The Battle Belongs to the lord!
“The Lord will guard you from all evil; he will guard your life.
The Lord will guard your coming and your going, both now and forever.”
-Psalm 121:7-8
As we come to the Holy Mass, our first reading, the Responsorial Psalm and the cover image of this bulletin are so beautifully in sync! The Lord fights for us; the Lord wishes to come between us and all that could harm us; the Lord wants us to never take our eyes off Him and never to waver in confidence in His protection and care.
Sometimes our lives feel like a battle and sometimes we seem to experience setback after setback, defeat after defeat. The battle has various fronts: against the world, the temptations of the flesh and the devil; against selfishness; against compromising what we believe. But the Lord has not given up on us and He longs to give us a second wind to reinspire us. We are not alone, since He always fights for us!
One thing that we would do well to remember are the intercessory prayers of others that sustain us. Just like Moses praying on the high ground above the field of battle with his arms lifted in prayer, perhaps today, at this very moment, someone is uttering a prayer from the heart just for us, praying that we may have strength and stamina to stand our ground and let the Lord be Lord for us! We are never out of reach of the prayers of the saints: those already in heaven and indeed the prayers of believers right here within our parish, sitting in these very pews. We must be strong in our intercession and encouragement of one another!
A Few Miscellaneous Items:
A special word of welcome to all those present this Sunday with us for 9:30am Mass which begins our Discovering Christ Retreat on the Holy Spirit. May it be a truly blessed time to go deeper!
If you haven’t attended yet, there is one final session of Discovering Christ this Tuesday evening in Kolbe Hall at 6:00pm focused on the first words of Jesus in the Gospel of John. We have had wonderful response with over 140 signed up to date. No need for excuses, just come (hungry) and see!
October is truly jam-packed with the celebrations of countless saints, a perfect entrée to the Solemnity of All Saints: October 18 is the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist (Discovering Christ folks, don’t forget your homework!). October 19 is not only the Feast of the eight Jesuit 17th century North American Martyrs but also the remembrance of the courageous priest-martyr of 20th century Poland, Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko. May they all intercede for us!
Registration is underway for our Jubilee Year Bus Pilgrimage day-trip. We will head south to visit several beautiful Catholic sites and enjoy fellowship, prayer, snacks and lunch along the way. I am very excited about our itinerary which will include visiting Divine Mercy Parish in beautiful Faribault where I first served when I was newly ordained in 2013. We will also venerate many relics of various saints at a parish dedicated to All Saints in Madison Lake and visit a truly magnificent church dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel in a small town named Easton. One of the highlights will be a surprise on the way back in St. Peter, MN along the beautiful Minnesota River valley. Don’t miss what is sure to be a great occasion. Those of all ages are invited to join.
Fight on for the cause of goodness, right and truth!
~Fr. Howe