Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This weekend we congratulate all of our young people who received the Sacrament of Confirmation this past Friday evening. We are so proud of each one of you! I’d like to thank Jeff Stankovsky, our Director of Youth Ministry, all the facilitators, presenters, and parents who helped with the two-year formation of these young people. It takes an army of people, and it takes a lot of hard work and commitment, to have a serious Confirmation preparation process. St. Maria Goretti’s is not the easiest to go through, nor is it the easiest to put on, but we do believe that it is the best that we can offer our young people. And as I have written in this space many times before, isn’t it time that we as Church sought the best rather than the minimal? We already seeing the good fruits of what happens when a Parish asks for more from everybody. We all win and the Kingdom of God becomes more and more a reality. I’d like to thank Bishop Higi for coming here to celebrate the Sacrament. More and more bishops across the country are cutting back on going out for Confirmations. I am so glad and proud that we have a Bishop who faithfully goes to the local parishes to celebrate with the Church’s young people. Confirmation is a BIG deal and it is emphasized for all of us by the Bishop’s presence each year. Thank you, Bishop Higi!

I have been thinking a lot lately about those little acts of kindness that we are called to do every day for one another. I just got back from driving through the intersection at U.S. 31 and State Rd. 32. I must confess that that particular intersection is a terrible occasion of sin for me. There are so many cars there now all day long. Plus, you have those gas stations and fast food places all piled up there on all four corners of the intersection, with all kinds of people trying to get in and out of those businesses. It is a mess. You know it and I know it. It tries my patience every time that I drive through there. I know that it affects many of you in the same way, because you have told me so. In particular, it is made even more difficult by the individuals who are trying to exit those businesses and merge into traffic on U.S. 31 or State Rd. 32. Every time I drive through there I am reminded of the patience that we need to live together. I’m not just talking about when we are driving, but also when we are at home and things are hectic, when we are at work and deadlines are looming for everybody, when we are at the store, and the line is long, when we are at the bank, or the carwash, or the license branch. All of these are opportunities to witness to Christ, to Christ’s love, and to God’s patience. If God can be patient with all of us with all of our sins, how much more should we try to be patient with one another? And yes, this includes when we have a steering wheel in our hands! We get so many opportunities each day to bear witness to Christ. And with the vast majority of them we are not in church, we do not have Bible in our hand, and we’re not praying - although many times God’s name is involved in the situation. How many times a day can we show people Jesus alive and well simply by being more patient? An act of patience, an act of kindness, a simple stepping back and letting somebody else go in front of us, can speak so much more eloquently than any homily or letter that anybody writes.

As a boy, my parents used to teach my brothers and I that just possibly, those few extra seconds that you give to a stranger by letting them go first, could very well be the difference from you being in an accident or being some place that was harmful to you. I have thought about this often, when I have come up on accidents on the road that just happened. A few minutes, a few seconds earlier, and quite possibly I could have been the one in the accident. We are all on God’s time anyway. Why don’t we slow down? Why don’t we try being more patient? Why don’t we take advantage more of those little opportunities to give preference to another? We don’t always have to be first. Life is not a race. Isn’t it a lot more about how many lives we affect while we are here? I beginning to understand more and more what Mother Teresa of Calcutta, now Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, used to write about “little acts of love”. She used to say that very rarely is being a Christian about BIG actions of love. Most of us will not be called to lay down our lives for another. But all of us are called to do all those little things with great love every day. And do you know what? It’s a lot harder to do all of those little things with great love on an on-going basis than it is to just do those big things once. Think about that! Our salvation is being worked out in us every single day. God is awesome!

Have a great day! What good can you do today? Who can you witness to in your life?

In Christ,

Fr. Kevin

“Joy is the serious business of Heaven” - C.S. Lewis