From the corner office for Feb. 12, 2023

From the Corner Office is Father Mike’s weekly bulletin column.

The Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time continues the Sermon on the Mount with the passage from the Gospel of Matthew that is the more challenging portion. The reading of The Beatitudes, we’ve mentioned, gives us the guidelines – the road map to our journey. These more challenging guides also help us on our journey. The passage from the Book of Sirach reminds us that God does not have us or (even) want us to act unjustly – it is our choice. St. Paul even tells the Church of Corinth that God gives us the wisdom to choose good or evil. We call this free choice. We can completely decide and choose how we act. The question is, “How do we act?” As parents we often know how we would like our children to act. As children we very often know how our parents would want us to act – but we think it is better to act otherwise. We turn our back on our parent’s wishes for our action, and this is (basically) sin. The turning away from God, is sin. Do we teach this to our children or do we just let it go? Echo the Responsorial Psalm as it says, “Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!”

Fr. Mike

From the Pastor’s Desk:

Thank you to the liturgical ministers who come each week to help us all celebrate the liturgies. Last week in the homily I mentioned about the ministry meeting and some of the “more challenging” adjustments that we are all facing. We are a community growing older and growing together. The hope is to always be a welcoming, non-judgmental, and a mercy-filled community. That may often call for us to be forgiving and stretched “well outside” of our comfort zone. From the greeters, ushers, lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, to the musicians and singers – thank you. We have a long way to go to help more people engage at a deeper level, but I think we’ll do it all together. If you feel drawn and called to grow, minster, and help others, please let us know. It is always helpful to have more ministers of everything!