Since Women's Care Center of Northeast Indiana in Auburn is presently expecting a little over 200 babies, the clothing needs for the children is on going. These pjs are especially significant, because, as one of the center's moms put it, "pajamas are usually the last thing I'd spend money on." The Crib Club at WCC-Auburn makes that very doable for clients using coupons they earn when attending parenting classes at the center.

Each year at Advent, the church offers us the opportunity to listen to the prophets of the Old Testament whose promise of a Messiah filled the people with hope at times of hopelessness. The Old Testament promise was fulfilled at the first coming of Christ into our world whose birth we are preparing to celebrate at Christmas.
 
Advent also invites us to make ready for His second coming, and to make room in our hearts for His arrival here and now--the Third Coming of Christ. It is with deep trust in God’s unconditional love for us that we acknowledge our failings in the presence of each other and seek his forgiveness.
 
John the Baptist is the great prophet of the New Testament who calls us to ready our hearts. John is the Prophet of Joy and the Forerunner of the Messiah.
 
God of mercy and compassion, as we come together to prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ, may the truth of His word bring love and hope to the darkness in our lives. Help us to bring down the hills and fill up the valleys, to straighten the crooked and to smooth out the rough until a highway runs right to our hearts, where Christ will make His home, for He lives and reigns, forever and ever. Amen.
 

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke, chapter three, verses one and following.
 
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.
 
 The Word of God comes to us in the concrete realities of life — even as we go about our daily work, as we raise our families and build our societies, and sometimes when we find ourselves in the wilderness. Hearing the Word of God requires that we listen. So I ask myself:

• Do I pray every day?
•  Do I go to Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation?
•  Are there things in my life that get in the way of God’s word for me?

 
John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
 
God has given us the holy sacraments as vehicles of His grace — we hear the Word of God in the celebration of the sacraments.

• How long has it been since my last confession?
• Do I prepare myself to receive communion?
• Do I ever think about or let myself be inspired by the promises of my baptism and confirmation?
• Do I keep the vows of my marriage or ordination?
• Do I visit the sick?

 
John said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruits as evidence of your repentance; and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.”

• God has given me the gift of faith. Do I take it for granted?
• Do I look down on people of other religions, or on those who have no religion?
• Do I think I’m better than anyone else?

 
And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?”
 
Sometimes I need God’s guidance. Do I ask for it? Do I listen?

John said to them in reply, “Whoever has two tunics should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.”
 

• Do I have a tendency to hoard and possess what is not necessary and still yearn to have more?
• What brings me contentment and security?
• Am I generous with my money and contribute whenever I can to charities which help to alleviate poverty?
• Do I make time in my schedule for other people?
• Do I reach out to the lonely?

 
Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah.

We long for the salvation of God. We long to understand the meaning of our existence, to see an end to our problems, to receive God’s help in our suffering. We long to know that we are loved.
 

• Do I dare to hope in God?
  
• Do I trust God in my weakness? And come to God in my strength?
• Do I show love?
  

John answered them all, saying: “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire.”
 
Sometimes we have other gods besides the one true God. Sometimes we take it into our heads that salvation comes from our own will power and discipline, from some political party or program or some political messiah, from some philosophy or from wealth, comfort, food or entertainment.

• Who or what is my god?
• Am I humble before the Lord?
• Do I long to receive the baptism of God’s fire?

 
Exhorting them in many other ways, John preached good news to the people.

• What is my attitude towards the most vulnerable in the community?
• How compassionate am I towards those who have personal struggles?
• As an employer, do I treat my employees with respect and equality? As a parent? As a teacher? As a person of influence?
• As an employee, am I trustworthy and honest? As a son or daugher? As a student? As a citizen?
• In my relationships, am I self-centred?
• Am I more concerned with satisfying my personal needs than putting the needs of others first?

 
Now Herod the tetrarch, who had been censured by John because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the evil deeds Herod had committed, added still another crime to his list by putting John in prison.

John the Baptist was a messenger of God, a prophet preparing the way for the coming of the Saviour by encouraging the people to repent. Prophets are often ridiculed, persecuted or simply ignored. As we strive to witness to the values of the Gospel in today’s society, we too, are likely to meet ridicule and ignorance.
 
We will be challenged by the prophets of our times, and tempted, in our turn, to ignore them, ridicule them or cheer their persecution.

• How do I react to such experiences?
• Do I easily ‘give in’ and compromise my values by finding ways to avoid the challenges?
• Do I resent it when some members of the Church call upon me to change my attitudes or preconceptions?
• Who and what helps me during the difficult moments of my life?

 

John the Baptist was the herald of the Messiah and made him known when at last he came. In his love Christ has filled us with joy as we prepare to celebrate his birth, so that when he comes he may find us watching in prayer, our hearts filled with wonder and praise.
 
Amen.

Friar John Bamman OFM Conv. is a member of the Province of Our Lady of Consolation of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (the Franciscans). He lives and works at the Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation in Carey, Ohio. Friar John is a vocation director for the Province. His nickname is Friar Truck, because he was a truck driver before he joined the Order.

Friar John writes a blog called Why Knot Friar? He writes about what it's like to be a Franciscan friar today - a member of a medieval Order in a fast-moving, post-modern world. Here, for example, is his description of a recent trip to Chicago: Table of Plenty. Enjoy!

Come to me, you with broken, mended hearts
who know the pain and joy and confusion of love and life.

Come with your wounds and scars and failures
for from these shall flow patience, courage and strength.

Come with your experiences no less than your education
for wisdom springs more from how you live than from who you are or what you know.

Come with the rock-hard stubborness of Peter
and the missionary zeal of Paul.

Come with the loyal love of Mary Magdalene
and the undying friendship of Lazarus.

Come with the natural poetry of Francis
and the visionary leadership of Joan.

Come with the childlike simplicity of Bernadette
and the doubt-plagued faith of Mother Teresa.

Come. And go.

Go out to the farthest corners of the world.
Go to the least, the lowest, and the loneliest.
Go reveal the riches hidden among the poor.
Go give health to the sick, and comfort to those who mourn.

Go with the fire of the Magnificat burning within your heart
and the Body of Christ alive within the soul's tabernacle.

Go break down the barriers dividing my people.
Go tear down the walls of ignorance and fear.
Go lift up the fallen and raise up the weak.
Go with the Spirit to sustain you.

Come and go! I am with you always!
The reign of God is at hand!
See! I give you  my word.

Joseph R. Veneroso, M.M.

Fr. Joe Veneroso is a member of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, commonly called the Maryknoll Fathers & Brothers. Fr. Joe is a retired editor and publisher of Maryknoll Magazine. He is the author of several books of poetry and of spirituality.

by friar Bob

Blogs, podcasts, print-on-demand books, webcasts - there are so many ways for small operations to get their product out to the public today. And millions do just that. Just under the category "Catholic blogs", there are thousands and countless thousands (you're reading one now). Many - perhaps most - are of little interest to most people. But some blogs are really worth reading regularly, even some produced by individuals or small groups.

Besides the ones I read myself, I looked at lists of popular blogs at various North American web aggregators. It is no surprise that the most popular Catholic blogs are all produced by big Catholic magazines and news agencies. According to Freshy Sites, among the most popular are:

CNA - Catholic News Agency - owned by the National Catholic Register (which also owns EWTN), this is a "mainstream conservative" Catholic news agency, which does a lot of interviews with bishops.

CNS - Catholic News Service - this is the official news service of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. It is, therefore, quite authoritative but is sometimes thought of us less independent.

Besides the big sites, here are three interesting small blogs:

25 and Catholic, by Mary Kate Knorr - part of the website Patheos' stable of blogs, Mary Kate's blog explores expressions of Catholicism by a young, single, politically active adult. Well written, often exploring topics other blogs shy away from.

Carrots for Michaelmas, by Haley Stewart - Haley is a wife and mother in Texas, living and working on a sustenance farm. I like this blog because Haley is so well read, and keeps on reading. Haley herself says that she writes "about motherhood, faith, culture, and literature (with a healthy dose of miscellany and fashion)." For a good idea of her writing, see her blog about Halloween.

Peanut Butter and Grace, by Gracewatch Media (Jerry Windley-Daoust, ed.) - I let this one sneak in because it can be so interesting. Gracewatch Media is a small Catholic publishing house in Winona, Minnesota, whose staff publishes this blog "to help other Catholic parents raise their kids in the faith." They go on to say: >>Our primary audience is “middle pew Catholics”—parents who attend Mass regularly and want to do more to integrate the faith into their family life, but don’t know where to begin. They might even say, “I can’t teach my children about the faith because I don’t know how.” These parents are probably both working to support their family, living the crazy-busy lifestyle of the typical working- and middle-class American family.<<  -- Please note that this is a commercial site selling products, but I like it anyway!

What are some of your favorite Catholic blogs? Please comment below.

NOTA BENE: I'm trying to get someone to write about good Catholic podcasts. Any takers?

Peace and all good,
friar Bob Showers OFM Conv.

October 8-18, 2018, seventeen members of the Secular Franciscan Order, two sisters from the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration in Mishawaka, and one Conventual Franciscan Friar journeyed from Indiana to the birthplace of St. Francis - Assisi in Umbria in Italy.

Sr. Agnes Regan SSFPA was the main planner and organizer. She was assisted by friar Bob Showers OFM Conv. of Angola. OFS members from fraternities in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Mishawaka and Chicago participated.

The pilgrimage included trips to Greccio (where Francis made the first living Christmas manger), San Damiano (where St. Clare founded the Poor Clares), Rivo Torto (where the friars first developed their concept of a 'friary'), and Mount La Verna (where Francis received the stigmata, the living wounds of the crucified Jesus on his hands, his feet and his side). Within Assisi, we prayed at the places where Francis was born, where he was baptized, where he fought against the death penalty, where he founded the Order, where he wrote the Rule, where he died, and where he is buried.

It was our great privilege to be able to pray at all these places and to celebrate Mass, from the tomb of St. Francis to the very spot where he received the stigmata. Each day we prayed moring prayer and evening prayer using the words of St. Francis himself.

Of course, there was also time for relaxation, wonderful food, beautiful scenery, good wine, good conversation and, in some of our cases, meeting up with old friends and acquaintances.

The Secular Franciscan Order - in Latin, Ordo Franciscana Sæcularis, hence the initials "OFS" - was founded by St. Francis of Assisi in the 13th century, with the guidance of Pope Innocent III. It is a fraternity for all those women and men - married and single, lay and ordained - who wish to follow in the footsteps of Christ in the manner of St. Francis, bringing the Gospel into their lives and their lives into the Gospel. You can learn more about the OFS by clicking here.

The Blessing Box Facebook page wrote:

St. Anthony's Catholic Church parking lot at 700 West Maumee St., Angola. Indiana is the home for their new BLESSING BOX!!! Glory to God!!

Thank you Eric Anthony for sharing about the BLESSING BOX. Some of the things he shared was:

"On a sunny but cold and windy Palm Sunday, the traditional start of Holy Week for Catholics and some Protestants, members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Angola along with representatives from St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Angola got together after 6 months of planning to erect the first >Blessing Box< in Angola. So what is a Blessing Box? It's a place where people can donate items that they think that others, especially those in need, might find good use for. And, subsequently, those in need, or who simply need something, can drive or walk up to it and take what is needed any time of day or night, any day of the week. No questions asked. All of the wood, nails and shingles were recycled from the priest's previous residence that was located at St. Anthony's and torn down when the new church was built."

Beautiful with alot of preparation!! Thank you for stepping out in Faith!!

-Blessing Box Community, Crystal Rock Cathedral, Ardmore OK

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)