Good morning, Digital Neighbors! Happy Tuesday Friends & Refugees, Early Birds & Later Dayers, Conversants & Lurkers, Misfits & PHAM, Awakening Wonders & Curious Questioners, ADD Irregulars, WSN Curators and all your Cultural Curmudgeons. Today I punt on the morning rambling, I penned this for our Sunday bulletin and I share it here. I know many of you are not Catholic or Christian so it may hold little interest for you, but it gives those of you who don’t know me an idea of where I come from as person and priest. It may not be your cup of tea (I need more coffee) so YMMV. Enjoy or don’t, either way I pray you have blessed day. Peace.

Dear parishioners,
One of the reoccurring quips that I like to make in homilies is the challenges we experience in loving God and neighbor. We find it difficult to love God even though He is perfect, good and true because we do not see Him. We find it difficult to love our neighbors even though we do see them because they are not perfect, good or true. Such are the most fundamental challenges to our growth in love. The church as the Body of Christ and the Bride of the Lamb desires nothing more than that her members grow in love of God and neighbor. While we profess the perfection of God, we do not profess the perfection of our own faith or our celebration of it. We are all pilgrims on a path of spiritual growth towards communion with God and neighbor.

Over these next few weeks, I would like to examine with you the precepts of the church. Most older Catholics will remember these from our childhood catechesis. These precepts are invitations and expectations of the community faith for its member to live a more abundantly life in Jesus. From the Catechism 2041: The precepts of the Church are set in the context of a moral life bound to and nourished by liturgical life. The obligatory character of these positive laws decreed by the pastoral authorities is meant to guarantee to the faithful the indispensable minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort, in the growth in love of God and neighbor.

The indispensable minimum—let that truth tumble around in your thoughts and feelings. Our church is trying to ensure for all of her members the bare minimum on which to build a life of discipleship in Jesus. While one might be capable of leading a good life without ever seeking God in worship, no one can build a life of disciple apart from worship. We are called to be far more than just a good person; we are called to be disciples of Christ who imitate and mirror the heart of the Master. No one doubts that humanity needs redemption. All around us we see the ruin caused by sin and indifference. Jesus is the remedy for sin and indifference. He washes away our sins in His own blood and the invitation to “follow me” is meant to draw us out of indifference into a life of worship, service and sacrifice.

The first precept (“You shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation." ) requires the faithful to participate in the Eucharistic celebration when the Christian community gathers together on the day commemorating the Resurrection of the Lord.

Nothing replaces the foundational and essential necessity of worship for a disciple of Jesus. God doesn’t need worship, WE DO. We want to acquire the heart of the Master that allows us to trust the Father and be filled with Their Spirit. We want to grow in our awareness of our absolute dependence upon God and His overflowing generous love for each of us. We want to be drawn into the life of Jesus so that His sacrifice at the Last Supper and on the Cross becomes our sacrifice. If we make the Mass foundational, we can build a life of discipleship upon it that withstands the storms and trials of life.
Peace,
Fr. Tom