Jesus told the apostles you will be lead where you do not wish to go. Sometimes God will lead us down a path that we ourselves would not have chosen, but if we stay the course that road will end in Grace. You may encounter bumps along the way, but God will lead you and protect you if you stay the course.

Today in Sunday Religious education we had a quick lesson, and then we had a review and took questions from the kids. These 6th graders are a inquisitive bunch. I love answering their question as much as they love asking them. 6th graders are always trying to find ways around things. The question are usually filled with, what if. We adults need to be more like these kids. By that, I mean we need to seek answers. It seems that after confirmation adults seem to think that we have arrived, all of our learning is over. Nothing could be further from the truth. With a Church history of 2,000 years we could learn something everyday about our faith. The Bible says seek and you will find. We need to seek more. We need to become as children. When I look into the faces of these 6th graders I see future priest, nuns, monks, and even future catechist. Someday one of these kids are going to be teaching my grand kids the faith. As teachers of the faith we must guide these young people to see that the church is theirs and that they need to take a active role in it. Do I have all the answers? Not even close. I try to learn something new everyday about my faith and draw closer to my Lord. When I watch a student contemplate the things they have just heard, it makes me realize that I need to constantly be contemplating the things of the Lord. Lent has arrived once again, and what better time to look deep within myself and correct my faults. My prayer is that by Easter, I will have cleared out enough cobwebs to see clearly the areas in which I need to grow. I pray that I will seek answers to my question with the same urgency that the 6th graders do. May God's grace be with us all, this Lenten season.

Today at Mass, we sang the Magnificat. This is Mary’s response to Elizabeth. The Magnificat can be found in Luke chapter 1 verse 46-55. This is how it goes, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever. As we sang the words, rejoices in God my Savior, I just happen to look over at our statue of the Pieta. The Pieta is a statue with Mary holding Jesus in her arms right after he has been taken down from the cross. I wonder if Mary’s Magnificat went through her mind at that moment. 33 years ago she had sang out loud and rejoiced in the fact that God had given her a son and not just any son but His Son. I wonder if her soul rejoiced in God at that moment. I bet it did, I think she knew. The Bible is clear that Mary Magdalene, the Apostles and a few other followers were not expecting to see Jesus again. But it never mentions his mother being shocked to see Him after the Crucifixion. I think at the moment of His death I think Mary felt a great sorrow and a tremendous loss, but I also think she felt joy. I think she believed that her son was indeed God. I don’t think that her knowing that eased the pain of her only son dying. Have any of you ever had a child go through surgery or suffer a serous injury? Most of us break down at the moment we are told they are going to be alright. That’s the way it was for me, as soon as the nurse came out and said my son had made it through the surgery, I broke down. I think the magnitude of knowing what just happened and what could have happened hits you. I think she knew at that moment how every parent feels when they lose a child. So many question arise just from one little glance at a statue. I thank God for giving his Church the wisdom to realize the importance of art just as he used it in the Temple. May the Holy Mother of God pray for us all the days of our lives

The weekend of Nov. 4-5 2006 will mark a historic moment in the History of Protestant Christianity. The U.S. Episcopal Church is installing the first female presiding bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion. Nevada bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will be the head pastor and chief administrator of the two-million-member U.S. Episcopal Church, and she will represent the American church around the world. The Episcopal Church is deeply divided on issues of gay marriage, and the ordination of gay bishops. Many believe that U.S. conservatives will not be part of a denomination that holds views they believe are contrary to Scripture and church teaching. Liberals it seems would rather see their church die then to back off their views. Bishop Gene Robinson, the openly gay priest who was ordained a Bishop on Halloween night 2003, has this to say about Scripture: “Some of the folks, who are arguing against this, particularly on biblical grounds, are trying to take us to a place, in terms of our own study of scripture that has never been our tradition. It's the tradition of some other denominations, but it's never been the Anglican tradition to take scripture literally. We take it seriously. But we've never taken it literally. It's the Word of God, not the words of God.” Now wait a minute here, lets look at this closely, “It's the Word of God, not the words of God” I was under the impression that the Bible is called the Word of God because it is the words of God. So for 2,000 years the “word of God” was considered to be the “words of God” inspired by the Holy Spirit, but now because they don’t line up with our politically correctness now “word of God” is just a title? It is going to be interesting to watch this unfold. I wonder what the reformers would think about this? The weight of this problem is huge, because there is no definitive voice in the Episcopal Church, there is no one who has the authority to say this is not going to happen. Today we have 33,000 different denomination because of doctrinal issue such as this one. What will those in the Episcopal Church do who oppose women ordinations and Gay Bishops? They will do what protestantism has always done, they will break off from the U.S. Episcopal Church and form their own or they will merge with another branch. My prayer are with those who stick to the belief that the Word of God is just that, God's word.