“Jesus, My Lord, My God, My All. How Can I Love You as I Ought?”

"The Eucharist is "the source and summit" of the Christian life. The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it.” (CCC 1324) The simple truth that the Eucharist is everything is not something that is a secret in scripture (John 6:51-58, 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, Mark 14:22-24, 1 Corinthians 11:28-29, John 6:35) or in St. Joseph, Pillar of Families.

People have commented often over the past year that they have experienced their love for the Eucharist grow and have also seen others love for our Eucharistic Lord increase as well. There has also been an increase in people accessing the Lord’s Mercy in the sacrament of reconciliation. Of all the things I could want to see grow in a parish, love for the Eucharist and trust in the Lord’s Mercy are definitely at the top of the list.

This is why I think when people want to point out what is wrong with Beacons or with other things going on, there is good reason to look with the eyes of the Lord and see that there is much good being accomplished by the grace of God. If people love Jesus more (as they are doing by loving His Presence in the Eucharist) what else could we want to accomplish? Things may be difficult and hard, but Jesus was not always well thought of or popular either. (Luke 4:28, Matthew 8:34, Mark 6: 3, Luke 17:25, John 1:11) As we grow in love for Jesus Christ and unite ourselves more closely to Him, we will experience some of what He experienced in His earthly life. “If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first.” (John 15:18) The most important part is that we increase our Love for God our Father, who has first loved us. (1 John 4:18) Our goal as the people of God is to put ourselves and others into an ever more intimate friendship with Jesus Christ deepening their salvation in Christ. “For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” (Romans 14:9)

While Jesus’ words and actions drew some evil from the hearts of some and experienced evil Himself. Jesus still chose to do the Will of His Father. He even saw the Cross as necessary and as an act of obedience to His Father. (Mark 8:31, Luke 9:22) The Cross is certainly a manifestation of evil and yet it is the symbol of our Faith for through the Cross our salvation came to be. (1 Corinthians 1:18, Galatians 6:14, 1 Peter 2:24) We too can experience hardship and still find the Lord in the midst of our difficulty. We see that our suffering aids us in being perfected for eternity. “The eyes of the Christian see deep into eternity.” (St. John Vianney)

The time for nominations has closed, over the next month each individual council will be meeting to go over the nominations and to then select who will be on the three-person ballot for each parish from the nominations made by parishioners. I am not sure when elections will be but probably in October and possibly November depending on certain factors.

Also, I hope you all saw the bulletin insert for the Pathway Planning Team and you should be able to find the handout on Facebook. I am grateful to Deacon Paul Timmerman for heading up this handout and the Pathways Team. I hope this helps to better detail the pathway planning process for Beacons of Light.

We will be having an office Open House for the unified offices in Sidney on Sunday, October 8 from 12-2 PM. We hope this will give everyone an opportunity to see the space and put a face with all the names. Meeting and speaking with our wonderful employees should be a great time for all!

Thank you to our Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for us. I am so grateful for the Eucharist by which He continues to dwell among us and feed us. May the Name of Jesus be always praised in our parishes and in our homes. Glory and honor be His forever and ever!

Peace in Christ,

Fr. Jarred Kohn