Dear Parishioners,

Saints of God, the Lord be with you!

In today’s Gospel according to Luke (18:1-8), Jesus tells the story of a judge “who neither feared God nor respected any human being” confronted by a persistent widow. At the start of the Gospel, in a very unusual turn, Luke has Jesus telling us the point of the parable: “pray always without becoming weary.”

This theme goes well with the first reading from the Book of Exodus (17:8-13) in which Moses does become weary in his prayer so that Aaron and Hur “supported his (raised up) hands, so that his hands remained steady till sunset.” One of the great blessings in my life as a Franciscan is that our fraternity gathers twice-a-day, morning and evening, to pray the Liturgy of the Hours as a community. I start my day at 4 a.m., during which I drink two cups of coffee, and spend an hour reading Scripture, praying with some devotionals, and reading the Gospel of the day. All of this so that I can prepare a daily homily or work on my homily for Sunday. My alone time with God is important to me, but after all of this, to be honest, sometimes I don’t feel like praying together with my brothers.

But I do. I think the first reading shows us the need for, and the benefit of having, a support circle so that we don’t so easily walk away from our time with God. I need the witness of my brothers to help sustain me when the temptation is to not pray. And I would hope that they in some small way see my presence at our communal prayer as a help to them. All of this praying during the week helps me to better celebrate the Sunday Eucharist, the great communal prayer of the Church.

That’s the outline of how my prayer life is lived. But what of yours? So often in confession people say that they have neglected prayer. I gently ask them what their ideal prayer life would look like, and most of the time they give a description that closely resembles mine: a lot of time spent in relative quiet.

I say to them that may be an unrealistic expectation. Instead, I encourage them to salt their day with short prayers.

• THANKS: Meister Eckhart, a 14th century German theologian wrote, “If the only prayer a person prays is ‘thank you,’ that is enough”
• WOW or HELP: At the end of the day, before going to sleep, review the day and discover the blessings for which they are thankful, and for the things they regret, ask forgiveness.

No matter how we pray, the important thing is that we keep praying. Especially during the week as this will help prepare you for Sunday liturgy. Never give up on prayer. But be warned! Over time, prayer will change us more and more into the image of Christ.

Peace and all good,
Fr. Steve

Dear Parishioners,

As you will have become aware our Parish has, this year, accepted the challenge of Pope Francis to celebrate the Season of Creation. The central focus this year is the call to ‘Listen to the voice of creation’. As Hurricane Ian looks set to approach our city it is difficult to be clear about what the impact on created things and creatures will be.

Ironically, we may have no choice than to listen to the voice of creation, to hear creation groan! But let’s also watch creation. Already birds whose natural habitat is the ocean have begun their unseasonal migration towards the land. Dog owners will know that dogs and other pets will sense that change is in the air long before there are any visible signs. This is instinct. First nation peoples had a natural awareness of the movement in the skies and the waters and reacted accordingly. This is why many Seminole Indians chose Tampa as a relatively safe haven!

All creation is inter-connected although it would seem that humanity may have lost some of this awareness and natural instinct. Nevertheless, those who suffer from arthritis may discover mysteriously that they experience more pain in their joints in times of such meteorological change. The vast majority of us will have to depend on warnings from the media and meteorologists, inevitably causing supermarket shelves to empty of batteries, bread, and water, with long lines to form at gas stations.

This week, we who live on the west coast of Florida will be concerned for ourselves and our neighbors as we potentially face damage or loss of all that keeps us safe. Friends and family living elsewhere will be similarly anxious for us.

And what does God say? Throughout scripture God and his angels always say “Do not be afraid, I will be with you in your distress.” When the disciples were in a storm-tossed boat they were justifiably afraid. So afraid, in fact, that when Jesus appeared walking towards them on the waters, they thought they were seeing a ghost. This was not the only time that the disciples did not recognize Christ in a time of turmoil. The post-resurrection journey to Emmaus was another significant moment of unseeing. On another occasion, when a storm arose and, amazingly, Jesus had managed to fall asleep in the boat, the disciples turned to him in fear. He calmed the waters and he calmed their fears.

We know from the Gospels that God will care for us so much more than he cares for the lilies. God cares whether we reach out to God in prayer or not. But let’s make out of this time of anxiety an opportunity to learn the power of constant prayer, to intentionally place ourselves in God’s care and to hear God say to each of us what God and his angels have always said: ‘Do not be afraid’ and ‘Know that I am with you always’.

Peace and all good,
Phil Jakob
Director of Music

You may find the following songs comforting during your prayer:

How Can I Keep from Singing? | Sung and arranged by members of the Iona Community

Don’t Be Afraid | John Bell of the Iona Community

Let Nothing Trouble You by Bernadette Farrell

Shelter Me | Michael Joncas

Dear Parishioners, 

Back in August, the Bishop’s office announced a resolution to a key item presented through the recent synodal process. They found from their synthesis of the sessions a desire from our region’s parishioners for greater synergy, community, and communications. That resolution takes place today, as we celebrate the first-ever Diocesan Media Day, instituted to raise awareness of our diocesan media ministries, including Spirit FM and the Gulf Coast Catholic.

Many will be familiar with these outlets and the great efforts they make to share the Good News, but in the off chance you were not aware, please take the time to find Spirit at 90.5 on your FM dial and subscribe to the weekly newsletter at gulfcoastcatholic.org. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 states “Test everything; retain what is good.” I can assure you will retain these as part of your daily and weekly routines.

As a child of the information age, spending the entirety of my 13- year career in media, communications, and the like, I take heart seeing our pastoral office provide a day of emphasis for these outlets. We need to remember anything that communicates a message is considered media, and sometimes (yes, sometimes), it can even be uplifting! We regularly produce media for you here at Sacred Heart, with the intent to inform and enrich your connections to both the Gospels and our parish. From this web article that you are reading my thoughts from this week to our live-stream Mass, or our social media posts, Flocknotes, and emails letting you know about upcoming liturgical events, our media production is already robust, and we intend to do much, much more.

We recently completed our own version of synod-like “Listening Sessions,” tailored to focus on our parish and its needs, as opposed to the greater Church. Similarly, we heard a desire for more media, specifically with a Franciscan focus, for parishioners to gain a greater understanding of the order from a theological perspective, as well as to develop a greater Franciscan identity within our parish. The Friars and staff are ready to answer that call.

You’ll have heard us mention before the need to prioritize new media (video/social/ podcasts) in previous columns, especially when addressing the topic of evangelization. We must be readily available through multiple digital outlets to meet the demographic changes and population growth within our parish boundaries, in addition to the parishioner requests previously mentioned. I am happy to say we are finally approaching that next step. Recently, the parish hired a new parish communications assistant, backfilling a vacant position. With this additional help in place, we can begin building out a studio space within the parish office. We will start with producing some short-form informational content, as well as weekly podcasts, featuring the friars discussing their reflections on the week’s Gospel or lay leaders telling the parish about their ministries, and grow from there.

If you are interested in supporting these new ventures, please reach out to me directly via email.

Peace and all good,

Rob Boelke
Manager, Communications