession. To hear the sins, the struggles and defeats of the battle. You will be able to bind up the wounds and strengthen your fellow soldiers, so that they might be prepared to enter back into the battle. You will be able to make present the power and mercy of God which turns the defeats into victories.

You will be able to be with people, as I was only last night, as they are in their final hours. As they are about to cross from this life into eternity. A place where the battle can often get fierce. And you will be able to bring the strength of the sacraments to them, to assist them in this final battle of their life.

You will preach and teach. You will awaken hearts that do not know Christ, seek to bring those fully to Him who listen only lukewarmly, and you will be able to strengthen all of those who fight valiantly for Him. You will spend your days on the frontlines of the most important battle of eternity.

Pray. Ask God if this might be your call. We need more priests who can be there to provide for the rest of God’s army – to provide the sacraments, the prayer, the Word of God.

Finally, regardless of whatever vocation you are called to: be it priesthood, religious life, married life, or single life, never forget that you were created for battle, for adventure, to rescue the beauty. For you are fighting for a kingdom of Light, a kingdom of Truth, the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.

At the end of Mass:
I want you to remember no matter what battles you will face in life or are facing at this time, God is right along with you – fighting for and with you – and he will fight for you unto his death. And also remember whose heart you have been given. Satan will try to lie to you, to tell you that you are someone whom you are not, that you are weak, that you cannot win the battle. Remember that you are sons of God, your heart has been created in His Image. You were made to fight!

Fifth Sunday of Easter - Bishop's Annual Appeal - Waverly

Fifth Sunday of Easter - Bishop's Annual Appeal at St. Mary's Waverly

NOTE: Once again, this is a homily on the Bishop's Annual Appeal - this is specifically for St. Mary parish in Waverly. Though for the most part it is very close to the one for St. Peter's from last weekend. So again, unless you are from St. Mary parish in Waverly, there is probably not much point in reading it.

I want to summarize a few points of the Bishop’s message for the diocese and then give my own personal comments on the BAA and what I would like to do with the monies that will come back if we go over our goal.

First. The bishop above all wants to thank everybody for their generous support of the Appeal and for their stewardship in general in caring for the material needs of the Church. He points out that with the hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the diocese was able to send more than $1 million in financial support. And he points out this was done not by a concerted effort to promote and plea for money, but through people’s attention to the promptings of the Spirit and their own recognition that when one member of the Body suffers, all the members suffer.

This sense of being part of One Body, is the basis of the theme for this year’s BAA – “One in the Heart of Christ.” The BAA reminds us that we are part of a greater community. As a church there are a number of things that we need to do at a level higher than that of the parish. For example, educate our future priests, provide food and services for the poor in areas where parishes can’t handle the overwhelming demands, and help coordinate Catholic education, social work, and other services. This appeal is where the resources to do such work come from. For this reason, the goal for this year’s BAA is $5.2 million. Our parish’s share of doing our part for the greater community of the diocese of Columbus, is $8,143.02. And I will pitch in the two cents.

With that being said, I would now like to discuss why I would like us to aim not for $8,143.02 but for $12,000. Last year we basically pledged right under the target – about 95%. If we go over target, everything over our goal comes back to us without the diocese retaining the normal 5% tax. So anything over the goal comes back to us dollar for dollar. To reach our parish goal of $12,000, I am asking each family to consider making a commitment of $250.

Each family is asked to see this as part of their tithing promise to God. As has been clear from the Scriptures, the Lord wants the first tenth of our income to be given back to Him as a sign of our gratitude in recognition that all of our resources are first and foremost his gifts, and that we trust he will give us what we need as we need it. It is between you and God how that gift is made – Church, outside charities, special gifts to those in need, etc. But Scripture is clear on the point that we need to give our first tenth to God in some way or another.

“One in the Heart of Christ.” The true heart of our Catholic Faith, the source and the summit of our Christian life, is what we are doing right now – celebrating the Eucharist – the Sacrifice of Christ made present – the worship of the Lamb who was slain. This is the heart of who we are. I would like our focus for the coming year to be on trying to find ways to help make this ever more the place where every parishioner has a meaningful encounter with God each Sunday. This involves everything from the liturgy and how it is carried out to the church building itself and how conducive it is to leading us into worship.

We are currently upgrading the sound system to help us in this area to hear more fully the Word of God and the prayers of the Mass, and to be led more fully in the singing for worship. We are also hoping to renovate this room – and help it more fully become part of the sacristy – where the sacred vessels would be stored and the priest and servers would have more room to prepare for the Mass. I would also like to use any excess funds we get back not only to help pay for that but also to pay for restoring our statues. And down the line, we will be also looking at the possibility of a hardwood floored sanctuary. The idea is to help remind us that we are in a place that is different from all other places in our life – this is where we encounter the Eucharistic Lord – this is where God makes himself sacramentally present to us every Sunday, (and Wednesday).

This is what it means to be Catholic, and nothing we do as Catholics, is more important than gathering in church to worship our Lord at Mass. It is as the Second Vatican Council reminded us, “The Source and the Summit of the whole Christian life.” For that reason I would like us to focus on the Church and the liturgy with whatever excess monies we would receive back from the BAA.

As the saying goes, “The good news is we have all the money to do these projects….the bad news is…it’s still in your pockets.” Therefore I am asking each family to consider giving a sacrificial gift of at least $250 ($20-$25/month. I know that not all families are in a position to give this, and so I ask that those families who can do more, to please consider doing so. With the BAA we help the diocese and we can help to continue to beautify our own church so that our worship will continue to deepen in experience of the Lord. I thank you in advance for whatever you can give. I simply ask that you ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to give what He wants you to give through this specific channel of returning to Him His first tenth.

This is a special year for us, when we as a parish, our able to give back to the diocese a return on the priests that it has sent us, as one of St. Mary’s parishioners is ordained to the priesthood and sent to serve the diocese as a priest. But we also remember that neither he, nor I, would have been educated as priests, if it were not for the BAA. Some things cannot be done at the parish level.

I will ask our BAA chairs, Bob and Jeri Lagnese, to address us at the end of Mass as to how to specifically make this gift. My request to you is simply that in your prayer, you ask the Lord to guide you in how he wants you to be a steward specifically of his church as you consider a gift for the BAA.