17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Parishioners,

     The Multiplication of the Loaves is considered one of the greatest miracles of Jesus.  We think about it in terms of feeding the hungry.  We do not often think of it as an Eucharistic text.  But scripture scholars would hold that it is. 

     When we worship together we receive a bit of bread and a sip of wine.  We also receive a nugget of wisdom from the scriptures and hopefully from the homily.  All in all, it does not seem like very much to sustain us for the journey.  But if we faithfully attend Mass the grace we receive can strengthen us tremendously.

     Often, I will be asked for spiritual counseling.  Usually the person has made poor choices in their life.  I often ask the question, “Are you attending Mass?”  Usually, the answer is no.  Receiving the Eucharist is not a fool proof remedy for what spiritually ails us, but the grace never hurts.  The church teaches us that the Mass should be at the center of a Roman Catholic Christian’s spiritual life.

     We don’t come to Mass to just fulfill an obligation.  We come with open hearts, to listen to what God wants to tell us.  We come to sing in praise of our God.  We come to respond with words and actions that speak of our faith.  If this is our desire, then the Eucharist will feed us in abundance and there may be baskets and baskets of graces that we can share with those whom we meet in our lives.

Blessings,

Fr. Mark

P.S.  We continue to be in dialogue with the First American State Bank about acquiring its property.  There is more testing being done on the property to determine how much contamination is in the soil around the bank.  A gas station, that was once located across the street, had tanks that leaked into the soil.  First American is paying for testing to see if clean up needs to be done.  We will not accept the property until this is resolved.  The bank is anxious to solve this problem in whatever way is necessary, so they can give us the property.

P.P.S. We received permission from the Diocese of Peoria to move forward with the planned Capital Campaign.  We will contract with the Steier Group and move forward. More information will be published in the days ahead. Please pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit.