The Hog Roast is finally here at St. Boniface. And of course, I would like to extend an invitation to everyone from St. Mary’s to join us. This weekend we start off with the Polka Mass at 10:30am. Then everyone is invited to join us in our annual celebration of the fall festival. Last year I had a very good time with the good people of St. Boniface out here in God’s Country… It was the second time that I called Bingo (Sept. of 2008 was the first). I fondly remember the band and their music. One of my Carmelite Brothers came out to enjoy the festivities and was very impressed with the parish and especially the pork dinner. I would like to ask everyone to pitch in at least a little bit if you haven’t already with your time and energy to make this Hog Roast the best ever! Please feel free to invite family and friends, parishioners from other parishes to come and enjoy our celebration. It should be a good time to catch up with those we maybe haven’t seen for a while. It is good to work alongside and to be with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We do this certainly as a fundraiser but more important than that is the idea that we are all here together as part of an extended family, having fun, enjoying ourselves and each other in a good positive healthy way.
I might even find my way to the beer garden early on to catch some of the Packers game… But most importantly, to be with all of you on this wonderful day of fun and relaxation. Let us not forget that we participate in this celebration with the common goal of growing in our relationship with Christ. That even in our fun and play we give honor and glory to our God. I look forward to seeing everyone there…

Peace, Fr. Tom

“Lord, will only a few people be saved?” We hear these words in last week’s gospel that should send shivers down our backs… that is if being saved is important to us. I believe it is a very good comparison to make, between the Israelites as the chosen people with that of our Catholic Church being the one true faith. The Jewish people knew that they were the chosen ones. Us Catholics know that our Official Magisterial Teaching is without error. But does being the chosen people of the Old Testament where God slowly reveals Himself to the world through them, make them automatically saved? Does being Catholic and understanding all of our Teaching give us a free ride to heaven? Jesus heals the Roman Centurion’s servant because of his great faith. The Roman’s were gentiles, pagans, outside the chosen people and here we see that they can be saved. The Syro-phoenician woman whose daughter was being haunted by a demon… asks the Lord for healing and He says “Why give what belongs to the children and throw it to the dogs?” The woman responds with “Even the dogs receive scraps from the table.” What great faith this pagan woman has, and of course Jesus heals her daughter because of her great faith.
So, who will be saved? Jesus’ response to the original question of who will be saved, I think, is very cautious and restrictive. Throughout this passage there seems to be a tone of urgency and the requirement of great effort. Mother Theresa of Calcutta would tell us that we need to work as hard as we can as is everything depended on us, but realizing that everything really does depend on God. If we were to take some quality time and really read over last week’s gospel passage, I think, we would find that Jesus actually indicates that far more than a few will be saved. The catch, however, seems to be that those who think they will be among the saved, will not be, and many who are considered unfit to be saved will be included. My mom and dad told us kids that when they were younger, back in their small town in Western Minnesota back in the 1940’s that there were religion wars. The Catholics thought the Protestants were going to hell and vice versa. How far we’ve come!
The pattern from which Jesus continues to teach the people in the gospels is one in which He turns things upside down. He challenges the people in many different ways. Many respond with great faith, some who you would not expect. Many of Jesus’ disciples understand the mission to the gentiles, of which was very successful after much of Judaism had rejected Jesus. Remember that the first couple of centuries is when the Church develops and then eventually overcomes even the Roman Empire. We have heard this said many times… some who are last will be first, and some are first who will be last. Much of our faith remains a mystery. And I think sometimes we must learn to let that stand as it is. We are given no answers to the many questions that this passage raises:

Why must the gate be narrow?
Why are some rejected? (How can God create a human being that He knows will eventually reject His love and then suffer eternal torment?)
How will we know when we have done enough?

It is important for humanity to remember that God does not owe us an explanation. The point is that no one is guaranteed salvation because it is always a grace from God. No one can presume on this grace and so everyone must strive diligently to enter by the narrow gate. Salvation allows of no entitlement. Let us become profoundly aware that we cannot buy or earn our way into heaven. Going to church is not a guarantee or a ticket to heaven. Our church going hopefully will lead us to a deeper understanding and knowledge of God’s ways. That we may learn to love God whole heartedly and our neighbor as our self. That we may realize our ability to live the ideal is enhanced by the good example of others. And that we seek the support of God’s friends especially in times of need. That the way we choose to live our lives is a response to God’s love for us, and not for us to try to earn His love. Jesus teaches us… “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, you do unto me.” And, “for when I was hungry, you gave me to eat… when I was thirsty…” These sayings are a wonderful way to chart our lives and hopefully after a long life of goodness, He will bring us to share in eternal life.

Peace, Fr. Tom

We celebrate the Queenship of Mary normally on August 22nd. However, this year the feast falls on a Sunday. Last week we celebrated the Assumption of our Blessed Mother which actually trumped the Sunday liturgy. This gives us two beautiful opportunities during the month of August to show our love and devotion for Our Lady.
Pope Pius XII established the feast of Our Lady’s Queenship in 1954. This feast day is rooted in sacred scripture. If we can remember that at the Annunciation, Gabriel announced that Mary’s Son would receive the throne of David and rule forever. At the Visitation, Elizabeth calls Mary “mother of my Lord.” As in all of the mysteries of Mary’s life, Mary is closely associated with Jesus. Her queenship is a share in Jesus’ kingship. We can also recall that in the Old Testament the mother of the king has great influence in court.
In the fourth century, Saint Ephrem called Mary “Lady” and “Queen” and Church Fathers and Doctors continued to use the titles. Hymns of the eleventh to thirteenth centuries address Mary as queen: “Hail, Holy Queen,” “Hail Queen of Heaven,” “Queen of Heaven.” The Dominican Rosary and the Franciscan crown as well as numerous invocations in Mary’s litany celebrate her Queenship.
This feast is a logical follow up to the Assumption and is celebrated on the octave day of that feast. In his encyclical To the Queen of Heaven, Pius XII points out that Mary deserves the title because she is Mother of God, because she is closely associated as the New Eve with Jesus’ redemptive work, because of her preeminent perfection and because of her intercessory prayer.
St. Therese of Lisieux, the little flower, tells us that Our Blessed Mother is more Mother than Queen. Our Lady is here for us if we would only ask her to help us. She, like a good mother, will protect and guide us and wants us all to experience that beautiful love from God that all of heaven is already in the presence of. Let us always turn to Our Blessed Mother knowing that she will always lead us to her Son Jesus.
Peace, Fr. Tom

There is an invisible reality that exists all around us all of the time. As Christians, we have always believed that by the coming of our Lord as a human being in the person of Jesus Christ, by his life, death and resurrection that the final victory has been won for us. That in the person of Jesus Christ death was defeated by the power of the cross. That by an authentic repentance, a truthful sorrow for our sins, we gain eternal life. The war is over and the victory has been won. However, many battles in the heart continue to be waged. We believe that as Christians, that there is a heaven and a hell. Angels and saints work on our behalf helping us along in this life to ultimately work out our salvation here and now. They work tirelessly for us to join them someday at the end of our life here in this world. God has allowed them to be part of our conversion process, helping us to turn away from evil and sin that we might experience the peace and joy that comes from being in relationship, friendship with Him. We are called to live in the happiness of knowing that we are loved unconditionally by a God that wants to guide us unto His paths and protect us from the many distractions and pitfalls that can come our way every day. Our lives in this world are only temporary. Our true home is in heaven with the angels, our brothers and sisters, the saints who have gone before us, and the elect, our family members who have gone on ahead of us.
And yet, we must not ever forget too, that there is a force out there that has at its core a malice, a meanness that desires us to be miserable and wants our demise. We call this reality the demonic.
It has always been a consistent teaching of Christianity that fallen angels do exist and that those human beings that have chosen, through their own free will, the absence of God, work for the eternal torment of us all.
The battle rages all around us. Are we aware of this reality? The remedy, the answer to everything seems always to be the same: Prayer, Prayer, Prayer! Certainly, Jesus gives us the gospel message of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as the blue print to eternal life. I would say that the more we spend time in authentic prayer from the heart, the more blessings and graces God will pour down on us, and through us to our families, friends, neighbors, and even the stranger, the poor and needy.
I believe that there is coming a time when we all will need to stand up and be counted in revealing our Christian values and convictions. But in order to have a powerful impact in the battle that rages, we must know what the battle consists of. Again, in our hearts, are we kind and gentle, are we compassionate and forgiving? Do we understand when to hold others accountable with tough love? Do we fall into being mean and unforgiving? The true battles that are being waged right now are the ones that begin and are fought in the depths of our hearts and must be overcome by the grace of God. It is prayer which allows us to develop that trust and confidence in our growing friendship with our Creator and His Beloved Son. Let me say this again because it cannot be over emphasized… it is through our consistent and authentic prayer lives daily that will ultimately defeat the forces of evil in our world. God has infinite power and glory. But we must learn to be humble and patient, learning to have trust and confidence that He knows what He is doing. There is no comparison between the powers that exists in the cohorts of heaven with that of the pitiful band of the fallen. I wonder if evil and sin, the devil, isn’t given too much credit. I have heard of the comparison between the two of that of the Empire State Building and a tiny little ant crawling at its foundation.
There is a battle going on and souls are at stake. How generous are we willing to be in helping each other to gain eternal life? There is nothing more important in life than our relationship with our God and our learning how to tap into its transforming power. Let us live this reality truly… knowing that our choices have eternal consequences not only for us but even for our families, friends, neighbors and all of humanity.

Peace, Fr. Tom Balluff
Pastor

This is a column I wrote last year about this time. It is, I think, a wonderful reminder for all to work hard at showing the respect we have for Our Lord and those in the church building who are looking to grow in friendship with Him… here it is:

External gestures of reverence can become a witness to the truths of our faith. For this reason, I would like to remind all of us from time to time about habits and practices that are not appropriate especially at Mass.
-The rule of fasting from solid food for an hour before one receives the Holy Eucharist still holds true, and thus makes the chewing of gum in church completely disrespectful and inappropriate.
-Although the Church does not require everyone to be dressed in their “Easter finest” every week for Mass, please do remember that the way we dress for church is, often times, a sign of how important the celebration of the Mass is to us. Overly revealing clothing or bare midriffs are never appropriate.
-Churches are meant to be sacred space, places where all can pray and worship. While a cordial greeting is never out of place, carrying on an audible and protracted conversation is never appropriate.
-External gestures of reverence can become a witness to the truths of our faith. The bow immediately before receiving Holy Communion should be done with the conscious recognition that it is the Lord Himself before Whom we bow. He is truly present in the Eucharist, in both the host and the chalice, and in either of them. The extension of the hands must acknowledge our acceptance of a gift, not a grabbing for something owed us. The hands are completely empty, and both hands extended in the gesture of acceptance. The Lord should not be just another item among keys, papers, or assorted things.
-Our spoken and sung responses at Mass are always meant to be done communally, with whatever abilities were bestowed on us by our Father. What is believed and held in our hearts ought to be expressed outwardly during the Mass in word and in music.
-Finally, out of respect and reverence for the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, arriving at Mass on time and remaining until the priest has recessed down the aisle is appropriate behavior. Leaving Mass early and disturbing the flow of communion in order to exit is never appropriate. Please place cell phones and beepers in the silent mode, and please remain in church until the end of Mass to be blessed and commissioned to go forth in Christ’s name.
These are just a few insights into proper Liturgical Etiquette. Please follow these rules of reverence and love for God and our neighbor. Both parishes have been really good at loving God through the externals of our faith, but not perfect. We all wish to give God our Creator everything good that is in our hearts. Let’s continue to do so inside us as well as outside of us.

Peace, Fr. Tom

One of our parishioners composed this prayer for the restructuring process going on right now in the archdiocese. I believe the prayer to be inspired by the Holy Spirit and I would like to ask all of us to pray it often over these next three months. There will be decisions made about our two parishes and we certainly want God to be the author of whatever is decided. I think that we can fall into feeling a little bit out of control because it is really out of our hands. But we can always petition God to help us be more docile into doing things His way. It is a letting go process, a surrendering to whatever God wants, for He knows what is best for us anyway. I would like to share this prayer with you all. It is the prayer we have prayed at Mass already and will continue to pray throughout the next couple of months…

Good and gracious God,
you created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them.
Hold us, your people, in your loving hands, as we experience the restructuring
of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Holy Spirit, guide with wisdom those who are charged with the task of
making the decisions about how the parishes will be clustered or even closed.
Such a task will have lasting effects on the lives of all our people.
May it be your Will that guides the decision makers.
Lord Jesus, during uncertain times like these, we especially need your love.
Help us to accept with gracious hearts the decisions that affect us.
Help us to be kind to those who receive in this process what we wanted but did not get.
Help us to give our very best to the new parish structure,
and to work with full hearts and strong hands to make our parish
and diocese a communion of faith, hope, and love.
Blessed Mother Mary, help us to be like your Son, Jesus, as he accepted his cross,
and through it brought glory and eternal life to those
who have faith in God.
Amen

Let us keep our parishes and our parishioners as well as the whole archdiocese, especially the Archbishop whose final authority lies the final decisions to be made. Let us pray that we be docile and open to whatever is chosen and wherever that leads us. Be His Name all glory and honor!

Peace, Fr. Tom

I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who helped make our festival last Sunday at St. Mary’s such a wonderful success. What a beautiful day God gave us. It was a day full of fun and fellowship and I really enjoyed myself. There were sightings of Fr. Livingston and Fr. Cloutier. I think the take out for our dinners was just phenomenal in numbers. In fact, it seemed like everyone I talked to just love the pork chops and beef dinners we have at St. Mary’s. Our dinners are very popular in the area and people come from all around to eat at our festival. Sunday was kicked off with the beautiful Sacrifice of the Mass. We proclaimed the gospel and then received our Lord going out and living our faith through the generous giving of our time and energy. We shared our love for each other by building up the kingdom of God in our fellowship and fun while raising money to pay the bills.
I want to give a special thanks to Bill Horsch and Joe Swartzer who both gave many hours to the organization and implementation of the many different needs of making this day so good. I want to say thanks to everyone who helped at the games, with the food, money counting, set up and clean up, those who sold their raffle tickets, those who bought them, and especially to God who I think really enjoyed watching us have fun… Let us take a few moments this next week thanking God for the many gifts He has given to us especially in our family, friends, fellow parishioners and even our clergy. Our Lord is so good to us, let us return His goodness a hundredfold!

Peace, Fr. Tom

Because of the many holiday’s (Memorial, Independence, and Labor Day) and the recreation and fun of summertime, I would like to just take a moment to share with you my thoughts on a perspective very near and dear to my heart. With the economy apparently stalling, the oil spill in the gulf still out of control, and the different issues being brought to the surface politically (health care/cap and trade), and socially (same sex marriage, Pro-life/abortion rights issues etc…) there seems to be a lot of change everywhere. One issue that will always remain and is critical to our thinking about all the issues is that of authentic freedom. On the 4th of July, we hear about our Founding Fathers gathering together in Philadelphia and creating the Declaration of Independence. Our country is founded on authentic freedom. The freedom of speech, the freedom of religion, the freedom to pursue happiness economically, the freedom to vote for those representatives that we believe have the desire for the common good as the highest priority in their hearts, among many others.
Theologically, I would point to a definition of what truly freedom is. Let me begin with what I believe freedom is not. Freedom is not the ability to choose evil and sin, the ability to do bad things. We call the ability to sin, to be selfish, and to choose evil: LICENSE! All of humanity, from the very beginning, has had the ability to twist what we call our free will. From Adam and Eve all the way down to our modern day. Humanity has had the ability to hurt and destroy each other throughout history and has done so in some pretty tragic ways (especially in World War I and II). But humanity has also at times shown itself to be incredibly noble, honest, and generous. For instance, in the wake of war, natural disasters, and profound tragedies, the best of humanity has, at times, come to the aid of those less fortunate.
True authentic freedom begins in the heart of mankind. It occurs when we begin to choose not within our ability to be evil, but rather, when we choose to do and be good over and over again. Freedom in the heart comes from choosing virtue and goodness habitually. The more we live our lives as God has intended for us to do, the greater the inner freedom we will enjoy. As we choose to live the right way more and more, we experience a deeper peace and joy that surpasses all understanding. This inner freedom that comes from being good, opens us up to understand more deeply and appreciate more the heavenly realities. We can actually expand a sort of paradise in this life, in this world.  And remember that if it was up to God, this world would be a paradise.  It is through our sinfulness, the choosing of evil and sin that makes this world less than what it was meant to be.  When we choose evil and sin, it makes us miserable. There is no freedom in choosing those things that create a deeper selfishness and ego-centricity in us. Certainly, our Lord gives us the Ten Commandments to help guide us in our morality. However, with all of the spin that goes on in today’s world, it is hard to know exactly what is right from what is wrong even with something that seems so apparently clear. If we truly want that inner freedom, that peace and joy that surpasses all understanding (not a transitional joy or worldly peace) but the real deal that comes from God himself, than we must be willing to spend time in prayer from the heart and to truly be honest with ourselves and others. We must be willing to walk the path that our Lord lays out for us. If we are truly desiring to live the way God wants us to, with the highest of principles and the best of values, or even if we need to make tiny baby steps at first, God will never abandon us and will eventually lead us to our heavenly home. Conversion of heart is about learning to trust God more and more in our daily lives. It is my conviction and belief, in how He has worked with me, that if we ask, we will never be turned away.

Peace, Fr. Tom

Happy Independence Day! 234 years ago today, the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia creating our newly independent country. What a great country we have. We enjoy so many freedoms fought for and won, at a tremendous cost of the lives of the great men and women of our armed forces through many wars. We have so many freedoms… freedom to practice our religion (to worship our God), freedom to speak our minds, freedom to pursue happiness through hard work, freedom to vote for whomever we think has the common good focused in their hearts, just to name a few.
But we must always remember that with true authentic freedom comes a great responsibility. In our spiritual life, we have the ability to choose right from wrong, between good and evil, virtue from vice. True authentic freedom is not the ability to choose right from wrong or to choose from good and evil, rather, true inner freedom comes from choosing goodness over and over again. We call our ability to choose sin and evil license. All of us human beings have the ability, through the twisting of our free will, to choose evil. However, the more we choose goodness and virtue, right living, the more inner freedom we enjoy. We become through our good choices to do it God’s way, more happy, peaceful, and joyful. We actually begin to live in the freedom that the children of God enjoy. Let us choose life, freedom, goodness and virtue. This weekend we celebrate the day on which our great country was born. Its true meaning again is about creating the freedoms that us common folk are able to live by daily. Thankfulness and appreciation are the best responses to God and to those who have given up so much so that we, their sons and daughters, might be free.
*Just a note… I will be going on retreat at King’s House during my time away. I will also be visiting family and friends around the state so please keep me and my family in your prayers.

Peace, Fr. Tom

Strategic Planning in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

“The main goal of the [planning] process is to foster a revitalized and sustainable local Church, one that is responsive to the pastoral needs of all our brothers and sisters in Christ.”
“As I envision the great Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, I want us to Promote and Proclaim a Communion of Faith, Hope, and Love.”
Archbishop John C. Nienstedt

Archdiocesan Strategic Planning Process

Archbishop Nienstedt appointed an archdiocesan strategic planning task force in February 2009. Since then task force members have considered the input of thousands of parish and Catholic school leaders and staff, parishioners, pastors and others. In July of 2010, the task force will make its recommendations to the Archbishop. Then, the Archbishop will make the difficult decisions necessary to ensure the health of our local Church for us now and for generations to come. Changes to our parishes and schools will be announced on October 17, 2010. It is true that these changes are triggered by economic, demographic and financial factors which cannot be ignored. However, the changes are guided by mission and are much more about building up the Kingdom of God than closing down buildings. These changes are really about fostering a revitalized and sustainable local Church responsive to the pastoral needs of all our brothers and sisters in Christ. These changes are truly about promoting and proclaiming a communion of faith, hope, and love in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Please continue to pray that the archdiocesan strategic planning process will unite us as a community and lead us to a holier and faith-filled local Church.

Archbishop’s Column in the Catholic Spirit Newspaper June 1, 2010

On Pentecost Sunday this year, I asked all of the pastors of our parishes to read a letter addressing our understanding of the church as a communion of faith, hope and love. So in light of the meaning of the great feast day on which the letter was read: the pouring forth of the gift of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles gathered in communion in order to empower them to go forth on mission to proclaim the Good News of God’s love, as revealed in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Hence, the late, beloved Pope John Paul II could say, “Communion gives rise to mission and mission is accomplished in communion.” They are inextricably connected.

Vision for the future
This vision, or “BIG PICTURE,” if you will, is so necessary to keep in mind as this archdiocese prepares to receive the recommendations from the Strategic Planning Task Force regarding the future make-up of our Catholic parishes and schools. Those recommendations will be given to me for review and acceptance this summer and announced in early fall. They will most likely call for new collaborative relationships between parishes and schools, such as clustering or merging of programs and services. There are many reasons for these new configurations including changing demographics, limited clergy personnel, the size of our school-age population and the age or condition of our buildings.

Please continue to pray for the Archbishop and for our two parishes that the Holy Spirit may guide this process…

Peace, Fr. Tom