• learning about the Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord on August 6th.
• celebrating the Feast of the Assumption of Mary on August 15th. Pray a Hail Mary each day.
• getting to know some of the saints of August: St. Maximillian Kolbe and St. Augustine and his mother, St. Monica.
• returning to in person Mass at your home parish. Read here for the latest guidelines. How to return to Mass after you haven’t been in a while.
• praying an Our Father together with your family each day.

Brothers Deacon Joe shared this with me recently and I found it very thought provoking and wished I kept this in mind as I was growing up. It is like a road map for your life. Enjoy!
A reflection from Christian Life Day by Day by Leon Cardinal Suenens

Life is lived in high tension today. Nerves get frayed and our pace of life becomes very intense. But whatever it may cost, we have to learn to stop and draw a quiet breath. That means we have to learn to recognize our need. We have to learn that an ordinary vacation isn’t enough. Going to different places and trying to have fun isn’t the same as relaxing. And to learn to relax we must learn how to avoid inner imbalances. The word ‘recreation’ implies that one is doing something that re-creates, creates one over again, and gives a new life and a fresh start.

Humanly speaking, to acquire the art of balanced relaxation we need to learn to take advantage of little opportunities that life offers us to again become at heart children. To be relaxed, for instance, doesn’t mean avoiding others but being accessible to others in a positive way. For people of faith, this starts with being accessible to Our Lord. He didn’t want his disciples to live in a state of perpetual tension. We have heard the Gospel passage in which Jesus calls upon the disciples to “come away into a quiet place and rest a little”. What we need is to take such opportunities when they are offered. We are offered the best of Jesus and of his message in moments like the present.

We often stand in need of rest in the ordinary sense of that word. But we need even more to rest in God. In the bustle of our days, we need to discover the little times which give us the opportunity to be with Jesus. Perhaps it is a matter of individual prayer. Perhaps it is a moment of meditative reading. It is like our need for oxygen. It is no luxury. It is a vital necessity. How good it is to sit down like Mary of Bethany at the feet of our Master. We need, it especially if we are bustling about in order to complete indispensable daily tasks. In the midst of our work, we must keep our hearts open to God. We talk about opening a window so fresh air can come in. We need even more to keep a window open to Heaven!

This is a matter of learning to keep things in their proper relative proportions. Each task has its importance, and all are not equally important. Giving each its proper place is possible only if we have a standard of importance. The need to be with God is of supreme importance and gives us that standard. Without this everything one does is imbalanced and given undue importance. Faith enables us to see how to judge the relative importance of different things and tasks.

Faith trusts first in God. If that is so, then faith tells us to give first priority to being with God and second priority to learning from God during these times. This not only enables us to bring balance to our lives but to relax and open ourselves to genuine refreshment and re-creation. Take time for Jesus! Jesus always had time for God!

Paradoxically, that time is always now

As always, yours in Christ
Bill Mazzio

11/1/2020 -  Please click on the link below to view St.Mary of the Lakes Pastor, Fr. Daniel Swift's, Homily on "The Humility of Jesus, Peter and Blessed Michael McGivney". 
 

Homily :: "The Humility of Jesus, Peter and Blessed Michael McGivney" ::...

We would like to thank Father Dan on behalf of our council for your unwavering support of the Knights of Columbus.

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