Fr Mike's Notes

 Pentecost may be another week from the time of my writing this blog, but I tell you He IS real and constantly at work. Three weeks ago, a friend was visiting from Green Bay.  When he left to go home he had lost his glasses.  A week later, I found them.  So he told me to just put them in the mail, but we were also looking for another opportunity to see one another.  That opportunity came.  On May 30th, he and I went to meet half way in lower Wisconsin.  He was happy to have the glasses back, but then something happened.  As we were preparing to leave for dinner, he received a phone call from a friend.  I could hear the conversation.  She asked if he could anoint someone over the phone.  A friend was in the hospital and put into hospice care.  She said the name of the hospital and that they had tried the local parishes and received answering machines at the 5 they tried.  Of course we don't anoint over the phone, but the ho...

...really irritate me.  I know I am not alone in that crazy feeling in this world.  Sorry I felt a need to type this blog. I am becoming more and more aware of moments in our recent history of times when human beings have proven we have not advanced as far as we might want to believe.  Last week, there was a news story regarding two people who were shot and killed as they were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington DC.  These two people were to be engaged to be married, and someone FROM CHICAGO took their lives.  In essence, it was an act of antisemitism -- against Jews.  I'm not writing this because of my own heritage, but as a simple human being.   Are there parents in this world today who actually teach their children to be so hateful of a race of people, or even simply anyone who does not look like them?  The obvious answer is YES.  It saddens and sickens my soul to even think of believing that, but humanity prov...

I have to share some exciting news about a project I was asked to undertake, and it begins very soon.  I will be leading formation evenings at St. Cletus beginning on July 8th.  I believe they will be in the Church building, likely at 7pm.  Those are two details that I have not worked out yet, but that is what I am leaning toward. I will be presenting talks on the Sacraments of the Catholic Church.  July 8th will be on Baptism (a logical starting point, I believe).  The sacraments are more than special days in our lives.  They are events that help us to further our relationship with Jesus.  He invites us to intimately know Him deeper each and every day, but these special moments in our life and the life of the Church give us new insights into what God is calling us to be. I hope you might consider attending the first one on July 8th, and invite your friends to attend too.  I promise you will not be bored.  I hope you can learn and have a few ...

  Of course I was not alive when Pope Leo XIII was elected, but in talking to a good friend who is also a priest, he reminded me of the first point below.  However, I also had a moment of clarity with the second point.   I find it highly interesting that a prayer seeking the intercession of St. Michael the Archangel is relatively "new." First social encyclical: In 1891, Leo XIII issued Rerum Novarum, the first major papal social encyclical, addressing the rights and duties of labor and capital, supporting the formation of workers’ unions, and laying the foundation for modern Catholic social teaching. The Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel: Composed after a vision, this prayer became a staple of Catholic devotion, calling for protection against evil in the midst of spiritual warfare. Consecration to Saint Joseph: Leo XIII promoted devotion to St. Joseph, attaching a special prayer to his encyclical Quamquam Pluries and recommending annual observances in Joseph’s ho...

  POPE LEO XIV -Robert Francis Prevost, OSA It is of my own opinion that once again the Holy Spirit has chosen a new pontiff with a purpose.  While Cardinal Prevost was on a "shorter list" of candidates being considered for the next Successor of St. Peter, he was not truly thought to be a frontrunner -- which in my humble opinion is a "HA HA" moment for the Church.  Let me explain before you judge that statement. Who were the names of the Cardinals that were being talked about the most in the days preceding the conclave?  Who were people seemingly saying should be the next pope?  Cardinal Prevost's name was not even part of those conversations.  All I heard were "the guy from the Philippines," or "that Italian secretary of state."  Prevost, while on the list of names possible, had one major "flaw" for many -- He's American -- a dual citizen of Peru and the US.  He's born in Chicago.  So to all of the people who never gave h...

This past Saturday, many parishes celebrated with students who were receiving the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist for the first time.  There were 130 young people between two Mass times offered.  The first of those Masses was packed with family and friends of the first communicants.  It was amazing.  However, I think I was more struck in my soul by the second Mass.  You see, there were three children with special needs, including one boy who sometimes does not eat.  He has a feeding tube.  The celebrant (not me) came up with the idea to use a syringe to give the Blood of Christ since we receive Jesus' fullness in His Body and/OR Blood.  So why do we push receiving both species and not just one? Still, there are some people who would want to have Catholics believe that the child in the example above didn't truly receive his first communion because he didn't receive the Body of Christ, only His Blood.  That is extremely poor theology in my...

Today the parish (and many others around the Archdiocese of Chicago) are celebrating the young people receiving the Holy Eucharist for the first time sacramentally.  It's a wonderful celebration and we really do have a lot to be grateful for as we give thanks.  The children are always super-cute, and most remember their lines.  It IS utter chaos before and after Mass every year.  People always chattering and the volume level in church goes up.  Today,the pastor rang our bell once trying to get the attention of those present so we could start the children's procession.  It didn't work.  So another priest eventually went to the bell and really rang it hard three times, that was only a beginning to calm, but it still took another 3 minutes to have everyone paying attention.  Yet, it is ORDERED chaos too.  There are lots of people, many who have not ever been to Mass and others who have not been to Mass in a long time.  I know we all try h...

  I have a couple of random things that are on my mind today. Years ago, when Fr. Charles Watkins was introducing me to the "circus world," I was learning various words and phrases that people in their business would use as part of the everyday conversation.  One of those was the term "a first of May."  I fit into that term as it is used to describe someone who is new to the business.  Others might refer to it as someone who is "wet behind the ears."  It really was a fascinating world to be involved with serving as a chaplain to performers who make their living on the road.  Many of those families simply own campers or RVs of some sort as a primary shelter.  They don't have a permanent place of residence.  Every night is a new adventure to the next show.  I think that is a lesson I won't forget.  Please pray for "people on the move."  Some people refer to them as migrants, but the reality is that they are citizens of our nation, bor...