Gove County
Catholic Parishes

Sacred Heart Parish, Park, Kansas
St. Agnes Parish, Grainfield, Kansas
Immaculate Conception Parish, Grinnell, Kansas

Message from the Parish Priest

- Faith Formation
Today's Readings
- Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent
  
  Reading 1 Is 40:25-31
  Responsorial Psalm Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 8 and 10
  Gospel Mt 11:28-30

Third Sunday of Advent: December 15, 2019

THE UNFINISHED PLAY

Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American writer. When he died, he had on his desk the outline of a play he never got a chance to finish. The play centered around a person who never appeared on stage. Everyone talked about him. Everyone dreamed about him. Everyone waited for his arrival. But he never came. All kinds of minor characters described him. They told everybody what he would do. But the main character never appeared. The Old testament is something like Nathaniel Hawthorne’s play. It too ended without the main character’s putting in an appearance. Everyone talked about Messiah, everyone awaited his arrival. But he never came in the Old testament period. This weekend readings, we hear Isaiah describing what the Messiah would do by bringing salvation to all mankind. The gospel tells us that when the real Messiah came, even the last prophet and the Messiah’s herald, John the Baptist, could not believe that he was the expected Messiah.

Second Sunday of Advent: December 08, 2019

GOD’S RESPONSE TO SINCERE CONVERSION

Explaining how God will respond to the sincere conversion of his people, Isaiah reports three oracles concerning a future king. The first two oracles (Is 7:10-17, 9:1-6), were probably delivered to King Ahaz. This prophecy may have had an initial fulfillment in the days after it was first given, in Isaiah’s time. If so then, like many prophecies, it has another, greater fulfillment, which is the Messiah. Isaiah gives the third oracle as a prediction of the first coming of Jesus, the Messiah, Isaiah prophesies that the Spirit of God with His sevenfold gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord will appear in the promised Messiah. God who called Abraham will fulfill His word by sending to them the king who will rule with wisdom and justice, and will have the true spirit of the Lord. Isaiah portrays this Messianic Kingdom as a return to the perfect harmony of Paradise. The Spirit will enable men to create a world in which “the wolf shall be the guest of the lamb, and a leopard shall lie down with the young goat.” These prophecies are fulfilled, in an anticipatory way, with the first advent of the Messiah and the spread of the Christian Faith, and they will definitively fulfilled with the Second Advent and the eternal order. The message for us is that, if we allow the Spirit of God to work in our lives, we will be able to live in peace and harmony even with those who threaten and disturb our lives. There can be no true love of neighbor or true respect for his rights where there is no love of God. Hence, we must strive to give God his rightful place in our daily lives and to follow the path that leads to justice and peace on earth.

First Sunday of Advent: December 01, 2019
ADVENT-- 2019

We begin our yearly pilgrimage through the events of our history of salvation starting with the preparation for the birthday celebration of Jesus Christ and ending with the reflection on his glorious “second coming” as judge at the end of the world. We are entering into the Advent season. Advent means coming. We are invited to meditate on Jesus’ first coming in history as a baby in Bethlehem, his daily coming into our lives in mystery through the sacraments, through the Bible, and through the worshipping community and finally his Second Coming at the end of the world to reward the just and to punish the wicked. We see the traditional signs of Advent in our Church: violet vestments and hangings, dried flowers on the altar, and the Advent wreath. These signs remind us that we have to prepare for the rebirth of Jesus in our hearts and lives, enabling him to radiate his love, mercy, compassion and forgiveness around us. We have to prepare ourselves spiritually by offering our daily work to God for his glory, by practicing more self-control in resisting our evil habits and inclinations, by seeking reconciliation daily with God and our fellow-human beings. Listen to what Mother Teresa of Calcutta says; “Whatever you do in your family, for your children, for your husband, for your wife, you do for Jesus.”

Jesus Christ, King of the Universe: November 24, 2019

KINGSHIP OF JESUS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Jesus is the long- awaited king of the Jews. In the Annunciation, recorded in Lk 1:32-33, we read: “The Lord God will make him a king, as his ancestor David was, and he will be the king of the descendants of Jacob forever and his kingdom will never end.” The Magi from the Far East came to Jerusalem and asked the question: Mt 2:2 ) “Where is the baby born to be the King of the Jews? We saw his star………and we have come to worship him.” During the royal reception given to Jesus on Palm Sunday, the Jews shouted: (Lk 19:38) “Blessed is the King, who comes kin the name of the Lord.” When Pilate asked the question: (Jn 18:33) “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus, in the course of their conversation, made his assertion, “You say that I am a King. For this was I born, and for tis I came into the world, to testify to the Truth. Everyone who belongs to the Truth listens to My Voice” (Jn 18:37). That Truth, as we know, is that He is God and Sovereign King of all creation. Today’s gospel reading tells us that the board hung over Jesus’ head on the cross read: “Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews, (Lk 23:36, Mt 27:37: Mk 15:26; Jn 19:19-20), and that, to the repentant thief on the cross who made the request: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom,” Jesus promised Paradise with Him that very day (Lk 19:39-43). Before His Ascension into Heaven, the Risen Jesus declared: Mt 28:18 ) “I have been given all authority in Heaven and on earth.”

Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time; November 17, 2019

BE PATIENT AND BE FAITHFUL

This week’s Gospel passage warns that the date of the end of the world is uncertain. Signs and portents will precede the end, and the faithful will be called upon to testify before kings and governors. The Good News, however, is that those who persevere in faithfulness to the Lord will save their souls and enter God’s eternal kingdom. Christ’s Second Coming is something to celebrate, because he is going to present all creation to his heavenly Father. That is why we proclaim His Second Coming at Mass : “We proclaim Your death, O Lord, and profess Your Resurrection, until you come again.” Thus, the message of the day is: don’t give up; God is always with us. St. Luke’s community had experienced much persecution. Jesus’ words about people being “handed over by parents, brothers, relations and friends,” were beginning to come true. Jesus’ promise of the protective power of a providing God was meant to encourage His disciples to persevere in Faith and its practice: “By Your perseverance you will secure your lives.” Jesus also included the signs of the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world, to prepare his disciples for this disaster and to remind them to rely upon Him for Salvation, not their own power.

Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time: November 10, 2019

THE REALITY OF RESURRECTED EXISTENCE

Jesus begins his counter argument by pointing out the Sadducees’ ignorance about the existence and nature of life after death with God. He refutes their misconception that eternal life is in this world. Then Jesus goes on the offensive, making two points. First, he provides positive Biblical proof for the reality of resurrected existence. Jesus presumes that Yahweh’s burning bush statement about being the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is in the present tense. This would prove these three Patriarchs were still alive at the time of Moses, 600 years after their death. Thus, Jesus uses the Sadducees’ sacred text of Torah to respond to their anti-resurrection belief. God said to Moses from the burning bush, “I am the God of your Fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob” (EX3:1-6). Since God claims to be the God of the patriarchs, He must somehow sustain the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by granting them resurrection and eternal life. Therefore, the resurrection of the body can be proved from the Torah itself. Second, Jesus explains that the afterlife won’t be just an eternal replay of this life. Things will be different after we die. Normal human relations, including marriage, will be transformed. Then Jesus tells the Sadducees (who denied angels and spirits), that those whom God considers worthy of resurrection and heavenly life with Him are immortal, like the angels and hence are “children of God.”

Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time: November 03, 2019

SON OF ABRAHAM ONCE AGAIN

The story of the conversion of Zacchaeus ends with Jesus’ declaration, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.” This man, who had previously been an outcast, was addressed by Jesus as a “son of Abraham.” Zacchaeus was not saved in isolation . His salvation would affect the entire community, since he would provide support for the poor and restitution to those he had defrauded. A community would be transformed by the presence of a tax collector whom people could trust. Zacchaeus reminds us that Jesus continues to call the strangest people from the strangest places. With many people suffering from a conviction of low self-worth, Zacchaeus serves as a good example of how to resist and survive the critical commends of others.

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Times: October 27, 2019

A PRAYER THAT MAKES A DIFFERNCE

The proud and self-righteous Pharisee did not really go to pray to God, but only to tell God how good he was in the guise of thanking Him. He said his prayer to “himself!” His prayer was also ineffective because he was proud, despising all others, including the tax collector, labeling them sinners. He was really a good man, but he lacked compassion for others. If the first big mistake of the Pharisee was to think that God would be impressed by his boasting, the second was in his thinking that he was better than others. The Pharisee got what he asked for, which was nothing, while the sinner got what he asked for, which was everything. Two things make our prayers void and of no effect: a proud sense of our own righteousness, and a contempt for others. The tax collector at the back of the Temple and would not even lift his eyes to God. He confessed his sins and humbly asked for God’s mercy. “O God, be merciful to me—a sinner.” His prayer was short, but to the purpose. His heartbroken, humble prayer won him acceptance before God. His only virtue was his humility, which led him to repentance and prompted him to ask for mercy. While the Pharisee asked God, in effect, “Am I not better than my fellowmen?” the tax collector’s question to himself was, “Am I as good as God?” Having defrauded his neighbors on behalf of the Roman overlords, the tax collector had much to be humble about. He was a sinner, personally and corporately, a state which prompted him to pray; “God be merciful to me—a sinner>” The Pharisee prayed as on who needed no forgiveness, and he got none; the tax collector prayed as one who needed forgiveness, and he received it

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Tme: October 20, 2019

“KNOCK AND IT SHALL BE OPENED”

The book of Job is perhaps the best place in Scriptures to study “knocking prayer.” There, the righteous Job is devastated. He loses his children, his friends, his property, and his health. Satan has horribly afflicted him. His wife urges him to curse God and die. But instead, job begins a knocking prayer. “Oh, that today I might find Him that I might come to His judgment seat! I would set out my cause before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments; I would learn the words with which He would answer, and understand what He would reply to me” (Job 23:3-5). Thus, Job begins to knock in prayer. He blindly gropes for God. He patiently, and sometimes impatiently, yearns for deliverance. Again and again Job reaches for God in prayer. Though his body is wasting away, though all seems lost, though he cannot understand, Job has faith in God. His heart is filled with hope and he says, “But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives, and that He will at last stand forth upon the dust; and from my flesh I shall see God; my inmost being is consumed with longing” (Job 19:25-26). Thus, with Hope, Faith, and persistence Job continues to knock in prayer. Finally, God comes to him. Though the Lord does not explain the affliction, He does heal Job. He restores his fortune and gives him ten more children. As Jesus promised, His door will be opened to those that knock. And Job triumphantly says to God, “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be hindered. I have dealt with great things that I do not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know. I had heard of You by word of mouth, but now my eye has seen You” (Job 42:2, 5).