Fr. Tom's Blog

In today’s Gospel from Matthew, we hear about the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. After John the Baptist was arrested we are told: From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’  From the beginning of his ministry, Jesus called others to follow him. In today’s passage, Jesus calls Peter and Andrew and at once they left their nets and followed him. Jesus then calls James and John and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him. The call of Jesus to these brothers comes amid their daily activities and their response to follow him is immediate. They did not know where the journey would lead or what the future would hold, but they trusted. The call to follow Jesus continues to come in our daily lives and activities. How are we responding? We know where it will lead us, but often we still resist the call to surrender our lives to Christ. How is Jesus calling us today to follow him more fully?
 
This weekend begins the annual celebration of Catholic Schools Week. This is a time to celebrate the gift of Catholic education in our country and for parishes in particular to recognize the
ongoing commitment to provide a quality, faith-based education to our children. Many of our school families and staff will be present at the Masses this weekend helping with ministries. Our parish has been blessed with a strong commitment to Catholic education for many decades. Every school day we have over 700 children on our campus attending either our parish grade school or Early Childhood Center (ECC). Our ability to provide quality programs rooted in our Catholic faith is made possible by the support of our entire parish community. This weekend is a time to give thanks to all of you and your practice of stewardship. We are also grateful for the families who send their children to our school and ECC, many of whom make sacrifices to do so. We are grateful for our dedicated staff and teachers and our Principal, Jodi Briggs, and ECC Director, Cathy Koob, who share their gifts with our children each day. And we are especially grateful for the joy, life, and love all the children of our parish bring to our community. They are a constant reminder of God’s presence.
Please stop by the Mulligan Room after Mass today to learn more about our school and ECC. We are also offering tours of the new floors added to our school through contributions to the Capital Campaign. Please continue to share the good news of Catholic education with those you know.
 
All registered parishioners were sent a mailing about our Crazy Cash Raffle fundraiser. We ask that you please sell or purchase the tickets you received. All proceeds will benefit our service partner, Catholic Charities, through our Hope In Motion project. We need your help to make the raffle successful.
Many Blessings!
 
 

As the Christmas season has come to a close, we now enter a brief period of Ordinary Time. This is a time when we “count” the Sundays and focus not on a specific aspect of Christ’s life but rather the general themes of his mission and ministry. On this Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, we hear from John’s Gospel and his version of John the Baptist pointing the way to Jesus. John the Baptist declares Jesus as the Lamb of God, as the one who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me, and as the one upon whom the Spirit comes down and remains. Like John the Baptist, we are to live these truths revealed to us through our faith and point the way to Jesus in our lives.
 
This week our nation remembers the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Dr. King holiday has also become a national day of service. There is still a lot to be done to end the scourge of racism. We can all reflect in our own hearts and commit to ways we can make a difference. May we dedicate ourselves to service throughout the year and work to make Dr. King’s dream a reality through our efforts.

This week we also take time to pray for unity among the various Christian Churches during Christian Unity Week which runs from January 18-25. While bringing the Christian Churches around the world together for greater unity may seem like a big undertaking, we can all pray for unity and find ways in our local communities to build bridges of unity with other Christians.
 
Next weekend, January 25-26, we will begin the annual celebration of Catholic Schools Week. This is a time for us to give thanks for the gift of Catholic education in our parish. We are grateful for the support of all our parishioners who help make our parish school possible.

In connection with Catholic Schools Week, we will take up a second collection for the OLP Catholic School Endowment Fund. Remember, there is a $12,000 matching gift, so we need your help to raise at least $12,000 in the parish. Please support the Endowment Fund by using the designated envelope in your January packet or by giving Online through our website. More information is in the bulletin. We appreciate your generosity.
After Masses next weekend there will also be an Open House of the new classrooms recently completed as the first phase of our Capital Campaign projects. Please plan to go on a tour.
 
If you have not yet registered to attend our Dynamic Parish Town Hall meeting this Thursday, January 23, please register today. Information is in the bulletin.
 
Mark your calendars for our upcoming 3-evening Parish Mission February 10-12. This will be a great way for us to prepare for the season of Lent. Vincentian Father Richard Gielow will be our presenter. Please set aside time to join us.
Many Blessings!    
 

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord which also marks the end of the Christmas season. We hear in the Gospel about Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist in the river Jordan. Often the question is asked as to why Jesus needed to be baptized since we are baptized into him. Jesus’ baptism was not necessary for the repentance of sin, but established him as God’s beloved Son and rooted his ministry in the spirit of service. Jesus comes to John, who prepared his way, to fulfill all righteousness and reveal God’s presence in a new way. Through our baptism into Christ, we have been given our identity as children of God. Now we are called to go out in his name to share the good news of our faith. May we see ourselves as God’s beloved and imitate Christ’s way of service.
 
We will begin the celebration of Catholic Schools Week (CSW) at all the Masses the weekend of January 25-26. This is a time for us to celebrate the gift of Catholic education in our community and thank our parishioners for their support. As a parish, we will once again be using CSW as a time to highlight our OLP Endowment Fund for Catholic Education. Over the past few years we have been able to double our fund amount, which now holds a little over $100,000. Our parish school Endowment is invested through the Diocese and gives back about 4% of the total each year to use for assistance to families who could not otherwise afford a Catholic education. This year we have an opportunity to grow the fund through a $12,000 matching gift challenge from the diocese. An anonymous donor committed to Catholic education in our diocese is providing the matching funds. Our hope is to raise at least $12,000 in our community so we can receive the matching gift of $12,000 and increase our Endowment by at least $24,000. We will have a second collection at all our Masses the weekend of January 25-26 for our OLP Endowment. Please use the designated envelope in your January packet, go to our website to give on-line, or place your contribution in your own envelope clearly marked for the Endowment. Please help us reach our goal by giving to our OLP Endowment Fund. Any amount is appreciated.
 
Our next Dynamic Parish event is our Town Hall meeting on Thursday, January 23 at 6:30pm. This will be an opportunity for us to hear information gathered from the Bigger Future Survey and the Dream Event. We will also take a look at what the next 5 years of our partnership with Dynamic Parish will look like. Please plan to join us and use the link in the bulletin to register.
 
The sign-ups for the ReDiscover the Saints book discussion groups begin after Masses next weekend. Please be sure to read the book, share one with a friend, and sign up for a group.
Many Blessings!
 
 

HAPPY NEW YEAR! As we enter 2020, may the light that came into our world through the birth of Jesus, continue to shine brightly in our lives throughout the year. We continue our celebration of the Christmas season today with the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. The familiar story of the magi from the east following the star that leads them to Jesus is an epiphany that reveals Jesus as the Savior for all humankind. This is a great feast for the beginning of the new year because it reminds us who we are called to follow. Jesus is the light who overcomes the darkness in our lives. Jesus is the One who fulfills all our hopes and dreams. What are your dreams for the new year? I hope all of us will find ways to share the light of our faith with others and be bold in living our call to follow Jesus. 
 
The Feast of the Epiphany is the traditional time for the blessing of homes. As we have done in past years, we are providing blessed chalk and a simple blessing for your home with instructions for marking your doorway. The marking includes the first initial of the traditional names for the three magi – Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar – and the numbers for the year. This year it would read 20+ C + M + B + 20. As we come and go from our homes we are reminded of Christ’s presence and dedicate ourselves to being his presence for others. It’s a great conversation piece.
 
This weekend is Nametag Sunday. What a great way to begin the new year and focus on building community in our parish. I encourage you to learn the names of at least two new people this weekend and continue to greet them by name and keep them in your prayers. At our Dream Event in December, one of the top qualities people listed for the parish is to be welcoming. Let’s all do our part to make others feel welcome here at Presentation.
 
Next weekend we bring the Christmas season to a close with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Be sure to focus on ways you can keep the spirit of Christmas alive throughout the year by sharing your faith in the new year.
 
As many of you know, we handed out the book Rediscover the Saints at our Christmas Masses. As we enter the new year, I offer a quote from the beginning book that can get us headed in the right direction:
We are capable of so much more than we think. You have no idea what you are capable of. None of us do. God is constantly trying to open our eyes to the amazing possibilities that he has unfolded in our being. The saints continue this work, encouraging us to explore all our God-given potential, not with speeches but with the example of our lives.
Many Blessings!