St. Ignatius Martyr Parish

Today on this Feast of Pentecost we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit. On this day Jesus' promise to send his Spirit is fulfilled. With the coming of the Spirit the apostles are freed from their weak and timid faith and strengthened by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. With these gifts they now understand all that Jesus had taught them and have a clear sense of purpose and the inner resources to go forward to boldly preach the Good News of salvation to all who will listen.

We, too, have been gifted with the same Spirit and the same gifts. Due to these gifts we are able to continue Christ's mission on earth. However, we must ask ourselves: How are we using the gifts of the Spirit to continue Christ's mission now? How are we allowing the Spirit to move us as it moved the apostles? We have all been given certain gifts and talents to help us to spread the Good News. However, at times we may feel overwhelmed as we see our limits or wonder what we can do to make a difference in the world and then to begin to doubt our ability to spread the Good News and to be of service to others. As a result we shy away from sharing our gifts.

And that is precisely why we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost every year: to refocus on the power of the Spirit to propel into carrying on Christ's mission in the world when we feel we can't, and to recall the many gifts we have freely received. Our gifts are many. The challenge is to recognize those gifts, develop them with the help of the Spirit and then allow the Spirit to direct us to where these gifts need to be used.  Read More »

With his Ascension, Jesus closes out the final chapter of his life on earth. He returns to the Father. God will send another Advocate, the Holy Spirit, thus opening the era of the Spirit to insure that those who followed Jesus remained in union with him, were instructed in Jesus' ways and continued to teach what Jesus taught. The Spirit would be a sign of hope and strength for those who would have difficulty living as followers of Jesus. The Ascension also marked the beginning of the work of Jesus' disciples. They would have to come down the mountain to begin the mission Jesus had just entrusted to them, the same mission we received at baptism - to build God's kingdom on earth.

While on earth, Jesus was a sign of hope for many people. He gave hope to those who were sick, lame, blind. He gave hope to sinners and to those outcasts of society. Through his actions he showed them that God loved and cared for them and in God's eyes they were important. He was a sign of hope to his disciples as he gave his final instructions. He tells them they have nothing to fear in carrying out his mission. He would be with them until the end of time.  Read More »

In my homily for Easter, I spoke about new life and future hope, all of which are given to us through Jesus' resurrection. I also spoke of Jesus' command to go and give witness to others that he is truly risen and alive and living in us. The way we express that Jesus is truly risen and alive and living in us is by how we live every day.

Today's first reading from Acts gives a wonderful example of how Christ's resurrection gave new life to the first Christians: "They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to communal life, to breaking of the bread (Eucharist) and to prayers. All who believed... had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one's needs."

Luke writes this to show how Jesus' resurrection had opened the eyes of these first believers to that which mattered: breaking of the bread, prayer and community. They were enthusiastic about their faith in Jesus and his teaching. They showed their faith in Jesus' teaching by actually putting it into practice. Jesus had offered his body and blood as food and drink and they saw the need to come together to share what Jesus had given them. They also saw the need to pray together just as Jesus had prayed with his disciples.  Read More »

I begin my letter this week by welcoming all who are visiting with us for the first time. We are happy that you could be with us to celebrate this great feast of Easter. I invite you to come back to worship with us again. Please take home a bulletin to learn more about us and to become familiar with Mass times and more. Also visit our website www.st-ignatius.org

May God bless you and your family with an Easter season filled with the light and joy of Christ's resurrection.

"He has been raised; he is not here." Jesus is no longer in the tomb. He has conquered sin and death and now lives at God's right hand in glory. His suffering, death and resurrection have brought him to the glory he spoke of many times to his disciples and to those who would listen.

He is not in the tomb. He lives in us, the people he redeemed. As Easter people we must continue to live the paschal mystery, that is, we must daily die to self and be raised to new life in Christ. We have been set free; death no longer has power over us. We give witness to the new life we have received in Christ by rising from our tombs of sin and evil. With hearts open to the risen Christ, we allow ourselves to be sent forth to proclaim the Good News of God's love and help build God's kingdom on earth, a kingdom of peace, love and justice.  Read More »

As we continue our Lenten journey to Jerusalem with Jesus, we are reminded that Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week, the holiest week of the Church liturgical calendar. This week confronts us with the primary Christian symbol - the cross. Without the cross we cannot be Christ's disciples. This week allows us to delve deeper into our own lives to see how we have taken up our cross to follow Jesus and how far we are willing to go. There is not much point to meditating on Christ's crucifixion during this holiest of weeks, unless we are willing to endure suffering in our attempts to love and to live as Christ's followers.

In just a few days we will celebrate most fully the core of our faith, the paschal mystery of Christ's death and resurrection. All of Lent has lead us to these central days of the liturgical year and these days in turn lead us to the heart of the mystery of our redemption. These three days are called the Triduum. They reflect the Jewish fashion of worship, that is, from one evening to the next: Thursday evening to Friday evening, Friday evening to Saturday evening, Saturday evening to Sunday. They are central to our liturgical year and to our faith as Catholics as we celebrate in a beautiful and meaningful way the paschal mystery, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It would help if we could look at these three days as one liturgy, beginning on Thursday evening and concluding at the end of the Easter Vigil.  Read More »

The readings for the last two Sundays have identified two symbols of baptism - water and light. This Sunday, in Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, we see the third symbol - life. But there is another important element in these three readings - faith.

The woman at the well comes to believe in Jesus because of what he tells her about her life. In him she sees a source of life that is now hers for believing in him. Because of this belief in Jesus, she is transformed into a new person. The man born blind comes to believe in Jesus when he realizes that it is Jesus who has cured him of his blindness. He has literally seen the light, the light of Christ, and thus can recognize Jesus as Lord.  Read More »

Last week I mentioned that for the next three Sundays our readings would focus on three significant spiritual symbols of our faith - water, light and life. Last Sunday we were reminded that we were gifted with the first spiritual symbol of faith at baptism - the life-giving water of Jesus. This week our readings speak of the second symbol of faith, which we also received at baptism - the light of Christ. As we received the life-giving water of Jesus at baptism, so we also received his light. With this light we became children of the light. Just as we were commissioned to bring the life-giving water of Jesus to a thirsty world, so we are also commissioned to bring the light of Christ to a darkened world.  Read More »

For the next three weeks, the readings will put us in touch with three significant spiritual symbols of our faith: water, light and life. Our reflections on water, light and life will confront us with the mystery of Jesus' dying and rising and the manner in which it must continue to impact a thirsty, darkened and dying world.

This Sundays' readings focus on water, specifically on the life-giving water of which Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman. We first received this life-giving water at baptism when we died with Christ in the waters of baptism and were raised with him. At that time we were washed clean and made members of his Church. But more than that, our baptism makes possible our growth in the person and mission of Jesus Christ. Just as humans need water to live, so as Christians, we need the life-giving water of Jesus to keep us refreshed so as to renew daily our commitment to the person of Jesus Christ. We also need this water to maintain us in continuing the mission of Jesus in service of the world. As Jesus tells the woman, the water he offers can satisfy our thirst because the water he offers is the water of eternal life.  Read More »

One of the Lenten disciplines is prayer. We are encouraged to spend more time in prayer in order to draw closer to God, and thus develop a deeper personal relationship with God. In prayer we talk to God about our hopes and dreams, our joys and sorrows, the decisions we make and the challenges we face, especially the challenge to live and love as Jesus did.

But prayer is not only talking to God. It is also listening to God, that is, taking to heart what God says. For Jesus prayer was a vital part of his communication with God and his purpose. He prayed at night and in the early morning. At those times of prayer Jesus was renewed and recharged to continue his ministry. He checked in with God to find out what God wanted him to do.  Read More »

On this first Sunday of Lent we are confronted with temptation. In the reading from Genesis we see the first temptation and the consequence. The devil was able to convince Eve that if she were to eat of the forbidden fruit that she would have her eyes opened and would know what is good and what is evil. Well their eyes were certainly opened and much to their surprise realized that they were naked! Human weakness, greed and the desire to be "gods" caused the fall of humanity and we continue to struggle with those same temptations today.

In the Gospel we have someone who resists temptation. The promised One of God has just been baptized and is now led into the desert where he will fast and pray for 40 days and 40 nights. At the end of that time, Satan appears. He knows Jesus is weak from not eating, so what better time than now to tempt Jesus.

So Jesus, the Son of God who has come to announce God's rule and build God's kingdom is confronted with evil. Jesus must decide whether he will satisfy his own hungers for power, glory and wealth, or be the son whose only concern is to do God's will and to make God known, loved and served. Of course, Jesus uses his free will to resist the devil's temptations rather than to succumb to them and so remains obedient to God's will. He refused to abuse his power and to allow another to replace God in his life. He relied on God's word for in that word he found the strength he needed to stand up to evil and not to be bowed to it.  Read More »