Greetings,

Pope Benedict has named this current year, in the Catholic Church as the year of the priest! On Tuesday of next week, we will be celebrating the feast of St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests.St. John Vianney had to make it through many obstacles to become a good and holy priest. He had to overcome his meager formal schooling, which inadequately forced him to discontinue studies for a time.  But he refused to give up and sought private tutoring.  After a lengthy battle with books, he was ordained a priest.  As the pastor of a small village of Ars France, John encountered people who were indifferent and quite comfortable with their style of living.  His desire to love them authentically and to become holy led John to many severe fasts and short nights of sleep.  His deep love of the sacraments, especially Confession, was perhaps what made him most known.  In the winter months he would spend eleven to twelve hours daily reconciling people to God.  In the summer months this time would increase to sixteen hours daily.  As St. John Vianneys fame spread, more hours were consumed in serving Gods people.  Even the few hours he would allow himself for sleep were disturbed frequently by the devil.  One of St. John Vianneys popular quotes went like this  “Private prayer is like straw scattered here and there:  If you set in on fire it makes a lot of little flames.  But gather these straws into a bundle and light them, you get a mighty fire, rising like a column into the sky; public prayer is like that.” I personally have enjoyed profoundly being the pastor at these two small but wonderful parishes way out here in “Gods Country.”  The parishioners that I have met and continue to get to know better have impressed me many times over with especially their good heartedness, generosity, and prayerfulness.  The priesthood for me has been a great honor and privilege that God has allowed and chosen for me.  To be able to serve all of our families in this way has been a special grace and blessing for me.  The love that I have been shown has at times overwhelmed me.  Certainly, I have grown in many ways this past year especially in confidence and trust in Gods unconditional love for us all.  I always like to say that if God can make me into a priest, than he can do anything with anybody!  The priesthood is a miracle of grace and impossible to live without a strong prayer life.  Let us be thankful for those priests that have touched us and our families in ways that have lead us towards deeper friendship with God.  And to remember that priests are human beings too, with all the frailties and weaknesses that come with it.  But that with God all things are possible  Please pray for me to be a good, humble, healthy, holy priest.  Let us all pray for priests we need all the prayers we can get.

Peace, Fr. Tom

Greetings,

It is great to be back. My time down in Omaha Nebraska with the Intercessors of the Lamb and few days of vacation were very powerful and fruitful. The Intercessors are very focused on developing and using the many gifts of the Holy Spirit. I was able to pray over people and to be prayed over myself. It was very busy but all in all a wonderful experience.

I would like to also say thank you again to everyone who helped at the Country Festival at St. Mary’s. What a beautiful day it was and it seemed like there were many who came to take advantage of it.  Even Fr. Michael Krenik showed up and I think won four games of bingo€¦ Thank you especially to Bill Horst and Joe Swartzer. They organized most of the behind the scenes stuff but there were many unsung heroes of the day. St. Mary’s continues to amaze me in how wonderful and generous the parishioners really are. The whole day was put on by volunteers from the parish. I can’t thank you all enough. Growing up in my parish in North St. Paul, I never had quite the experience of parish life that I am receiving now. God’s presence is truly powerfully here amongst so many good hearted people.

I don’t know what the numbers will look like but I do know that I had a great time and I think everyone present did as well. These fundraisers are important for the stability of the parish finances but even more important than that is the fellowship, working together, sharing in building each other up, encouraging and loving each other well€¦ and having fun doing it. It really is a little taste of heaven!!? Let us take a few moments this week and just thank God for the many blessings he shares with us with our families and friends, parishes, and in the world. God is so good!

Peace, Fr. Tom