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Twelfth Sunday of the Year
22 June 2008
Dear Friends in Christ,
Father Newman’s Top Ten Wish List for St. Mary’s:
10. That all of the people who say they are part of this spiritual family were actually part of this spiritual family. Imagine if a member of your family regularly ate at the neighbor’s house because they preferred the cooking or company next door. Someone who isn’t coming to Mass here doesn’t really belong to this family, no matter what their registration form claims.
9. That every Christian parent took seriously their responsibility to be the primary teacher of the Gospel for their children. This doesn’t mean that you need a catechism lesson at the dinner table each evening (though at least once a week at home is essential), but it does mean that parents have the primary duty and best opportunity to teach their children to follow the Lord Jesus for the rest of their lives. And what is true of parents in general is true of fathers in particular.
8. That everyone coming to Mass began their preparation for the sacred liturgy by making a good Confession regularly, keeping the minimum fast of one hour, and arriving at church well before the beginning of Mass. Coming late and leaving early means that the Eucharist is a chore, not an act of love.
7. That every person in the parish understood himself to be a disciple of Jesus, a witness to Jesus, and a steward of the gifts of Jesus. We cannot follow Christ as a consumer of spiritual goods, merely stopping at the church to get what we want, like commuters rushing in to the grocery store or the gas station on the way home.
6. That we would all stop saying about others what we lack the courage to say to others. This simple precept would change the life of everyone here and of the entire parish. If we stop murmuring and gossiping, who can doubt that we would be the better for it?
5. That we would all take seriously the constant teaching of the Church that ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ. We cannot love the Lord if we do not know him, and we cannot know the Lord if we don’t read the Bible, study the Bible, and pray with the Bible.
4. That all of us would give our time, talent, and treasure to the service of others. Keeping those things to ourselves simply isn’t a path to happiness or holiness.
3. That we could all let go of petty jealousies, hurt feelings, and our sense of entitlement and replace these things with loving kindness, patient endurance, and gratitude for God’s grace.
2. That the faithful celebration of Sunday Mass became the most important event in the life of each and every Catholic. Living for the praise of God’s glory is the reason we exist, and a life without the Eucharist is therefore a misspent life.
1. That we would strive to live each moment of our lives in the grace of our Baptism as children of God, members of Christ, and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven.