Jesus was a wise teacher...

July 14, 2017

My dear friends in Christ,

Jesus was a wise teacher who used examples from everyday life to illustrate the deep mysteries of God's reign. The word parable can mean a variety of literary forms such as an allegory. Jesus' parables were primarily stories that invited the hearer to search for the meaning of the Christian truths He was teaching. In the parable of the sower, the seed of God's word was sown on unproductive soil. Most of the effort was wasted for lack of preparation. They refused to open their eyes, ears, and hearts to the Lord and His message. They did not wish to be converted. Jesus tells His disciples to persevere in proclaiming the Word of God and become the soil that will bear good fruit. Jesus promises them a reward for their harvesting. They will raise a crop of 30, 60, a nd 100 times more than they could ever imagine! Wouldn’t it be nice if we became the good soil that can yield a big crop no matter what it is.

I promised last week to bring you up to date on our Faith to Move Mountains campaign. To date, our diocese has raised over $68 million from nearly all of our parishes and more than 22,000 donors who have participated in this historic campaign. We have done a tremendous job as a parish and I am humbled by your generosity. There are, however, about 75 parishioners who filled out pledge cards but have not responded. Please remit your pledge so that it gets credited to our parish and our records.