Bulletin Article for the Second Sunday of Easter (April 7, 2024)

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People of God,

Again, happy Easter! Just like Christmas, Easter is not just a day, but a season. In fact the season of Easter is significantly longer than the season of Christmas. In fact it is longer than Advent and Lent. The season of Easter lasts until Pentecost, which this year, is Sunday, May 19. So continue to celebrate. Eat those chocolate bunnies. Better yet, spend some extra time in prayer thanking God for the gifts of our freedom from our sins and eternal life. So continue to celebrate Jesus’ rising from the dead.

Have a blessed week,

Father Vogel

Bulletin Article for Easter (March 31, 2024)

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Happy Easter!! Christ is risen!!

Today we celebrate the greatest moment in history. Ever since the Fall of Adam and Eve, all of creation has waited for this moment. Right after the Fall (Genesis 3:6), God promises Satan that the offspring (Jesus) of the woman (Mary) will crush Satan’s head (Genesis 3:15). This is the death blow that Jesus gave to Satan from the Cross (and will be completed at the end of time). Before the Fall, we had eternal life on earth sustained by the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. Now through a new Tree of Life, the Cross of Christ, we are given eternal life in heaven. If we choose to accept God’s mercy and forgiveness, won on the Cross, we can have eternal life not in a garden, but in heaven with God face to face. Thanks to Jesus, we can have even more than Adam and Eve had before the Fall. My favorite line from the Easter season is found in the Exsultet (which is sung at the beginning of the Easter Vigil): “O happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!” Sin is never a good thing, but as I have said many times, God is the master of bringing good out of evil. God allowed the Original sin of Adam because He knew that He would bring about an even greater good for us, our eternal salvation in heaven. 

The Passion of Christ had to happen before the Resurrection. Often, in our own lives, before something great happens, there has to trial and perseverance. Maybe it is even relationships. Maybe you had to go through some tough relationships before you found the love of your life. As I have said before, all true love on this side of heaven requires sacrifice. Jesus loves us more than we can imagine. That is why His love for us, which is so deep it can even save us from our sins, required pain and suffering. When we look at the Crucifix, we should see the ultimate example of love.

This love should propel us to live differently. The love of Christ, the graces offered to us from the Cross and through His resurrection, gives us the means we need to become saints. There is no greater task as a human being than to allow God’s grace to transform us into saints, to prepare us for eternity in heaven. I pray as we begin the 50 days of the Easter season, you allow God’s saving grace to make you more holy, to transform you into a saint.

Peace of Christ,

Father Vogel 

Bulletin Article for Palm Sunday (March 24, 2024)

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Dear People of God,

Just a reminder that John Reining’s (from St. Patrick’s) funeral is this Tuesday, March 26 at 11 AM at St. Patrick’s in Brownsville. The wake will be the night before at the church.

We are now entering the most holy week of the year. I know there is a lot going on in the world: the Ukraine, conflict in the Gaza Strip, an election year, all the snow we are suppose to get this week, inflation, and other things more personal things. We are not called to put our head and the ground and pretend these things are not happening, but this week we are called to focus more on Christ and His eternal salvation that He extends to us from the Cross and through His resurrection.

Today Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. He is treat like royalty. He is treated like the humble King that He is. People are so excited for Jesus to be in their midst. This Person has performed so many miracles, healed people they knew…this Person was going to be in their midst for the Passover in Jerusalem.

Then five days later, the same crowds are asking for Jesus to be crucified. The very Person they had maybe thought was the Messiah, they are now asking Pilate to crucify. How often do we go with the crowd, even when we know the crowds are wrong? Have we prayed for the grace to stand up for what is right, even if we have to do it alone?

Pax,

Father Vogel 

Grill the Priest: Why no gum in Church?

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Please tell parishioners not to chew gum in church.

This is a statement, not a question. However, this is me telling you not to chew gum in church. We are asked to make room in our hearts and in our bodies for the Eucharist, for Jesus body, blood, soul, and divinity. Although it has changed throughout time, at the present time, the Church asks us to do this by fasting an hour before we receive Communion. This means nothing but water (and medicine) should be consumed during that time. Gum has sugar. So even though you don’t swallow the gum, you still consume the sugar…thus breaking the fast. So again, no chewing gum in church.

Grill the Priest: Will Woman Deacons happen in the Catholic Church?

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Do you think we will have women deacons in your lifetime?”

My short answer is no. The diaconate is a clerical designation, (as is priest and bishop). The clerical state has always been reserved to men. So if it were to happen, women would not be deacons, but deacon-eses. I know this is not going to convince those who disagree, but the Catholic Church, based on who Jesus chose as His Apostles, does not have the ability to ordain women to the clerical state. To say that Jesus was confined by the social norms of the Middle East two thousand years ago is not to recognize the power Jesus had and demonstrated during His ministry. Jesus, despite the norms at the time, had many women involved in His ministry.

Grill the Priest: Eulogies at Funeral Masses

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Is this change to eulogies being before funeral Mass a directive of the bishop/diocese or is it the decision of each individual priest?

The following is a quote from the document Common Questions on Catholic Funerals, released by the Diocese of Winona-Rochester on Ash Wednesday, February 10, 2016: “An appropriate time for a eulogy is at the conclusion of the Vigil Prayer Service. The funeral rites do not permit a eulogy to be offered during the Funeral Mass.” Since most people want to give a eulogy, but eulogies are not permitted during the Funeral Mass, it is necessary to move the eulogy outside of Mass. However, I recognize that most people want to give the eulogy to all the people gathered at the funeral Mass and not just a few that are there before or after the wake, which is usually when we do the vigil prayer service. Hence, my individual solution or compromise is to have the eulogy right before the Funeral Mass starts. I know that other priests do allow eulogies during the Funeral Mass. However, I am trying to be obedient to what the Church is asking of us.

Also, the main purpose of the Mass is to pray for the repose of the soul of the deceased. No matter how pious or hard a life they lived, we cannot assume they are in heaven. If they are in hell, our prayers cannot help them. If they are already in heaven, they don’t need our prayers. (If they are in heaven, then they apply our prayers to a soul that needs it.) However, if they are in Purgatory, they most definitely need our prayers, especially since they cannot pray for themselves. If we want to celebrate the deceased’s life, which often should, then that is best done outside of the funeral Mass. Often the eulogy is doing just that, celebrating the deceased’s life. Hence, why we do it outside of the funeral Mass; in our case, right before the funeral Mass begins. 

Bulletin Article for the Fifth Sunday of Lent (March 17, 2024)

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Dear People of God,

It appears that in past years, Father Matt Wagner, did not have a communal Reconciliation service. Instead he had some extra times for Confession through the weeks. I cannot encourage you enough to get to Confession. The Catholic Church encourages us to go at least once a year. If you have not been in a long time, do not worry. Every priest remembers how to do Confession so don’t worry about what you need to do. The priest will gladly lead you through it. Sin is a big deal. Mortal sin can even separate us from God’s saving grace (but not God’s grace in general). I promise you will feel better after you have gone. I remember reading about Scott and Kimberly Hahn, converts to the Catholic Church. After Scott had converted, but Kim had not, she told Scott to go to Confession. He countered that she didn’t even believe in Confession. She shot back that may be, but she knew that Scott was a just an overall better person after he went to Confession. So please, for the sake of your soul and those around you, get to Confession. So this week we have the following Confession times:

Tuesday, March 19
St. Patrick’s
5:00-5:20 PM

Wednesday, March 20
St. Mary’s
7:45-8:05 AM
5:00-6:00 PM

Thursday, March 21
St. Mary’s
4:30-6:30 PM

Friday, March 22
St. Mary’s
7:45-8:05 AM

Saturday, March 23
St. Mary’s
3:00-5:00 PM

Sunday, March 24
St. Patrick’s
7:30-7:50 AM

This week Jesus talks about dying. It is only in dying that we reach our full potential. One can think of athletes. They work out in gym. Why? When someone lifts weights, the muscles actually tear a little. When the body repairs them, the body repairs the muscles to be even stronger than they were before. So many successful people talk about a moment of moment of adversity, a moment that set them on a different course. Jesus says that a grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die in order to produce much fruit. Obviously the is is a foreshadowing of his own death and resurrection. When things are not going well in our lives, it is good to remember to try and take something from it that is positive. God is the master of bringing good out of bad. Be like God.

Peace of Christ,

Father Vogel