Our commitment to Christ

Dear Friends in Christ,

Now that June is here many of us are probably thinking of summer and vacations. With the price of gas and airline tickets going up however, you may be like me thinking of a shorter trip this year. I was talking to our first year Confirmation students and parents the other night and reminding them that wherever we go and whatever we do this summer, we always carry with us our commitment to Christ.

By our Baptism we are marked people, marked as Christians, followers of Jesus Christ. As a consequence we must remember to “pack” our faith along when going on our summer vacation. What does this mean in the concrete?

For example, save gas by going on a “journey of the mind”. We can do that by reading that great spiritual book we promised ourselves. Do you remember the reading list we published here several weeks ago?

There are some books that would make great summer reading, for example The Story of a Soul, the autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux. Pope Pius XI called her the greatest saint of modern times, and Pope John Paul II named her a doctor of the Church. St. Augustine’s Confessions gives us the spiritual journey of one of the greatest minds the Church has produced. Another modern saint, Faustina Kowalska, reveals her struggles and joys as “the Secretary of Divine Mercy” in her Diary: Divine Mercy in my Soul. If you’re still looking for a great book that’s not on the list you could go online and check out Ignatius Press or Roman Catholic Books. Both of these publishers have lives of the saints, histories of the Church, children’s books, and books on prayer. Or if you’re more of a visual person, they have DVD’s with great stories and films both fictional and historical.

If you do take a trip this summer, check out this website: masstimes.org to find a Catholic Church and the time for Sunday Mass anywhere in the country or throughout the world. You can even find Masses in different languages and churches that are wheelchair accessible. Our Church is called Catholic because we’re universal; we’re found all over the planet. So don’t leave your religion at home this summer, get connected with your Church wherever you go. You may be surprised and make new friends at the same time.

Have a great week and see you in church.

Fr. Hildebrand