Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church

Dear Folks,

I was listening to a ‘secular’ podcast yesterday and have been chewing on this quote, “It is easy to fall in love with an idea.”  They went on to discuss how it’s not so easy to love something real.
The problem is that “ideas” can often involve a great deal of fantasy on our part and when the fantasy collides with reality, then we can be left disappointed and disillusioned.  Does your idea of the perfect spouse allow for their humanity, weakness, and their preferences which may not be your own?  Real Love is challenging, because it means generously giving ourselves away.
I have mentioned the annual Married Couples retreat in this space, and invite you to come away and pray with your spouse.  Together you can more deeply encounter our Lord and each other.
Moreover, do you love Jesus, or the idea of Jesus?  Our idea of Jesus must conform to who He is.  A mature growth in loving Jesus means learning where our idea of Him is in error, and coming to love Him as He is.  When the faith challenges your behavior or bias or understanding, then this is Jesus trying to move your love to a more perfect state.  Will you really love Him?  Then get to know Him.  Lent is coming and is a beautiful time to strip away some of our distractions to better see and love Jesus.

pax et bonum,
fr mosimann

Dear Folks,
Is your car a mess? Or your office? Or your Inbox?  My car is actually pretty clean inside, while the outside is a little salty this winter.  But I know lots of folks struggle with keeping a car interior clean, especially if they have children!  I remember years ago my nephew being very concerned because he got chocolate all over the seats in my car.  I laughed and said, “That is the price of being an uncle,  sometimes the chocolate is all over.”
But my office?  That is another story!  Yikes, stacks of paper, all representing work or marriage prep or annulments or meeting requests or sales pitches and on and on.
And email inboxes?  How many people just give up on trying to empty them out?  My dad recently asked for help clearing out the 27,000 emails out of his inbox.  We just made him a new gmail.com account instead.
Ok… but what possible ‘Jesus connection’ am I thinking?  When you clean out your car/office/inbox, you suddenly become much more aware of previously unnoticed threats to re-cluttering your life.  A candy wrapper in the car, an unreturned message on the desk, or email spam coming in. The same thing can happen with our souls, especially if we haven’t been to confession in ages.  It is such an amazing experience as a priest, to help people to clear out their souls of the debris and clutter of sin.  Truly, as a priest, I rank it a privilege second only to transubstantiating bread and wine into Jesus.
Once we clear out the debris that was intimidating us from returning to Jesus, we become much more sensitive to maintaining the spiritual health and cleanliness of our souls.  I often tell folks who return from many years away from the sacrament, “Don’t be surprised if you start to remember and recall smaller sins.  Just bring them confidently to your next confession.  Jesus will always welcome you home.”

pax,
fr m

St Mary is now hiring for the position of Assistant Director of Youth Ministry.  Please click the information below for more info!

 

Dear Folks,

Married Couples RetreatYou may know the old saying, “the couple that prays together, stays together.” But what does that practically mean in our busy lives? Some families are committed to praying the rosary together – wonderful! The Sacrament of Marriage is a man and a woman growing every day deeper in love by giving their lives to one another. This is an incredibly enriching gift, because in giving our self away we discover a love beyond imagining.

To that purpose, each winter I offer a retreat for a group dedicated to formation and spiritual growth of married couples: Teams of Our Lady. The format of the retreat includes short talks, lectio divina, and discussions that provide an opportunity for couples to pray together and deepen their mutual understanding. ALL married couples are invited to spend a day together with your spouse, your pastor and our parish family in prayer.

Married Couples Retreat

Saturday February 29@ St. Mary IC

Begins with 9am Mass in the Church.

Will end by 5pm at the latest, and usually earlier!

Please bring a brown-bag lunch and a bible.If you would like to participate, please email Elena Doyle to register (edoyle@stmaryfred.org).

pax et bonum,

Fr. Mosimann