Fr. Tom's Blog

Jesus reminds us in the Gospel today that the whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments – You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. This sums up the greatest commandment and reminds us that Jesus came to establish God’s law of love. When we follow Christ’s command of love, everything in our life falls into place because we are focusing on what is most important. This commandment seems simple, but if we are honest with ourselves, we know it can be difficult to live out. But I think most of us can also admit that if we really committed ourselves to living out this two-fold commandment, most of the problems in our lives and in our world would diminish. In a society that often excludes, divides, and is often obsessed with love of self, how are we being called to love all people as our neighbor?

You won’t want to miss the upcoming Dynamic Parish event from Matthew Kelly on November 5 titled Amazing Possibilities. This event is being offered exclusively to the 60 parishes around the country that are part of the Dynamic Parish Initiative. The event will be livestreamed at 7:00pm. You can view it in your own home or attend the watch party in our church. Either way, it is necessary to sign-up. Please see the information on how to register in this bulletin, on our parish website, or call the Parish Office if you need help.

Please be sure to return your All Souls Day envelopes with the names of your deceased loved ones to the Parish Office by the end of this week. You can use the envelope included in your November packet or make your own envelope with the names clearly marked and a contribution in their memory included. We will include these envelopes in the procession and prayers at all the Masses next weekend, October 31 – November 1. We will be remembering the deceased in a special way throughout the month of November and the family members of those who have died from our parish this past year have been invited to a special Remembrance Mass on Monday, November 2. Due to the capacity limits of the pandemic, we are not able to have our Remembrance Mass at our Sunday Masses as we have done in the past. Please keep the families of these deceased in your prayers.
  
Please support the annual Turkey Trot – “Thankful Turkey” – virtual event! The registration deadline has been extended to Tuesday, 10/27. We need your support more than ever this year. You have from November 14-21 to decide how you want to participate – walk or run? 5K, 1 mile, or even a 10K? You choose, but the important thing is to do something and support our School Library, Lee’s Summit Social Services, and Operation Breakthrough. With the virtual format this year, everyone can participate on their own schedule so there should be no excuses about not being able to attend the event. All the information to register can be found in this on-line bulletin, on our website, or by calling the Parish Office. Thanks for your support!

Next weekend we will not only celebrate Halloween on Saturday, but the Feast of All Saints at all the Masses. Let us give thanks for the Communion of Saints who intercede for all of us.
Many Blessings!       

 

The religious leaders in the Gospel today try to entrap Jesus by asking a question: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? The intent of the question is to force him to make a choice between obedience to civil law or God’s law. But Jesus turns things around on them. He doesn’t engage in verbal sparring but simply invites them to repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God. As we contemplate his response, we are reminded that in the end everything we have belongs to God. While we participate in society and use money and coins with the images of political figures, we recognize the blessings God has shared with us and strive to give back to God through lives of holiness. We might use this Gospel to reflect on how well we are giving back to God. In our society that is often consumed by the material things we can acquire, are we being good stewards of all the gifts God has so generously shared with us?
 
This is the last weekend of our special Underwear & Sock collection for our service partner, Uplift. We are grateful to those who have already donated items. The response has been great. Thank you for bringing a little comfort to the homeless poor of KC.

This weekend is our monthly Celebrating Stewardship weekend. We are not back to serving donuts yet, but there will be a delicious treat for you to pick up as you leave Mass this weekend. You can also stop by the information tables outside the north entrance and learn more about some of our important ministries. Our Celebrating Stewardship weekends are an opportunity for us to give thanks for the blessing of our faith community, so remember to take time to reflect on ways God is calling you to share your blessings and do something specific today to pass on the blessings to others.
 
All registered households of the parish should have received a mailing about the Bishop’s Annual Catholic Appeal. Please support the work of our diocese which directly benefits all our parishes. Each parish in the diocese is given a goal for the Appeal, so please help us reach our goal by making your contribution in the envelope provided in the mailing. You can mail it in yourself or drop it off at Mass or to the Parish Office.

We will be celebrating the Feast of All Saints at all the Masses the weekend of October 31-November 1, as it falls on a Sunday this year. November is also referred to as the Month of the Dead as it includes All Souls Day on November 2 and is a special time to remember all our deceased loved ones. We will have our regular 8:15am daily Mass on November 2, but you are invited to include the names of your deceased loved ones on the All Souls Day envelope included in your contribution packet and return the envelope to the parish as soon as possible.  We will include these envelopes in the procession and prayers at all the Masses the weekend of 10/31-11/1.

Included in this weekend’s bulletin is the Annual Report of our parish for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2020. This has been a year like no other and obviously there were challenges we had to face in light of the pandemic. All things considered, we were able to end the year in a pretty good position. Although overall income was down from what was budgeted, we also kept expenses down. We are grateful for everyone who continues to give regularly to the parish and encourage everyone to please stay current with their financial giving. Your efforts make a tremendous difference.
Many Blessings!


 

Jesus continues with parables about the kingdom of heaven in the Gospel today. A king invites many people to a wedding feast in honor of his son. For various reasons, many ignored the invitation. Some were busy with the tasks of the day, some refused to come, and some went so far as to kill the servants who brought the invitation. In a great twist, the king instructs his servants to go out into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find. This provides a wonderful image for the Church. God, our King, invites everyone to share in the banquet. God is abundantly generous and welcoming and wants us to celebrate the gift of Jesus. But the end of the parable also reminds us that while invited, we still have to be prepared for the banquet. Our lives should be a constant reflection of the invitation God extends to us to share in fullness of life with Him. Why would we ever refuse an invitation like that? What are some ways we need to prepare our lives more fully for the feast God has prepared for us? May we always recognize the abundance God has shared with us through Jesus.

Please support our Underwear & Sock Drive for our service partner, Uplift Organization. Uplift directly serves the needs of the homeless population in Kansas City by bringing food and other needed items to the streets several times a week. There is an immediate need for these items so we have decided to hold our annual collection of these items a little earlier in the year than in the past. There will be collection bins in the north Gathering Space beginning this weekend through next weekend, October 17-18. You can drop off items when you attend Mass or during the week from 10am – 6pm. We also send volunteers to Uplift each month so you might want to consider learning more about what they do by signing up for an upcoming month. Your donations are greatly appreciated and will be a blessing for those in need.

Last week the new sprinkler system for the church began to be installed. This has been referenced in my Friday video and in our Mass announcements. We hope the installation will be completed in the next two weeks. The sprinkler system in church is included in the projects from our Capital Campaign and is a requirement of the city. This project will make our church space safer and also reduce our insurance rates moving forward. During the installation, we will continue to have weekend Masses and the daily 8:15am Mass in church. During the week, the church will be closed after the 8:15am Mass so that the work can be done. Thanks to all those who have supported the Celebrating our Faith-Continuing our Vision Capital Campaign.

I know that this has been a very different year for all of us and that some ministries and programs have been delayed in starting, but at this point our faith formation programs for all ages have begun. If you have grade school children in public school, please be sure they are participating in our Wednesday evening Children’s Faith Formation classes. If you have high school age teens, please be sure they are participating in our Youth Ministry activities and Confirmation 2021 if needed. Our Young Adults group for those in their 20’s & 30’s and our Young Families group are gathering regularly. There are also a variety of Adult Faith Formation offerings each month, including video and scripture series. Please check the bulletin and our website for more information and be sure to take advantage of these opportunities to grow in faith.
Many Blessings!      

 

The Gospel parable we hear today about the landowner and tenants is a foretelling of the way many will react to the message of Jesus. The tenants in the story seize and kill the servants and even the son of the landowner. They are seeking to gain the vineyard for themselves. But in the end, they are going down a path of greed and pride that leads to their own demise. Jesus warns those listening to the parable, many of whom are not open to Jesus, that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit. We are the tenants who have been blessed with the gift of faith and the responsibility of caring for the kingdom. As tenants of this precious gift of faith, God expects us to produce good fruit and bear witness to what has been shared with us. The line from the Gospel – the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone – reminds us that we are to make Christ the foundation of our lives and allow him to work wonderful things in our lives. Let us never reject the message that has been shared with us and find ways everyday to bear good fruit.

Just a word of encouragement as we continue to deal with the daily challenges of the pandemic. We are blessed to have the level of activity we do each day while following all the appropriate health and safety guidelines. Since we fill most of our Masses each weekend to our capacity limit of about 170 people for each Mass, we do ask that you continue to sign up for Mass. Our weekday Mass at 8:15am does not require sign up, but for all of our Masses it is required to wear a mask and practice social distancing. We are also having more in-person gatherings for our various groups and ministries. We usually try to hold these in one of our new, larger meeting spaces so people can spread out. Masks are also required for any gathering on our campus. We are also trying to provide a virtual option for most of our ministries, including Sunday Mass, so that those not able to attend in-person can still participate in our offerings. Please know that our staff is working very hard every day to provide opportunities for our parishioners of all ages to be involved and grow in faith. We are grateful for the support of all of you as we continue to move forward. This is an amazing parish and by working together we can continue to flourish as a faith community. Please continue to share your gifts and keep our parish in your prayers.

Next weekend, October 10-11, is the kick-off for our diocesan Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA). The theme this year is One Family…Walking Together in Faith. All registered parishioners should receive a mailing from our diocese asking you to support the ACA. Please take time to read the mailing, inform yourself about all the important programs supported by the ACA in our diocese, and then reflect on an appropriate contribution to the ACA. Your generosity is appreciated.

The Knights of Columbus will be having their annual Tootsie Roll Drive next weekend after all the Masses. Knights will be outside accepting donations and passing out tootsie rolls to those who would like one. The proceeds of the Tootsie Roll Drive will go directly to support the Team Lab in our school, which provides services for students with mental and educational challenges so that they can attend a Catholic School. This important program in our school continues to grow each year and the financial resources needed to provide for these students increases. We are grateful for any amount you can give next weekend.
Many Blessings!