A Wise and Understanding Heart

07-30-2023Weekly Reflection© LPi Fr. John Muir

Our culture seems more polarized and divided than ever. Into this wounded situation, our Catholic faith has a healing remedy to offer: the gift of wisdom. When the Lord offers to give King Solomon anything the monarch desires, he requests “an understanding heart” (1 Kings 3:9). In his polarized situation, the King doesn’t ask for power to defeat his enemies. He asks for a wise and understanding heart to judge right from wrong. This wisdom is elevated and fulfilled in Jesus who teaches us to bring forth “both the new and the old” (Matthew 13:52).

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Patience is Rooted in Hope

07-23-2023Weekly Reflection© LPi Fr. John Muir

Life, like the church, is often burdened with evil, smallness, and impurities. The Lord’s parables give us a hope-filled perspective on all three.

Evil: in Jesus’ parable about the good farmer whose enemy plants weeds at night, Jesus tells us that God is not the cause of evil but permits evil to exist with good out of his patient love. He will finally deal with it, but his love lets things stay messy for a time.

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Accept Jesus

07-16-2023Weekly Reflection© LPi Fr. John Muir

It’s not uncommon to hear people complain that we Catholics often fail in communicating our faith. Fair enough. We can and should improve there. But it’s interesting to notice that Jesus himself was implicitly accused by his disciples of a similar failure. This week in Matthew’s gospel they are perplexed that he speaks to the crowds in ambiguous parables.

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Come to me and I will give you rest

07-09-2023Weekly Reflection© LPi Fr. John Muir

Do you ever feel restless? I certainly do. Daily tasks and challenges, but also the more basic demand of simply existing — sooner or later, this can all feel crushing and tire us out.

Which is why Jesus’ words are such stunningly good news: “Come to me all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). How vastly weird that this man speaks as though he is capable of giving us the deep repose we desire. Is his claim the height of absurd grandiosity? No, because next he immediately proclaims that he is “meek and humble of heart.” We here touch a mystery: Jesus is capable of giving us rest because he is the one who forever reposes in the heart of God the Father. He is “yoked” to the Father in his divinity. But he is humbly “yoked” to us, sharing in our humanity.

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A Prophet’s Reward

07-02-2023Weekly Reflection© LPi Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman

“Move back in with us until you save enough for a decent house,” my mother told me over and over again as the birth of my second child neared.

My little family was quickly outgrowing our rented space, but the housing market in our area was a nightmare for first-time homebuyers. As appealing as the offer was, I kept refusing, convinced that my mother didn’t understand the chaos, disruption, and loss of personal space that such a move would mean for her and my dad.

I was wrong — she did. And eventually she wore me down. When my son was three months old my family of four moved back into my old bedroom. My parents made an office space for my husband in the basement, and they converted their den into a playroom for two of the loudest children you will ever meet. They told us we could stay as long as we needed to (it ended up being two years). They greeted us with love and warmth every morning and never made us feel like we were an inconvenience.

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Heartfelt Thanks to Our Church Community for the Benevolent Donations

06-25-2023Weekly ReflectionRev. Emmanuel I. Ihemedu

Dear Church Family,

I hope this letter finds you all in good health and high spirits.
It is with a mixture of sorrow and gratitude that I write to you today. Recently, my family suffered a tragic loss. My cousin, Odinaka, was cruelly taken from us through senseless violence in Nigeria. His sudden and heartbreaking departure left us all reeling and, admittedly, struggling to meet the financial burdens of the unexpected funeral costs.

In such a challenging time, I am deeply moved and humbled by the remarkable display of generosity, compassion, and unity this church community has demonstrated.

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The harvest is abundant

06-19-2023Weekly Reflection© LPi Fr. John Muir

In the backyard of the house where I live with other priests, there is a lemon tree which produces a huge amount of fruit. One evening in the spring I needed some lemons for a chicken dish. I glanced from the kitchen and saw the tree bursting with large, bright, gorgeous lemons, hanging thick on seemingly every branch. Turning to Fr. Bob (I’ll change his name to protect the innocent) who sat on the couch, I said, “Father, could you pick a few lemons for me?” He said sure and into the backyard he went. He returned a few minutes later empty-handed. “John, there’s no lemons. Sorry.” I said, “What are you talking about?” I looked again and saw the grapefruit tree on the other side of the yard, which had recently been picked clean of fruit. He didn’t see the abundant fruit because he was looking in the wrong place!

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Happy Father's Day

06-16-2023Weekly Reflection

God our Father, we give you thanks and praise for fathers young and old. We pray for young fathers, newly embracing their vocation; may they find courage and perseverance to balance work, family and faith in joy and sacrifice. We pray for fathers around the world whose children are lost or suffering; may they know that the God of compassion walks with them in their sorrow. We pray for men who are not fathers but still mentor and guide us with fatherly love and advice. We remember fathers, grandfathers and greatgrandfathers who are no longer with us but who live forever in our memory and nourish us with their love. Amen.

The Priesthood and the Eucharist

06-11-2023Weekly Reflection© LPi Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman

“These two Sacraments were born together,” wrote St. John Paul II of the priesthood and the Eucharist, “and their destiny is indissolubly linked until the end of the world.”

The Eucharist is such a beautiful example of how God, conscious of our limitations, bends to meet us. He once came to us cloaked in the flesh, that we might recognize Him. Now He comes as the very means by which we nourish ourselves: food and drink, the most familiar and comforting thing in the world to us. How easy He makes it to fulfill his command that we become one with Him. How generous He is to make such a sacred thing also accessible.

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Come Together, Share Faith

06-04-2023Weekly Reflection© LPi Fr. John Muir

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Please join us on Sunday, June 11, for our annual Corpus Christi Mass and Procession, a vibrant celebration of our faith, community, and shared devotion to our Lord.

The Mass begins at 10 am at St. Francis Church, promptly followed by a grand procession to Coe Park. There, we will commemorate the conclusion with a moving Benediction. We extend this invitation to everyone— every age, every background, every tongue—to join us in this time-honored tradition.

As we take our faith to the streets, we reaffirm our love for Christ and our unity as His children. Corpus Christi is a powerful testament to our community's spiritual strength and commitment. It is a beautiful opportunity to share our faith publicly, fostering connections with each other and the wider community, and it is a testament to our calling as disciples of Christ.

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On my anniversary of ordination

05-28-2023Weekly ReflectionRev. Emmanuel I. Ihemedu

I find myself filled with profound gratitude, reverence, and awe as I pause to celebrate a remarkable milestone in my life's journey—seventeen years since my ordination to the priesthood. I owe it all to the ceaseless guidance of our loving God and the unwavering support from all of you, my family, and my friends.

Every baptism I've administered, every confession I've heard, every Eucharist I've celebrated, every funeral I have officiated, every wedding I have presided over—these sacred moments have been steppingstones along my journey, shaping me, teaching me, and humbling me. The smiles of our parish children, the wisdom of our parish councils, the shared prayers, the comforting silence, and the resonating hymns are all threads that weave the beautiful tapestry of my priesthood.

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Jesus Prays for Us

05-17-2023Weekly Reflection© LPi Fr. John Muir

Traditionally, the four writers of the Gospels are symbolized by four creatures that make their way into Church art and architecture: Matthew, an angel; Mark, a lion; Luke, an ox; and John, an eagle. These images can be found in churches across the world, a nod to those who recorded the stories of Jesus for us, thousands of years ago.

Today’s Gospel was written by John. There are a few reasons why John is symbolized by an eagle, but my favorite explanation is that his writings soar like an eagle into the sky with their beautiful, poetic language.

The prayer we hear today is no different — Jesus invokes God in a long discourse that might seem mystifying at times, the same way that a poem can be perplexing to understand when we are unfamiliar with the pacing or format.

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Hear the Voice of the Risen Lord

05-07-2023Weekly Reflection© LPi Fr. John Muir

If you had to summarize the essential core of the Christian life, what would it be? Mercy, truth, or love, perhaps? The readings today suggest another word which may surprise you. That word is priesthood. St. Peter says to us, “You are a ‘chosen race, a royal priesthood…’” To be part of a priesthood is to offer a particular sacrifice in order for the community to survive and thrive.

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