St. Michael's Church

2/27/12

Too many of us miss the great resources the web presents us with; resources even for lent.

A tremendous site for helping us pray is pray.nd.edu/lent.

Young adults can find things expressed in their language at bustedhalo.com

One responsibility most of us do not work very much at is that of our citizenship. We can get beyond the sound bites and ads by checking out these sites:

Official the US Conference of Catholic Bishops: usccb.org

The Trenton Diocese: dioceseoftrenton.org

Blogs:

ThePulp.it

five days a week this site presents many links to blogs they judge insightful. They tend to the center right.

americamagazine.org/blog

Commonwealmagazine.org/blog

These last two tend to center left.

Each of these blogs deal with more than politics and comment on our contemporary culture and piety.

Building up an acquaintance with these sites will nourish and sharpen our minds.

Our intellects are central to a sound spiritual life.

2/16/12

You will find Bishop O'Connell's Lenten letter on our website, or pick up a copy in the back of the Church.

As the change in sunlight makes itself felt in our hemisphere, much plant life begins to rev itself up and not too long from now will begin to show as shoots pop up and buds start strait to open.

For Catholics and indeed many Christians, Lent offers similar beginnings.

Christ's life is within us by grace. We work day by day to allow that life to move within us and through us. But this season before Easter, we bring sharper focus and stronger effort to the task.

Those who garden tell us of the things they need to attend to in order to see a hearty, lively, lovely plot of land.

There are things within us that need to be broken up so fresh life will flower. We must find the right nutrients to enrich our spiritual growth.

There are tried and true ways to make possible renewed life.

We must pray more; simply put, we must come before God and acknowledge that it is all about God, not about me. The time we give to this makes us wise, strong and open to His gifts.

We must know the feel of actual hunger to put into perspective the real needs of our bodies which, in our society, we both pamper and destroy. This brings us "in touch with our bodies".

We must give to good causes or needy people enough of our money that we feel it's loss. This is a critical first step toward knowing money's value and really enjoying it.

I pray that each of us comes to Easter more able to share its joys since we have opened ourselves to this joy by Lent.

2/11/12

You can find resources helpful in forming your judgment on the president's first response to the bishops' concerns about the HHS regs on St. Michaels Facebook page.

2/4/12

For a few months, we will be placing emphasis on prayer and family.

Data is piling up linking marriage not only to personal well being, but to the health and strength of society.

Our faith makes of marriage a sacrament that expresses the love between Christ and His Church.

We see family as the domestic Church - the set of relationships within which God is glorified and faith modeled and handed on.

Our Church is now paying the cost for failing to wisely and consistently make these points to its people.

Re-establishing in Catholics’ minds that marriage is a sacrament with deep and life giving power, and that Catholic Religious Education programs only help parents in their role will be a long and tough slog.

HomeLife is the prime expression of St. Michaels’ commitment to this on going and difficult purpose.

There are strong resources available from HomeLife.

HomeLife offers manageable ways to bring change into our lives.

1/29/12

Home life begins a new season. Although the subject is not new, it is one which bears repetition. Home life has revised it’s planning instrument to include single people.

It makes sense now to bring to mind the meaning of the term “intentional”.

When we bring our mind and will to our behavior, we become intentional. Most of us are creatures of habit. Most of us, too, have thinking which some describe as the playing of the same tapes over and over.

This is what we mean when we describe someone as living in her own world.

When we are intentional about something, we reflect on behavior looking for patterns. We ask ourselves how these patterns serve us. Often it is not so well.

Also, we do some thinking about our thinking. We notice repeated thoughts. These thoughts can keep us from living in the here and now.

We can also start reflecting on the shared habits and thinking that are characteristic of our families or group of close friends.

When we are intentional about something, we make judgments on our thinking and behavior and then, after feeding our minds with better more accurate thinking, make decisions.

So with family prayer we check the accuracy of the notion of prayer we have, both as individuals and as a family group.

Once we have become more realistic in our thinking about prayer, we ask ourselves how we can change our behavior to reflect this reality. We develop a plan which fits us. We break down that plan into manageable steps.

Homelife is presenting us with a sample plan which most of us can manage. Listen carefully to the Homelife presenters this weekend. Then recreate it in a way that works for you.

Take up some of the literature and cds available to you.

Introducing or restoring the 7 5 2 practice not only helps us to remain God’s good servants, but can have a tremendous impact on spouses and the whole family.