For All The Saints
a word on happiness

Announcements for October 31, 2020:

We're going to have to make a game-time decision on our 11:00am Mass this weekend - we might have to move it inside. I'll send a text/email update Sunday morning to confirm the plan. If you want to receive these notifications, let me know.
Take a look at our newly revamped Parishioner Portal when you get a chance (scroll to the bottom of any page at www.olmc.church to click the link).
Our weekend Masses are: Saturday 5:15pm in the church; Sunday at 7:30am and 9:00am in the church; Sunday at 9:00am at Walmart; and Sunday at 11:00am (outside or inside, depending on the weather).
Please be in touch with me if you need anything at all, or if you'd like to share any questions or concerns.

Dear Saints,

2020 is not all bad: With the way our days and weeks align this year, we have the treat (not trick!) of celebrating the Solemnity of All Saints this Sunday.

Our Gospel passage for the feast is a familiar one. It's Saint Matthew's version of the Beatitudes.

In it, Jesus gives us nine blessings to make our own: Blessed are you poor; mourning; meek; hungering and thirsting for righteousness; merciful; clean of heart; peacemakers; persecuted for the sake of righteousness; and insulted and persecuted for Jesus' sake.

To put it in mild terms, this is an awfully strange way to think people blessed. I mean, do you really want to be persecuted, poor, and the like? Really, Jesus' list is quite shocking.

So how do we make sense of what's going on here? Let me take a couple of swings:

1. If the world is upside down (it is), then putting it right-side up (as Jesus wants to do) likely means a reversal of fortunes. To put it another way, if you have become rich, happy, overbearing, content with "the way things are," vengeful, etc. by taking advantage of an upside-down world, then you are likely to lose out when the world is put to rights.

2. If we are the center of our respective universes, we pursue beatitude (makarios = happiness) via money, pleasure, and power. This might mean short-term riches, satisfaction, and honor, but it hollows us out as human beings, never bringing us the long-term fulfillment we long for in life. If God is the center of our universe, though, we find ourselves truly happy in spite of (or maybe even because of!) our being poor, mourning, meek, and the rest.

What does this mean for us? Simply stated, we must prioritize God and his mission.

God wants to love the world through us, my friends, and we are saints when we bring his love to life for everyone we encounter. Our happiness - our beatitude - is to commit to God in every practical way, to join him on mission with everything we've got. That's what it means to be a saint here and now, and by trusting and following Jesus we walk this way together.

I love you, my friends. Please be assured of my prayers for you this week. And don't forget to turn your clocks back this weekend!

Christ's Peace,
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ

PS Check out my bulletin article this week for some interesting news on November indulgences.

PPS Join us for OLMC School's rescheduled evening open house this Thursday!