Good morning Digital Neighbors! Happy Tuesday ADD Irregulars, WSN Curators, and Bemused Curmudgeons. Hello again Friends & Refugees, Early Birds & Later Dayers, Conversants & Lurkers over at the Rubin Report! Hey there Awakening Wonders & Curious Questioners at Russell Brand and finally all of you fine souls at Phetasy who always bring a smile to my face and a chuckle to my heart, dearest Pham, Misfits and dumpster fire loving fools. Some stuff I wrote for our parishioners this coming weekend, enjoy!

Dear parishioners,
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. The previous sentence and preceding paragraph were part of this column last week. Any of us serious about knowing and loving God and neighbor want more than an indispensable minimum, we want to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength and our neighbor as ourself. Those are the two great commandments given to us by the Master. His bride, the Church, imparts to us these precepts to help us embrace those commandments and put them into practice.

The second precept (“You shall confess your sins at least once a year." ) ensures preparation for the Eucharist by the reception of the sacrament of reconciliation, which continues Baptism's work of conversion and forgiveness.

The foundation stones of discipleship are Eucharist and Reconciliation. Disciples of Jesus celebrate the meal and sacrifice He offered and entrusted to us in the Eucharist. Eucharist celebrates God’s victory over sin and death and is the foretaste of the great eternal celebration that will be the Kingdom. Mass is essential in our pilgrimage of faith because we remember, we celebrate, we believe. Our pilgrim journey to the Kingdom is completed through Jesus as our way, truth and life. However, our pilgrimage is imperfect, and we are prone to sin.

When Reconciliation is celebrated well, we begin to understand how the truth will set us free. We come to face the truth about ourselves as sinners in need of God mercy who are called to be His sons and daughters. The spiritual dynamic of a good confession is to both know ourselves better and to become immersed in God’s mercy. The more we seek His mercy, the more it washes us clean and heals the wounds of sin. Facing our sins, naming our sins, confessing our sins opens the doors of grace to help us overcome them. No one wants to free us from sin more than God. Sin is an afront to God because He wants the best for His children. St. John tells us in his first letter: For the love of God is this, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. Because sin is a matter of the will, we humbly acknowledge that we have willfully ignored God’s commandments. We have placed our will above His will. When we pray, “Thy will be done one earth, as it is in Heaven” we are asking God to fully convert us to the Gospel and help follow His Son without reservation.
Peace,
Fr. Tom

Oh, and a photo to give you something beautiful to remember.
Country Soul Photography - Aaron Altenthal
Puxico, MO Taken 8/9/24