Bulletin Article for the Thirty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time (November 19, 2023)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

What a great week! We get to spend time with family and friends on a whole holiday dedicated to giving thanks. As Christians, we know that all we have and our very existence is a gift from God. I myself will be participating in the ecumenical Thanksgiving service Wednesday evening at the Immanuel Lutheran Church. The service starts at 6:30. Then Thanksgiving day we will have Mass at St. Mary’s at 9 AM. There will not be Adoration before hand. After Mass, I will be heading to Oak Park, IL to my brother’s place to spend Thanksgiving with my brother and his family and my parents. I’ll be back Saturday afternoon for Confessions at St. Mary’s.

Today we have the parable of the talents (money) and the servants. The master entrusts his money to his servants. One he gives five talents. He is savvy and earns 5 more. Same with the one who is given two talents. This servant makes two more. But the servant that is given one talent just buries it and eventually tries to give it back to master.

We too have been entrusted with God’s possessions. We have been given the gift of our Catholic faith. The Catholic Church has the fullness of Truth. Because Jesus Christ is the Word, God, He is Truth. “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Jesus deposited the fullness of Himself, the fullness of Truth into the minds and hearts of His Apostles. We call this the deposit of faith. The successors of the Apostles, the bishops, as a whole and in conjunction with the Pope, have protected that deposit faith for 2000 years. We are so blessed to be Catholic, to have been given the deposit faith, the fullness of truth, the divine revelation of Jesus Christ. What have we done and what are we doing with this great gift we have been entrusted with? Are we praying? Are we studying to learn more about God and who we are as sons and daughters of God the Father? May we give thanks for the gift of our faith, but may we also be inspired to grow our knowledge and love of God.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving, 

Father Vogel 

Bulletin Article for the Thirty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time (November 12, 2023)

Dear People of God,

Life can be grand. Our Lord is so good to us. We have had a couple of deaths. This past Friday we had the funeral Mass for Kathy Graf in Brownsville. And this coming Tuesday, we have the funeral Mass for Don Karel. Please continue to pray for the repose of their souls. We pray that our prayers release them from any attachments to sin and vice. We pray that, if they haven’t already, that they will soon join the saints and angels in heaven. We also pray for their families during their time of loss.

In today’s parable Jesus talks about being ready. It was kind of odd. Taking to the kids at school this past week and during religious education this past Wednesday, death came up. Talking to the youth about death is kind of odd. It is usually one of the last things from their minds. My point to them is exactly what Jesus is talking about in today’s Gospel. If we were to die today, would we be ready? In the parable, the virgins that were not ready finally knock on the door and say, “Lord, Lord, open the door for us!” The reply comes back, “Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.” Do you know Jesus Christ? Do you have a personal relationship with Him? As a Catholic, we need to pray daily, go to Mass on Sunday, receive the Eucharist at least once a year, and go to Confession at least once a year. This is the bare minimum. But we shouldn’t strive for the bare minimum. We should strive to put Jesus first in our lives. Jesus knows you. He created you. Do you know Jesus? Do you spend time with Him? Or do we put everything else in our lives ahead of Him? Are we ready to meet our Maker? Jesus ends today’s reading with, “Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Are we awake? Are we awake spiritual? Do we have a relationship with Christ? Do we put Him first in our lives? Are we striving for holiness? Are we striving to become saints? I pray the answer to these questions are “Yes.”

Have a blessed week,

Father Vogel

Bulletin Article for the Thirty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time (November 5, 2023)

Hello,

Thank you Jesus for the cold weather. It looks like this coming week will be a little warmer, like 40’s. Thank you for your participation this week. The bazaar was another smashing success. Thank you for supporting out school and our community. I got to see some great Halloween costumes when I visited the classrooms on Tuesday. Also Tuesday evening, we did Trunk-or-treat in Brownsville. Somehow I needed up with the job of staying indoors and helping the trick-or-treaters as they went around to the six tables we had set up with candy inside. Then at Mass this past Wednesday, some of the students dressed up as saints. So cool. It is a blessing to be a part of these communities.

This weekend Jesus tells us not to call people rabbi (“teacher”), or father, or master. Some Protestants use this to denounce the Catholic practice of calling priests “father.” Well, do they have Sunday School educators? Do they call their own male parent something else? No. They call them teachers and fathers. So Jesus is speaking hyperbolically. Yes, we should call people teacher or father. (I am your spiritual father.) However, all fatherhood, all teaching, is rooted in the Christ. God the Father is source of all other fatherhood. Jesus is the source of teaching. Priests and teachers must look to Christ as the source of their servant leadership.

However, we are all called to lead and to teach in some ways. Maybe you have a friend who does not know the Catholic faith very well. Maybe you are called to be his or her teacher. Maybe there is a young person who needs a parental influence in their lives. Maybe you are called to be that person for them. Are we willing to be humble for the sake of others? “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Peace of Christ,

Father Vogel