Farewell Bishop Callahan

Yesterday my parish St. Matthias Church in Milwaukee, had a farewell Mass for one of our Auxiliary Bishops William Callahan, as he prepares to leave to become Bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse. He had celebrated at many Masses over the past four years at my parish, including Christmas and the Easter Vigil. We loved having him at our parish and invited him back. He said that he felt that St. Matthias was "very welcoming and felt like home to him."

At the end of the Mass, my pastor brought forth two gifts for Bishop Callahan. One of the gifts was a picture of our church's main stain-glass window which we give to members of our parish who are leaving and have made a difference in our lives. Bishop Callahan sure made a big impression on each and everyone of us.

At a reception after the Mass, my family and I got a chance to say goodbye to him. We had met him many times before and he was very friendly and easy to talk to. When my friend and I approached him, he placed his hands on our shoulders and said loudly, "Now this is the next generation of priests!" That made me feel very happy and excited because Bishop Callahan was someone that I looked up too. His gentleness, humor, and love for God and His people truly inspired me. May he continue to inspire other young men to become priests and to love God where ever he goes.

Bishop Callahan as you leave for La Crosse, may God bless you, hold you and keep you in His care. May God's mercy shine on you, guide your work, guard your resting and keep your faith forever new.

Farewell Bishop Callahan! We shall miss you.

Fantastic Day with Father Matthew Widder

My family and I always invite priests to have dinner with us. Last night we had my friend Father Matthew Widder, a priest who had just been ordained this May! He was at the seminary camps that I attended each of the past three years. I consider him a very good friend, because we still kept in contact during the years after the summer camps. Father Matthew had dinner with us, joined us in a tremendous battle of basketball, and even gave a special blessing upon our new guinea pig Daisy!
Father Matthew is an inspiration to me, and is one of the reasons that I am discerning a call to become a priest too! Thank you Father Matthew for spending time with us and may God bless you.

Outsiders

One of Jesus’ most profound and important parts of His ministry was His choosing the twelve apostles. During this time, many people followed Him. He had many people travel with Him to towns and cities where He would preach. They all wanted to be his followers.

However, Jesus once again surprised them all. Jesus decided to choose outsiders, the lowest of the low, people who were cast out from the rest of society. He chose fisherman and tax collectors. He chose them to serve and teach the rest of the world about His Father.

Today we live in a world based on popularity, what kind of clothes you wear, what sports you play and what kind of cell phones you have. Those who seemingly are not up to par or do not meet the requirements that are need to live in our society are considered outsiders, the lowest of the low, considered not good enough to be successful in life. It is the same case with religion. The world is not concerned with religion. Our world does not base itself on religion and God, because it does not seem “cool” or the “in thing” to be religious, to go to Mass or receive the Sacraments. It does not consider those who want to help bring others closer to God cool or popular.

However, Christ is the person who does! Just as He chose the unpopular and the poorest of people to serve Him as the twelve apostles, so He also chooses us! The world needs good men and women to teach others about Christ. It needs us to show others what really should be first and foremost in our minds, and that is Christ! The world generally needs to become closer to God.

Christ is calling us to be outsiders. He does not want us to worry about popularity, about what we do and do not have. He wants us to only work on our relationship with Him, to love Him and to serve Him. Jesus told the apostles, “Take nothing with you. Don’t even carry a duffle bag with extra clothes or shoes or even a walking stick.” He is telling us that when He sends us out to teach others about Himself, we should not take anything with us except our love for Him and our eagerness to serve.

Jesus is calling us to be outsiders, castaway from the world and what it deems important. When we become outsiders, non-conformers to the world, then nothing can hold us back from Christ’s love. The question is, “Are we up to this challenge?”

Morning Offering

Lord today I offer You all of my triumphs and my shortcomings. I offer You my joys and my sorrows, my laughter and my tears.

Lord Jesus you are active and alive in the world. I offer You this day so that I may remain close to Your Sacred Heart and fall head over heels in love with You. During this day, I open my own heart; small, weak and frail, in hope that You will enter in and transform my heart into a heart like Yours. Let my heart become filled with burning love and desire for Your people everywhere. Let me be filled with the same compassion and peace that is in Your Sacred Heart.Let me show love to those who are not loved, become a friend to those who are friendless, and show mercy to those who are merciless. Lord Jesus, during this day may I be You for others who do not know You. Let me be Your servant by serving others. Please help me to become like you, perfect and holy, loving and compassionate, full of forgiveness and mercy.

Be with me during this day and grant me a peaceful rest in the night so that when the first rays of dawn shine forth, I may rise to greet you, refreshed and ready for a brand new day in which to serve you.

Check Out This Blog!

Here is a blog that is very worth while to check out! Every time I visit it I feel totally inspired. This blog is titled " Seeking a Vocation" and is published by a girl named Sadie who is around my age and is discerning a call to become a nun. Her posts are simply astounding and help me get my day off to a great start in the morning. Although she will not be continuing to post anymore after tomorrow, you can still check out her archives and read some of her older posts. Please keep Sadie in your prayers as well as all those that are discerning God's call, whatever it may be.

http://seekingavocation.blogspot.com/

OOOH!........... AAAH! (A Favorite from my Archives)

I can't think of a better way to spend Independence day than with the ones you love, while watching an amazing display of fireworks! To me, Independence day is a great chance to celebrate our country's becoming it's own nation, and also gives us a chance to reflect on the many blessings that God has given us throughout the years, following the great signing of the Declaration of Independence.

I think that we have a lot to learn from our founding fathers too! Just as they stood up for their beliefs and rights, we should do the same! Although we are not standing up to King George, we are standing up to someone even more difficult to defeat! We are fighting off the devil who is constantly trying to "rule" over our lives and forget our belief in God, just as the colonists fought off King George!

Throughout the revolution one thing was clear. Despite all of the hardships, trials, struggles and disappointments, the Americans still continued to fight and to not give up and eventually purchased for us our freedom! This is also how we should be in battle against the devil! We should remember to finish the race and never give up and trust in God! We should also remember that no matter what, God is always with us and he never will make us fight alone! He will give us the victory!

A blessed Independence Day Everyone! :)

New Favorite Song!

Just thought I would post the link to a favorite new song of mine called "Forgiven" by a band named Sanctus Real. At the time that I first heard the song, I felt like it was what I really needed to hear. The song talks about how a person often feels bad about his/her past. It talks about how a person can be so broken down over their sins that they had committed, that they leave no room for God's forgiveness to enter into their hearts.

This song showed me that God is extremely merciful and wants to be in an intimate relationship with us. He wants this so badly that he will forgive us of our sins and give us a clean heart and conscience. God is a loving and caring God. He does not want us to dwell on our sins so that our relationship with Him becomes complicated. God loves us and He wants us to love Him back.

This song really inspired me. I hope you find it just a inspiring. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZVjKrmvYYQ