Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope and pray that you are doing well. This weekend we come to the last weekend of the first month of 2006. St. Paul was so right last weekend in our second reading. Do you remember? We were reading from his first letter to the Corinthians. St. Paul told us, “Time is running out.” He went on to give us several examples of things that we were to do differently, because we were running out of time. And then the most striking line of the reading was the last one: “This world is passing away”. That pretty much sums up our whole situation, doesn’t it? You can pick up any newspaper, you can turn on any news broadcast on TV or the radio, you can check out everything on the Internet, and the thing that is most clear as 2006 is now 1/12 over, is that our world is dying. Time is running out quickly. It’s time that all of us invested in the things that are going to last. And what did Jesus teach us are the things that are going to last? He said that love, and peace, and truth, and compassion, and even forgiveness, would be the things that we would take with us into His everlasting Kingdom. These are what last. These are what matters. If you are thinking that what’s going to matter a hundred and twenty years from now at the longest, is your bank account, or your job, your house or car, or your shot-glass collection, whoops! You’re wrong. When we leave this world nobody’s taking any of those things with us.

Isn’t it time that all of us really started seeking those things that will really last? What would happen if all of us sought after holiness as much as we do our next vacation? What would this world be like if we worked as hard at loving one another as we do at looking good? What would happen if we were all as committed to the truth, as we can be to keeping up the lies? Before each of us gets defensive at those last couple of lines, myself included, THINK ABOUT THIS! What are we doing with our lives for Jesus? Time is running out.

Man, I must really be affected by how quickly this month has gone by, because, my friends, I am so struck this week with a sense of urgency. I guess you could already probably tell that. We think that we have forever. We waste time. Some day, we will be horrified by how much time, HOW MUCH OF OUR LIVES, we spent in front of a TV, or fooling around with the computer, or playing video games. Some of our new electronic gadgets deceive us as they gobble up hours and hours of our time. And frequently, as we do so, our minds and our souls turn to mush. Go for the good stuff. Seek the things that will last. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, now Blessed Theresa of Calcutta, used to say frequently that the best time that we could spend on this earth, was the time that we spent in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Such was the power that this future saint that lived in our time, received from spending time in prayer and Eucharistic Adoration. When’s the last time you stopped by Eucharistic Adoration? I’ve noticed that there are now several hours each week where people are needed to take an hour. Why not you? What’s holding you back? Wouldn’t it be great if we had several people signed up for every hour? If you currently don’t have a regularly scheduled hour of Eucharist Adoration, why don’t you consider taking one now? For all the time that all of us waste each week, why not give one good hour to our Lord Jesus? It just might be the best hour of your whole week. And it will certainly have more significance for your long-term future than any TV show or computer game. We do not have forever. This world is passing away.

I offer my thanks to our Altar Rosary Society and to Katie Tompkins for once again sponsoring the Ladies Candlelight Dinner. I have heard lots of great reviews and it certainly sounds like everybody had a wonderful time, all while raising money in support of our 2006 Spring Fling. This is one of the very few St. Maria Goretti events that I have never attended, for obvious reasons. But I know that it takes a lot of work and commitment to make it happen. I keep threatening each year to sneak into the event in “drag”, but my beard would probably give me away.

Hey, the adult Slow-motion Mass for RCIA is this Monday evening at 7:00 PM in church. Thursday is St. Philip Neri Oratorio’s Stump-the-Priest” night. And next Saturday night is our first-ever Cursillo Ultreya. It’s another big week! It will go way too fast.

In Christ,

Fr. Kevin

In the long run the pessimist may be proved right, but the optimist has a better time on the trip.