December 7, 2025

Last weekend I mentioned not leaving Mass too early. Again, out of respect and gratitude for our lord in the Holy Eucharist, I encourage us to stay till the end. However, this weekend I would like point out what happens before Mass. I want to thank and encourage those who are beginning the Rosary early enough so that we have about 10 minutes before Mass for silent prayer. Although there are times when we pray certain prayers right before Mass (like the Prayer for a Good Harvest), ideally, we should be done 10 minutes before Mass. Just like Jesus who was upset with the money changers in the temple who were making His Father's House a den of thieves and not a place of prayer, we need to also make sure that we have the time before Mass set aside for prayer as well. And yes, the Rosary and the Harvest Prayer are prayers, but Jesus was also upset with the money changers because they were selling items for the

Jewish sacrifices in the Gentile quarters of the temple. In other words, they were denying the Gentiles their prayer places for prayer. Likewise, we should not deny people of their personal prayers either with public prayers but we can allow for both. Again, thanks for beginning the Rosary early enough so that we have the 10 minutes of silence before Mass. And secondly, please come early for this time of prayer as well. Our day is so bombarded with events, and we find ourselves so busy doing so many different things and running to so many different events, please come early and spend some quiet time with our Lord. Because I guarantee, He wants to spend it with us!

November 30, 2025

 First of all, I pray that you are having a blessed Thanksgiving Weekend! Secondly, a few weeks ago in my bulletin, I mentioned having additional prayers after the closing hymn after Mass to avoid singling out visitors. However, I also am noticing many people are leaving before Mass is done as well. Now, some are leaving for certain reasons, like they want to get out before the rush, they have to get to work on time, or some are setting up for some parish event after Mass. Nonetheless, I will let you judge the worthiness of your leaving, but if you can stay until the hymn is over, we should. And here is an interesting way to look at it. When we leave Mass early, we are doing similarly to what Judas did at the Last Supper. Judas left the Last Supper early, immediately after receiving bread and before the final cup of blessing was shared. Because he was the first to leave the very first Mass, his act is seen as a precedent for the wrongness of leaving Mass early, a parallel that many Catholic teachings draw upon. Leaving Mass before the final blessing is discouraged because it can be seen as disrespectful to the Eucharist and Jesus, and it is considered a lack of gratitude for what was received. Staying until the end allows for fully participating in the sacrifice and communal worship. Mass is a complete liturgical action. Leaving early is like "taking and running" instead of remaining with Christ as He commands. The Mass is also a communal act, not just a "me and God" event. Staying until the dismissal honors the community and the unity of the Church. Finally, the final blessing is considered an important part of the Mass, and staying for it is essential to fully embrace the grace received in communion. Therefore, next time y o u are considering leaving early, m a y b e a s k yourself, "Do I h a v e to leave now?" Hopefully t h e g r a c e of t h e fi n a blessing and the gathered community in prayer will give you the strength and the grace to do whatever it is that you need to do afterwards. And as a side note, please do not run off right away. Consider sticking around and praying a little bit more. But if you do have to leave, out of respect for those who do want to stick around and pray, please do your visiting in the narthex (the gathering space) or outside and in the church proper. May God bless our community of faith in church and outside of it!!!

November 23, 2025

 We have a new name for our AFC, "Mother of Hope AFC". The reason we chose this is because we need Our Lady's help in a world that sometimes seems hopeless - sometimes our lives seem hopeless. The following, I thought, was fitting of why Mother of Hope would be a great name for our AFC. It was taken from Sr. Catherine Marie CP keynote address to the diocese of Owensboro, KY at their Diocesan Marian Congress. I think that the choice of this year's Marian title is very providential and Spirit led. For all around us, temptations against hope abound. So much in our world seems out of control, and falling apart, while so many people seem to be plunging more and more into all manner of sin and evil. After reading the newspaper or watching news on TV, or when we ourselves are faced with personal or family trials, we can find ourselves feeling very hopeless and overwhelmed. What can ever remedy the situation? What can ever stop the spread of evil in our world today? When this happens to us-when we find ourselves feeling hopeless and worried---it is so important not to just stop there. It is so important that we take all our personal and family problems, as well as the sin and needs of the whole world, to God in prayer in union with the Heart of Mary. It is so important that with Mary our Mother we cross over the threshold of hope, into a prayerful attitude of hope in God. For it's precisely in hopeless places and in hopeless situations that God wills to glorify His mercy, just like on Calvary. As we struggle with so many things in our world, states and communities, even in our churches (with the closing/merging of parishes), the title Mother of Hope reminds us that despair is never the final word. Mary's presence is a gentle invitation to trust, pray, and persevere -even when the world feels like it's unraveling. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (§1817), (as you all know) hope is the theological virtue by which we desire heaven and trust in God's promises - not relying on our own strength, but on the grace of the Holy Spirit. And as we turn to the grace and the help of the Holy Spirit, why not turn to Our Mother to help us be open to it. Mary, Mother of Hope, pray for us!!!

November 16, 2025

Last week, I mentioned changing when to the do the “O Sacrament Most Holy Prayer”. And, as you’re reading this bulletin, you’ll have seen a change with it as well. Thanks to all who have contributed to putting this together. Keep in mind, this is a work in progress, and you may continue to see changes. For some, change is tough, others change is pretty easy. As I’ve shared before, it is what we do in that change that matters. How do we react? Are we open to change and do we accept it, or do we find ourselves becoming irritable and frustrated? What do we do and who do we go to in our frustration? Hopefully, it is our Lord. Although He may not change anything, at least you’ll know you are not alone and that you have someone with you. And not just any ordinary someone, you have God Himself. So, please lean on Him and ask for His guidance and help to accept, especially the things you cannot change. If you know of someone that’s struggling with change, bring Christ to them. This leads me to my second point. There are people who are dealing with change and finding themselves immobile and not able to get out. They are homebound. If you or a loved one is one of them, or if you are in the hospital or have a loved one there, please let the parish office know. We will try to bring Christ to you in the Eucharist. Please don’t assume that we know. If you’d like to help in the ministry of bringing Christ in Holy Communion to the hospital or homebound, please let us know. We could use more ministers. Change is always hard, especially when it comes to health and a certain diagnosis. Remember, you’re not alone. You have our Lord, the Church & our Church wants to bring Christ to you in the Eucharist. Just let us know!

November 9, 2025

As we remember our deceased relatives throughout this month (and hopefully beyond), as you are making your funeral arrangements, please avoid music and doing things that are secular and cute - for example, “Happy Trails” to you, etc. Yes, sometimes I work some songs into my homily, but please avoid non-church songs as hymns for the Mass and/or service. Although those are celebrations of life, they are more importantly prayers for our loved ones and us. Every Mass we are standing at the foot of the cross, united our prayers and sacrifices with His suffering - praying for our deceased relatives and friends. “Happy Trails” at that moment, it just doesn’t fit. If you have questions about your arrangements, please let me know. Speaking of prayer, the tradition for years at St Anne has been the “O Sacrament Most Holy” prayer after Mass. However, a few months ago, we changed it and are now praying it right

before the closing hymn and after the “St Michael Prayer”. As you may recall, I explained before we made that change because it is not a normal prayer at the end of Mass. And as I was kneeling and praying after Mass, I could tell who the non-parishioners were because they were leaving after the closing hymn, but when they realized there was a prayer, they then went back to their pew. By the time they got back to their pew, we were done with the prayer. First of all, there are different schools of thought on leaving. Some Church leaders believe that we should leave right away (even skipping the closing hymn), because we have been dismissed and to go and proclaim the Gospel and to love and serve the Lord and one another. They would argue that the prayer time should be during the post- Communion time before the “Prayer after Communion”. Others say we should stick around and pray a little. Both are good points. Maybe we can do both, prayerfully consider sticking around and going forth proclaiming the Gospel. Nonetheless once you are done, please remember to walk out of the church quietly for those who are sticking around and praying. Secondly, we will be moving the “O Sacrament Most Holy” prayer during that time of quiet prayer after Communion and before the “Prayer after Communion Prayer”. We had a meeting with our AFC Worship Committee, and we thought this might be a nice place for it. This way, as we have received our Lord sacramentally or spiritually, we can gather our prayers with this prayer. If there is a visiting priest or the bishop presiding, we may omit doing it, to stay in conformity with the liturgy . Thanks for your understanding.

November 2, 2025

"Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, 'Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.'. He replied to him, 'Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?'. Then he said to the crowd, 'Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions.' Then he told them a parable. 'There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, "What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?". And he said, "This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, 'Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!"' But God said to him, "You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?" Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.'" (Lk 12:13-21) For those of you who attended Mass on Monday, October 20th, at St Catherine or if you read the readings for that day, this was the Gospel that was assigned. The reason why I share it this weekend in

my bulletin blurb is because as I drive around, I see a lot of corn piles. And not just the usual fall harvest piles but big ones and even more of them. It reminds me of something I heard on the radio a couple of weeks ago that in response to all the grain the radio announcer said, "Build bigger bins."

Now, I'm not trying to tell our farmers or our local elevators what to do, however, our message in this Gospel cannot be ignored and can apply to all of us. Are we storing up treasures in heaven? Are we focusing on where it is that hopefully we are wanting to go? Face it, all of us have been blessed with some things at some point in our lives. And, as we heard a couple of Sundays ago from Luke 17:11-19, about the Samaritan who returned giving thanks to God for being healed, are we showing thanks for our blessings? Are we being good stewards with our blessings? Again, time after time, we keep hearing that we will not be able to take any of it with us. Because, as we celebrate All Souls Day this weekend, remember, we are not going to be here on earth forever, and we cannot take any of it with us - which is why we need to store up heavenly treasures here on earth. So, what are these heavenly treasures that we should be storing up? Well, on Saturday (Nov. 1), we just celebrated All Saints Day, and Jesus gives us some great examples of how to store up heavenly treasures by living out the Beatitudes. The treasures that we should be storing up and celebrating are being poor in spirit (humbly putting God and others before ourselves), finding comfort in God when we mourn, being meek, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, showing mercy, being clean of heart, being peacemakers, and willing to be persecuted for doing what we feel is right (Mt 5:3-11). These are the treasures of heaven. The Beatitudes should be our goal in this life so that we can get to the next. So, whether we build bigger bins or expand our checkbooks, we need to make sure that we are also expanding our hearts with love and mercy and living out our call to build God's Kingdom here on earth. However, if you do have extra funds, extra piles of grain, we are still collecting for our school project so that we can be able to get the facility that we need at St Anne. Plus, our churches are also willing to be recipients of God's blessings to you. Remember, if we are a good stewards with our gifts and our treasures, if we embrace the attitude of the Beatitudes, "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven" (Lk 5:12a).