Letter from the Pastor

                Our Catholic Church canonizes saints largely because successful models of Christian living are most helpful to us as we try to be better Catholics.  Saints are given to us not so much for our admiration as for our imitation.                 During the month of October, the church honors many saints.  St. Theresa of the Child Jesus was called by Pope Pius X “the greatest saint of modern times.”  She was born Marie-Francoise Therese Martin on January 2, 1873.  She was the last child of two devout and loving parents.  At the age […]

            A great life doesn’t come easy.  The scriptures say even of Jesus that He “learned obedience from the things He suffered.”  Behind every life is a story of struggle and self-discipline and willingness to try one more time.  Look at George Herman Ruth.  He is a classic example of what I am saying.  Most people know him as the “The Babe,” one of the most notable figures in American baseball.  Yankee Stadium is sometimes called “the house that Ruth built.”  He is most remembered for hitting 714 career homeruns.  In 1927 he hit 60 […]

                Is the Christian life primarily a matter of faith or a matter of works?  Which is more important – what we believe or what we do?                 If a woman believing an attractive appearance is a necessary part of life, that being beautiful is essential to her social salvation, then she’ll work at it.  She will spend her money on clothes and cosmetics.  She will read articles that offer all sorts of beauty hints.  She will exercise to keep her body in shape.  She will sit in front of a mirror and […]

                A little boy once asked if God made the alligators.  The standard and predictable answer was given, “Yes, son, God made everything.”  Then the little boy responded with one more question.  “Why did He make them so mean?”                 Life is fraught with mystery.  Everywhere the question, “Why?” raises its head.  Why war?  Why poverty? Why disease? Why earthquakes? Why floods? Why human suffering and heartbreak manifested in a thousand ways?  All of these are questions to which we do not have an answer.                 We seem to live by the clock.  […]

                A few years ago, a magazine published by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes carried a story called, “The Ultimate Protest.”  It was a parable of people’s protest against God.  In the story, a throng of humanity was gathered on a vast field.  There they were divided into little, grumbling, complaining groups.  The air was heavy with hostility.  Some of them were saying, “It must be wonderful to live like a God, to be in heaven where there isn’t any darkness or sin or suffering.  Since He lives there, and we live here, […]