In this e-weekly:
- Love Poured Out in Marriage and in Priesthood: True Story of Two Brothers (Helpful Hints for Life)
- From Wisconsin to Peru: Missionary Family Answers Call of Our Lady of Champion (Diocesan News and Beyond)
- The Domestic Church: Families Become What You Are (Catholic Website of the Week under laptop)
- Love Poured Out in Marriage and in Priesthood: True Story of Two Brothers (Helpful Hints for Life)
- From Wisconsin to Peru: Missionary Family Answers Call of Our Lady of Champion (Diocesan News and Beyond)
- The Domestic Church: Families Become What You Are (Catholic Website of the Week under laptop)
Catholic Good News
Receiving the Gospel, Serving God and Neighbor
Saint Valentine
"We love because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19
Receiving the Gospel, Serving God and Neighbor
Saint Valentine
"We love because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
While there are several theories as to the origin of Valentine's Day, there were at least three saints in Church history that had this name. Though very little is known about them, what follows is the most known story of one of them.
Saint Valentine was a Bishop who lived during the time of the Emperor Claudius II (268A.D. - 270A.D.). When he would not submit to pagan worship of false gods and tried to help Christians in jail, he himself was thrown in prison. It was also reported that Claudius II had outlawed Marriage seeking to get more men drafted for the military. St. Valentine secretly Married young Christian couples and was ultimately arrested.
When brought to prison he prayed that the God of Light would make the prison a place of illumination. The jailer moved by his prayer asked Valentine to pray for his daughter who was blind. The daughter's sight was restored and the jailer's household was converted to the Faith. Nevertheless, the emperor had him put to death on February 14, 280 A.D. Valentine, who had become a friend of the family and the daughter who had been blind, left a note for them signed at the end, From your Valentine.
On the day when love and gifts are given and received, let us not forget that its goodness has its origin is the good God. Let us thank God for Saint Valentine and St. Valentine's Day!
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert
P.S. For more on Saint Valentine visit: http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-valentine-of-rome/
While there are several theories as to the origin of Valentine's Day, there were at least three saints in Church history that had this name. Though very little is known about them, what follows is the most known story of one of them.
Saint Valentine was a Bishop who lived during the time of the Emperor Claudius II (268A.D. - 270A.D.). When he would not submit to pagan worship of false gods and tried to help Christians in jail, he himself was thrown in prison. It was also reported that Claudius II had outlawed Marriage seeking to get more men drafted for the military. St. Valentine secretly Married young Christian couples and was ultimately arrested.
When brought to prison he prayed that the God of Light would make the prison a place of illumination. The jailer moved by his prayer asked Valentine to pray for his daughter who was blind. The daughter's sight was restored and the jailer's household was converted to the Faith. Nevertheless, the emperor had him put to death on February 14, 280 A.D. Valentine, who had become a friend of the family and the daughter who had been blind, left a note for them signed at the end, From your Valentine.
On the day when love and gifts are given and received, let us not forget that its goodness has its origin is the good God. Let us thank God for Saint Valentine and St. Valentine's Day!
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert
P.S. For more on Saint Valentine visit: http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-valentine-of-rome/
P.S.S This coming Sunday is the Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time. The readings can be found at: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020925.cfm
P.S.S. Go to end of E-weekly for Sunday and Readings and reflections.
P.S.S. Go to end of E-weekly for Sunday and Readings and reflections.
Catholic Term of the Week
Saint Valentine
- name of a Roman Christian who according to tradition was martyred during the persecution of Christians by Emperor Claudius II
Saint Valentine
- name of a Roman Christian who according to tradition was martyred during the persecution of Christians by Emperor Claudius II
"Helpful Hints of Life"
Love Poured Out in Marriage and in Priesthood
By Titus and Colleen Nixon
Love Poured Out in Marriage and in Priesthood
By Titus and Colleen Nixon
My brother Michael and I have always been close, but it wasn't until the last 10 years that we have become best friends. This true brotherhood has had an immeasurable impact on us, as our journey towards Christian maturity has been a shared experience. It was early on in this journey, in the fall of 2004, when Mike introduced me to the Theology of The Body (TOB). It was also at this time that my bother decided that God was calling him to enter the seminary to further discern a vocation to the priesthood. He always told me that I would find myself by diving deeply into these rich teachings and, if my vocation was to a life of marriage, that God would be forming a woman with a similar love for the truth of our sexuality revealed through Theology of The Body (TOB).
At around this very same time, a young musician in Nashville was also discovering TOB for the first time. For the next five years, Colleen McCarron and I would independently develop a love for this dynamic teaching from our late Holy Father, as we would continue to mature into the man and woman God had created us to be. It was not until the summer of 2008, when Colleen came home to Tallahassee for the summer, that we would really get to know each other and develop what we now know is a lifelong friendship. Colleen had decided to give the Lord a year of her life as a “dating-fast,” meaning she would not date for an entire 12 month period in order to discern God's direction in her life more clearly. The “dating-fast” started only two months prior to her coming home that summer and what would seem like terrible timing for any guy meeting an incredible woman, instead provided an incredible opportunity for us to grow in a purely brother and sister type of friendship. Through bike rides, basketball, and many casual conversations, we realized what a profound unity we had in our love of Theology of the Body, and the truth it revealed about our bodies! Once the summer ended, and Colleen and I went our separate ways, we decided God was calling us to write letters as our only source of communication, at least until the dating-fast had consummated. This time provided an incredible period of purification and sacrifice. By the time the dating-fast had ended, it was clear not only that God was calling us to date, but also that we were called to lay down our lives for one another in marriage.
I always knew that the woman God would call me to marry would also find an incredible brother in Michael. The neat thing about Colleen and my relationship was that we also continued to develop a deep love for Michael and his vocation to the priesthood, as he continued his journey towards ordination. Michael continued to encourage us in our pursuit of the truth contained within the TOB. He attended both TOB I and II with the Theology of the Body Institute, and often prayed that we, too, would have an opportunity to attend. God opened the doors for us in March of 2010, and Colleen and I attended the TOB I course, with Colleen also serving as the music minister for the week.
The Lord knew that this would be perfect timing for us, as our wedding date was just a few short months away. It was during this week that the Lord showed us the depth of the reality that we were first brother and sister, before husband and wife. This reality had begun when we first met, through our initial friendship, and continued to mature into our spousal union. What a beautiful reality this is! Through this truth, God unveiled the reason why we were so closely united to my brother Michael, who was about to be ordained a Priest, hence being also a Father to us! We shared, through our marriage, in the reality of his priestly Fatherhood. Woah!
It was also at the TOB I course that we were led to choose the readings for our wedding Mass. We clearly felt God calling us to have the Passion narrative, as told in the Gospel of John, proclaimed as our Gospel. Father Michael, ordained just 21 days before the wedding, was the celebrant of our wedding Mass. What a glorious day this was!
An excerpt from Father Michael's Homily:
Our gospel today is what this is all about. This is the first wedding I've been to that the Passion narrative of Jesus' death was the gospel reading. But it is so incredibly fitting that we hear about the love poured out for us, what it actually cost Jesus. And we recognize that it cost Him everything. He did it not out of constraint, not out of obligation, but because He loves us. And Tai and Colleen, you are showing us that love. We weren't at the crucifixion; we weren't at that moment, but as we celebrate this marriage we have a glimpse, we have a taste. We have a taste of that moment when Jesus Christ poured Himself out completely for the one He loved, for the moment on the cross was the consummation of our marriage with God.
On June 26th of 2010, our wedding mass was a beautiful witness to the transforming power of the Theology of the Body. As Colleen and I gazed into the eternity of one another's eyes, we vowed to enter into the mystery of Matrimony. Just above us stood our priest and brother, a man also transformed by the good news of the Gospel proclaimed through the TOB. Through our different vocations, we can see in each other the truth of this teaching lived out every day.
Titus and Colleen Nixon live in Jacksonville, Florida and are expecting their first child this Spring. Titus works for Fraternus, a Catholic organization mentoring boys into virtuous Catholic men (http://www.fraternus.net/). Colleen is a professional musician. You can preview some of Colleen's music at http://www.colleennixon.com/ and http://www.mysteriumonline.com/.
"God who created man out of love also calls him to love the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being. For man is created in the image and likeness of God who is himself love. Since God created him man and woman, their mutual love becomes an image of the absolute and unfailing love with which God loves man. It is good, very good, in the Creator's eyes. And this love which God blesses is intended to be fruitful and to be realized in the common work of watching over creation: "And God blessed them, and God said to them: 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.'" -Catechism of the Catholic Church #1604
At around this very same time, a young musician in Nashville was also discovering TOB for the first time. For the next five years, Colleen McCarron and I would independently develop a love for this dynamic teaching from our late Holy Father, as we would continue to mature into the man and woman God had created us to be. It was not until the summer of 2008, when Colleen came home to Tallahassee for the summer, that we would really get to know each other and develop what we now know is a lifelong friendship. Colleen had decided to give the Lord a year of her life as a “dating-fast,” meaning she would not date for an entire 12 month period in order to discern God's direction in her life more clearly. The “dating-fast” started only two months prior to her coming home that summer and what would seem like terrible timing for any guy meeting an incredible woman, instead provided an incredible opportunity for us to grow in a purely brother and sister type of friendship. Through bike rides, basketball, and many casual conversations, we realized what a profound unity we had in our love of Theology of the Body, and the truth it revealed about our bodies! Once the summer ended, and Colleen and I went our separate ways, we decided God was calling us to write letters as our only source of communication, at least until the dating-fast had consummated. This time provided an incredible period of purification and sacrifice. By the time the dating-fast had ended, it was clear not only that God was calling us to date, but also that we were called to lay down our lives for one another in marriage.
I always knew that the woman God would call me to marry would also find an incredible brother in Michael. The neat thing about Colleen and my relationship was that we also continued to develop a deep love for Michael and his vocation to the priesthood, as he continued his journey towards ordination. Michael continued to encourage us in our pursuit of the truth contained within the TOB. He attended both TOB I and II with the Theology of the Body Institute, and often prayed that we, too, would have an opportunity to attend. God opened the doors for us in March of 2010, and Colleen and I attended the TOB I course, with Colleen also serving as the music minister for the week.
The Lord knew that this would be perfect timing for us, as our wedding date was just a few short months away. It was during this week that the Lord showed us the depth of the reality that we were first brother and sister, before husband and wife. This reality had begun when we first met, through our initial friendship, and continued to mature into our spousal union. What a beautiful reality this is! Through this truth, God unveiled the reason why we were so closely united to my brother Michael, who was about to be ordained a Priest, hence being also a Father to us! We shared, through our marriage, in the reality of his priestly Fatherhood. Woah!
It was also at the TOB I course that we were led to choose the readings for our wedding Mass. We clearly felt God calling us to have the Passion narrative, as told in the Gospel of John, proclaimed as our Gospel. Father Michael, ordained just 21 days before the wedding, was the celebrant of our wedding Mass. What a glorious day this was!
An excerpt from Father Michael's Homily:
Our gospel today is what this is all about. This is the first wedding I've been to that the Passion narrative of Jesus' death was the gospel reading. But it is so incredibly fitting that we hear about the love poured out for us, what it actually cost Jesus. And we recognize that it cost Him everything. He did it not out of constraint, not out of obligation, but because He loves us. And Tai and Colleen, you are showing us that love. We weren't at the crucifixion; we weren't at that moment, but as we celebrate this marriage we have a glimpse, we have a taste. We have a taste of that moment when Jesus Christ poured Himself out completely for the one He loved, for the moment on the cross was the consummation of our marriage with God.
On June 26th of 2010, our wedding mass was a beautiful witness to the transforming power of the Theology of the Body. As Colleen and I gazed into the eternity of one another's eyes, we vowed to enter into the mystery of Matrimony. Just above us stood our priest and brother, a man also transformed by the good news of the Gospel proclaimed through the TOB. Through our different vocations, we can see in each other the truth of this teaching lived out every day.
Titus and Colleen Nixon live in Jacksonville, Florida and are expecting their first child this Spring. Titus works for Fraternus, a Catholic organization mentoring boys into virtuous Catholic men (http://www.fraternus.net/). Colleen is a professional musician. You can preview some of Colleen's music at http://www.colleennixon.com/ and http://www.mysteriumonline.com/.
"God who created man out of love also calls him to love the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being. For man is created in the image and likeness of God who is himself love. Since God created him man and woman, their mutual love becomes an image of the absolute and unfailing love with which God loves man. It is good, very good, in the Creator's eyes. And this love which God blesses is intended to be fruitful and to be realized in the common work of watching over creation: "And God blessed them, and God said to them: 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.'" -Catechism of the Catholic Church #1604
The Domestic Church
Families become what you are!
http://www.domestic-church.com/
"The family finds in the plan of God the Creator and Redeemer not only its identity, what it is, but also its mission, what it can and should do." With John Paul the Great's words as inspiration, Domestic-Church.Com hopes to promote a Catholic culture of the home that will aid each family to become "what you are!" Finally, a website for you and your family!
Families become what you are!
http://www.domestic-church.com/
"The family finds in the plan of God the Creator and Redeemer not only its identity, what it is, but also its mission, what it can and should do." With John Paul the Great's words as inspiration, Domestic-Church.Com hopes to promote a Catholic culture of the home that will aid each family to become "what you are!" Finally, a website for you and your family!
Best Parish Practices
CONNECT PERSONS WITH PEOPLE OR MINISTRY
Most people want to belong and have a purpose. This is no different even in the Church. People are more likely to live the Faith and assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass if they know they are needed and wanted. (As appropriate and safe during a pandemic.)BENEFITS:
People take on purpose, meaning, and identity by belonging to say, the choir, or being a reader, or working funeral dinners. Service gets done, and people are united in living and giving.
HOW?
So try to connect each person with a group of people or a certain ministry. Ask and invite persons to join us a group or to head up or do a certain work or ministry. Have the groups in your parish reach out to individuals. Invite youth to head up a certain item, or do a certain needed duty each week.
Most people want to belong and have a purpose. This is no different even in the Church. People are more likely to live the Faith and assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass if they know they are needed and wanted. (As appropriate and safe during a pandemic.)BENEFITS:
People take on purpose, meaning, and identity by belonging to say, the choir, or being a reader, or working funeral dinners. Service gets done, and people are united in living and giving.
HOW?
So try to connect each person with a group of people or a certain ministry. Ask and invite persons to join us a group or to head up or do a certain work or ministry. Have the groups in your parish reach out to individuals. Invite youth to head up a certain item, or do a certain needed duty each week.
From Wisconsin to Peru: Missionary Family Answers Call of Our Lady of ChampionTaylor and Katie Schmidt and their children answer needed prayers.
Theoni BellFeatures
February 9Nuevo Piura is a village in the mountains of Peru. It sits in such a remote valley that for 18 years the local people never saw a priest. Occasionally, non-Christian religious groups came through, but the villagers were Catholic. They waited faithfully, certain that someone from the Church would eventually come.
In 2018, Taylor and Katie Schmidt were the Catholic missionaries who finally showed up. The following year, they brought a priest to the village who celebrated five sacraments with the locals: baptism, penance, first Communion, confirmation and marriage. The same year, the Schmidts founded The Servants of the Good Help, a 501(c)(3) Catholic missionary organization. The couple, including their seven children, still return to Nuevo Piura every Sunday, hiking 6 miles through the jungle, for prayer and Bible study.
February 9Nuevo Piura is a village in the mountains of Peru. It sits in such a remote valley that for 18 years the local people never saw a priest. Occasionally, non-Christian religious groups came through, but the villagers were Catholic. They waited faithfully, certain that someone from the Church would eventually come.
In 2018, Taylor and Katie Schmidt were the Catholic missionaries who finally showed up. The following year, they brought a priest to the village who celebrated five sacraments with the locals: baptism, penance, first Communion, confirmation and marriage. The same year, the Schmidts founded The Servants of the Good Help, a 501(c)(3) Catholic missionary organization. The couple, including their seven children, still return to Nuevo Piura every Sunday, hiking 6 miles through the jungle, for prayer and Bible study.
The Schmidt Family Mission(Photo: Courtesy photo)The Schmidts don’t always trek through the jungle to reach the people they serve. In 2023, villagers from eight remote mountain pueblos began hiking to the Schmidts’ nearly finished multipurpose center for celebrations and retreats. The center, located in Tarapoto, Peru, also started hosting free clinics with visiting doctors and dentists. One night a week, local children from two communities walk there through the jungle, and in the dark, to hold youth groups.
Some of the teens who come to the center for classes. (Photo: Courtesy photo)
“Their mission benefits many people who are not served pastorally due to the lack of priests and the geographical difficulty of reaching these distant villages,” said Bishop Rafal Escudero Lopez-Brea of the Diocese of Moyobamba, in a recent letter of support.
A Mission From Our Lady of ChampionLast August, more than 100 locals traveled to the Servants’ mission center for their second-annual Assumption Day Mass and procession. This celebration is a 164-year-old tradition the Schmidts brought with them from Wisconsin.
Local children climb a ‘slippery’ tree for small prizes on the Solemnity of the Assumption last August.(Photo: Courtesy photo)
In 1859, Our Lady appeared to a Belgian farmworker named Adele Brise in what is now known as Champion, Wisconsin. Our Lady of Champion (formerly Our Lady of Good Help) is currently America’s first and only Church-approved Marian apparition. In 1861, Brise inaugurated the annual Assumption Day celebration. This year 2,500 pilgrims came out to celebrate at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, according to Chelsey Hare, director of communications for the shrine.
Taylor and Katie Schmidt visit the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion in Wisconsin in December.
Green Bay Bishop David Ricken, who approved the apparitions in 2010, sees Our Lady of Champion as the “spring” from which the Schmidts’ ministry is growing, and for that reason, they are deeply connected to his diocese.
“The Blessed Mother said to Adele, ‘Go out in this wild country and teach the children what is necessary for salvation.’ The Schmidts are going into the wild country of the mountains of Peru and they’re bringing Our Lady of Good Help’s message to the people there.”
In 2022, the Schmidts had an 8-foot mural of Our Lady of Champion painted on the side of their retreat house in honor of their patroness. Most of the people the Schmidts serve are impoverished farmers who have little to no access to the sacraments, just like the settlers Brise served in Wisconsin. When Brise received her commission to “teach the children,” there was only one priest serving 2,000 Belgians spread across 70 miles of dense woodlands. With no churches and only rare visits from a priest, the faith was dying in the Belgian settlements.
“It’s exactly the same mission in a different country, with a different topography, but same type of circumstances,” said Bishop Ricken.
Where the Schmidts serve now, the faith is also in danger of disappearing. Their mission is in a region that was the focus of Pope Francis’ Amazonian synod in 2019. It is a region that still desperately needs missionaries and priests. In the 1990s, drug cartels were rampant in Peru, and a Marxist guerrilla movement called the “Shining Path” fought for control of the country. Much like during the 1994 Rwandan crisis, many families turned on each other.
“There is a huge river here called the Huallaga ... and we have heard from so many people that that river ran red with blood from the massacres that happened and corpses lining the road,” said Katie Schmidt, age 40.
During the wars, it was not uncommon for priests and religious to be murdered. Schmidt tells the story of a sister with a local order known as the Compassionists.
“She is the only sister to survive the massacre in Tarapoto. The one day she stayed back to care for the house, the other sisters tried to come home, and they were pulled out of the car and shot,” said Katie.
A Difficult Beginning
The Schmidts decided to be missionaries after a decades-long discernment. In 2015, they sold their Wisconsin farm and all their belongings to fund their way to Peru. They didn’t yet know how to speak Spanish. For months, they lived with their four children just as the locals do: in a hut with a dirt floor, using water from a stream, and digging their own outhouse.
At one time, they felt called to buy Bibles instead of food, but then the locals began to feed them. A mechanic fixed their vehicle for free for six months. After a donor helped them purchase land on the mountain, they learned to raise pigs and sell the meat. Now, Taylor Schmidt trains widows, single moms and dads, and other locals to run the farm.
They believed all along that the Lord had bigger plans for their mission, and they continued to lay their needs at Our Lady’s feet. Throughout the history of the apparition of Our Lady of Champion, miracles have been attributed to her intercession. Most notably, the chapel, which is now the national shrine, was completely preserved during the Great Peshtigo Fire in 1871, and every person who sought refuge there was protected from harm.
Katie cites the central location of their mission center as proof that Our Lady intercedes for them. “Where she has placed us, there is access to all the other counties down the mountain by different paths.”
In 2018, when the Schmidts felt called to build a retreat center to make it easier for everyone to come together, they thought the idea was crazy. They had no money in their bank account, so they prayed to Our Lady of Champion on Oct. 9, her feast day.
“We told her we needed $10,000 in our account to prove it was her will,” said Schmidt.
They received a call from their accountant three days later, and she told the Schmidts that they suddenly had $10,700 in their account.
Bishop Escudero Lopez-Brea is excited to have a quiet retreat center outside the city, and the Schmidts have already held retreats for clergy.
“They have become vital members of the pastoral team, specifically by assisting with the training of church leaders and marriage preparation for many people,” the bishop wrote in his letter.
Ministries for married couples, like marriage preparation, retreats and crisis counseling, are a large part of the Servants’ outreach. Schmidt said Christian marriage is one of the most difficult concepts for people to accept in their mission territory.
In one village, the Schmidts were faced with the intimidating task of convincing polygamous couples that marriage should be between one man and one woman. They explained the Church’s teaching on marriage and sex and the immense love of Christ for every person.
Many of the men in that meeting stormed out. The Church’s teaching was hard for the women to accept as well. They were scared not to be the “wife” their husband chose to be monogamous with. Every woman who was put out would end up in “utter poverty,” according to Schmidt, though the Servants of the Good Help would aid them in this transition however they could.
None of the villagers chose to be received into the Church that day. Yet something in what the Schmidts taught had resonated with them, for every child in the village was baptized. The Schmidts take a long view in their work and know that drastic lifestyle and spiritual changes take time and sincere effort on their part. They’re especially hopeful that something will change for the women of the village, as it may have been the first time the women and young girls had ever heard about their dignity and worth in God’s eyes. According to Schmidt, many women in the region are treated like servants instead of beloved wives.
Taylor, who will soon be the only permanent deacon in San Martin, also talked about the dignity and beauty of women.
“Those children will grow up knowing a different option. They will be able to see ... women standing up for themselves,” he said.
The Future of the MissionOne of the Schmidts’ current projects is finishing their retreat center. It contains space for four family-style apartments and a separate bunkhouse for men and women. Once the interior is completed, the center will also include a kitchen and dining hall, which will be good for the Schmidts. Their home is inside the center, and they currently feed guests in alternating groups around their own kitchen table.
The second level of the center will house the caretakers, small-group meetings and a medical/dental clinic. Many students fell behind during COVID, so the Schmidts would also like to provide lunch and tutoring classes. The Servants are currently in their fourth week of teaching “summer” school to local children, which includes classes in math, art and language studies. With help from friends in America and Peru, they plan to offer classes in economics, welding, woodworking, sewing, nutrition and sustainable farming. Their 2024 “summer” classes in Spanish and English language have already started.
The Schmidts’ long-term goal is to build a sanctuary on the mountaintop dedicated to Our Lady of Champion. It would include a 48-foot statue of Our Lady that pilgrims could climb up and exit through the statue’s Immaculate Heart overlooking the valleys below.
Help From HomeIn early December, the Schmidts traveled back to northern Wisconsin to give talks, fundraise and meet with Bishop Ricken. The financial and spiritual support they receive in the States is changing the lives of Catholics in San Martin, Peru.
One example of this is the recently finished church in the town of Cuñumbuqui, which is the head church of the parish and home of the only priest in the region. The Schmidts funded the church project with donations their family would have lived on for three months.
“The Blessed Mother said to Adele, ‘Go out in this wild country and teach the children what is necessary for salvation.’ The Schmidts are going into the wild country of the mountains of Peru and they’re bringing Our Lady of Good Help’s message to the people there.”
In 2022, the Schmidts had an 8-foot mural of Our Lady of Champion painted on the side of their retreat house in honor of their patroness. Most of the people the Schmidts serve are impoverished farmers who have little to no access to the sacraments, just like the settlers Brise served in Wisconsin. When Brise received her commission to “teach the children,” there was only one priest serving 2,000 Belgians spread across 70 miles of dense woodlands. With no churches and only rare visits from a priest, the faith was dying in the Belgian settlements.
“It’s exactly the same mission in a different country, with a different topography, but same type of circumstances,” said Bishop Ricken.
Where the Schmidts serve now, the faith is also in danger of disappearing. Their mission is in a region that was the focus of Pope Francis’ Amazonian synod in 2019. It is a region that still desperately needs missionaries and priests. In the 1990s, drug cartels were rampant in Peru, and a Marxist guerrilla movement called the “Shining Path” fought for control of the country. Much like during the 1994 Rwandan crisis, many families turned on each other.
“There is a huge river here called the Huallaga ... and we have heard from so many people that that river ran red with blood from the massacres that happened and corpses lining the road,” said Katie Schmidt, age 40.
During the wars, it was not uncommon for priests and religious to be murdered. Schmidt tells the story of a sister with a local order known as the Compassionists.
“She is the only sister to survive the massacre in Tarapoto. The one day she stayed back to care for the house, the other sisters tried to come home, and they were pulled out of the car and shot,” said Katie.
A Difficult Beginning
The Schmidts decided to be missionaries after a decades-long discernment. In 2015, they sold their Wisconsin farm and all their belongings to fund their way to Peru. They didn’t yet know how to speak Spanish. For months, they lived with their four children just as the locals do: in a hut with a dirt floor, using water from a stream, and digging their own outhouse.
At one time, they felt called to buy Bibles instead of food, but then the locals began to feed them. A mechanic fixed their vehicle for free for six months. After a donor helped them purchase land on the mountain, they learned to raise pigs and sell the meat. Now, Taylor Schmidt trains widows, single moms and dads, and other locals to run the farm.
They believed all along that the Lord had bigger plans for their mission, and they continued to lay their needs at Our Lady’s feet. Throughout the history of the apparition of Our Lady of Champion, miracles have been attributed to her intercession. Most notably, the chapel, which is now the national shrine, was completely preserved during the Great Peshtigo Fire in 1871, and every person who sought refuge there was protected from harm.
Katie cites the central location of their mission center as proof that Our Lady intercedes for them. “Where she has placed us, there is access to all the other counties down the mountain by different paths.”
In 2018, when the Schmidts felt called to build a retreat center to make it easier for everyone to come together, they thought the idea was crazy. They had no money in their bank account, so they prayed to Our Lady of Champion on Oct. 9, her feast day.
“We told her we needed $10,000 in our account to prove it was her will,” said Schmidt.
They received a call from their accountant three days later, and she told the Schmidts that they suddenly had $10,700 in their account.
Bishop Escudero Lopez-Brea is excited to have a quiet retreat center outside the city, and the Schmidts have already held retreats for clergy.
“They have become vital members of the pastoral team, specifically by assisting with the training of church leaders and marriage preparation for many people,” the bishop wrote in his letter.
Ministries for married couples, like marriage preparation, retreats and crisis counseling, are a large part of the Servants’ outreach. Schmidt said Christian marriage is one of the most difficult concepts for people to accept in their mission territory.
In one village, the Schmidts were faced with the intimidating task of convincing polygamous couples that marriage should be between one man and one woman. They explained the Church’s teaching on marriage and sex and the immense love of Christ for every person.
Many of the men in that meeting stormed out. The Church’s teaching was hard for the women to accept as well. They were scared not to be the “wife” their husband chose to be monogamous with. Every woman who was put out would end up in “utter poverty,” according to Schmidt, though the Servants of the Good Help would aid them in this transition however they could.
None of the villagers chose to be received into the Church that day. Yet something in what the Schmidts taught had resonated with them, for every child in the village was baptized. The Schmidts take a long view in their work and know that drastic lifestyle and spiritual changes take time and sincere effort on their part. They’re especially hopeful that something will change for the women of the village, as it may have been the first time the women and young girls had ever heard about their dignity and worth in God’s eyes. According to Schmidt, many women in the region are treated like servants instead of beloved wives.
Taylor, who will soon be the only permanent deacon in San Martin, also talked about the dignity and beauty of women.
“Those children will grow up knowing a different option. They will be able to see ... women standing up for themselves,” he said.
The Future of the MissionOne of the Schmidts’ current projects is finishing their retreat center. It contains space for four family-style apartments and a separate bunkhouse for men and women. Once the interior is completed, the center will also include a kitchen and dining hall, which will be good for the Schmidts. Their home is inside the center, and they currently feed guests in alternating groups around their own kitchen table.
The second level of the center will house the caretakers, small-group meetings and a medical/dental clinic. Many students fell behind during COVID, so the Schmidts would also like to provide lunch and tutoring classes. The Servants are currently in their fourth week of teaching “summer” school to local children, which includes classes in math, art and language studies. With help from friends in America and Peru, they plan to offer classes in economics, welding, woodworking, sewing, nutrition and sustainable farming. Their 2024 “summer” classes in Spanish and English language have already started.
The Schmidts’ long-term goal is to build a sanctuary on the mountaintop dedicated to Our Lady of Champion. It would include a 48-foot statue of Our Lady that pilgrims could climb up and exit through the statue’s Immaculate Heart overlooking the valleys below.
Help From HomeIn early December, the Schmidts traveled back to northern Wisconsin to give talks, fundraise and meet with Bishop Ricken. The financial and spiritual support they receive in the States is changing the lives of Catholics in San Martin, Peru.
One example of this is the recently finished church in the town of Cuñumbuqui, which is the head church of the parish and home of the only priest in the region. The Schmidts funded the church project with donations their family would have lived on for three months.
Mass for the feast of Our Lady of Champion at their retreat center (Photo: Courtesy photo)
“It makes my heart hurt to turn people away,” said Katie. “It’s a good thing we had ducks and alpaca because we have meat in our freezer.”
What has happened in the village of Nuevo Piura is another example of support from home reaching Peruvians. The Servants were able to give this community the financial aid, physical labor and spiritual guidance they needed to reclaim the Catholic way of life. After waiting 18 years for a priest to come to their village and provide the sacraments, they now have a church they built with their own hands.
“We’re working with them for a period of time, so that one day they can do it all without us,” explained Katie.
Like all local villages, Nuevo Piura waits months for the priest to come. There is only one for all 38 mountain communities in the region. The Servants of the Good Help hope to change this. A few years ago, they took in a seminarian from Buenos Aires named Carlos Manuel Rengifo Huaya. Huaya believes the only way that people can discover their vocation and follow it is through a “personal relationship with Jesus.”
“The only way to change the priest shortage is to bring Jesus to the people,” said Rengifo Huaya, who will soon enter his third year at St. Joseph’s Major Seminary in Moyobamba.
What has happened in the village of Nuevo Piura is another example of support from home reaching Peruvians. The Servants were able to give this community the financial aid, physical labor and spiritual guidance they needed to reclaim the Catholic way of life. After waiting 18 years for a priest to come to their village and provide the sacraments, they now have a church they built with their own hands.
“We’re working with them for a period of time, so that one day they can do it all without us,” explained Katie.
Like all local villages, Nuevo Piura waits months for the priest to come. There is only one for all 38 mountain communities in the region. The Servants of the Good Help hope to change this. A few years ago, they took in a seminarian from Buenos Aires named Carlos Manuel Rengifo Huaya. Huaya believes the only way that people can discover their vocation and follow it is through a “personal relationship with Jesus.”
“The only way to change the priest shortage is to bring Jesus to the people,” said Rengifo Huaya, who will soon enter his third year at St. Joseph’s Major Seminary in Moyobamba.
Carlos Manuel, their seminarian, gives his testimony. (Photo: Courtesy photo)
Bishop Ricken said he would be happy to send priests to Peru, but his diocese doesn’t have any to spare either. Patience has been a big part of the mission, said Katie.
“More missionaries and priests will eventually come,” she said.
“Our Lady will move hearts when it is time.”
Theoni Bell writes from Houston. She is the author of The Woman in the Trees, a novel about the first approved Marian apparition in the United States.
“More missionaries and priests will eventually come,” she said.
“Our Lady will move hearts when it is time.”
Theoni Bell writes from Houston. She is the author of The Woman in the Trees, a novel about the first approved Marian apparition in the United States.
Dominican Seminarians Teach Gregorian Chant on Unique YouTube Channel: “We Hope to be Instruments”
by ChurchPOP Editor - Feb 7, 2020
This is so cool!
Two Dominican seminarians studying at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland began OPChant, a YouTube Channel that teaches Gregorian Chant in the Dominican tradition.
Brothers Stefan Ansinger, O.P. and Brother Alexandre Frezzato, O.P., sing each chant and provide a copy of the score, as well as the Latin words, in each video description. The friars also use chants according to the liturgical calendar, uploading a new video every week.
OPChant had less than 200 subscribers as of Jan. 25, 2020. As of this writing, the channel generated more than 10,000 subscribers! It is the only channel of its kind on the internet, and it’s absolutely beautiful!
https://youtu.be/mRK2qFA4CJQ
by ChurchPOP Editor - Feb 7, 2020
This is so cool!
Two Dominican seminarians studying at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland began OPChant, a YouTube Channel that teaches Gregorian Chant in the Dominican tradition.
Brothers Stefan Ansinger, O.P. and Brother Alexandre Frezzato, O.P., sing each chant and provide a copy of the score, as well as the Latin words, in each video description. The friars also use chants according to the liturgical calendar, uploading a new video every week.
OPChant had less than 200 subscribers as of Jan. 25, 2020. As of this writing, the channel generated more than 10,000 subscribers! It is the only channel of its kind on the internet, and it’s absolutely beautiful!
https://youtu.be/mRK2qFA4CJQ
God's love is "everlasting": "For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you." Through Jeremiah, God declares to his people, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you."
-Catechism of the Catholic Church #220
-Catechism of the Catholic Church #220
A bit of humor...
Some Thoughts:
-The road to success is always under construction
-Moses was leading his people through the desert for 40 years. It seems, even in Biblical times men avoided asking the way.
The wise old Mother Superior was dying. The nuns gathered around her bed, trying to make her comfortable. They gave her some warm milk to drink, but she refused it. Then one nun took the glass back to the kitchen. Remembering a bottle of whiskey received as a gift the previous Christmas, she opened it and poured a generous amount into the warm milk.
Back at Mother Superior's bed, she held the glass to her lips. Mother drank a little, then a little more, and then before they knew it, she had drunk the whole glass down to the last drop. "Mother, Mother" the nuns cried, "Give us some wisdom before you die!" She raised herself up in bed with a pious look on her face and pointing out the window, she said, "Don't sell that cow!"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DID NOAH FISH?
A Sunday school teacher asked, 'Johnny, do you think Noah did
A lot of fishing when he was on the Ark ?'
'No,' replied Johnny. 'How could he, with just two worms.'
____________________________________________________
LOT 'S WIFE
The Sunday School teacher was describing how Lot's wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt, when little Jason interrupted,
'My Mommy looked back once while she was driving,' he announced
Triumphantly, 'and she turned into a telephone pole!'
Some Thoughts:
-The road to success is always under construction
-Moses was leading his people through the desert for 40 years. It seems, even in Biblical times men avoided asking the way.
The wise old Mother Superior was dying. The nuns gathered around her bed, trying to make her comfortable. They gave her some warm milk to drink, but she refused it. Then one nun took the glass back to the kitchen. Remembering a bottle of whiskey received as a gift the previous Christmas, she opened it and poured a generous amount into the warm milk.
Back at Mother Superior's bed, she held the glass to her lips. Mother drank a little, then a little more, and then before they knew it, she had drunk the whole glass down to the last drop. "Mother, Mother" the nuns cried, "Give us some wisdom before you die!" She raised herself up in bed with a pious look on her face and pointing out the window, she said, "Don't sell that cow!"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DID NOAH FISH?
A Sunday school teacher asked, 'Johnny, do you think Noah did
A lot of fishing when he was on the Ark ?'
'No,' replied Johnny. 'How could he, with just two worms.'
____________________________________________________
LOT 'S WIFE
The Sunday School teacher was describing how Lot's wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt, when little Jason interrupted,
'My Mommy looked back once while she was driving,' he announced
Triumphantly, 'and she turned into a telephone pole!'
Dear Saint Valentine, glorious martyr, teach us to love unselfishly and to find great joy in giving.
Enable all true lovers to bring out the best in each other in God and in God, each other. Amen.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
One can sin against God's love in various ways:
- indifference neglects or refuses to reflect on divine charity;
it fails to consider its prevenient goodness and denies its power.
- ingratitude fails or refuses to acknowledge divine charity and to return him love for love.
- lukewarmness is hesitation or negligence in responding to divine love;
it can imply refusal to give oneself over to the prompting of charity.
- acedia or spiritual sloth goes so far as to refuse the joy that comes from God and to be repelled by divine goodness.
- hatred of God comes from pride. It is contrary to love of God, whose goodness it denies,
and whom it presumes to curse as the one who forbids sins and inflicts punishments.
-Catechism of the Catholic Church #2094
- indifference neglects or refuses to reflect on divine charity;
it fails to consider its prevenient goodness and denies its power.
- ingratitude fails or refuses to acknowledge divine charity and to return him love for love.
- lukewarmness is hesitation or negligence in responding to divine love;
it can imply refusal to give oneself over to the prompting of charity.
- acedia or spiritual sloth goes so far as to refuse the joy that comes from God and to be repelled by divine goodness.
- hatred of God comes from pride. It is contrary to love of God, whose goodness it denies,
and whom it presumes to curse as the one who forbids sins and inflicts punishments.
-Catechism of the Catholic Church #2094
+JMJ+
SUNDAY BIBLICAL MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
5th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Sunday, February 9th, 2025
The First Reading- Isaiah 6:1-2A, 3-8
In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, with the train of his garment filling the temple. Seraphim were stationed above. They cried one to the other, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts! All the earth is filled with his glory!" At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook and the house was filled with smoke. Then I said, "Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it, and said, "See, now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" "Here I am," I said; "send me!"
Reflection
Although we are still about a month away from Ash Wednesday, the Scriptures for this week put us in the Lenten mindset, preparing us for what we are about to do.In the first reading, the Prophet Isaiah receives his call to be a prophet. His response is very natural. He doesn’t feel worthy to speak God’s word—he is aware of his sinfulness. But God reaches out and touches his mouth with a coal to purify it. It is the Lord that empowers him to answer the call.
Adults -What do you feel like God is calling you to in your life?
Teens - Where can you bring more of your faith into other areas of your life?
Kids - What special gifts has God given you?
Responsorial- Psalm 138: 1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7-8
R.In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
All the kings of the earth shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
when they hear the words of your mouth;
and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD:
"Great is the glory of the LORD."
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Reflection
-How can you praise the Lord this week?
The Second Reading- 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
I am reminding you, brothers and sisters, of the gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures; that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. After that, Christ appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. After that he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me. For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me. Therefore, whether it be I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
Reflection
In the second reading, Paul recounts his call to be an apostle; how Jesus appeared to him and his unworthiness of the mission offered to him. He feels the conviction of having persecuted the Church. But, God works through him, and, like we saw in the first reading, He empowers Paul for the mission to which He calls him.
If you are struggling with a sin in your life, take it to the Lord in confession and let Him work through the grace of the Sacrament.
The Holy Gospel according to Luke 5:1-11
While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets." When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that the boats were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.
Reflection
The Gospel tells us of the call of St. Peter. God reached out to Peter through the work that he had been doing—fishing. The Lord found Peter amidst his every day life. When Jesus tells him to put his net into the lake after he had a totally unsuccessful night of work, his nets become so full of fish they can’t even handle the load. Peter responds in both awe and contrition and asks Jesus to “depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Jesus responds as God always does, “Do not be afraid.” Each story is the story of a call to follow God and bring him to others. Each story expresses how many of us feel when faced with our call to do as Isaiah, Paul and Peter did. Each story shares the same response of God—to make us able when we think we aren’t.
Adults -Are there one or two things about you that make you feel inadequate for fulfilling the call that you have received? Remember, God doesn’t ever call the qualified; he qualifies the called.
Teens - Read over the spiritual works of mercy. See if there’s a way that you can incorporate one of them into your life, and consider how it will make you more like you want to be.
Kids - Have you ever felt afraid and asked God for help? What happened that made you know he was there to keep you safe and give you courage?
LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! – “Thus, in the selection of his Apostles, Christ has given us an extra proof, if one were needed, of his own divine wisdom and of the divine origin of the Christian religion which we profess. Our religion is not man-made, God is its author. While thanking God today for our Christian religion, with its clearly-drawn map of salvation, let us show our appreciation by doing our own little part, as humble apostles, weak but willing helpers of Christ. This we can do without eloquence, or personal prestige. We do so by living as true Christians in our homes, in our places of work, and in our recreations, by carrying our cross daily and patiently, ever ready to give a hand when the neighbor's cross seems too heavy for him. This will be Christian eloquence, this will be a true apostleship of Christ, because actions speak louder than words. —Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.
SUNDAY BIBLICAL MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
5th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Sunday, February 9th, 2025
The First Reading- Isaiah 6:1-2A, 3-8
In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, with the train of his garment filling the temple. Seraphim were stationed above. They cried one to the other, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts! All the earth is filled with his glory!" At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook and the house was filled with smoke. Then I said, "Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it, and said, "See, now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" "Here I am," I said; "send me!"
Reflection
Although we are still about a month away from Ash Wednesday, the Scriptures for this week put us in the Lenten mindset, preparing us for what we are about to do.In the first reading, the Prophet Isaiah receives his call to be a prophet. His response is very natural. He doesn’t feel worthy to speak God’s word—he is aware of his sinfulness. But God reaches out and touches his mouth with a coal to purify it. It is the Lord that empowers him to answer the call.
Adults -What do you feel like God is calling you to in your life?
Teens - Where can you bring more of your faith into other areas of your life?
Kids - What special gifts has God given you?
Responsorial- Psalm 138: 1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7-8
R.In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
All the kings of the earth shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
when they hear the words of your mouth;
and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD:
"Great is the glory of the LORD."
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Reflection
-How can you praise the Lord this week?
The Second Reading- 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
I am reminding you, brothers and sisters, of the gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures; that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. After that, Christ appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. After that he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me. For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me. Therefore, whether it be I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
Reflection
In the second reading, Paul recounts his call to be an apostle; how Jesus appeared to him and his unworthiness of the mission offered to him. He feels the conviction of having persecuted the Church. But, God works through him, and, like we saw in the first reading, He empowers Paul for the mission to which He calls him.
If you are struggling with a sin in your life, take it to the Lord in confession and let Him work through the grace of the Sacrament.
The Holy Gospel according to Luke 5:1-11
While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets." When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that the boats were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.
Reflection
The Gospel tells us of the call of St. Peter. God reached out to Peter through the work that he had been doing—fishing. The Lord found Peter amidst his every day life. When Jesus tells him to put his net into the lake after he had a totally unsuccessful night of work, his nets become so full of fish they can’t even handle the load. Peter responds in both awe and contrition and asks Jesus to “depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Jesus responds as God always does, “Do not be afraid.” Each story is the story of a call to follow God and bring him to others. Each story expresses how many of us feel when faced with our call to do as Isaiah, Paul and Peter did. Each story shares the same response of God—to make us able when we think we aren’t.
Adults -Are there one or two things about you that make you feel inadequate for fulfilling the call that you have received? Remember, God doesn’t ever call the qualified; he qualifies the called.
Teens - Read over the spiritual works of mercy. See if there’s a way that you can incorporate one of them into your life, and consider how it will make you more like you want to be.
Kids - Have you ever felt afraid and asked God for help? What happened that made you know he was there to keep you safe and give you courage?
LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! – “Thus, in the selection of his Apostles, Christ has given us an extra proof, if one were needed, of his own divine wisdom and of the divine origin of the Christian religion which we profess. Our religion is not man-made, God is its author. While thanking God today for our Christian religion, with its clearly-drawn map of salvation, let us show our appreciation by doing our own little part, as humble apostles, weak but willing helpers of Christ. This we can do without eloquence, or personal prestige. We do so by living as true Christians in our homes, in our places of work, and in our recreations, by carrying our cross daily and patiently, ever ready to give a hand when the neighbor's cross seems too heavy for him. This will be Christian eloquence, this will be a true apostleship of Christ, because actions speak louder than words. —Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.