Saint Peter and Saint Paul

With great solemnity the Church celebrates Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Both apostles experienced the Lord in a very special way! Peter was the spokesperson for the apostles! He even told Jesus that he would never deny him but we know what happened in the passion narratives! However, Peter came back stronger and became the first pope of the Church! Paul, as Saul, set out to persecute Christians, but on the road to Damascus, he encountered the risen Lord. From there, he changed his name to Paul and became one of the great evangelizers of the early Church. Two tremendous examples for us to follow as they followed in the footsteps of Christ and gave of themselves for the sake of the Gospel! Today, many of the faithful across the State of Kansas will gather in Topeka for the Rally for Religious Freedom! Like the apostles who have gone before, we need to stand up in defense of our religious liberty and know it is a gift given to us by God! Let us have the resolve in our efforts and pray that Saint Peter and Saint Paul will intercede for us! Have a blessed day!!!

Solid Rock!!!

We are familiar with these words of Jesus: "Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock" (Matthew 7:21-29). We know the alternative of that passage because they man who did not build his house on rock lost everything. Our lives, our faith need to be built on solid rock and the rock is Christ!!! With all that is going on in the world and in society, we need to remain firm and have a strong resolve. Let us build our house on the rock of Christ because with Our Lord we can endure any storm that will come our way! God Bless You!!!

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Today at Mass, I remembered Our Blessed Mother under the patronage of Our Lady of Perpetual Help! June 27 is the feast day of Our Lady! She is also the patroness of the Diocese of Salina, Kansas. This is a special day for our diocese and it is a special year! 2012 marks the 125th Anniversary of the Diocese of Salina! Our celebration will culminate on July 29, when the faithful gather for the anniversary Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral! In its early beginnings, the diocese was known as the Diocese of Concordia. The first cathedral was Our Lady of Perpetual. Even though the diocese moved to Salina and a new cathedral name was given, we have not forgotten our roots and we trust in the intercession of Our Lady of Perpetual Help! May the prayers of Our Lady guide the work of the diocese and be with all the faithful! Have a blessed day!!!

The Gift of Life

We thank God for the beautiful gift of life. God is the Creator, the Author of all life. For our part, we need to show our total dignity and respect for this precious gift. In thanking God for the gift of human life, we also need to be thankful for the gift of eternal life. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus has given us the hope and promise of the life that is to come! As the Gospel acclamation for today says: "I am the light of the world, says the Lord; whoever follows me will have the light of life". Jesus lights the path for us. He is the one that we need to follow at all times! In our time of prayer, may we be thankful, but let us pray for the grace to radiate the light of Christ to others and walk always in his footsteps! Have a blessed day!!!

Prayer & Action- Hand-in-Hand

This week marks the final week of having Prayer & Action in the Washington County, Kansas communities. For those who may not know, Prayer & Action is a ministry out of the Youth Office of the Diocese of Salina. Young people and adult sponsors spend a week in a given community praying together and putting their faith into action by scraping and painting homes, yard work, and providing a ministry of presence to the residents. It has been a wonderful experience and as I have told the people, "Lives have been touched and hearts have been changed." This is a very important ministry and it is not confined to one month. These are things that we are called to do everyday. I found this beautiful quote from the Magnificat devotional, page 361, "Prayer is indeed the atmosphere in which holiness develops and flourishes" -Blessed Ildefonso Schuster. Prayer is a great gift that God has given to us and we need to use it daily, even many times a day. Keeping the communication lines open with God, we are able to fulfill our duties and truly put our faith in action. Let us pray for those working in our communities this week! The gifts of Prayer & Action are inseparable! They go together and they are a tremendous way of life! Have a blessed day!!!

Birth of Saint John the Baptist

This weekend the Church celebrates the birth of Saint John the Baptist! It is a great joy to be able to celebrate this solemnity on the weekend! The Church does not celebrate too many birthdays. Obviously, we celebrate Our Lord's birthday on December 25. We also celebrate the birthday of Our Blessed Mother on September 8. You might ask yourself, "I can see why we celebrate the births of Jesus and Mary, but why John the Baptist?". The Magnificat devotional answers this question very beautifully and it uses quotes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. We celebrate this birth because "John surpasses all the prophets, of whom he is the last" (CCC 523). He "goes 'before [the Lord] in the spirit and power of Elijah" (CCC 696). John the Baptist "is the Lord's immediate precursor or forerunner, sent to prepare his way," who "inaugurates the Gospel... from his mother's womb" (CCC 523). John the Baptist "proclaims the imminence of the consolation of Israel; he is the 'voice' of the Consoler who is coming" (CCC 719). "With John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit begins the restoration to man of 'the divine likeness'" (CCC 720). (Magnificat, 341-342). We celebrate the birth of John the Baptist because of who he is and his role in salvation history! He was not afraid to proclaim the Good News and he did so by sacrificing his very life! We ask Saint John the Baptist to intercede for us as we celebrate this beautiful feast!!! Have a blessed weekend!!!

500th Post

This is the 500th Post for Daily with Fr. David!!! It has been a great joy and blessing to be able to share the Good News with you and hopefully pass along an inspiring message of hope and faith. I probably should have hit that 500 number a long time ago because the blog has not always been daily but I write it in a way that could last for several days until I get back online. This morning I told the Prayer and Action participants who have been in our communities doing ministries of service and presence, "Whenever you receive a compliment, our initial thought is to say thank you, but as I heard someone say, we should always thank God first." We can do nothing without God because it is through Him that we live, move, and have our being. I thank God for these opportunities to evangelize and share His love with you! Thank you for reading the blogs and for those who leave comments. It is a blessing to share our faith and journey with you. God Bless You!!!

Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

The Church celebrates the memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. Saint Aloysius was born in 1568 near Mantua in Lombardy. Instructed in piety by his mother, he manifested an inclination to religious life. He legally delivered his share of the ancestral dominion to his brother and entered the Society of Jesus. While serving the sick during a plague, he himself contracted the disease and died in 1591 (Magnificat, 304). He did not live a long life, but he touched many lives and worked on his own spiritual growth. I think this quote speaks very well to that: "Saint Aloysius, a Jesuit, died at the age of twenty-three while caring for the plague-stricken. He was noted for the purity of heart - that is, the single-hearted focus - with which he pursued holiness" (Magnificat, 302). As members of the body of Christ, we all have a universal call to holiness. We are to be holy as our Heavenly Father is holy. These are graces that we can pray for since Jesus talked about prayer in the gospel for today, Matthew 6:7-15. Our Lord gave the disciples "The Lord's Prayer." As Jesus said, "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him." That does not mean we stop praying because God already knows what we are going to say! He wants to hear is from us. We pray for those graces to be faithful, prayerful, holy people. We have a wonderful saint in Saint Aloysius Gonzaga who will intercede for us as we stive to live that holiness way of life. Blessings to You!!!

First Day of Summer

The calendar says that today is the first day of summer. However, when you listen to or read the gospel for this Wednesday of the 11th Week of Ordinary Time, you might think that it is the beginning of Lent. It is appropriate that the gospel, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18, falls on a Wednesday. This gospel presents Jesus talking to us about what we know as the goods of Lent: Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving. Perhaps the reason we hear this gospel again is to remind us that these goods are not confined just to Lent, but we need to be living these goods everyday. We need prayer everyday! We need to keep that communication line open with God so that we can present our needs to Him, but also take the time to listen to His voice. Fasting from something strengthens our prayer and also the longing that we have to be with our Lord as we look forward to the coming of the kingdom. Almsgiving reminds us that we need to be of service to our brothers and sisters. Let's say that the gospel for today is a friendly reminder to live the goods of Lent each day of our lives. May God Bless Us in our journey!!!

Rally for Religious Freedom!

The advertisement is out to invite people across the State of Kansas to attend the Rally for Religious Freedom. The Rally is being sponsored by the four Catholic Bishops of Kansas. You can learn more about the Rally by going to: www.kscathconf.org/rally. The Rally is being held on June 29, 2012 in Topeka, Kansas on the south steps of the State Capitol Building. All the faithful in the state are being asked to participate and I hope you have the opportunity to attend. If you are not able to attend, the best thing would be to pray. This is what is at stake: "For two centuries, the 1st Amendment has guaranteed religious freedom. Now, the President has ordered religious schools, hospitals, and charities to violate their consciences by paying for products they believe are immoral, including abortion-inducing drugs" (Courtesy of the Rally Flier). Our voices need to be heard and the time is now!!! The "Fortnight For Freedom" is also beginning! It will begin on June 21 and go through July 4. To see what the Fortnight For Freedom is about, you can look at: Fortnight4Freedom.org. As I mentioned, this is a very important issue and our voices need to be heard. Like George Washington said, "The establishment of Civil and Religious Liberty was the Motive that induced me to the field of battle" (Rally Flier). Now, it is our turn to go into battle and stand up for gift of Religious Freedom! If you have the opportunity to attend the Rally in Topeka, please do so. As the question is asked, "Will You Stand With Us?" I hope we can give a resounding "YES!!!" God Bless You!!!

Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

This is a beautiful feast that the Church celebrates today!!! I am pastor to three parishes in Washington County, Kansas. One of those parishes is dedicated, in Greenleaf, is dedicated to the Sacred Heart. We are blessed that all three parishes have statues to the Sacred Heart. No matter the size of the statues, we know that the heart of our Lord is overflowing with unconditional love, mercy, and compassion. The life of Jesus is a beautiful example for all of us. He taught us to love God and to love our neighbor as ourself and he backed up his words with actions. You and I are called to do the same. Our parish calendars also had listed that today is the World Day of Prayer for Priests. As priests, we are to provide an example for the people of God. We are called to share the love, mercy, compassion of Christ with our brothers and sisters. We need to live by example, practice what we preach. In a special way today, along with everyday, let us pray for our priests, that their faith will be strong, that they will remain dedicated to their ministry, and proclaiming the Good News. We thank God for the gift of His Son and for the beauty of his Sacred Heart. May the heart of Jesus become our heart as we live in his love and share his love with others. Have a blessed day!!!

Retreat Time!

As I write to everyone, I am sitting in the lobby of the Spiritual Life Center in Wichita, Kansas. The priests of the Diocese of Salina are presently on retreat! Father Noah Casey, a priest of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis is our retreat director! On a personal note, I know Fr. Noah because when I was in the college seminary at Saint Meinrad, Fr. Noah was a Benedictine monk and he taught me religion. It is great to see him and he called me by name right at the beginning of our retreat, so even after all these years, it is nice to be remembered. The focus for our retreat is the Eucharist and Lectio Divina, a prayerful reading of Sacred Scripture. I will mention more on Lectio in a future blog but right now, I ask for your prayers as we continue this time of retreat. It is a wonderful time to gather as brother priests, pray, and relax! Please know that I am remembering you in my prayers! God Bless You!!!

Corpus Christi Sunday

This weekend we celebrate the beautiful solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Christ! The key component to this feast is the Eucharist. As Catholics, we believe that when we approach the altar to receive Holy Communion, we are truly receiving the Body and Blood of Christ. This is the Real Presence of Jesus Christ: Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. For me, this is a beautiful feast as I continue to observe my 15th year of priestly ordination. It is also special to me this year because it will soon be a year ago that God answered my prayer in a way that I would not have expected. I was praying for a renewal of mind and heart and I got my answer when I got knocked off the bike I was riding. While I was on the mend, I missed the Feast of Corpus Christi, so I am truly thankful as I celebrate Mass this weekend. Eucharist means Thanksgiving, so let us be thankful for for the gifts that God gives to us, especially the gift of His Son and his Body and Blood that we receive each week! Have a blessed weekend!!!

Times Call for Renewed Effort

The times in which we live can be quite troubling as we see what is going on in the world and in our very country. Our economy has been declining for the last number of years, we have been supporting our military personnel as they have fought several battles to keep us free from terrorism and those who want to do us harm, there has been an attack on the institution of marriage, on the sanctity of human life, and on our religious liberty. I am sure there are other things that I am forgetting here, but these seem to be the highlights and we are concerned. These are items that we need to bring to prayer everyday, that God will change the minds and hearts of those who want to destroy our culture and society. I think of this as I read the caption from Paul's letter to Timothy, "All who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." When we say "YES" to being disciples of Jesus, we pick up our cross and follow in the footsteps of the Lord and we never know what those crosses will entail, but Paul gives us this assurance, "But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (II Tim. 3:10-17). In the midst of persecution, ridicule, humiliation, we are to remain strong and faithful because the Lord assures us that he is with us until the end of the age. Most importantly, our Lord is walking right beside us. Do not give up, Do not be afraid! The call is there to open wide the doors to Christ. This is what we need to do as we ask God to bless us in our present day and bless our renewed efforts! God Bless You!!!

The Greatest Commandment

The Greatest Commandment is "LOVE!!!" The caption from Mark's Gospel is, "There is no commandment greater than these." The entire passage is Mark 12:28-34. One of the scribes questioned Jesus about which is the first of all the commandments. Jesus replied, "The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." That is a beautiful passage because the love of God is truly unconditional and our love needs to be the same. God is the author of love. He created us out of love, He sent His Son to be our Savior out of love, and He calls us to share that love with others. The love, mercy, compassion of God is a beautiful example for all of us. These are great words to listen to, but most importantly, these are words that we need to put into action. If we are going to preach about love, we need to live in love. May God strengthen the gift of love in our lives and in our hearts and may we not be afraid to show our ultimate love to God and one another! Bless You!!!

Saint Boniface

At the parish of St. John the Baptist in Hanover, Kansas, we proudly have a statue of St. Boniface in the sanctuary. As we celebrate this memorial, I also think back to my time in the seminary at Saint Meinrad in Indiana. A few miles down the road from the seminary is the city of Fulda, Indiana and the parish church of St. Boniface. I had the opportunity to teach religious education there for a year. "Saint Boniface was born in England about the year 673. He was first professed in the monastic life in Exeter but in 719 went to Germany to preach the Gospel. He made many converts there and was consecrated bishop, ruling over the church in Mainz. He attracted many companions by whose help he founded or restored dioceses in Bavaria, Thuringia, and Franconia. He also convened councils and promulgated laws. While preaching the Gospel to the Frisians, St. Boniface was killed by pagans in 754. His body is buried in the monastery of Fulda" (Magnificat, 75). Saint Boniface was not afraid to proclaim the Gospel and even give of his life for its sake. As the entrance antiphon for the day read, "This holy man fought to the death for the law of his God and did not fear the words of the godless, for he was built on solid rock." What a beautiful example for us in our present day. We find ourselves fighting for Religious Liberty and Freedom. We can look to St. Boniface for his intercession and know that divine assistance is always there for the asking because we are a people who believe in Religious Liberty and believe in living the truth at all times. Saint Boniface, pray for us!!!

Prayer & Action is Underway!!!

Prayer & Action has begun in Washington County, Kansas and the communities of Hanover, Greenleaf, Washington. Prayer & Action is beginning its seventh year of providing ministry to those who are in need or just need a helping hand. This ministry is a way for our young people to put their faith into action by being of service to their neighbor. For this week, college students are here doing different jobs and enjoying the company of other young people, some whom they know from previous Prayer & Action experiences and those they are just getting to know. It is a wonderful way to build friendships and to live the faith that we profess. In the following weeks, the high school students will be here to provide the same service. The key component to putting their ministry into practice is prayer. The opening Mass was celebrated this morning and it was a joy to see the young people interact with the daily Mass people. Mass was well attended for a daily schedule in the early beginnigs of summer. I am looking forward to the young people and their sponsors being here in Washington County. I did go out to a couple of the work sites to watch the young people in action and interact with the people they are providing the ministry to. This is a wonderful ministry and I hope others will take part because it is truly a blessing to any given community. Those in the Washington County area who read this blog, if you know of any jobs that need to be done- painting, yard work, minor repair, let me know and I will pass the information on to the team. Other readers, please keep the team and our young people in your prayers! May God bless the work that has begun and bring it to a fruitful completion! Bless You!!!

Saint Justin

We have begun the month of June and the Church starts the month by remembering Saint Justin. Saint Justin was a convert to the faith and he wrote many works in defense of religion. He opened a school in Rome where public debates were held. Justin was martyred along with several companions around the year 165 (Magnificat, 25). Saint Justin is a great saint to turn to in our present day as we are waging the battle in our country over Religious Liberty. Each one of us needs to do our part to defend our Religious Liberty and Freedom. There are rallys planned around the country in the weeks ahead to show support for the liberty and freedom that God has blessed us with. As Jesus says in the gospel for today, "Have faith in God. Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him" (Mark 11:11-26). The Lord answers our prayers and we need to have a strong faith and trust. Do not be afraid to pray! Keep those communication lines open each day with God. Do not be afraid to live your faith in the world and in your communities! Let us ask Saint Justin to intercede for us and guide us in our efforts! Saint Justin, pray for us!!!