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Lighthouse November 10, 2025
All Hollowed Eve (the holy eve of All Saints)
Well, did everyone get enough candy? With all the candy at the parades and now trick or treat our dentists should do quite well. Kidding aside, what’s it all about? Everything centers around this special day we call All Saints where we remember the fact that we are in union with millions who have gone before us. How many Christians have there been who died in the grace of God? Many of these, including 11 of the apostles died for the faith and 27 of first 31 popes The reality is that there were more who died for the faith during the last century than in all other history combined. So many today as in Nigeria, China, India continue to die for the faith. Besides these, there have been such greats as St. Jerome who translated the Bible into Latin and Thomas Aquinas who showed greater understanding of the faith through the great Greek philosophies. Such people as St. Francis Assisi gave everything for Christ. Then you and I like to think of our more recent ancestors whom we pray are in the presence of the Lord. What does it take to be in the communion of the saints? Jesus told us that he would rather we be hot or cold for if we were lukewarm He would spew us from His mouth. We can think of these saints mentioned above or of someone like Bartolo Longo, a lawyer, who was recently recognized for his being converted from a Satanic high priest to a total self-giving for Christ. Are you lukewarm? We might like to think of ourselves as Christian simply because we are a good person but are we simply buying into what Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor called cheap grace. He challenged all who simply lived their life as usual and thinking because they prayed to Jesus once in a while they had it made. For Jesus to be Lord there must be some challenge in our lives. Through His Spirit Jesus has given every Christian certain gifts for the good of the kingdom. Do I pray for an unfolding of those gifts with a listening heart to how God wants me to use them? The communion of saints is quite a union of brothers and sisters who are praying that we be able to join them. Are you taking on certain disciplines in your life so that we not only don’t lose the gift of faith Jesus has given us but be able to witness it to others? Are we taking time to read His Word, to pray for others and to actively pray for His will in our lives? God desires to be intimately involved in the life of each of us. As we think of the saints who have gone before us, let us live in such a way that with St. Paul we can say: “follow my example” and come to lead others to that eternal life with the saints.
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Lighthouse October 29, 2025
Thou shalt not kill
This past week we had the sad reality of one of our own being killed by the state. Some worked hard at trying to prevent that but failed. God bless those who tried. But, as Christians we can’t let it drop now just because it doesn’t affect someone we know. To kill, is never a good. The only time one might morally take the life of another, and that is not a good thing, is when there is true self defense, one’s own life or one’s neighbors. Even there the goal should never be to kill the other but to do what is necessary in preventing them from killing. Certainly, in this day and age, capital punishment is no longer a self defense. We are quite capable of keeping an assailant at bay for life. Beyond that we are called to look at other areas of killing where we are all being led to complicitly participate in. Several states have enacted laws allowing the terminating of the life of someone who no longer wants to live. Is that really loving one’s neighbor when they come to realize that we the caregivers have given up on helping them? Euthanasia simply becomes a means for us to say we don’t want to deal with the other any longer, we can’t handle seeing their struggle, we can’t think of encouraging them to offer their suffering for the good of others. That is what Jesus did. That is what Paul did with his sufferings when he said “I continue to bear in my body the completion of the suffering of Christ.’ And, then, of course we cannot ever escape the reality of our being a civilized nation which continues to kill over one million young human beings every year in the womb. These are the most innocent of all human beings and we don’t even give them pain killers before we exterminate them. When God tells us that He knew us before we were formed He is telling us that we have had a most intimate relationship with Him from the earliest moment of our existence in our mothers. If Jesus can say to his apostles that those are going to hell who failed to respond to “I was hungry and you did not give me to eat.” How much more will be the condemnation of those who willingly participate in the killing of the most innocent? The scripture tells us that the days were coming when people would say good is evil and evil is good. So they try to disguise the killing of the innocent as being a good, a good for the woman involved, but not the child. The truth is, there is never an occasion where a direct attack on the child in the womb is warranted and to form the argument in terms of an exception for rape and incest does not change the innocence of the child. I once had a women tell me that her father raped her and then as a doctor aborted her. Is that love? Let’s use all the gifts God has given us to bring about a future when no one is killed on purpose, no matter how small. By the way, our area did fantastic in voting against last year's proposal to change the constitution to allow abortion at any time. It is being proposed this year to do just the opposite. You are now being asked to vote 'yes' to proposition 3 to have an amendment which will again make Missouri the most pro-life state. Please encourage others, every vote does indeed count.
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Lighthouse October 22, 2025
God and Man
Guess what; those who called themselves Christians have not always accepted that Jesus was totally God, equal to the Father and a human being like us in all things except sin. Although every Christian always said Jesus was God and man it took a while before realizing some had a totally different idea of what that looked like. Some heard the words in scripture when Jesus was baptized and the voice from heaven saying “this is my beloved son, this day I have begot you.’ as meaning that Jesus was a special man God adopted on that day. Although there were a couple early heresies denying his true reality it was the Arian heresy that gained the allegiance of many for several centuries. While much of that was due to the political power in Constantinople it was another political power which made a time and place available and called for all the religious leaders come together and clearly define who Jesus was. That was what came to be known as the Council of Nicea overseen by the pope’s representative. This is now the 1700th anniversary of that momentous time where these leaders came up with what is known as the Nicene Creed. All Christians accede to these tenants that we do well to slowly look over once in awhile. Let me quote this creed. I believe in one God, I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen. Let us continue to be grateful for this great summary of faith which came 70 years before the canon of the Bible was finally approved at the Council of Hippo.
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Lighthouse October 15, 2025
Miracles
Thought I'd take a different direction today. Some people are not aware of so many different miraculous things God is doing for us. One example would be the shrine of Our Lady of Good Help which I was thinking of this week. I have taken a couple groups there over the years because it is the only approved site of a Marian apparition in the United States. It seems our Lady appeared to a 28 year old immigrant woman from Belgium in 1859 and in 1861 a 24x40 church was built on the site. Its claim to fame came on October 8, 1871 when, what is known as the Great Peshtigo fire hit. It was at the same time as the great Chicago fire. In any case it is the deadliest in recorded history killing around 2,000 people. It was a tremendous firestorm engulfing 1.2 million acres in a very short time. Some people were saved by being able to be submerged in the lake. Those around this church took refuge at the church not knowing any direction they could go for safety. There they processed in prayer through the night. Even though the fire was fierce enough to jump across the Green Bay of Lake Michigan it went all around the fence encircling the church and harmed no one within the fence. Afterwards they discovered that the fence itself had been burnt on its exterior all the way around the grounds but not within. In recent years we have heard of similar saves such as in the Hawaii fire and the California fires. I know this kind of thing challenges us to ask 'why does God save certain places, and people but not others?' we will probably never know the answer except to know we are called to put our total trust in Him. Most of the time when there is someone who is miraculously cured or some place saved it is not for the individual but for others. It is a testimony that God is still God and we are to trust in His great love. In all things we are observe and old adage: 'work as if everything depended on us; but pray, knowing every thing depends on God. God is good and through history He shows that He desires to interact with the human race. He did not just create the universe and let whatever happens happen. We all know, He even sent His son to help us rise above whatever is going on in this world. Let us give thanks for all the miracles we see around us each day.
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Lighthouse October 8, 2025
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
That quote from Jeremiah has always touched me. In it God indicates how close He has always been and wants to be with Jeremiah, and consequently, each one of us. God does indeed have a purpose and desire for each of us to come to the fullness of life we were created for. During this pro-life month, October, I pray that each one of us take on a more dedicated effort to protect life in all its stages, unborn, handicapped, senior citizens with severe challenges, everyone. Every human being has an inherent dignity and, as recognized by the founders of America, is endowed
with certain unalienable rights, rights given by God and not Government. Most of us though probably find ourselves, as we recognized last week with the ability to ignore the hungry to also look at these issues and simply tell ourselves it has nothing to do with us. That reminds me of the old saying ‘They came for the Jews, but I wasn’t a Jew so I didn’t respond; they came for the handicapped, but I wasn’t handicapped so I didn’t respond; then they came for those of other faiths and I ignored it; but, then they came for me and there was no one to defend me.” I heard a cute cut the other day about these two sets of parents who each only had one child and as those children were getting in there upper years leaving less and less chance for grandchildren they became particularly delighted when they heard their children who were getting married were becoming Catholic. They didn’t care for the Catholic faith that much but if they thought it meant having grandchildren they were all for it. Seriously though, when one realizes the greatest blessing God promised Abraham was to have many children and the fact that children are going to be the only thing we invest in that might go to heaven with us, what could be of greater value? We know there are some who judge pro-lifers as not doing anything for the already born. But that is only a distraction to the reality that pro-lifers do more than any for those already born. Just recently a new 7 million dollar women’s shelter was opened in Cape Girardeau. It is currently full. Pro-lifers must continue to do all they can for all persons both born and unborn. As Dr. Seuss says “a person is a person no matter how small.” As we lament the 90 million human beings who have been killed in the womb let us pray for those who continue to seek their death as one politician’s daughter cogently expressed recently something to the effect we need abortion for the economics of it. May our hearts never grow so calloused. God bless each of you who make any effort to help the most helpless.
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Lighthouse October 1, 2025
The Great Divide
'There is no crossing over from our side to yours.' What stark, final words. Heaven is real, but, so is hell. At the end of this life there will be judgment with no recourse. I know we live in an age where so many do not believe that an all loving God could allow any such thing as hell. At
a funeral they will almost always say: ‘They’re in a better place.” Really? How do you know? Are you god? Or do you just absolutely believe there can be no hell? If God is love, he has to, by nature, give human beings whom He has given free will to, the option of not reigning with Him forever. How does that come about? Certainly by accepting Jesus Christ as lord and savior. Some like the “savior” part but quickly dismiss the “lord” part. If Jesus is lord then we have to consciously seek His will in everything, in everything. One of the most certain things is joining Him in His attitude to the disenfranchised, the homeless, the hungry, the thirsty. After all, in Matthew’s gospel He says ‘I was hungry and you gave me to eat.” And so on. ‘What you did to the least you did to me.” In Acts we hear Him say to Paul “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” This past week the Journal Banner published an article describing “Food Insecurity” across Missouri. And guess what? You and I live in the worst part of the state. Even though I deal with it daily I still find it difficult to believe it is as bad as it is. After all, I have have had people tell me they get far more in food stamps than they need. The Ministerial Alliance has a wonderful food pantry for emergencies as well as the Commodity program and the monthly distribution of food at Patterson, which is for anyone. Is there something more which can be done? Supposedly. When I listen to this last Sunday’s gospel where Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus, I have to wonder. You know Jesus describes the rich man as living sumptuously with a poor man lying at his gate and he does not even allow him the scraps that fall to the floor for the dogs. Notice that Jesus does not condemn him for being rich but rather for being able, day after day, to close his eyes to the poor man at the gate, for being complacent. I really don’t think many of us in this area are complacent but we hopefully do get the message. And then, we have to ask “Who is the poor man at our gate?” With modern communication, is it just those in our local county? Our local state? Our country? What else can be done, you say? That must always be a question. Certainly we have an obligation to look at proposed laws and how they will affect this equation. Will this or that law increase inflation, putting a greater burden on the needy. Will this or that tax disproportionately impact those with little? Let us not become complacent but be always willing to have that question before us: “What more can I do?”
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Lighthouse September 16, 2025
“YOUR BROTHER, NO, YOUR SON”
When we hear those few words in the beautiful story of what we call the Prodigal Son we are called to remember another dialogue that went something like that centuries before. When Moses was leading the people across the desert and they sinned by making a golden calf God said He was going to wipe them all out and start over with Moses. God said they were Moses' people but Moses was quick to say 'no, they are your people God. You are the one who created the covenant with Abraham and made the promise that his descendants would be numerous.” Moses could have said: 'You're dang right. I'm the one who has made all the sacrifice in leading them out of Egypt. I was quite comfortable with my family before you made me confront Pharaoh and risk my life.' Moses didn't do that though as he gives full credit to God in creating and saving a people he was now leading to the promised land. Only now, we hear Jesus tell this powerful story of a father who not only begat this wayward son but enabled him to turn away when he was willing to break up the family estate. When the youngest son asked for his share before the father was dead the father could have said; 'Sorry, you have to wait until I die; and now knowing you wish I were dead already I don't think you are going to inherit anything.' Instead though, the father gives his son the tremendous freedom of turning away from him and his values; the freedom to grievously sin, if you will. So, what's going on? Jesus tells us this beautiful story in the context of two other stories. In one, the Shepard lost one sheep out of a hundred and abandons the 99 to find the lost one, and then throws a party. In the other story a woman loses a pittance of a coin and then goes to great pain to find it. Upon finding it she too has a big party costing far more than the coin she lost. And, of course, the point Jesus is trying to drive home when he asks 'who would behave the same way in any of the three stories. The answer is, exactly, no one. The bottom line is; God is so magnanimous, so much more loving, forgiving than any of us can imagine. I mean, look at all the killings we have witnessed these last couple weeks, including innocent children in church, a Ukrainian woman on a train just going about her own business and then this past week the deliberate targeting of someone who promoted concern for the dignity of every human life and the freedom of speech. Even in all these situations God is so ready to forgive. We need to not only pray for the victims but for the perpetrators as well, that they have a conversion of heart and come to know God's mercy.
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Lighthouse September 10, 2025
Ps. 90 Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart. “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. “ Lk. 14:25 Why do these words of our Lord strike us so hard? Is it just that word ‘hating’? Supposedly there is no word that can sufficiently say what the Hebrew or Greek indicates there. Some try to translate it as ‘love less’ but that also seems to come up short. I think we do well to recognize it simply as the apostles did in leaving father and job behind when they began following Jesus. It reminds me of the scene in Fiddler on the Roof where Tevja was talking with his daughter. Her boyfriend had been sent to Siberia and she was going to follow him. She and her father recognized that they may never see one another again but certainly didn’t mean they loved one another less. Part of growing up involves beginning one’s own household and it often requires relocating. Whether it be a marriage or a mission to serve elsewhere it requires separating, for often an indeterminate time. This applied to many of our own ancestors who came here to start a new life; often with the idea of making a living and being able to send money back home. Sometimes that part didn’t happen as the person became engrossed in starting their new life. The great news for Christians is: it may not happen in this life, but if we follow the Lord we certainly expect to be reunited in the hereafter. The secret then is to pay attention to the psalm quoted above. That we number our days aright; that we really give priority to what is most important. If Jesus is Lord then everything, simply everything, every person, every personal desire, every personal plan must take second place to that. If not, we will discover we didn’t count our days aright but rather we will come to know we sought to possess the whole world, and to what value? Really though, we are not called to hate our parents. Rather, everyone, including our parents should know that we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and savior. If He is lord then we must simply seek His will in every decision we make; how we use our time, treasure and talent. May you always count your days aright.
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Lighthouse September 2, 2025
The Glory of Labor
‘Let him who does not work, not eat.’ That sounds a bit harsh, doesn’t it? At it’s very basic it makes a lot of sense. Besides that fact that Paul was criticizing those who did not work as being busy-bodies which reiterates an old saying: ‘idle hands are the devil’s workshop.’ But, in this case, Paul was also answering another theological question people had. If Jesus is coming soon, even though we do not know the day or the hour, why work? It’s all going to come to an end shortly anyway when Jesus returns. But, outside of that, what are we to think of work? God gave all of us a purpose, a reason for being here, a share in ‘fulfilling God’s will on earth and helping the kingdom to come.’ As such we look at our inherent talents, our abilities, and our dreams of what we might want to become. With that we also take a look at our responsibilities and commitments we have taken on and what it is going to take to meet those. Then we should be able to rejoice in whatever work we do as a way of honoring God the creator who has allowed us to be co-creative with Him. High on that list must still be the creating of family, the most basic society, and sharing in the gift of bringing about new lives of human beings who are destined to live forever. As a side-bar to that we need to pray for the many families who were impacted by the recent shootings. How many dreams and potential callings were wiped out or drastically changed. Getting back to our attitude towards work, is there any work which is better than another? Not if that is what God has called a person to. Some professions certainly ought to receive greater recompense than others. St. Paul even said good preachers ought to receive more with the idea that they probably invested much more of themselves in the preparation. There is a real difference between having a 9-5 job where one can hang up their hat at the end of the day and one who has an administrative job which more often than not gets carried into the home life. But, is being a preacher better than being a maintenance engineer? If one thinks so just wait until your intestines go on strike and see what you won’t do to end that strike. All who contribute to the good of society ought to be viewed with respect and dignity and compensated in a way which allows them to hold up their heads in meeting the needs of their families with a sufficiency which allows them to also help others. It is so wonderful we celebrate a day called Labor Day and can truly thank God that He gives various talents needed for the overall good of society. Let us thank God today for the gift He has given us to do just that.
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Lighthouse August 19, 2025
School has started and how I think of our teachers as we enter this time of the year where the school calendar seems to dominate all others. In thinking of our teachers I couldn’t help but think of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 6:4 Fathers do not provoke your children to anger but rather discipline them and bring them up in the way of the Lord. Teachers are after all taking on the role of the parents when they are entrusted with the precious gift children are. They work with the permission of the parents and receive a salary ultimately paid by them. As such they have a tremendous part to play as pseudo-parents. They fulfill a role I’m quite sure I could not do. We thank you for that. So when Paul says not to provoke the children to anger how does one safely navigate that and succeed in imparting knowledge, skills and cultural understanding. I know that role is so much more difficult today as many families do not want to be guided by the scriptures. The other scripture with which I was raised goes hand in hand with the above in that previous ages believed in’ spare the rod and spoil the child..’ I hear so often people my age saying ‘yeah,
when I was in school if I did something to be corrected in school I knew I had it coming when I got home as well and now-a-days parents seem so ready to support the child and come down on the teachers. “. I remember one time when the priest said something in the classroom to the
effect that dancing was bad. I couldn’t wait to tell an aunt who was looking forward to a dance. She got word to the priest who got word to sister and I was called out, only to be reprimanded when I got home. We’ve all heard the saying ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ and in many
ways that is so true. As such we need to again support our teachers who are working for the good of the child. If they are not, we shouldn't hire them to begin with. We need to show them that they have our trust and truly pray for them. As much as they may love the call to be a teacher that does not make it an easy job, especially when it overflows into their own family lives as well. Together we can help our young people all have a genuine, earned self-esteem; developing their knowledge and skills to their greatest potential. Let us pray for our teachers, our students, our administration and our school board. God bless.
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Lighthouse July 22, 2025
Mt. 12:46 Mother and Brother
Jesus’ mother and brethren came to see him and when the people made it known he asks ‘who are my mother and my brother?’ ‘Here are my mother and my brethren, anyone who does the will of my father.’ Those few lines offered a lot of room for discussion the other day. In one way it seemed like he was putting his family off and, on the other hand he was. But, when one takes time to reflect on the context; Jesus was answering the person who brought him the message. It was an instruction to him. Too often we might read it as Jesus saying ‘go tell my family I don’t have time for them.’ But no, it was an instruction to the one; and eventually to us all. Jesus walks the talk. Just as scripture says ;This is why a man shall leave his mother and father and cleave to his wife’ God’s word is demonstrating that the couple are the primary concern for one another; before parents; before children. Jesus, in the new kingdom, had been teaching that in eternity there will be neither male or female. There will not be that bond but rather everyone will be intimately linked to the lord as the primary relationship. So much so that St. Paul would say ‘Woman, if your husband will keep you stay with him because by your righteousness he shall be saved. But if he will not keep you, you may leave him and be as if you had never been married.’ In other words, one’s relationship with the lord comes before all others, and, by extension, those intimately related to him also have a primary relationship with one another. So Jesus says ‘Those who do the will of my father are my brothers and sisters.’ When he says to Saul, ' Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?’ He is saying he has taken on a one flesh union with his believers. Then when he is looking at the man who brought the message he is saying to him in so many words ‘Don’t worry, I’m not leaving you; you are my brother as much as anyone else is.’ Can you imagine if Jesus had just told everyone to go home now his real family was here? It’s not that Mary and his brethren were not also living the word of God and were thus his brothers and sisters but that all those who do live the word of God are just as much so. Just as with marriage, when a man or woman joins a religious community they take on a radical commitment to that community which takes precedence over the needs of birth family. Relationship is not based on human blood but on sharing in the blood of the redeemer. Some communities live that so radically that they don’t even go to the funeral of their parents. To do so would mean they needed to go to the funeral of everyone who was ever close to them in Christ and thus never attend to their ministry. Jesus was involved in his ministry proclaiming that all could be his brothers and sisters. Won’t you be so?
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