From the Pastor's Pen

This Sunday concludes the gospels from the Bread of Life teaching. What a rich set of teachings it is! One teaching, really: Jesus is the Bread of Life, He alone. If we want his life, we must eat his body and drink his blood—at the Eucharist, and do all that’s necessary before, and after, to mean it and revere it. It’s being part of the community that shares the life of Jesus, in prayer, shared life, and mission of service to the world. Jesus asks this week, as some left him over this: “Do you want to leave me too?” You can read this entire discourse in John’s Gospel Chapter 6. Our Pictorial Directory goes on in picture taking this week. The response has been strong, especially after a message from Fr. Nickolai went out. Be sure to be included in the book. You can order pictures to give away, or not; you can have your address and phone listed, or not. There are spaces open this week yet. The book will be strongest if all our people are in it. By now Pope Francis has made a lengthy response to the news of abuses and protection uncovered in Pennsylvania. So has Archbishop Carlson, and his message is the bulletin and is available on the Archdiocese website. These further revelations are really disturbing, and frustrating. For years now the church has had stricter and stricter practices on entering ministry, and on all those in ministry. These revelations are years old, but they did happen, and they call on the church to be vigilant and proactive in whatever ways possible. The horrible actions of abuse upon the young by a tiny percentage of clergy and other church leaders, is rooted in human sin and error. It is not unique to any one lifestyle or profession, as other religious denominations have said and daily news reports show. I’m hoping that the practices the church has been adopting become a resource to all segments of our society to end this evil.

-Fr. Tom