Saint Peter's Point- The Catholic Blog of Saint Peter Parish, Stevens Point Wisconsin

The Catechism of the Catholic Church helps us see the practical implications of this Sunday’s celebration of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity: “The Church is one because of her source: ‘the highest exemplar and source of this mystery is the unity, in the Trinity of Persons, of one God, the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit.’ The Church is one because of her founder: for ‘the Word made flesh, the Prince of Peace, reconciled all men to God by the cross . . . restoring the unity of all in one people and one body.’ The Church is one because of her ‘soul’: ‘It is the Holy Spirit, dwelling in those who believe and pervading and ruling over the entire Church, who brings about that wonderful communion of the faithful and joins them together so intimately in Christ that He is the principle of the Church’s unity.’ Unity is of the essence of the Church” (813). A few paragraphs later the Catechism continues: “The Lord’s missionary mandate is ultimately grounded in the eternal love of the Most Holy Trinity: ‘The Church on earth is by her nature missionary since, according to the plan of the Father, she has as her origin the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit.’ The ultimate purpose of mission is none other than to make men share in the communion between the Father and the Son in their Spirit of love” (850).

Next Sunday is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ or Corpus Christi. As announced elsewhere in the bulletin last week, at the conclusion of next Sunday’s 10:00 am Mass we will have a procession with the Blessed Sacrament. I most warmly encourage you to take part in the procession to honor our Eucharistic Lord. Hymns will be sung and benediction will close the procession. Any altar servers who wish to be part of the Eucharistic honor guard should contact the parish office during regular office hours. Those who received their First Holy Communion this year are also welcome to take special part in the procession.

Our Diocese of La Crosse was honored recently as Pope Benedict XVI appointed a native son, Archbishop Raymond Burke of Saint Louis, to two additional posts in the Vatican. Of course, Burke remains the Archbishop of Saint Louis (as if that was not enough work!) and he still serves as one of the 15 judges of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura – a position to which the Holy Father named the Archbishop in July of 2006. You may recall that the Signatura is the Church’s “Supreme Court” that hears final appeals of decisions by Vatican administrators and offices and ensures that justice is administered correctly in the Church. On May 6, 2008, it was made public that Pope Benedict appointed Archbishop Burke to also serve on the Congregation for the Clergy and the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. The members of these offices of the Vatican – like all the other Vatican offices – offer their expert advice to the Holy Father so that he might better fulfill the divine mandate given to Peter to unify and “strengthen his brethren” throughout the world. The Congregation for the Clergy promotes initiatives to further the growth in holiness as well as the intellectual and pastoral life of diocesan priests and permanent deacons. A second crucial responsibility of this Congregation is the promotion of the religious formation (catechesis) of the faithful of all ages and states of life (for example, consecrated religious and lay faithful). The Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts chief responsibility is to resolve questions of the interpretation and application of the Church’s 1983 Code of Canon Law and the 1990 Eastern Code. May the Holy Spirit guide our Holy Father and those to whom he looks for advice and assistance!

In the next five years our parish anticipates having to address a number of issues with regard to our physical plant including the increasingly dangerous buckling of the carpet in the church proper and the sanctuary, the hazardous deteriorating bricks and concrete between the garage and the church, the incredibly wasteful heating system in the rectory, and the security of our magnificent church and school – to name just a few. We will only be able to solve these problems if each and every parishioner generously participates in the We Belong To Christ Campaign now being conducted in our parish. Complete and return your pledge card at your earliest convenience. For those of you who have not yet picked up your pledge card please contact the parish office so that we may get it to you. If we do not hear from you we will be contacting you personally.

Thank you for your prayerful support last week as I underwent successfully (!!) the final examinations for the certification program in Catholic bioethics sponsored by the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Now all that remains is to write my thesis which is due July 15.

Saint Peter, pray for us! Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!

Father Kevin C. Louis