This was friar Bob's sermon for the Feast of the Assumption:

A confrère – a Franciscan friar who spent some years as a missionary in the Central American country of Honduras – was visiting his parish in the mountains of Comayagüela. He would ride his donkey from village to village and visit parishioners in their homes. Arriving at the home of a very poor family, he complimented the mother on the beauty of the house altar – like in most Spanish speaking households, this family had an altar set up against one wall as a focus of devotion. The woman had on display three beautiful pictures of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Lourdes and Our Lady of Fatima.
 
With joy in her voice, she pointed to each picture and said, “This is the virgin I pray to when someone in the family is sick, this is the virgin I pray to for strength in our daily work at home and in the fields, this is the virgin I pray to for the happiness and success of my children.” In his wishful thinking, the priest asked her, “You are aware, are you not, that there is only one Blessed Virgin Mary and all these pictures are of the same woman.” “Oh no, Father”, the woman replied, “there are many Blessed Virgin Mary’s and they’re all cousins!”
 
The priest knew better than to argue with a woman whose faith was stronger and more lively than his or that of any priest. It does remind me, however, that since the early days of the Church, our theological tradition has spoken of two Mary’s.

One the one hand, we have the earthly Mary, the Mary of the Gospel (cf. today’s Gospel, Luke 1:39-56), the historical Mary – the young woman who said YES to the Holy Spirit, who became the mother of our Savior, who loved him, nurtured him, raised him, taught him, until she let him go to do the work of his heavenly Father. And yet she followed him still, through his life and teachings, through his miracles, through his crucifixion, through his resurrection, until she became the woman around whom the Apostles gathered – causing St. Francis of Assisi to call her “the woman who became the Church.” (Salutation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, vs. 1)
 
Most of the big Marian Feasts of the Catholic calendar commemorate the earthly, historical Mary of the Gospels: the Immaculate Conception, the Nativity of Mary, the Annunciation, the Visitation.
 
On the other hand, there is the cosmic Mary, the heavenly Mary, the Mary of the Book of Revelation (cf. today’s first reading, Rev. 11:19a; 12:1-6a,10ab). This is the Mary who is Queen of Heaven, Queen of the Angels, the Mary who intercedes for us – now and at the hour of our death. Today’s feast – the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Body and Soul into Heaven – celebrates her passage from the earthly Mary to the Cosmic Mary.

This puzzle of two Mary’s is important because it mirrors the broader puzzle of our two-fold Christian calling: we are called to be IN the world but not OF the world. (John 17:14-16) How do we do that? What does that mean?
 
On the one hand, we are called by God truly to be in this world, to be part of it, to take it seriously. In the beginning, God placed humanity in the earthly garden and made us its stewards, to nurture and protect it in His name. (Gen. 2:8) We are called to build up a human society in this world that is just and good and holy, reflecting the goodness of our maker. “Be fruitful and multiply,” God said. (Gen. 1:28) We are called upon to raise families, to love our spouses and children and ancestors, to let our families be the foundation of civilization and of the domestic Church. (Cf. Vat II, Decree on the Apostolate of Lay People, chap. 3, par. 11: The Family)
 
But at the same time, we are called upon to remember that all of this passes away, none of it is as important as Heaven. “Our true citizenship is only in Heaven.” (Phil. 3:20) We must remember that only when we see God face to face will we know who we really are. Only in heaven will you become the human being you were always meant to be.
 
How do we do both at the same time?

God gave us Mary as a prism shining light and color on the conundrum. We see it partly in Mary’s words to the archangel Gabriel: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done unto me according to God’s will”. (Luke 1:38) The first step of our enlightenment – the first step of our passing from our own earthly selves to our cosmic selves – is to discern, accept, do and rejoice in the will of God. When Mary visited Elizabeth, she said, “My soul rejoices in God my savior.” (Luke 1:46-47) Being happy, finding true joy in the Lord, is another important step along the way. Mary said, “the Lord has looked upon me in my lowliness.” (Luke 1:48) Recognizing our own limitations, weaknesses and sinfulness with honest humility is another important step. “From this day every generation will call me blessed – the Lord has done great things for me!” (Luke 1:48-49) Even in our humility, we are called upon to recognize the great gifts God has given us and to rejoice in them, and to use them for others.
 
Mary’s greatest example, however – and I say this with trepidation because I know that I shall never experience this first hand – is the example she gave as a mother. The job of every parent is to pour your heart and soul and strength, your life’s blood, your joy, your tears, your hopes, your fears, your dreams, your being, into your children – just to let them go in the end, to say goodbye as they move out into the world. Mary did that with Jesus.
 
And Mary did that with her own life. The passage from the earthly Mary to the cosmic Mary was made possible by Mary’s willingness to let go. “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled." (Luke 1:45)
 
Fulfillment of our calling means to be like the Virgin Mary. St. Francis of Assisi said, “We become the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ when we carry Him in our heart and body through a divine love and a pure and sincere conscience, we give birth to Jesus through a holy activity which must shine as an example before others.” (Earlier Exhortation to the Brothers and Sisters of Penance, chap. 1)
 
You move from your earthly you to your cosmic you – that is, you fulfill the commandment of Jesus to be in the world but not of it – by accepting the will of God, living in true humility and true greatness, filled with the joy of the Gospel, and then by letting this go in the power of the Holy Spirit. You become the Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ. You become the Church. Be the Church!

June 13th is the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua, for whom our parish is named. Often simply called “The Saint – Il Santo”, Saint Anthony is beloved by millions of people who, in reality, know nothing about his life and have never read anything the man wrote. And yet they love him anyway. This is truly a wonder. It is beautiful.

This morning I was watching the children streaming in for the parish’s Vacation Bible School. Children are so full of love, even though you have to keep your eye on them every second or they’ll destroy the parish hall and everything in it. Children are innocent and explosive all at the same time. They love from the heart, without knowing the thing they love.

Saint Anthony said that our love must begin like that of a child – just as Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me” (Matthew 19:14). We approach God like a child. We meet God and start to love him with the explosive, ignorant innocence of a child.
 
But childish love does not last. If our love is to deepen, we must get to know God more deeply.
 
Saint Anthony said:
 
The child loves just because.
The adult loves, not because, but in spite of.

Here’s a little exercise:
 
Think of someone you love.
Make a list in your head of things you really like about that person, all the things that make you love them …
 
Now make a list of all the little things about that person that irritate you.
 
Often, the second list just writes itself, faster and longer than the first list.
 
Here is what adults discover: We love in spite of all these things! Not because, but in spite of. You are called to love your neighbor in spite of everything. This is a holy love.
 
Blessings for the Feast of St. Anthony
friar Bob Showers OFM Conv.
 
My inspiration for this entry:
“Saint Anthony and You: A Novena” by friar Juniper Cummings OFM Conv.
(available online at: https://www.ecatholic2000.com/cts/untitled-421.shtml)

St. Anthony of Padua Parish carried out elections for three new members of the Parish Pastoral Council on the weekend of June 2-3, 2018. Elected for a 4-year term (spring of 2018 until spring of 2022) were:

• Laurie Beard
  
• Tamera Wise
  
• Jaime Tellez

Election ballot counting committee: Fr. Bob Showers, Sam Thomas, Steve Wertman
Ballots cast: 137
Vote count: Laurie Beard 99, Tamera Wise 97, Jaime Tellez 87, Dan Caruso 85

As of now, the Parish Pastoral Council consists of: Laurie Beard, Ruth Libey, Julissa Reyna, Ben Roederer, Chris Scott, Jaime Tellez & Tamera Wise.

Fr. Bob sends his thanks and congratulations to the new PPC members, his gratitude to the outgoing members Liat Peters and Doug Osos, his thankfulness to all the candidates, and his gratitude to all those who have served this parish on the pastoral council in the past or who serve now.

Members of the group “Journey through Faith” recently concluded their last session of the season. They are part of the adult faith formation activity called "Why Catholic: the Sacraments". This group met continuously through Advent to accomodate the members who are only here in the winter - the so-called "snowbirds".

"Why Catholic?/¿Por qué ser católico?" is a faith enrichmentment program from Renew International. Many parishes throughout the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend are participating. Here at St. Anthony's, we have about a dozen groups, mostly in English, one in Spanish. Each group chooses it's own schedule to meet particular needs.

The group Journey through Faith chose to follow the parish religious education schedule. One very busy, working mother said that finds the RE schedule works perfectly as it finishes in time for her to pick up her children for Mass. She added that the Why Catholic sessions have deepened her knowledge of Catholicism, and just as importantly, she has come to know other parishioners as they share their thoughts and knowledge during the discussions.

She shared that she is now listening to Bishop Barron's Word on Fire (available free to St. Anthony's parishioners: see here) and, at the suggestion of another group member, she listens to the podcast Catholic Stuff You Should Know.

A couple new to St Anthony’s said that they were glad to be part of this Why Catholic community because it helped them make a connection with their new Catholic parish as well as a good connection with faith renewal.

The members of the Journey through Faith group appreciated Friar Joe’s insight and wisdom a great deal. He, too, commented that he enjoyed the sense of community and the opportunity to get to know more people in the parish.

The Journey through Faith small group finished the Why Catholic: Sacraments book shortly after Christmas. Rather than lose contact during the remainder of the year, especially Lent and Easter, the group decided to read from Matthew Kelly's book Perfectly Yourself.

Another Why Catholic small group, "Jesus' Rebels", decided to gather to listen to Catholic talks from the Lighthouse CD series after morning Mass every Thursday. (These CDs are available for purchase in the gathering area of the church.) The Spanish small group, Levántate, will continue to meet each Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m. Some small groups are finished until next fall, and others again have found other ways to continue their ongoing formation as Catholic adults.


Together in Christ,
Anne Ferguson

On the 5th Sunday of Lent - March 18, 2018 - the Parish of St. Anthony of Padua held a "Whole Parish / Whole Family Workshop & Retreat Day in Preparation for Easter". The inspiration was taken from the challenge given by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for the parishes to celebrate multi-generational catechism days "that make Easter and Christmas come alive".

Professor Kate Mahon from the University of Notre Dame's Liturgical Theology Department came and helped us along the way. Prof. Mahon provided theological guidance as well as holding a talk for the whole parish and workshops for small groups.

The theme of the day was the liturgies of Holy Week and Easter. The different groups of liturgical ministers - from extraordinary communion ministers to ushers and greeters - held different workshops to prepare themselves to help at the many liturgies of Holy Week and Easter. Other workshops dealt with different aspects of Catholic life in the contemporary world.

A special part of the day was the children's program, organized by Cathy Bryan and our catechists. There were also workshops in Spanish, and different workshops for youth and young adults.

After the workshops, we watched the animated movie "Prince of Egypt." The day ended with a celebration of the Solemn Vespers of the Fifth Sunday of Advent.

Fr. Bob and the parish staff thank everyone who made the day a wonderful experience, "making Easter come alive for the whole family".

High school students from St. Anthony's and their chaperones went on retreat at St. Felix Catholic Center in Huntington on February 23-24, 2018.

The young Catholics explored the prayer life of the Catholic Church, looked at how they make decisions in their lives, celebrated Mass and the Liturgy of Hours together, and basically had lots and lots of fun.

St. Felix was built by the Capuchin Franciscan Friars (Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, or OFM Conv.) in 1928 as their novitiate and formation center for the Midwest. This was at about the same time that the Conventual Franciscan Friars (OFM Conv.) built their novitiate in Angola. The Capuchins moved their novitiate program and closed St. Felix in 1980. Recently, it has been restored as a Catholic retreat center. Our high school youth think it was a great place to go o9n retreat and they really look forward to doing it again next year!

Thank you to our Director of Youth and Yound Adult Ministry, Cara Molyet, for arranging the retreat. Be sure to join us at high school youth group every Sunday evening at 6:00!

Lent has begun - the time of enlightenment and purification for those preparing to enter the Church.

On the First Sunday in Lent, February 18, 2018, our three RCIA candidates travelled to the Cathedral of Fort Wayne to be received by the bishop, Kevin Rhoades. Our candidates for the sacraments of confirmation and Eucharist are Brenda Lehman, John Lehman and Christopher Harrington. They are seen here with their sponsors Frank Swenson, Rose Nelson and Laura Harrington, as well as our RCIA coordinator Jan Swenson.

The ritual is called the Rite of Election, because through this ceremony the bishop expresses his approval of the sacraments we will celebrate in the local parish. It is also called the Rite of Enrollment, because the candidates' names are entered into a record book. The ritual is part of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) by which adults are received into the Roman Catholic Church.

Over 125 candidates for reception from more than 20 parishes gathered at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception for the ceremony, which was also attended by many sponsors, catechists, clergy and other faithful. The same ceremony is repeated in South Bend, because the cathedral cannot accomodate all at once the many hundreds of adults who become Catholic each year in our diocese. (Here is the article in Today's Catholic)

Chris, John and Brenda will be received into the Catholic Church during the Easter Vigil on the night between March 31 and April 1, 2018. The Easter Vigil is the most important Mass of the year. The candidates (who are already baptized) are received through the reception of the holy sacraments of confirmation and the Eucharist. Please keep them in your prayers.

My daughters and I were blessed to be given the opportunity to participate in the March for Life on Washington D.C. 2018. Thanks to the Knights of Columbus for offering us a partial scholarship to cover the cost of the trip.
 
My daughters Katherine and Sarah took the initiative to get us to attend, and I was thrilled to be along. My girls had been asking me for months to go on this trip. I wasn't sure we could go and hadn't heard much about it so I didn't plan anything very far in advance. Once I decided to try to get us on a bus, I called Stan Fisher from the K of C and he directed me to a K of C bus in Indianapolis with 4 empty seats left.
 
We drove down to Indianapolis and boarded the nice, large travel bus arranged by the Knights. We were thankful that the trip was so well planned. We slept on the bus, then departed for breakfast with a little time to tour the various monuments in D.C. before checking in at our hotel.

The next morning, we rode the same bus to the march itself and collected our lunches and signs – prepared as well by the Knights of Columbus, who had gathered from all over the USA. The turn-out was enormous. The Knights led us to our positions and we listened to the National Right to Life Committee president give a brief, moving speech.
 
Then we began our one-mile march next to all the other pro-life marchers. One group said the rosary, another sang hymns. We passed a few bands who played uplifting songs. Before we knew it we had completed the march. The whole trip went so smoothly from the beautiful weather to the wonderful people.
 
Sarah said she wants to go next year already; but the next time she would like to go with the youth group so she can participate in the rally at the stadium.
 
If you would like any of the prayers or literature we prayed and handed out, ask Father Bob and we will get you a copy.
 
God Bless,
Shannon, Katherine, and Sarah Schlosser