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Father Thomas S. Tully, Pastor

Father Tully outlines the basic elements of the sacrament of confession:

“I often use the analogy of a hand,” he said. “Five fingers: the first and last are hello and goodbye,” the greeting and dismissal between penitent and priest.

The second is confession when, in a room with the priest on the other side of a screen, where the penitent “names their sin to the best of their ability.”

Third is the act of reconciliation or absolution, in which the sin is declared absolved. “The priest doesn’t do the forgiving, God does the forgiving,” Tully said. “But the priest proclaims it.”

Fourth is the act of penance in which the priest will “ask the penitent to repair the damage of sin, usually a spiritual one, a prayer, but sometimes an action, to repair the damage of sin.” Often personal counseling will take place here as well.

In the end, he said, the personal relationship brings a sense of closure and formality that technology can’t match.

Confession needs to be a person-to-person act, Father Tully believes. 

“Being at peace with one’s conscience is a very difficult thing,” Tully said. “I’ve been in this for 29 years. I don’t really know of a shortcut.”
Monday, August 3rd, 2020 at 7 PM – 8:30 PM
Public · Hosted by Saint Paul Catholic Church
               Online Event


Fr. Tully is inviting you to join him in Part 3 of a conversation in dialogue with our American Catholic Bishops to take place online via Zoom beginning Monday, August 3rd at 7 PM continuing through Monday, August 10. These four (in total )evening conversations will follow the “Study Guide” from the United Sates Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for the November 2018 Pastoral Letter Against Racism - “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love.”
If you are interested in participating in this conversation please send Deacon Jim Hackett an email at deaconjim@spccnb.org and he will send the Zoom link as well as a copy of the Pastoral Letter Against Racism and the study guide for this discussion.
You do not heave to have a Zoom account in order to participate. If you have internet access and click on the link it will take you directly to the meeting site. You will also be able to participate by phone only if you choose.
This will be an open and frank discussion and you will be expected to respect the opinion of all participants as well as their privacy.
Although we hope that you can joins us for all four sessions , you are welcome to join us for any of all. We hope that you will be able to join us in this conversation. 

    Parishioner Updates complete form below:

Daily Readings
USCCB
Evangelizo
Regnum Christi
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   WEEKEND MASSES ARE BACK INSIDE
Mass Times
Saturday at 5:00 pm
Sunday at 8:00 am, 11:00 am and 1:00 pm (Spanish)

Deacon Jim's Homily from this weekend - "Whoever Has Ears, Ought to Hear!"
Homily for the Sixteenth Sunday A in Ordinary Time – Sunday July 19, 2020
Book of Wisdom 12: 13, 16-19; Romans 8: 26-27; Matthew 13; 24-43 - Deacon Jim Hackett
“Whoever has ears – ought to hear”
We heard these same words in LAST week’s Gospel reading. The same words – two weeks in a row – maybe the Gospel writer, Matthew, is trying to make a point?
Maybe we DO need to listen?
My FIRST reaction when I looked at today’s readings was that this - could be really scary stuff to talk about - because for years some preachers have used the parable of the wheat and the weeds to FRIGHTEN people – and warn them about the judgment day – being “thrown into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” Not a very pretty picture!
But the Gospel is supposed to be all about the GOOD news of Jesus Christ - so I thought about - and prayed over the readings - and I began to see them in a much different light. And so - I think I CAN bring you some Good News today.
Today, I would like to talk about TWO things – the first is POWER. We are a society that seems to relish power - whether it is government leaders wanting power over the REST of the world - or the person who strives to be put in charge of a few employees - JUST so he or she can tell them what to do. Our cultural expectation of power over others seems to involve control – domination – force and manipulation.
Most of us have probably heard - and probably believe sayings like – “Power Corrupts” or “Whom the Gods would DESTROY, they FIRST make MAD with power.” And yet - we continue to strive for power in our society.
But the First Reading today – from the Book of Wisdom - is all ABOUT power – God’s power. And as we meditate on God’s power in this reading, we will see that it is different than the power of man. Power for God - is not power OVER - but power WITH! In the beginning - in Genesis - God gave us the power to be co-creators - WITH him. Furthermore - we learn from this Wisdom reading today - that OUT of God’s power comes JUSTICE - “For your might is the source of justice…”
We seem to have many different ideas about what justice IS in this country. We think of justice as the bad people getting punished - and the good rewarded. But justice is MORE than that – it is everyone getting what each DESERVES - in the order of things - in the order of things. Biblically speaking - justice is the ordering of God’s power – the order in which GOD created in the universe. All things are ordered - so that life can be SUSTAINED. So, for us, to use our power justly - we need to allow for order - and harmony. A powerful leader needs to be JUST- to create harmony – NOT disharmony.
Psalm 145, which we often hear at Mass, describes God’s power – “kind and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love”. Kind and merciful - slow to anger - abounding in love. Are THESE signs of those who have power in our world today - or even at our workplace?
The first reading goes ON to say that SINCE God is all powerful - God CAN be all merciful – that he “judges with clemency” - and “permits repentance for our sins”. OUR God - by nature - is a compassionate God. The word compassionate comes from the Latin root meaning “co-suffering” or – “to suffer with”.
The story of Jesus - is the story of OUR God - who comes to earth to suffer WITH us.
And by doing so - even though he has ULTIMATE power - he understands our weaknesses - our needs - our strengths - and it results in His having great MERCY toward us. God loves us as a parent does – and it is in THAT love - that we can discover the power and presence of God. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if ALL leaders could learn from the one who has ALL the power – to be ordered - to be just - to be merciful – to be compassionate.
I’m pretty sure that Jimi Hendrix might be surprised to find himself being quoted in a homily, but it was Jimi who once said: “When the power of love overcomes the love of power – the world will know peace.” “The world will know peace” - Isn’t THAT what the kingdom of heaven is all about?
So, this brings me to the parables in today’s Gospel - and to my second point.
All three parables are similes - and what they are metaphorically describing - is the kingdom of heaven. In all three parables, the outcome of the kingdom of heaven is assured. Unlike the apostles early on, we already KNOW that the kingdom of heaven is a present reality - AND a future reality. Through Jesus Christ - it is a present reality - IF we live His word to the BEST of our ability. It will be the FUTURE reality for ALL of us when Christ returns - in TRIUMPH.
And even knowing God’s power is all LOVE - we still might be frustrated with the fact that we sometimes meet people who are hard to deal with - to be with – people who are violent and maybe even do evil actions in our eyes – in other words, the “weeds” of the world.
We wish that God would stop bad people from doing bad things - or at least stop them in their tracks, so they can cause no more harm to anyone. But God’s ways are NOT our ways.
In the first of today’s parables we see that God allows good and evil to grow together. There is this ongoing HUMAN desire to root out evil – to PULL those weeds! And we wonder why God doesn’t do that!
Yet this parable reminds us that whatever the reign of God is, it needs to grow alongside - what is NOT of the kingdom. Even within our Catholic church there is the wheat - AND there are the weeds. But Jesus asks us NOT to judge – but to let God be the judge. And sometimes what WE think of as wheat, MAY be weed – and what WE have thought was weed - may indeed be wheat to God – in God’s eyes.
I would love it if all those “Christians” who seem so bent today on eliminating certain groups from “their” church – would really ponder this parable - and understand that there is room for everyone - without judgment - and that GOD’S ways and judgments -are not ours. THIS attitude of acceptance - is also in line with the revelation of God as loving and forgiving – “slow to anger and abounding in love”.
All are welcome.
An INCLUSIVE Church – a Church that is kind and lenient toward its own members – AND toward everyone ELSE - can be an inspiration to a divided world – a world that has a tendency to judge harshly - to be quick to anger - and to uproot weeds - even at the cost of damage - to the good plants.
This first parable also refers to ourselves – individually! We are not always the best that we can be – we are not always wheat. The good and bad within us grow
simultaneously. Maybe we can say you cannot have one - without the other. Two sides of the same coin - two sides of the same person.
How can we ensure that our wheat side grows STRONGER than the weeds alongside? Again – Jesus gives us the answer – love one another.
The last two parables refer to the kingdom of heaven as a seed - and as yeast.
Notice that it is NOT power or greatness that yield the most important things. It is the smallest of seeds - that is nurtured - and allowed to grow. And it is in the simple yeast – this fungal micro-organism - that enlarges the bread - so small, but it changes the whole QUANTITY of the dough.
We do NOT have to be powerful to bring change to our world. The kingdom may frustrate us - because it starts out as small and insignificant as a seed - but, despite the small start - growth is inevitable - and the results – ASTOUNDING!
In all THREE parables, the outcome of the kingdom of heaven is assured – Justice will come - the smallest seed will grow - yeast will leaven.
We, my brothers and sisters, can be assured of this through God’s mastery over ALL things – His power – different from human power – exercised with care – justice – clemency - leniency . God’s kingdom is here now - and His kingdom WILL grow - to COMPLETE fulfillment.
So, I pray, that we REJOICE in the Good News that I’ve shared with you today!
“Whoever has ears – ought to hear”​
                                  

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Parents
Just for Fun!

The Natural Stone Yard, 1606 Hwy 70 East has FREE painting rocks in the front of their business.  All you have to do is open your car door and grab a few.

Let's have some fun and see if we can make a pretty rock garden for our church.

Take a picture of your rocks and send it to my email so I can share!

dconway@spccnb.org  

I'm painting mine now.  Let's have some fun.