Dear Friends,
We celebrate Memorial Day this upcoming Monday, a day in which we honor, remember, and mourn those veterans who passed away in performance of their military duties. Certainly the words of our Lord Jesus Christ come to mind: “No one has greater love than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.” The scene in the movie Saving Private Ryan depicting the D-Day invasion of the beaches of Normandy is always moving; so many young soldiers laid down their lives in order to liberate Europe. Please remember all these deceased veterans in your prayers for the dead.
Many months ago, I mentioned the Amazing Parish Conference. Amazing Parish is a movement within the Church to help specifically pastors in leading their parishes and to help parishes advance a culture of prayer, healthy teamwork, and active discipleship. A part of the Amazing Parish Conference is the formation of a parish leadership team, a group to help the pastor in implementing and advancing prayer, teamwork, and discipleship within our parishes. To that end, I am happy to state that joining me at the Amazing Parish Conference and on the parish leadership team will be Christa Brubaker, Melissa Heichel, and Mary Mancha. You can find out more information at amazingparish.org, or you can always speak with me. The conference is June 21-23 in Kansas City, so I ask for your prayers for safe travels and for a fruitful conference.
As we begin to invite people back to Sunday Mass, my plan is to use this space (and hopefully even videos) to discuss and explain Holy Mass: why we attend, what is going on at Mass, and why we do what we do. Additionally, I want to follow up from my homily last weekend, in which I urged all of us to foster a relationship with the Holy Spirit. Maybe this is strange language or a strange idea. Maybe we don't know where to start. I've heard someone state that living in the Spirit is learning to breathe with God. This makes sense considering the Hebrew word used for “Spirit” is the same word meaning “breath.” Where to begin? I recommend simply praying this: “Holy Spirit, I don't know you very well, and I want to know you better. Please reveal Yourself to me; help me to know You, love You, and serve You.”
A big congratulations and thank you goes to all of you! Both of our parishes have reached their goal for the Annual Catholic Appeal. Thank you for your generosity toward our part of the Church known as the Diocese of Toledo.
We are saints under construction, striving to live in union with the Most Holy Trinity. Have a great week!
In Christ,
Fr. Matthew Frisbee