New Experiment

By the way in case you did not see it, I am in the lending library. Alright, let's see those questions down below, and I'll pick one out and hopefully have it answered by next Friday. Also, you can  Email me here or look at the link in the upper right hand corner to find my email, to mail me your questions.
Also, Fr. Abbott informed me last week that this blog has made it mainstream (alright, maybe not mainstream, but is being looked at) because he found a link for this blog on another website. The website is called Minnesota Catholic, and what it does is gather Catholic news throughout the state and puts it on one site. It is a pretty cool sight, and seeing as how they have a link to my blog, I have decided to add a link to their site in the upper right hand corner, and also right here, so take a look.

Forgive your brother from your heart

It was a very tough weekend to preach this weekend, and that is because of the memory of the September 11 attacks 10 years ago. Also, our readings for the weekend were definitely challenging, because they talked about forgiveness, which can be a very hard thing to do, but something that we are called to do. I think that this is what I tried to convey in my homily this weekend, and I hope that you can learn something about forgiveness from this homily.

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3 Weeks and Counting

So, the marathon is right around 3 weeks away, and depending on when you read this I will either have ran my 20 mile run or not (it is scheduled to happen on Monday September 12). After this run, the training will get a lot easier, because I will be entering into something called the tapering period of my training. Essentially what will happen is that the runs will get shorter, and it will give my body time to recover from all of the stress that I have put on it over the past 15 weeks. The hope is that the recovery will actually make me more rested and stronger for the 26 miles and 385 yards (or 138,435 feet) of the marathon. The training portion has gone well, although I will be excited to be over with it, it really can take over some of your days.

The other update that I would like to give you about the marathon is how the fundraising is going. Now, there have been some very generous people out there, who have made some very generous donations, and this is greatly appreciated. As you may recall my goal is $4,000.00 and this is still my goal, but I think it would be great if we could somehow exceed this goal. Right now I have received $1,450.00, which is terrific, especially seeing as how the only announcement that I have made about this has been through this blog. Just to let you know every single penny that I receive (and I do accept pennies) will go straight to the school to help them provide a high quality education to the students here. So, if you can help out in anyway (remember pennies are accepted) please do.

Some people have asked me if they could come down and cheer me on, and of course the answer is YES!!! If you do plan on coming down to be one of the 300,000 spectators, please let me know ahead of time, so that I can keep an eye (or an ear) open for you, and if you know where you are going to be at that would help out as well. Here is a link to the course map. I have been able to cheer on people at the marathon many times, and it is a great time, and I think the runners appreciate it as well.  If I hear of a group that is going to come down, I will make sure to post it on the blog to let other people know that they can join them at a set location.

I would also appreciate if you could somehow spread the word about this endeavor that would be great. Finally, and most importantly please continue to pray for the success not necessarily of me running the marathon, but for the success of our school here at Epiphany. It was truly a joy this week to have all of the kids back, and to see so many new faces in school as well, and this is why I am running the marathon, so that these kids can get a great Catholic education. Once again thank you for all of your support, and please know of my prayers for you.

Love does no evil to the neighbor

I mentioned in my homily (which is below) this weekend that our neighbor is not only the person that we live by, but everyone who lives here on Earth (hence the picture to the right). However, I'm glad that I was able to see many of my neighbor's from the great state of Minnesota at the Epiphany Diner. It was great to have so many people come up to the Diner and let us know how much they appreciated us being there, and how much they are going to miss the place. Once again thanks to everyone who stopped by, and know that we too are going to miss the Diner, but as we know nothing will last forever.

On a different note, you can start expecting to see my homilies posted on Tuesday instead of Monday, seeing as how my off day has changed to Monday.

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The Last Year at the Fair

It's been a great year at the fair so far, with great weather, and even better volunteers. It also has been a little sad, seeing as how it is our last year. You probably have heard about this in the media the last couple of weeks, and I think that this is one of the reasons why we are a little busier this year. I have been able to make it down there 3 times so far, and hope to make it down at least another 3 times, so make sure to stop in and say hello. Below is a video that Kare 11 showed last night, and it is very well down, so please take a look.

Who do you say that I am?

It was another great weekend here at Epiphany, and it reminded me of why I like Sunday so much, because I get to see all of the parishioners. It was also a beautiful Sunday afternoon outside, so I decided that I was going to take advantage of the weather, and read a couple chapters of a book outside. I hope that you all had a great weekend, and let's hope that this weather stays for the State Fair which starts on Thursday.
Here is my homily from Sunday:

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Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

First, and foremost, happy feast day. Today of course is the Solemnity of the Assumption and although not a holy day of obligation this year in the United States, it still is a huge day where we celebrate Mary being assumed into heaven. But, why do we celebrate this? I think our prayers for the Mass tells us the reason, and the reason being that it gives us hope that we too can reach heaven, where we all want to dwell. So, make sure to take some time today (or this week) and contemplate what you are doing in your life, if you truly are serving God or not.
I got back from my fishing trip on Saturday night, and it was a great time. The fishing could have been a little better, but it was so nice just to be able to spend some time with my brothers, and also enjoy nature. We stayed at a cabin at Fort Saint Charles, which is an island on Lake of the Woods. Here is a link to some more information about the site. Essentially, it was a fort that some explorers used when living at Lake of the Woods, and eventually they were actually massacred. I hope one day to tell more of the story, maybe a special talk, or make it the story of a homily, so stay tuned.I was able to say Mass everyday up there with my brothers, and I even got a run in!!  Here are some pictures from the trip.

Picture of the Cabin we stayed at.

Sunset at Lake of the Woods.

Praying on the boat.

Saying Mass and somewhat sporting a beard.

My Brothers Luke and Mark.

It is great to be back at the parish, and I am really looking forward to our final year at the State Fair Dinner. When I was gone, channel 5 did a story on the dinner, and here is a link to the video. If you plan on coming to the state fair this year make sure to stop in and grab some food at the dinner, hopefully it is going to be a busy place.
Alright, don't forget to celebrate this great solemnity today, I know that I will.

Go Fish

As mentioned in the video above, we were pleased to welcome Fr. Frank Pavone from Priests for Life this past weekend, and hopefully his homily will be on the Epiphany website soon, which you can find here. Also, here is a link to the website for Priests For Life. A great resource that they have is an Assumption Novena for Life and here it is:

Lord Jesus Christ,
You have conquered the power of death
And opened for humanity
The hope of eternal life in body and soul.

You granted your Mother
A share in heavenly glory,
And did not allow decay to touch her body.

As we rejoice in the Assumption of Mary,
Grant us new confidence in the victory of life over death,
And renewed reverence for the human body.

As we honor Mary, Assumed into Heaven,
May we proclaim the hope of Your Gospel:
That you want every human life seated on your throne.

May that hope strengthen us to protect every life here on earth.

You live and reign forever and ever. Amen.

I hope that you will take a moment to pray this every day, up to the Assumption. Also, here in the Archdiocese there will be a morning of prayer at the site of a Planned Parenthood that is in construction in Saint Paul,for more information please take a look at this link.

Finally, please keep me and my 2 brothers in your prayers, this week. We will be heading up to Lake of the Woods for some fishing and relaxing. It should be a good time, and hopefully, I will be able to take some videos up there. Before I leave though, I have a 15 mile run scheduled for the tomorrow morning, so definitely pray for me then.

Summer Time

It's definitely summer around the office; things are a little bit slower. However, with the State Fair right around the corner, followed by school, I’m sure that things are going to pick up soon. In the meantime I have been researching (and will continue to) more into the third edition of the Roman Missal. I really think that it is an improvement from the one that we are using right now, and also a great opportunity to learn more about the liturgy. I know that here at Epiphany we are offering a five-part series looking deeper into the Mass, and they will meet on Monday nights. For more information on this please take a look at this link.

Speaking of Epiphany, in case you havn't heard, we will be welcoming Fr. Frank Pavone from Priests for Life this weekend at all of our Masses except for the Sunday evening Mass at 5:30. Fr. Pavone is in town for The National Sidewalk Counseling Symposium, which sounds like a great event. If you are not from Epiphany, maybe this should be the weekend that you come on over and check out our great church and listen to Fr. Pavone preach.

Finally, in case you missed it, yesterday was St. John Vianney’s feast day. I was able to celebrate the 8:00 morning Mass, and it was beautiful. The more that I look into Vianney’s life, the more impressed I am with him, and want to be like him. By the way this statue is outside the Bassilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis, I took the picture on Monday night when I was in the area.Thanks to all who pray for priests, please keep it up, we need it.

Have a safe and great weekend, I hope to see you here at Epiphany!!!

Be Open to God's Plan for You

This picture is from when I was a deacon studying in Rome for a month. I am joined by then deacon, know Father Erik Lundgren. What we were studying at that time was how the Universal Church works (although I am pretty sure that this is a "posed shot") for a travel blog that we had at the time describing our experience in Rome. My homily from this past weekend talked a little bit about the dignity of work, and how it does not make you who you are, so the picture is supposed to show me working. Anyways, below is my homily from this past weekend, I hope you can get something out of it.

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