The Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - February 23, 2014

“Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Well, I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air; but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” 
1 Cor 9:25-27

There is something truly special about the Olympics. The games enthrall me. The stories, the skill, the sheer weight of a competition that only happens once every four years. I don’t think any other time you would find me standing and yelling at the TV during a cross country ski race. You definitely would not see any form of figure skating, but somehow even that catches my attention every Olympiad. There’s an element of admiration in the skill these athletes have. A definite respect for the work they've put in to even get there. A true sense of pride in our country.

What’s ironic is that these athletes are competing every year. There are circuits and world cups, qualifying and exhibitions, but I don’t pay any attention until there is a firehose of events at all hours on a couple channels. We fall into the same trap in our spiritual life. The big moments in our life get special attention. We fall on our knees and beg for guidance or strength, perseverance and courage. The rest of the time it’s humdrum. We should be in training. Always pushing, always growing, honing our techniques. Saints don’t spring out of the woodwork every 20 years, God creates new ones each day and He created one in you.

It’s true we don’t pay much attention to the athletes that finish out of the top ten. But even those competitors have done something astounding. I am quite sure that if you talk to them they are proud to have been on that stage, and they are hungry to get better for the next chance. We aren't in competition with St. Peter, or Francis, Agatha or Therese. These giants we will see on the podium. But I'd be darn happy to finish the race, and to be in their company, you can count on that. So catch some of the Olympics while they are still on. Then, get back to work, there is plenty of training to do before we are called up.

“Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own fl esh will from the flesh reap corruption; be he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.” Gal 6:7-9
-Fr. Benjamin Green

Keep Your Kids Safe Online Presentation, Wednesday!

IMPORTANT:  Wednesday, 7PM, New Gym

Does your child have a smart phone, IPod Touch, tablet or computer?  Do you know what all those apps on those devices do?  Do you know what your child is doing on the internet, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, SnapChat, etc?  Who else is looking at your child's pictures and profile?  Learn how to protect your children and yourself from the pitfalls of the internet and social media.  Blessed Sacrament School's Student Activities Council is proud to present Rebecca Martin, and FBI agent, trained in this area.  Her presentation is amazing and so helpful in protecting our children.  Child care will be provided.  Middle school kids will receive a homework pass for the class of their choosing if their parent attends.  We look forward to seeing you. 

New Bishop of Wichita

"As Pope Francis' first Consistory revs up, the longest Stateside vacancy has likewise been resolved: at Roman Noon, Papa Bergoglio named Msgr Carl Kemme (left), 53, vicar-general of Springfield in Illinois, as bishop of Wichita.

In the Kansas post leading 125,000 Catholics – home to one of the nation's largest crops of seminarians, a rare tuition-free school system funded through active stewardship and all around, an unusually energized ecclesial hotspot – Kemme succeeds Michael Jackels, who was named archbishop of Dubuque last April in one of Francis' first major US appointments.

Having pastored five parishes in Illinois' capital church, Kemme – a product of St Louis' Kenrick Seminary – was named vicar-general by then-Bishop George Lucas in 2002, while keeping his full-time ministry in the trenches. After serving as diocesan administrator for the year between Lucas' 2009 transfer to Omaha and BishopThomas Paprocki's arrival, the "Holy Goalie" kept today's appointee as his top deputy.

In a tweet announcing the move, Paprocki said that Kemme's ordination is set for May 1st."

WHISPERS IN THE LOGGIA

February 16, 2014 - The Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Each individual Christian and every community is called to be an instrument of God for the liberation and promotion of the poor, and for enabling them to be fully a part of society.  This demands that we be docile and attentive to the cry of the poor and to come to their aid.”
(Evangelii Gaudium 187)

This month you might feel like you are being hounded with requests for donations. There are a lot of groups doing various good works.  The Junior St. Vincent de Paul is having a warm clothing drive for the homeless; warm wool socks, hats and gloves are needed.  The Girl Scouts and grade school students are creatively
finding ways to raise money for the Walk in Sisters’ Shoes campaign. There are still spots left on the CYO mission trip.  If there are others, I apologize, I get a lot of emails. There is a temptation to shut it all out, or to give once and call it good.  I would like to encourage you on two fronts.  First, as such an integral part of the Gospel and of our evangelization it’s important that our children are raised with a concern for the poor.

These activities are a hands-on way for them to experience both the plight and the joy of doing something for the poor.  Each “drive” that you are asked to donate to means that these kids have been educated about some aspect of need in our society, and how their efforts mean something.  Why do the homeless need wool socks?  Well the homeless are out in the cold, do not have a lot of changes of clothes, and they need the properties of a wool sock that cotton socks don’t have. Second, the poor are not going to go away anytime soon.  These drives highlight a need, but you’ll notice other groups throughout the year.  The Knight’s of Columbus offer their brawn and brains.  The St. Vincent de Paul works tirelessly, often in the shadows, helping those in need.  Circles groups engage the effort in a very personal way. There is a fundamental need for us to address the issue of poverty. It can get overwhelming, and I know that eventually you might run out of “extra” to give to these groups, but persevere.  As long as the problem of poverty remains we have an obligation to address it.  I encourage you to take up the efforts yourself.  Join one of these groups, or get creative.  In the end we aren't throwing clothing, money, time, food, or whatever else at a problem, we are giving to a person.  We are giving to a very real, very serious need, that undermines the dignity of one of God’s loved ones.  Feel free to say no when you have to, as long as you can say yes, I have done what I can in my heart.

The Church has realized that the need to heed this plea is itself born of the liberating action of grace within each of us, and thus it is not a question of a mission reserved only to a few. “ The Church, guided by the Gospel of mercy and by love for mankind, hears the cry for justice and intends to respond to it with all her might.”  In this context we can understand Jesus’ command to his disciples: “You yourselves give them something to eat!” It means working to eliminate the structural causes of poverty and to promote the integral development of the poor, as well as small daily acts of solidarity in meeting the real needs which we encounter.  The word “solidarity” is a little worn and at times poorly understood, but it refers to something more than a few sporadic acts of generosity.  It presumes the creation of a new mindset which thinks in terms of community and the priority of the life of all over the appropriation of goods by a few. ” (Evangelii Gaudium 188) -Fr. Benjamin Green

Jesus and His Sacred Heart

Today, a Parishioner sculpted this "snow statue" of Jesus and His Sacred Heart. People from all over Wichita are stopping and taking pictures and asking what church this is. What a fabulous way to evangelize.  

February 9, 2014 - The Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Does Stewardship Undermine Faith?

There is a striking account of King David finding disfavor in the eyes of the Lord. In the second Book of Samuel, King David made the decision to command Joab to tour the tribes of Israel and “register the people, that I may know their number” (2 Samuel 24). Joab reported back to King David that there were 1.3 million men ready to serve in battle. This accounting was incredibly displeasing to the Lord. The Lord disciplined David by requiring a choice between three alternative grievous punishments.

At this point, the reader might be thinking, “God severely punished David for the decision to count the number of men ready to be activated for battle?” It would seem that counting the number of soldiers in one’s army would be the prudent decision of a commander.

So what was it about the counting that made for such a grievous sin? David’s counting of the soldiers was a violation of faith and trust in God. In the counting of the soldiers, David moved from faith in God’s support and strength to his own self-sufficiency. He took the work into his own hands and trusted in his own resources rather than God’s providential care. Accordingly, his pride reflected the violation of faith committed by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

In light of the circumstances of David’s rise and fall, does the Stewardship Way of Life undermine the faith God demands of a disciple? Stewardship is about recognizing and receiving God’s gifts and part of “recognizing” is to take an account of the talents and skills that we possess. If recognizing our talents results in an attitude of self-sufficiency as it did in King David then we have truly compromised faith and we are living a pseudo type of stewardship. In such a case, we will find ourselves as those who grew up with Jesus in his native place. Jesus “was amazed at their lack of faith” and he “was not able to perform any might deed there “ (Mark 6:6).

As long as recognizing one’s talents results in receiving them with gratitude from God as a gift, Stewardship will be a way of life that brings about great victory because God will be with us in the battle of life.

Ad majorem Dei gloriam,
Fr. John F. Jirak

Learning From The Homeless

Many of you know or have heard of Bob Johnson. He founded a street ministry that is active every day of the year. His group is open to anyone on Sunday afternoons. They meet at 1:30 p.m. at the tennis court parking lot in Riverside Park. Anybody is welcome to come help, so as you can imagine, it can be a bit chaotic, but it is amazing how it just all falls together. The first 30 minutes consist of a prayer, figuring out who has brought what and getting the hot meal organized. There are some homeless people that live at the park or under the bridge a short distance away. Once they have been served, the entire group caravans over to Nafzger Park and this is where the majority of the work begins. Trunks of cars open up to reveal used coats, scarfs, hats, gloves, socks, boots, toiletries and many other items. A pick-up truck hatch is opened and the homeless line up to receive a hot meal donated by individuals.

Several members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul have gotten involved and participate in these Sunday rituals. I think it is safe to say that we have all had our eyes opened up to what it is like out there. Of course, you have the people who have a substance abuse problem; some just can't seem to get it together. They are addicted to alcohol/drugs and use it as an escape from their life. I admit, they can be pretty fun to talk to, but the laughs are a mask to a much deeper pain; a pain that hopefully most of us will never know. Sadly, you see many Veterans, mostly from the Vietnam war. The ones I have spoken with talk a great deal about their younger years, but once the point in their life comes up that they entered the war, they tend to stop talking about themselves and eat quietly. You almost get the feeling that they think their life stopped during the Vietnam War and now they just exist and aren't truly alive. The eye-opener for all SVdP members who have spent a Sunday or two at the parks is how many working poor come to these events. The first few times I saw cars pull up and people get out to receive a new coat or a meal, I was a little put off.   I thought to myself, “if you have a car, surely you have a home and don't really need to be here."  I have never been more wrong in my life. I think these are the people who need this service the most. Many of these people have jobs and are doing what we as society have told them to do and that is “get a job.” Due to their jobs and the fact they work evenings, nights or weekends, they can't get to the pantries during working hours, or the one car they have is with the working adult while the other adult is at home with their children; this makes it impossible to get to the Lord's Diner. They make too much money to qualify for aid, but not enough to make ends meet. A lot of their money is tied up in high interest rate loans because they made the horrible mistake of going to “one of those places” for a cash advance to pay a gas or electric bill. Thus, the vicious circle begins and continues for most of them. While this is going on, their children see it and accept it as a way of life and will have a very difficult time breaking the cycle. I have no doubt that many of them made horrible decisions and would do anything to have the opportunity to do things over again, but none of us get to turn back the clock, so we are all left to play the hand we are dealt.

We see a man who comes for the meal, but more so because he wants people to talk to. He definitely has a colorful past. He joined a circus at the age of 13 after getting kicked out of his house by his abusive stepmother. He married at the age of 14 and eventually both his wife and daughter died. He turned to alcohol for comfort and is struggling to keep it together; he has been sober for 2 years. He has a cat, an apartment, odd jobs and this Sunday group; this is his life.

I think the most tragic story I have heard so far was from a man who told me about how horrible it is to be sitting on a park bench or on a sidewalk and have person upon person walk by him and look the other way. Trying to find the positive in something bad, I said something like at least they were not throwing things or cursing at him. His response sent a chill up my spine. He said he would much rather be cursed at or spit upon because at least then he was being acknowledged.

"The greatest injustice we have done to our poor people is that we think they are good for nothing; we have forgotten to treat them with respect, with dignity as a child of God.  People have forgotten what the human touch is, what is is to smile, for somebody to smile at them, somebody to recognize them, somebody to wish them well.  The terrible thing is to be unwanted" - Mother Teresa
-Gina Adams, Blessed Sacrament Parishioner

February 2, 2014 - The Presentation of the Lord

This year was the best March for LIfe I've been on.  It was my 7th march, 6 as a seminarian in exile out east. This was my first as a priest.  It had a different feel of course, but I can point out one moment that really stood out for me.

It was the beginning of the actual march, a group of women and a few men stepped out into the street.  They held high signs that said, I regret my abortion.  I was kind of taken aback.  I was proud of them, for their courage, for the obvious healing that had occurred in their lives, but I didn't know what to do.  I was so dumbstruck I asked a kid next to me what do we do?  I don't think we should cheer, how are we supposed to react? The the kids yelled the most perfect response.  Something I was embarrassed I didn't think of, something that started with a few and grew.  "We love you!"

The March for Life is a powerful event. An awakening of the church militant, and a great sign to us who may wonder what is ahead for our country.  But, if we go to the march, or stand up here, ready for a fight we'll find one.  If we seek to impose our teaching, to bend another's will we won't find success.  It is frustrating that hundreds of thousands of people march every year, no matter the weather, and nothing seems to happen.  We have contradicting laws, and it seems to obvious why doesn't everyone get it?  The answer lies in the mouths of those outh.  We love you.

It's a conversion of heart.  Logic aside we have to learn how to respond with love.  I'm still figuring that out, thank goodness there were kids from our diocese that knew what to do.  That's something that should give us great hope, and something we can be very proud of.

"Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God.  He who does not love does not know God; for God is love.  In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not taht we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the expiation for our sins.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."  (1 John 4:7-11)

MISSION STATEMENT: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE UNASHAMED

(Author unknown)

I AM A PART of the Fellowship of the Unashamed.

The die has been cast. The decision has been made. I have stepped over the line. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is in God’s hands. I am finished and done with low living, small planning, the bare minimum, smooth knees, mundane talking, frivolous living, selfish giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, applause, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, the best, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith. I lean on Christ’s presence. I love with patience, live by prayer, and labor with the power of God’s grace.

My face is set. My gait is fast, my goal is heaven. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my Guide is reliable, and my mission is clear.

I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up, let up or slow up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and spoken up for the cause of Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus. I am a Catholic. I must go until He comes, give until I drop, speak out until all know, and work until He stops me. And when He returns for His own, He will have no difficulty recognizing me. My banner is clear: I am a part of the Fellowship of the Unashamed.

Adapted from the original (author unknown) by Patrick Madrid

http://patrickmadrid.com/