Who is in our boat?

Tim DeRosa • Jan 25, 2023

This weekend in the Gospel we see Jesus call His first Apostles to Himself. Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John probably didn't expect their day to end up like this. They probably went out the night before to fish expecting nothing out of the ordinary to take place. But by morning they were probably frustrated beyond belief having not been able to catch any fish (Lk. 5:5). There is a TV show called The Chosen that does a wonderful job depicting the call of Peter, Andrew, James, and John. It departs from the text of the Gospels but adds a human element that sometimes is hard to pick up in the Scriptures!

While this story beautifully depicts the calling of the first Apostles, it isn't the only message that is given to us. Each of us are like Peter, Andrew, James, and John. Each of us are in a boat. St. Therese of Lisieux has this wonderful quote that fits well. She says, "This world is thy ship, and it is not thy home." How beautiful is that? Each of us, by virtue of being born, are in a boat. The question is when we see Christ do we invite Him into the boat? Peter, Andrew, James, and John might have left their fishermen boat, but they entered the boat of evangelization.

All of us have the great opportunity to make our boats fitting for Christ. In just one month the Church will begin the season of Lent, and we are invited to fast, to give alms, and to pray. These three pillars aren't supposed to be pains in our side to remind us of Good Friday, but they're invitations to help us declutter our boats.

Let us take time in prayer to see where the Lord is asking us to grow this Lent. Where can we create space in our boat to invite in Jesus? Maybe He is calling us to pray the rosary as a family rather than turning on the TV after dinner. Maybe He is inviting us to get up earlier so we can make it to an extra Mass during the week. Everyone will have a different way of inviting Jesus into his or her boat.

Here are some questions for reflection that can guide our prayer this week:

What nets are in our lives that cause us to get tangled up?

Are the waters our boats are in choppy or smooth?

What does our boat look like? Is it clean or cluttered? Are there holes in our boat that let water in?

What can we get rid of to create space for Christ to enter our boat?

Who is captaining our boat?

May the Lord be with us this week as we continue to invite Him deeper into our hearts.

By Tim DeRosa 12 Aug, 2023
Peace be with you! This week we'll be taking a look a Fr. Michael J. McGivney. In the 1800s, Fr. McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus. The Knights were founded to create a fraternal unity of men in a parish as well as help provide financial assistance to parish families in need. To this day, the Knights of Columbus continue to serve the community through disaster relief and with their excellenet life insurance policies. Here is a biography about the Knights founder, Blessed Fr. Michael J. McGivney. Michael Joseph McGivney was born on August 12, 1852, the first child of Irish immigrant parents in Waterbury, Connecticut. His parents went on to have 12 other children, half of whom died either as young children or infants due to their harsh living conditions. Michael left school at age 13 to work alongside his father and help support the family, but at age 16 he decided to enter the seminary. He studied in Quebec, Canada as well as in New York until he was called home to help work to support his family once more due to the death of his father. Michael eventually returned to his studies at St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore and was ordained into the diocese of Hartford, Connecticut in 1877. Fr. McGivney’s first assignment was to St. Mary’s Parish in New Haven. While there, he quickly became very active in the community. Alongside his priestly duties, he served as director of public plays and community fairs. He even volunteered to foster a child whose father had passed away, leaving the boy’s family in poverty and unable to care for him. It was during this time that McGivney envisioned the need for a Catholic mutual aid society. His intention was to create an institution where Catholic men could provide financial security to families in need who had lost their primary breadwinner. At that time in the U.S., Catholics were often discriminated against and denied membership into labor unions as well as being barred from joining the popular fraternal organizations of the day. In some cases, such as with Freemasonry, the Catholic Church forbade their membership. It was plain to see the charitable advantage of these fraternal organizations so, while formulating his plan to start a mutual aid program, Fr. McGivney began to research similar Catholic-founded societies elsewhere in the USA. He researched two organizations which both provided family insurance benefits to members of their churches in need — the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters and the Catholic Benevolent League. Originally, he considered starting a chapter of the Foresters for the men at St. Mary’s but ran into obstacles because their charter didn’t allow for groups outside of their region. As an answer, he decided to form a committee of men at home and, together, they designed an original Catholic fraternal organization that could provide for families in need but also had membership rituals that could compete with the excitement of the other popular secret societies of the time. On February 6, 1882, Fr. McGivney and his men launched the Knights of Columbus. Immediately after its launch, Fr. McGivney started spreading the word to invite men into membership and sent a letter appealing for new members to every priest in the diocese. The order, whose founding principles were charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism, grew rapidly. The Knights appealed to college campuses and, eventually, churches throughout the entire United States. By the early 1900s there were thousands upon thousands of Knights across the U.S. and councils being established worldwide. There are now 16,000+ local councils and over two million members who donate hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of millions of volunteer hours yearly to benefit charities worldwide. Membership is still restricted to practicing Catholic men, although women may participate through the Columbiettes, an auxiliary for Catholic women. Fr. McGivney fell ill with the flu during the 1889 pandemic, contracted tuberculosis, and, subsequently, pneumonia. He passed away at age 38 on August 14 of the next year. He’s remembered by those who knew him as being friendly and cheerful, a champion for the poor, and loyal to and fond of his community. In 2008, Fr. Michael Joseph McGivney was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI. Official Prayer for the Canonization of Blessed Michael McGivney Founder of the Knights of Columbus God, our Father, protector of the poor and defender of the widow and orphan, You called Your priest, Blessed Michael McGivney, to be an apostle of Christian family life and to lead the young to the generous service of their neighbor. Through the example of his life and virtue, may we follow your Son, Jesus Christ, more closely, fulfilling his commandment of charity and building up his Body which is the Church. Let the inspiration of Your servant prompt us to greater confidence in Your love so that we may continue his work of caring for the needy and the outcast. We humbly ask that you glorify Blessed Michael McGivney on earth according to the design of Your holy will. Through his intercession, grant the favor I now present. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer Source: https://www.fathermcgivney.org/) © LPi  Totus Tuus! Corpus Christi-St. Bernard's Communications Team
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Peace be with you! This week the Church celebrates the Transfiguration of the Lord. In the story we hear how Peter, James, and John catch a glimpse of Heaven as they see Moses and Elijah before them and hear the voice of the Father. May our hearing this story allow us to see the glimpses of Heaven in our daily lives and spur us to share the message of Christ to the world. Everyday Stewardship There are times in our lives that we get the chance to see a glimpse of heaven. It may be through the love of another, loved one or stranger. Sometimes it may even be an event that seems unexplainable, perhaps even supernatural. These occurrences may be the answer to prayer or they may surprise us by coming out of nowhere. But no matter their nature or origin, they give us hope and strength to carry on through life. When we journey on a pathway of stewardship, we are bound to experience moments of grace where we see even the smallest seeds we planted grow into something amazing. At these moments, we are reminded that God is real and that our stewardship is not in vain. The giving of our gifts and talents is not just a response to God's calling. The giving is one way that God breaks through into the lives of others. As we use what God has given us for his glory, he uses us as instruments of grace to be truly present to others. The greatest example of this occurs at the Mass. Through the hands of an ordained priest taking the gifts of bread and wine, God is really present with us. When we then take Christ into our bodies, we accept the offer to take him into the world to others. The world cannot see Jesus in us with human eyes, but through our works of stewardship, they can see Jesus in us. One could say they even have a chance to see a glimpse of heaven. Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS © Liturgical Publications Totus Tuus! Corpus Christi-St. Bernard's Communications Team 
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