Since the day I was ordained a priest in May of 2022, the pace of life has gone from the relative snail’s pace of the seminary classroom to full-on Millennium Falcon lightning speed. I’m honestly a little flabbergasted that more than four years have already passed. In that time, I’ve discovered a few more gray hairs in my mustache, watched entire seasons of parish life come and go, and somehow the Vikings have beaten the Packers six times…but who’s counting?!
 
Time moves fast.
 
Lately I’ve been thinking that while none of us has figured out how to slow the clock, we can, in fact, change our relationship with time. One of the great spiritual disciplines of the Christian life is learning to be grateful for the present moment.
 
One of my favorite spiritual classics is Jean-Pierre de Caussade’s Abandonment to Divine Providence, a work centered on what has often been called “the sacrament of the present moment.” He writes, “The present moment is always full of infinite treasures.”
 
The trouble is that we are awfully good at missing them.
 
We spend so much of life looking ahead. Once work settles down. Once the kids are older. Once this busy season is over. Once retirement comes. Once the appointment is behind us. Once life gets back to normal.
 
But sometimes we look back and realize that the season we were trying to get through was actually our life. If life moves quickly, the answer is not to somehow make time stand still. It is to become more present to the time we have been given.
 
We often imagine that God is waiting for us in some future moment—when we have more time, fewer distractions, or a little less chaos. But the sacrament of the present moment reminds us that God is here, now. Grace is being offered in this conversation, this meal, this ordinary Sunday, this difficult season, this friendship, this quiet prayer.
 
There is tremendous freedom in learning to live that way: to pause, to notice, to be grateful, and to trust that even in circumstances we would never choose, God is still at work.
 
So wherever this season of life finds you, don’t rush past it too quickly. Notice the people around you. Be grateful for the ordinary. Say the prayer. Make the phone call. Enjoy the laughter. Receive the moment God has actually given you.
 
And as we celebrate Harvest Festival this weekend, may it be one more opportunity to do exactly that—to enjoy one another, make a few memories, and give thanks for the gift of this parish family.
Life moves fast. Let’s make sure we’re actually there for it.

Fr. Mike
Pastor

Tuesday, October 20
5:30 - 8:30 PM
Osseo-Maple Grove American Legion Post 172

Support BIZAA, our Parish International Outreach, by attending their upcoming Annual Celebration - an African Taco Tuesday! 

Learn more and register here.  (Registration Deadline is October 9)

Treasured Relationships: Finding Joy in our Shared Femininity

Sunday, October 25
12:30 - 2:00 PM
Regan Hall
Cost is $20 per mother/daughter ($5 more per extra daughter)

Join us for lunch as we focus on deepening the mother-daughter relationship. This event, hosted by the St. Vincent de Paul Respect Life Ministry, is for mothers and their daughter(s), 7th grade-college aged.


Register Here by Wednesday, October 21

Thursdays 7:00 - 8:30 PM twice/month
Starting on October 29

Registration is now open for a new Year 1 Cana fathers small group. Join other husbands and fathers to become a courageous leader ​for your family and in your workplace. 

Learn more and register at canafamilyinstitute.com.

Please know that we welcome new adorers to take open hours! Click here to sign-up as an adorer or substitute adorer.

Adoration Sign-up