Among the most common questions I was asked back when I was in seminary and was regularly doing vocation talks in schools was what my favorite subject was in school. The truthful answer was that as a boy, I loved virtually all my subjects, except for art and math, at which I was terrible, and therefore I hated. However, because I didn’t want to publicly disparage the important work of their teachers in those fields, and I didn’t want to give the obvious answer of religion, I always said history was my favorite subject.

St. Vincent de Paul dedicated his life and ministry to serving God by serving the poor. As one can imagine, it was difficult, gritty work, and he often had to work through great resistance, sometimes even by those whom he was trying to serve. Our parishes still participate in the work of St. Vincent and his companions, and they assist our region in carrying out Jesus’ call to serve our brothers and sisters in need. I know that many of you are supportive of them in giving to them financially, but there are two other important things we can do to support them in their work. First of all, we can pray for them; we pray that God continues to support them and help them to meet not only the material needs of the poor, but also to help them to see and understand God’s love for each of them, through their outreach. Additionally, conferences of the St. Vincent de Paul society can always use more people to assist them in their work of connecting with the poor and serving their needs. Please Click The Title To Read More

On Saturday, September 29, following the 4:30 pm Mass, St. Matthias will hold its annual Oktoberfest with food, music featuring Sound Body Jazz Orchestra, Split the Pot and Prize Baskets that are bigger and better than ever! CLICK ON TITLE TO SEE MORE

Of all the consistent themes and motifs that run throughout the Gospels, one of my favorites has to be “one of the disciples totally misses the point and says or does something really dumb. It gives us regular folks hope that we might turn out alright in the end. After all, if the saints unto whom Our Lord trusted the responsibility of building up His Church in the beginning were constant screw-ups, perhaps we might make it after all. At different points throughout the Gospel they try to send away the children (and are rebuked by Jesus), they try to stop others from driving out demons (and are rebuked by Jesus), they offer to call down lightning on their enemies (and are rebuked by Jesus), and they bicker about which of them is the best… and are rebuked by Jesus. PLEASE CLICK TITLE TO READ MORE

Lourdes Virtual Pilgrimage Experience TM Saturday, September 22 at OLR Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitality North American Volunteers will present a two-hour Lourdes Virtual Pilgrimage Experience at Our Lady of the Rosary Church at 7:00 pm on Saturday, September 22. Come and encounter the healing grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ through His Immaculate Mother. Invite your family, children and friends. Our Lady extends her invitation to all! The next best thing to visiting Lourdes itself is a pilgrimage journey without the travel!

The September Marian Celebration will celebrate Our Lady of La Salette. There will be a dinner at 5:00 pm followed by a movie. Please join us on Wednesday, September 19, at St. Matthias.

The entire life of the Christian is symbolized and contained within the rite of baptism, and it is good for us to revisit it frequently and remember the promises which were made on our behalf on the day of our baptism as we ask God for the grace to live out these promises with fidelity. Today’s account of Jesus’ healing of the man who was deaf and mute gives us the opportunity to see how this relates to our own lives. After he was healed, those who were present to witness it couldn’t help but spread the news of this miracle, even when they were told to keep it secret for the time being. The fact that the Church places the memorial of this event at the conclusion of the rite is no accident, as everything that is done to make us disciples in the first place is geared toward our mission of going out and proclaiming the Gospel to all those we meet. PLEASE CLICK TITLE TO READ MORE

Classes for OLR and St. Matthias meet at OLR from 10:10 am to 11:20 am. St. James’ classes meet from 9:45 am to 10:50 am. PSR is a religious education program for public school students. It is designed for students in grades 1 through 8. If you have school-age children, you can register for the 2018-2019 PSR year either online at https://wintonwyomingpr.org/psr or contact Dave Nissen to have the forms emailed to you.

As we meditate upon this Gospel this week, I encourage everyone to take the time out of their schedule to do two things. First, to find a good examination of conscience and get into the habit of looking back on our day with the Lord so we can ask how we could have done better, and how we will try to do so tomorrow. Second, to bring those failures, either of the letter of the law or of the spirit, to the foot of the Cross in confession. Jesus is always waiting for us in the Sacraments, prepared to give us the grace we need to become the Saints he is calling us to be. Do not pass up the opportunity. PLEASE CLICK TITLE TO READ MORE