Father Tom's Blog 

The Gospel parable we hear today about the landowner and tenants is a foretelling of the way many will react to the message of Jesus. The tenants in the story seize and kill the servants and even the son of the landowner. They are seeking to gain the vineyard for themselves. Jesus warns those listening to the parable, many of whom are not open to Jesus, that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit. We are the tenants who have been blessed with the gift of faith and the responsibility of caring for the kingdom. As tenants of this precious gift of faith, God expects us to produce good fruit and bear witness to what has been shared with us. The line from the Gospel – the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone – reminds us that we are to make Christ the foundation of our lives and allow him to work wonderful things in our lives. Let us never reject the message that has been shared with us as look for ways everyday to bear good fruit.
 
Thank you to everyone who attended our Pursue Peace Parish Retreat last week. We will be focusing on this theme during the year and highlighting ways we can pursue peace by trusting in our faith.
 
In this Respect Life month, we have an opportunity to be advocates for life by voting YES on Amendment 3, which will be on the upcoming ballot in November. Voting YES will protect Women’s health and Child safety. The Bishops of Missouri are asking us to prayerfully reflect on this issue and its success. Please see our website with links to all the detailed information. 
 
In this month dedicated to our Blessed Mother, please join us for an Outdoor Rosary next Saturday, October 10, at 11am in the Mary Garden. All are welcome.
 
We invite every registered parish household to support the Bishop's Annual Catholic Appeal by making a financial gift in support of important diocesan ministries. There are envelopes in the Gathering Space. Please help us reach our goal.
 
The TEAM Lab in our grade school receives support from the FIRE Foundation which provides funds to Catholic schools in our diocese for inclusive education. Next weekend, October 10-11, families from our school will be selling Raffle tickets for the annual fundraiser. Please buy a raffle ticket.
 
This Thursday, October 8, we invite everyone to join us for Adoration Under the Stars at 7:00pm in the upper new north parking lot. Feel free to bring a blanket or your own comfortable chair. We will gather for one hour to Adore our Eucharistic Lord with quiet reflection, prayer, and music. 
 
This week is the annual Priest Assembly Days for the priests of our diocese. Fr. Pius and I will be joining the other priests of our diocese and Bishop Johnston for a few days this week. Please keep all of us in your prayers.
Many Blessings!

Jesus teaches an important lesson in the Gospel today about the need to repent and seek conversion of heart. In his story about the two sons and their response to their father we are all invited to see ourselves. The first son refuses the request of his father but then changes his mind later and follows through. The other son responds “yes” to his father’s request but never follows through. Jesus then makes a connection to the tax collectors and prostitutes who are entering the kingdom of heaven before the religious authorities. While these sinners first said “no” to God, they were hearing the message and repenting. The religious authorities outwardly said “yes” to God, but in their hearts they were full of pride and caught up in their own power. They were not willing to change their ways. A reminder that our faith is more about actions than words.
 
Next weekend begins the month of October. In the Catholic Church, October is traditionally dedicated to our Blessed Mother. We will be praying the Rosary before each weekend Mass during October in honor of our Blessed Mother. Please try to arrive earlier to Mass so you can join in the prayer. In praying the Rosary, we unite with our Blessed Mother in contemplating the mysteries of Christ’s life and our call to be faithful disciples. The Rosary is a great prayer to say each day individually, with others, or as a family. 
 
October is also designated Respect Life Month in the Catholic Church. This is an opportunity for us to focus on our call to recognize the sacredness and dignity of all human life. As we pray to end all the destructive ways life is threatened, please keep in your prayers the unborn, poor, elderly, sick, imprisoned, immigrants, persecuted Christians and other religious or ethnic groups, and those affected by war and violence. And in this November’s election, we have an opportunity to be advocates for life by voting YES on Amendment 3. Voting YES will protect Women’s health and Child safety by restoring protections for the unborn, requiring abortion clinics to meet high standards for safety and cleanliness, ensure parental or judicial consent for minors, and limit public funding for abortion among other things. Please prayerfully reflect on this issue and its success. Please see our website with links to all the detailed information. 
 
Thanks to all those who generously responded to the second collection last weekend for our sister community in El Salvador. We are grateful for your generosity. Remember, you can always donate OnLine throughout the year to support our scholarship students and help build relationships with our sister community.
 
Congratulations to our parishioners Betsy Dodson and Sherri Staub who have been selected from our parish to receive the Bishop’s Recognition Award. They will be honored at a special Mass with the Bishop at the Cathedral this Sunday. Both Betsy and Sherri are involved in a variety of ministries in our parish and we are grateful for their commitment to service.
Many Blessings! 

In the Gospel today, Jesus shares a parable that many people have a hard time swallowing. In our modern world, we value fairness and equality. But even in Jesus’ time, those hearing this parable would have thought it unfair that the laborers who only worked one hour at the end of the day would get paid the same wage as those who worked all day and bore the day’s burden and the heat. By comparing God to the landowner in this parable, Jesus is reminding us of the generosity of God. The landowner did not cheat those who worked all day because he paid them the agreed upon wage. He was only being generous to those who were hired at the end of the day. They have the same needs as all the others and in God’s world they should not be deprived of what they need so that others can have more. In the end, we should all be grateful that we are recipients of God’s generosity and find ways to be generous with others. 
 
This coming Tuesday, September 22, is our Parish Retreat focusing on our theme of “Pursue Peace” at 6:30pm in the church. This is a great way for our parish to gather together and reflect on ways we can pursue the gift of peace in our homes, families, parish, and community. We all recognize the need for peace in our world, but as people of faith we are called to remember where true peace comes from and commit ourselves to sharing it. We invite and really encourage everyone in the parish to attend. Myself and several of our talented parish staff will be leading the retreat. Please take time to join us as we grow in our faith together. Your presence will make a difference!
 
Thank you in advance for your contributions to the second collection this weekend to support our sister community in San Rafael Cedros, El Salvador. Your generosity will help us continue our parish commitment to provide scholarships for young people wishing to attend high school and college. These scholarships help to change lives through the power of education. If you were not able to give this weekend, please know you are welcome to do so anytime throughout the year through OnLine Giving or by sending in your contribution clearly marked for El Salvador.
 
This weekend we also celebrate Catechetical Sunday. We give thanks for all those in our parish community who use their gifts to pass on the faith to others. This includes teachers in our various education programs, volunteers in our many ministries, coaches, and especially parents. We will offer a special blessing of all catechists at our Masses this weekend. Let’s all continue to pass on the richness of our faith through our example.
 
Please remember to make a contribution to the Diocesan Annual Catholic Appeal. All registered households should have received a mailing. There are also extra envelopes in the Gathering Space. 
Please contribute something to support the work of our diocese.
Many Blessings!  

In the Gospel today, Peter asks the question: How often must I forgive? As many as seven times? Jesus answers: I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. This number Jesus uses is not meant to suggest a limit on forgiveness, but rather that the desire to forgive should be limitless, the same as it is with God. Peter is doing a very human thing and wanting to know how much we have to tolerate before we can give up on forgiveness happening. With Jesus, we are given a different way of looking at the heart of forgiveness. We might think that seventy-seven times sounds like a lot of times for someone to need forgiveness. But put in the context of the number of times all of us need forgiveness from God, suddenly it does not sound like so many. The parable Jesus tells about the king and the two servants is a reminder that we should not expect to receive from God what we are not willing to extend to others. Forgiveness can be difficult, but practicing it frees us up to grow in the ways of love.
 
One of the important outreach ministries of our parish is our relationship with our sister community of San Rafael Cedros in El Salvador. Our focus through our relationship with them is education of young people. We provide financial support to the community by funding education scholarships for young people to attend high school and college. Providing these scholarships over the years has been life changing for these young people. We will be taking up a second collection at all the Masses next weekend, September 19-20, for the scholarship fund. You can also give OnLine. We have increased the number of scholarships we provide over the last few years, so your generosity is very much appreciated as we fulfill this commitment. This second collection allows us to fund the scholarships all year. Our commitment is over $35,000. Also, you can learn about and stay updated on the scholarship students we support during the year through the section in the bulletin dedicated to our sister community.
 
Next weekend there are several things happening. It will be one of our Nametag Sunday events, so come a little early and join in the fun by filling out a nametag and get to know some new people around you. We will also celebrate Catechetical Sunday and give thanks for all those in our parish who use their gifts to pass on the faith to others. We will offer a special blessing of catechists at each of the Masses. And it will be a Celebrating Stewardship weekend, so plan to stay after Mass to learn about some of the ministries in our parish, enjoy refreshments and gather in fellowship with other parishioners. 
 
This weekend is World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. Take some time to give thanks for those in your life who fall into this category and let them know how much they are appreciated. 
Many Blessings!