Dear Parishioners,

Since beginning work here at Sacred Heart a little over two years ago, I can easily say I have been a beneficiary of our parishioners’ exemplification of this weekend’s Gospel according to Matthew, at least in a figurative sense. Communications, public relations, and social media personnel are often mischaracterized as gatekeepers protecting a company’s image or shills for an organization’s agenda. While these negative connotations may carry a small amount of truth to specific aspects of our profession, we are more akin to story-tellers than gatekeepers or parrots. Thankfully and intentionally, I have been working to make that the more dominate descriptor for my work here, because what a story we have to tell!

Each and every week we are blessed with new examples of our parishioners, ministries, and volunteers embodying Matthew 25:35-40. I am privileged to have a front row seat to so much of that service to our neighbors. I am even more privileged to be the one to help advance these stories of service to the rest of the parish and our local and regional partners. Not that you wouldn’t believe it, but many of those who work with our outreach ministries here at Sacred Heart are so camera shy when I am around to get photos or video. They don’t want any recognition for what they feel is simply answering His call to action, and I respect that, even when that necessitates more effort with how we represent or advertise a given ministry or outreach.

I feel strongly that we continue to grow our efforts in covering these “Matthew 25” stories here at Sacred Heart. Not for vanity, credit, or favor, but to grow our basis for who we can help and how we can help them. Outside of a personal invitation, effective story-telling is one of the best ways to convince someone to take an action. It could be as simple as a 10-second video on social media showing the interaction a volunteer has with a donor at our Giving from the Heart drives that makes a new parishioner set a reminder to donate at the next drive, for instance.

Creating and distributing content across multiple channels (web, social, email, print) takes time, and we all know that is in short supply. While we are nearly finished with the in-office studio space, we will need experienced volunteers to join us in making the space an effective tool for telling our parish’s story. A parish communications committee will be reestablished in the new year to help lead these efforts, so we can continue to grow our parish’s commitment to Matthew 25.

Peace and All Good,
Rob Boelke

Dear Parishioners,

Saints of God, the Lord be with you!

It seems to me that the readings this weekend are preparing us to celebrate the Solemnity of Christ, King of the Universe and the end of the liturgical year. Perhaps these readings were chosen to initiate a time of reflection or introspection concerning the past liturgical year.

We who are the Church are often described as the “Spouse of Christ” and both the first reading from the Book of Proverbs (31) and our Responsorial Psalm (128) use the image of a faithful and fruitful wife to help our reflection. Remembering that God has entrusted His heart to us.

You could stop there and that is enough to reflect on.

We need to examine if we “bring God good and reach out our hands to the poor and extend (our) arms to the needy.”

And you, dear Saints of God of Sacred Heart Parish, do! Hands of Hope, Bikes from the Heart, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Knights of Columbus and many other groups and individuals are the arms of the parish reaching into the community. Not to mention how you treat our homeless brothers and sisters with dignity and charity.

As the opening Collect reminds us this is how we show our devotion to God as we “serve with constancy the Author of all that is good.” And there is more since: God is for giving, we are made in His image and likeness, are made for giving as well, and when we give ourselves to others, we discover full and lasting happiness and joy.

Today’s Gospel from Matthew reminds us that each of us has been given a gift from God that we are called not to cling to nor hide, but to use for the benefit of others, beginning with our families. Charity begins at home, but shouldn’t stop there. Discipleship (imitation of Christ) is not safe. It’s risky to reach out to others with kindness and mercy. But if you think about it, this might be a good description of heaven, the eternal reaching out in mercy and kindness to us by God.

To prepare for heaven we must begin living heaven here on earth. We are called not to speculate when Christ will return in glory, but live as if He is already here in His glory. And if we do, then when our earthly life is over we will hear Him say,

“Well done, my good and faithful servant…Come share your master’s joy.”

Peace and All Good,
Fr. Steve

Dear Parishioners,

“Wisdom is readily perceived by those who love her and found by those who seek her.”  As we rapidly approach the end of another church year, it would be a good time for us all to reflect on this gift of the Holy Spirit; Wisdom. Wisdom participates in God’s capacity to order all things properly, and a wise person accomplishes in his or her life what God does for the whole of creation.

Wisdom invites itself in our daily lives. Wisdom is not a level of education, nor does it require us to read more books or memorize things. Rather, wisdom is a capacity to live well, and to make informed decisions. Such wisdom is only possible with good judgment, stemming from experience and everyday knowledge, through listening, observation, reflection and then putting it into practice. Wisdom, in order to be gained, must be sought out and desired. Each of us seeks in our own heart and mind the people that we might ask for advice in our lives. Those people are usually important figures for us, whose practical judgments we would trust and also whose spiritual advice could be helpful. Our first reading this Sunday reminds us that we need to seek wisdom to “the perfection of prudence,” and once we obtain some wisdom, we would be wise to treasure that wisdom. True wisdom figures and reflects the wisdom of God.

Wisdom can be seen as a preparedness for Jesus’ return. Our Gospel from Matthew today brings us back to wisdom.  The parable that Jesus gives to us illustrates the practical nature of wisdom. All ten of the virgins wanted to meet the bridegroom but five of them did not bring enough oil to keep their lamps burning. A person who knows about oil lamps will know that extra oil must be taken along if the wait is going to be long. Seems a practical foresight , but five of the virgins did not have that wisdom.  When the bridegroom was delayed, those five ran out of oil.

The point of this parable is to ensure we are ready at all times for the Lord. To be ready for the Lord, we must be willing to wait for the Lord. To wait for the Lord, we must be willing to do all the things that will allow us to be ready as we wait. And so the question is, “do we live our lives in such a way that we are always ready for Him?” We must live and conduct our lives in such a way as to mirror the life Jesus has presented to us. Our question may be “how does Christ know us?” He knows us when He looks into our hearts and sees Himself. We trust and follow Him, taking to ourselves His truth so that it becomes our truth. Then the door will open for us.  May you be filled with the Wisdom & Peace of Jesus!

Peace and All Good,
Fr. Zack