Greetings,

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

The following is taken from the St. Paul/Minneapolis Archdiocesan website. There is more information on the restructuring process for those who would like to inquire.

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