Dear Community, The Catholic Church in the United States is dedicating July 24th through the 30th as a time for us to be aware and learn more about Natural Family Planning (NFP). Rightly so, the Church needs to stress NFP, because it is the correct teaching/understanding about human sexuality. The Diocese of Rockford, through the Life and Family Evangelization office, offers the Gift of Self: Marriage Preparation Seminar for all couples preparing for the sacrament of Holy Matrimony. This event is “a day-long retreat for couples preparing for marriage in the Catholic Church. It is presented at various locations around the diocese throughout the year. The day includes a series of presentations that will help couples grow in their understanding of the sacrament of matrimony, reflect on the gift of themselves that they are preparing to make to one another, and deepen their relationship with God and one another.” (www.rockforddiocese.org) During my years of theology at KenrickGlennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO, I had the opportunity to receive formation from Dr. Thomas W. Hilgers, MD. Dr. Hilgers is internationally recognized for his outstanding achievements in the field of natural fertility regulation and reproductive medicine. He is the founder of Pope Paul VI Institute (www.popepaulvi.com). Now in my ministry, I help with the Gift of Self: Marriage Preparation Seminars, sharing with couples the theology of the body. Because these teachings of the Church are unfamiliar to many, I have found it important to share them with you at this time. NFP and the theology of the body is the counterpoint for all the misunderstandings about the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony and human sexuality. Therefore, if you have not heard about these teachings of the Church, I invite you to invest time in leaning about them. God Bless St. Patrick’s Parish. Father Lopez
0 Comments
Dear Parish Family,
As we read the book of Deuteronomy, we come across God’s invitation to listen to his voice. What exactly does listening to God mean? I think that if we correlate God’s invitation to listen to him with a particular situation in life, we will know what He meant by that invitation. As you might know by experience, there are times in which we need to make very important decisions. These decisions will bring big changes in our lives; and as we know, we do not feel comfortable with big changes. But let’s think about it. If we want to be in a better place, in a better situation and in better conditions, then the time has come. We can name a few of those situations; considering married life, discerning the right career and college, moving to a new place, changing a job or planning retirement. I personally had gone through a few of those decisions which came along with big changes. I was twenty four years old and the time had come to decide whether I would stay in my native country, Colombia, or if I should move to the United States and make my home there. At first there was uncertainty and anxiety. Why should I leave my family, my culture, my language and even the food which I am used to? On the other hand, I knew that if I moved, I would learn a new language and a new culture. I would have a great opportunity to study; I would possibly become a priest and live my ministry there. When it comes to crucial decisions, there are three steps which I follow. First, I listen to and trust God; and by this I mean that I bring that decision to God in the context of prayer. Prayer, in this case, is an open and honest dialogue with God. I also give God the time to speak to my inner conscience. Second, I listen to and trust my mentors. We all have persons to whom we go for advice; if we don’t, we should. They want the best for us, and they will also be honest with us. Third, trust in yourself, trust in your capacities, and make that decision your own. God bless you all. Fr. Lopez Dear Parish Family, As we read the passage from the Gospel of Luke, we learn that Jesus has decided to journey to Jerusalem along with His disciples. Since they could not make the journey in one day, Jesus sent a few of His disciples ahead of Him to find and prepare a place to spend the night in a Samaritan town. The people of that town did not welcome them because Samaritans and Jews had cultural differences and prejudices toward each other. The disciples, in particular James and John, felt rejected and frustrated. Being led by their emotions they said, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them” Isn’t that a human reaction which we might have when we are frustrated? Isn’t that what we wish for those who have hurt us so badly? And yet, we are called to listen to Jesus, “love your enemies.” How can we love someone who shows up in a public place motivated by hatred and takes away innocent lives? The least we can do is to repudiate those terrible events. Loving one’s enemies, at least for me, means to pray for those who are blind by fanatic ideologies, that God may touch their hearts and a true conversion will take place. Loving one’s enemies mean to pray for those who are at risk of being used by unreasonable ideologies of hatred. Prayer is an act of love. Praying is also a way to protect our minds and hearts from wrath because this is precisely what extremist ideologies want us to be filled with. So praying for our enemies is also a healing event for us. It is also important to know that prayer does not cancel out justice. Justice should take its course regarding these terrible shootings. However, it is not in our hands; it is in the hands of the proper authorities. May God bless us. Fr. Lopez Dear Parish Family, Summer is a good opportunity to find time for fun activities as well as for planning. All the ministries and parish committees are setting goals and planning activities for the coming up school year. As your pastor, you have all my support and prayers for your initiatives on making our church an even stronger community. There is a lot of planning and service being offered by the members of our staff every day. The Finance and Pastoral councils are actively participating in promoting St. Patrick’s and addressing the needs of the community. St. Patrick’s Parish Outreach is constantly praying for and seeking ways to bring hope to those in need. The Health Care Committee continues to offer their annual events, at the same time seeking more ways to help us to be more conscious about our mental and physical health. The Cursillistas, a diocesan ministry, continue to offer their conversion retreats for men and women of our parish. The Encuentro Matrimonial is also a diocesan ministry with presence in our parish, and they accompany and pray with couples on the journey to living the vocation of married life. The Schoenstatt movement is also present in our community, and they come together to pray for and show support to one another, as they too have been called to the vocation of marriage and family life. The Pro-Life Ministry embraces the mission to bring out the gospel of life to the families of St. Patrick as well as to the community of Rochelle. The department of Youth Ministry is finding ways to bring both the Spanish and English speaking youth of our parish together and offering them an environment of discipleship as they learn about their relationship with God. The Adult Faith Formation Committee is always finding ways to teach the adult members of our community and bring them closer to God. There is also a Communications Committee finding ways to create tools and channels of communication for our parish. I am currently praying for a men’s ministry and an Evangelization Committee. Thank you for your willingness to go the extra mile for the sake of St. Patrick. May God reward you with many blessing for your sacrifices and commitment for St. Patrick. Fr. Lopez Dear Parish Family, After Easter and the Solemnities of Pentecost and Corpus Christi, we resume with the Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time. As I read and pray the scriptures passages for this weekend, I notice that both the first reading from the Book of Kings and the Gospel passage from Luke share a quite similar story. Both readings talk about a widow and her son. In the Book of Kings, Elijah stays at the house of a widow from Zarephath. She has a child. Suddenly her child dies. She thinks it is because of Elijah’s presence at her house. She understands that God has entered her house through Elijah; and therefore, God has punished her because of her sins. Elijah takes the child in his arms and goes to the upper room. There he prays to God, asking Him to bring the child back to life. God listens to the prophet’s prayer, and gives life back to the child. The story in the Gospel follows the same theme. Jesus entered the city of Nain with his disciples and many people. They encounter another group of people who were leaving the town and going to a burial. The son of a widow had just died. Jesus felt compassion toward this mourning mother and brought the young man back to life. From these two stories, we may conclude that God is not indifferent to the mourner. On the contrary, He is willing to comfort the sorrowful. Second, God is the giver of life; He gives and takes away life. Third, through his miracles, God invites us to believe in him. God bless you all. Fr. Lopez Dear Parish Family:
Today we celebrate one of the most fundamental beliefs in all of Christianity; the Trinity – three distinct, coequal persons in one God. For all of us, the Church, the Trinity is considered a mystery. There are aspects of this mystery that we will never fully understand, but it is something we hold as revealed truth. It has been said that such a theological mystery is not a puzzle to solve or figure out, but more like an ocean in which we are swimming. We may never comprehend its totality, but we experience its presence and accept its reality, as well as its magnificence. We often pray to the Trinity without even thinking that we are. When we make the sign of the cross, we are praying to the Trinity. This is probably the most common prayer we pray as Catholics, yet, many people do not even think of it as a prayer to the Trinity. We go through the motions of the sign of the cross, without thinking about the words at all. My 4th and 5th grade RE students are often amazed to realize this is actually a prayer, as I’m sure some grownups are also. During Mass, make a point to notice how many times we make the sign of the cross. Think about the words. Listen, too, for other prayers throughout the Mass that honor the Holy Trinity. Let us remember also, the Holy Trinity is the model and source of unity of the Church, as well as that of the family. Let us pray to the Holy Trinity to guide us in love and strengthening our unity with one another. Deacon George Dear Community, Pentecost is the great Feast of the Holy Spirit. After the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven, the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Holy Spirit continues to bestow His many blessings upon us, blessings which allow us to be better disciples. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are unique because they strengthen our human nature. Let us call to mind the gifts which we receive from the Holy Spirit. In the first place, we have the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. Faith gives us the capacity to believe in God and in His words. Hope is the virtue which allows us to constantly pursue eternal life in God’s kingdom. The virtue of charity makes us capable of loving God above all things and expressing God’s love to our neighbors. The second set of gifts are the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. Prudence is the virtue which gives us the ability to discern and distinguish in any circumstance the good from the evil, and to always choose the good. The virtue of justice allows us to give to God what belongs to Him (such as our worship) and to give mankind its due. Fortitude gives to our human nature the necessary firmness to pursue the good in times of difficulty. The virtue of temperance allows us to keep under control our desires and to balance the use of created goods. Even more is given to us from the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. He bestows on our human nature His gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the lord. Finally, the Holy Spirit is willing to empower our human nature with His fruits of charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity. For these reasons and more we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost. Think about all the virtues, gifts and fruits which we can receive from The Holy Spirit if we are open to accepting them. Which ones are those which we should pray for more? Happy Solemnity of Pentecost! Fr. Lopez Dear Parish Family, We celebrate the great mystery of Christ’s ascension into heaven. After his resurrection, Jesus stayed a bit longer with his disciples, making sure they truly believed in his glorious resurrection. As it was the Father’s plan, however, Jesus was to return to his glorious throne to be seated at the right hand of the Father and to be our Lord and King. “Then he [Jesus] led the disciples out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God.” (Luke 24: 50-53). Jesus had just left his disciples and went to heaven, and yet the disciples were filled with joy. Why didn’t they show sorrow? Precisely because they truly understood Christ’s glorious resurrection and ascension into heaven. They knew that Jesus was not going a long distance away from them. Instead, with His glorious ascension into heaven, Jesus transcended space and time. This meant that He became available for everyone and everywhere His name is called upon. He is present at every altar where the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is celebrated. The disciples also became aware that right after the Ascension they would enjoy the company of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who would lead them to the fullness of truth, the Spirit who would bestow the gifts of faith, hope, and love for the new believers. Therefore, brothers and sisters, let us rejoice because Jesus is always with us, and the Holy Spirit is also our companion on our journey toward the Father. Happy Feast of the Ascension. God bless you all. Fr. Lopez Dear Parish Family, Peace is a gift which we ask for quite a few times during the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. But in what terms do we think about peace? We may think about peace as a period of time in one’s life without any hardship, a time in which all our needs are met. Or we may think about peace as a time without violence or enemies. In today’s Gospel, Jesus offers his peace to the disciples, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.” What kind of peace is Jesus giving us? Is it the way we understand it? This very passage of John’s Gospel is Jesus’ farewell to his disciples. This is not a peaceful time in Jesus’ life. In fact, he was about to face something horrible, his suffering and dying on the cross. It is right before his passion when he offers his peace. We learned, therefore brothers and sisters, that Jesus’ peace does not cancel out the hardships of life. Instead, Jesus’ peace gives us the strength to endure the challenges we face every day. The disciples received their master’s peace so that they would be able to endure persecution, and even martyrdom, for the sake of the Gospel. No doubt, peace is a gift that comes from God. Through the worries and concerns of every day life, we easily lose this essential gift. Therefore, it is important to consciously ask for this gift through the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. We also need to be conscious that our infirmities or hardships in general are not going away. Receiving Christ’s peace, however, gives us the courage to endure them. Finally, thank you for your generous gift to Diocesan Appeal. The peace of Christ be with you. Fr. Lopez Dear families, We learned about Paul’s and Barnabas’ great effort in advancing the newly instituted Church. With awe, we think about our belonging to that same Church. We are also aware of our responsibility to advance the Church we have been incorporated into through Baptism. St. Patrick Catholic Church is not an independent community of faith. We belong to the local Catholic Church, meaning the Diocese of Rockford. We also belong to the Universal Church through the ministry of our Holy Father Pope Francis. We know this as being in communion with the Catholic Church. Being in communion with the local church brings about many blessings. We are recipients of Pope Francis’ and Bishop David Malloy’s prayers and ministries. St. Patrick’s mission is supported by the Diocese of Rockford in a variety of ways. Ministries and offices such as the Chancery, Tribunal, Family Life Office, Ministry Formation, Diocesan Directors of Catechesis, Hispanic Ministry and many others are in place with the sole purpose of giving support to St. Patrick in Rochelle and all other parishes in the diocese. With great effort and dedication, the Diocese forms, ordains, and assigns priests and deacons to all the parishes. We also have a responsibility to our local Church, the Diocese of Rockford. Every year about this time we are asked to be generous through the Diocesan Appeal. This year the Diocese is asking us to support once again all the diocesan offices and ministries by contributing with $50,683. The Diocese recommends that we generously give 1% of our yearly income. Please pray about it during this week; and next weekend, the Sixth Sunday of Easter, we will make our family or individual commitment. The above goal can be achieved if we all participate in this effort. God bless you all. Fr. Lopez |
Rev. Johnson LopezFather Lopez is Pastor of Saint Patrick Catholic Church in Rochelle, IL. Categories
All
Archives
April 2017
|