Autumn is Close
My Dear Parishioners,
It is hard to believe that this is the last Sunday of August. It is hard to believe that most of our children and grandchildren are already back to school. It is hard to believe that SJR School has started its year. It is hard to believe that our excellent religious education program is in proximate preparations to start its year.
Certainly, we thank all who help to educate our children. Most especially, we thank all who teach our children about Jesus. We offer all of you our prayerful support.
Our first family bingo of the fall is coming up fast, on Friday, September 18th. Mark your calendars.
Our OCIA program for the religious education of adults will also be starting soon. If you or someone you know and love is interested in becoming Catholic, or you or someone you know needs to complete the Sacraments, please let us know.
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament resumes on Monday, September 14th. The Monday night Rosary also resumes on that Monday. We certainly thank all who help to coordinate Monday Adoration and the Rosary. I personally challenge all parishioners to take seriously the need to spend time before the Blessed Sacrament. I also challenge all parishioners to sign up for Monday Adoration. Let us please remember that the Blessed Sacrament cannot be left unattended, as it has all too often in the past. It would be sad to have to reevaluate Monday Adoration. If we do have to reevaluate Monday Adoration, it will be because we do not have enough lovers of the Blessed Sacrament. That would be a sad thing for St. Joseph’s Parish to admit.
Of course, we are all called to love God. We are all called to Holiness through our reception of Baptism. We are all called to mission through Baptism; we are called to a mission to make Jesus known and to sanctify the world around us.
Taking that mission seriously pleases God. Taking the mission seriously is an act of love. Taking that mission seriously can also draw the opposite response by those around us then we intend. Taking the mission serious can result in anger and hatred in others around us. We can then find ourselves echoing these words of Jeremiah:
“You duped me, O LORD, and I let myself be duped; you were too strong for me, and you triumphed. All the day I am an object of laughter; everyone mocks me.”
Jeremiah was called by God to be a prophet but soon faced severe opposition. The Hebrew verb patah (“enticed” or “persuaded”) expresses his sense of being drawn into God’s mission without fully grasping the cost. He felt “deceived” not by God’s falsehood, but by the concealment of the full weight of the evil he would face. This mirrors the Catholic understanding of prophetic service: that through Baptism, every Christian is anointed into the triple office of priest, prophet, and king (CCC 1268), entrusted with God’s word and the mission to speak the truth (thewordthisweek.net).
From a Catholic perspective, Jeremiah’s words reflect the universal human experience of being called to holiness and truth, even when it brings suffering. His “dupery” is not God’s fault but the reality of prophetic service: God entrusts us with the truth, but we must carry the burden of its consequences. This aligns with the Church’s teaching that the faithful are called to be instruments of Jesus in words and actions. The faithful are also called to endure persecution for the sake of the Gospel (Catholic Doors Ministry). Part of our embracing of the Cross is to take seriously our Baptismal mission.
If we are feeling rejected because we love Jesus and our Catholic Faith, we are not alone. We endure because we know that Jesus loves us for loving Him and His Church. So, we never give up. We never compromise with those who reject Jesus.
We most especially never give up on those who hate us or reject us because of our love of Jesus and His Church. Everyday, we lift them up in prayer and entrust them to Jesus. We ask Him to open their minds and soften their hearts. Let us trust in Jesus to do the lion’s share of the work of sanctification. Let us then let Him use us as His instruments of love.
I am looking forward to my third Autumn at St. Joseph’s. This is a special place, and we are a special parish family.
St. Joseph, Patron of the Church, and our Patron, pray for us!
Fr. Michael J. Pawelko, Pastor