We celebrated a Funeral Mass for Barbara Stawicki last week, who died on January 1st. She was married for 54 years to her husband Edward and they have 4 children, 5 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. Barb & Edward were married at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church. Barb always began meals at home with a prayer and loved family gatherings, especially during the holidays. Their son Joe died in 2017 and of course this brought much sorrow to Barb but we pray she will be reunited with him in God’s kingdom.
Dora DeFranco’s husband died almost 20 years ago but she was married to him for 45 years and they had 2 sons and 3 grandchildren. Dora enjoyed making pasta and baked various nationality desserts but her brownies & cookies were the favorites of the grandchildren, and she taught them how to make pizza. Dora was a first generation immigrant from Italy and lived a life of faith by attending Mass, praying the rosary and sending her children to our parish school. She also had a devotion to St. Anthony and so we pray that through his intercession, Dora may rest in God’s peace.
Christine Neilson-Aigner died on Christmas, a day she loved to celebrate so much. She was married for 27 years until her husband Tom passed away. But she gained 6 step-children & several grand & great-grandchildren. Chris had a gift for being creative and was known as a kind and caring person who practiced the virtue of generosity. She enjoyed the gift of life God gave to her and so experienced what Jesus said when he promised that he has come so that we might have life and have it more abundantly. May Chris experience the fullness of life now in the kingdom of heaven.
As I announced last weekend, we had a Zoom meeting last Monday where I shared some insights which came from a book I read last year called “Forming Intentional Disciples.” The premise of the book is that many Catholics were raised “culturally” in the sense that their parents had them baptized, made sure they were catechized by attending Catholic school or PSR (what we used to call “CCD” classes), and then had their children receive the other sacraments such as Holy Communion and Confirmation. While many Catholics were catechized (taught the Catholic faith), unfortunately many were not “instructed” about how to have a personal relationship with God through the person of Jesus Christ. As a result, many stop practicing their faith as they get older, finding that they are just going through the religious motions encouraged by their parents without the most important piece: a relationship with God. Many today even speak of being “spiritual but not religious,” meaning that they believe in God but not in the practice of a religion since they have not found that meaningful (without the relationship at the heart of it). In our preaching, Deacon Pat & I are trying to emphasize the necessity of such a personal encounter with God through Christ. And book studies such as these are meant to help facilitate that awareness. If you missed our meeting, you can watch it (or even just listen to it) on demand via a link on our website. You can also join us for the next Zoom meeting in February. To receive the book for free, just call or stop in the rectory office & ask for one. I believe you will find it as intriguing and helpful as I did. May it help lead you to a true friendship with Christ.